The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. The B-2 brings massive firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe through impenetrable defenses. T(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ken Bergmann).

This week in AFLCMC history - April 11- 15, 2022

  • Published
  • By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office


11 Apr 1966 (WPAFB) 
 
On April 11, 1966, Army troops were surrounded and outnumbered near Cam My, Vietnam. Pararescueman Airman 1st Class William H. “Bill” Pitsenbarger, from Piqua, Ohio, volunteered to evacuate wounded in an HH-43 Husky. A1C Pistenbarger voluntarily descended into the firefight with his medical kit, rifle, and pistol to rescue 9 soldiers before his helicopter was too badly damaged to continue. When it departed, A1C Pitsenbarger chose to stay on the ground, treating the wounded, and collecting and distributing rifles and ammunition. He was killed that evening fighting alongside the troops, who suffered 80 percent casualties before being relieved the next morning. Pitsenbarger received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Wright-Patterson AFB named a dormitory for him in 1979. 

12 Apr 1982 (Bombers Dir./Tinker AFB) 

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) at Tinker AFB established the B-1B Systems Management Division within the Directorate of Materiel Management. This formalized OC-ALC’s logistics responsibility for the bomber that had been provisionally established in 1981. The Aeronautical Systems Division (later, Center) at Wright-Patterson AFB was the home of the B-1 Systems Program Office since the late 1960s when it was the Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft (AMSA) program that became the B-1A, then again in the 1980s when the program was resurrected under President Ronald Reagan as the B-1B. When AFLCMC stood up in 2012, Tinker’s B-1 Sustainment Division & WPAFB’s B-1 Division of the Fighters & Bombers Directorate merged into what’s now the Bombers Directorate’s B-1 Division. 

14 Apr 1970 (Hill AFB) 

The first airlift of an operational LGM-30 Minuteman III missile out of Hill AFB, UT, aboard a C-141 Starlifter occurred. The missile was destined for Minot AFB, North Dakota, as part of the first flight of Minuteman IIIs to become operational, on 19 June 1970. The missile itself was built at Air Force Plant 77 in Ogden, UT, which had been the primary facility for the Minuteman series of solid rocket Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) since the late 1950s. The Lockheed C-141 was the USAF’s primary long-range transport aircraft at the time, but several had to be specially modified to accommodate the missiles and their containers

15 Apr 1952 (Bombers Directorate) 

The Boeing YB-52, made its first flight from Boeing Field in Seattle. Boeing test pilot, A. M. “Tex” Johnston, served as pilot and Lt Col Guy M. Townsend, in the Bomber Flight Test Section of the Flight Test Division, Wright Air Development Center (now part of AFLCMC), was the copilot. Reports indicated that the flight, which lasted just over three hours, was “eminently satisfactory,” despite the fact that the aircraft was restricted in altitude due to low power surge. Other deficiencies noted were spoiler buffet, leaking fuel cells, improperly retracting landing gear, and marginal lateral control at slow speeds. It was equipped with 8 prototype Pratt & Whitney J57 engines. This plane was later purposefully destroyed for fire-fighter training. 

16 Apr 1949 (Fighters Directorate) 

The first flight of the Lockheed YF-94 Starfire. The aircraft was developed in response to an Air Force request for an all-weather (radar-equipped) interceptor to replace the World War II-era propeller-driven night fighters. Lockheed responded with a variation of its P-80 Shooting Star, based on the 2-seat version that became the T-33 trainer. They lengthened the nose to accommodate the on-board radar, added guns and a fire control system, and equipped the back seat for the radar operator. It used the centrifugal flow GE-designed/Allison-built J33 turbojet engine. This was the first production American aircraft equipped with an afterburner. The Starfire came in three major variants, but had a relatively short service life, from 1950- 1959. 

17 Apr 1992 (Bombers Directorate) 

The fourth Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber made its first flight, which was part of the fleet’s flight test program that started with taxi tests in July 1989. The first B-2 (Air Vehicle 1, or AV-1) flew on 17 July 1989. AV-4, later dubbed “The Spirit of Indiana,” followed for a second block of flight tests that focused on avionics and weapons testing. It was also the first B-2 to drop a bomb—a 2000-pound Mk 84 General Purpose bomb—on 12 September 1992. These tests occurred amidst significant Congressional questioning about the utility, cost, and progress of the B-2, especially in light of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, that resulted in a reduction of the planned fleet from 132 to just 21 aircraft. (See photos above).

This Week in AFLCMC History Highlight: 13 April 1926 

The Army Air Corps held the formal ground-breaking ceremonies for the new Wright Field. 

The Air Service had a presence in the Dayton area since the opening days of World War I, when it established the contiguous Wilbur Wright Field (WWF) and the Fairfield Air Depot (FAD) along the Mad River as well as McCook Field in North Dayton. After the war, McCook Field continued to host the Air Service Engineering Division, WWF became mostly an extension of McCook for flight testing, and FAD downsized, but stayed open. 

McCook Field was sited and constructed in haste and was the subject of relocation speculation as soon as the Armistice. Congress lacked the inclination to fund such a move, but by the early 1920s, it was clear that aviation was growing in importance, McCook Field was too small for newer, more powerful aircraft, and many of its structures had already outlived their usefulness. 

With WWI-era military facilities closing around the country, the plum of a permanent base employing over 1,000 workers appealed to many municipalities...and their congressmen. Dayton was loathe to give up this gem without a fight. Local businessmen, namely the Patterson family who ran the massive National Cash Register (NCR) Corporation, formed the Dayton Air Service Committee to rally citizens and businesses to save the Engineering Division in 1924. They secured the funds to purchase and donate land to the government, and swayed the War Department to select their site. 

The southwest portion of the land (WPAFB Area B) for the new Wright Field was purchased primarily from locals. The northeastern portion (Area A) came from the former Wilbur Wright Field and the Miami Conservancy District—the flood control organization formed in the wake of Dayton's devastating 1913 flood. That half was later sectioned off and combined with the Fairfield Air Depot area as the separate Patterson Field. The two were recombined in 1947 as Wright-Patterson AFB.