On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

1963: The U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command accepted its first two production McDonnell F-4C Phantom II jet fighters, F-4C-15-MC 63-7415¹ and F-4C-15-MC 63-7416. These aircraft were the ninth and tenth production F-4Cs.

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They were flown to MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, by Brigadier General Gilbert Louis Meyers, commanding the 836th Air Division, and Colonel Frank Kendall (“Pete”) Everest, a world-famous test pilot, commanding the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Squadron. Lieutenant General Charles B. Westover, Vice Commander, Tactical Air Command, formally accepted the new fighters on behalf of TAC.

Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots | On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

Up until this time, the 4453rd had been training crews with McDonnell F-4B Phantom IIs on loan from the United States Navy.

1953: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, NACA’s High Speed Flight Station test pilot Albert Scott Crossfield rode behind the flight crew of the Boeing P2B-1S Super Fortress as it carried the Douglas Aircraft Company D-558-II Skyrocket supersonic research rocket plane to its launch altitude.

Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots | On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

As the four-engine bomber climbed through 18,000 feet (5,486 meters), Crossfield headed back to the bomb bay to enter the Skyrocket’s cockpit and prepare for his flight.

Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots | On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

The Douglas D-558-II was Phase II of a U.S. Navy/Douglas Aircraft Company/National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics joint research project exploring supersonic flight. It was a swept-wing airplane powered by a single Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 four-chamber rocket engine. The Skyrocket was fueled with alcohol and liquid oxygen. The engine was rated at 6,000 pounds of thrust (26.69 kilonewtons) at Sea Level.

1945: A Bell-Atlanta B-29B-60-BA Superfortress, 44-84061, named Pacusan Dreamboat, piloted by Colonel Clarence Shortridge Irvine and Lieutenant Colonel G.R. Stanley, flew non-stop and unrefueled from Guam, the largest and southernmost island in the Mariana Islands of the Western Pacific, to Washington, D.C.

Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots | On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

The four-engine heavy bomber covered the 8,198 miles (13,193 kilometers) in 35 hours, 5 minutes. It set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) record for Distance in a Straight Line:  12,739.59 kilometers (7,916.01 miles).¹

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