The Syrian airfield prepare for reception of military aircraft of China
The latest news about fast emergence in borders of Syria of navy of China encouraged Syrians and res[...]
1977
January 1 At Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, the 479th Tactical Training Wing forms with three squadrons of AT-38B Talons. These aircraft have been modified with gunsights and form the backbone of the Fighter Lead – in School.
January 8 At Marietta, Georgia, the first production C-141B “stretched” transport rolls off the assembly line. This new version is 23 feet longer, and is capable of in-flight refueling for unlimited range.
January 31 – February 11 At Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Military Airlift Command transports arrive with 1,160 tons of snow removal equipment following a massive blizzard.
MARCH 23 At Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, the first Boeing E-3A is delivered to the Tactical Air Command (TAC). This airborne command and control station is characterized by a large rotating disk on its back.
MARCH 27—30 At Tenerife, Canary Islands, Air Force C-141s arrive to assist survivors of civil aviation’s worst disaster when two Boeing 747s collide. C-130s also arrive with medical teams and equipment.
May At Colorado Springs, Colorado, the U. S. Air Force Academy selects the De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter for its parachute jump program. It receives the new designation UV-18B.
May 2 Lieutenant Christine E. Schott is the first woman to solo in a T-38 Talon trainer as part of the Air Force University undergraduate flying program.
May 19 A B-52 flown by Captain James A. Yule experiences a severe in-flight emergency, yet he manages to bring his aircraft in for a safe landing; he wins a Mackay Trophy.
June 16 In Moscow, Soviet Union, a C-5A Galaxy arrives carrying a large superconducting magnet to support a joint U. S.-USSR energy research project. The flight, nonstop from Chicago, Illinois, required two in-flight refuelings and wins the crew a Mackay Trophy.
June 30 In Washington, D. C., President Jimmy Carter cancels the B-1A bomber after four prototypes have been constructed; however, he also orders testing and research to continue.
AUGUST 3 At Colorado Springs, Colorado, Cadet Colonel Edward A. Rice, Jr., becomes the first African American Cadet Wing Commander at the Air Force Academy.
AUGUST 4 At Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, the Air Force dispatches it last operational T-33 Shooting Star trainer to the “bone yard.”
AUGUST 12 Over Edwards Air Force Base, California, the space shuttle Enterprise makes its first glide test with Air Force fighter pilot Fred Haise and Colonel C. Gordon Fullerton in control. It glides in safely from 22,800 feet while an estimated 70,000 onlookers cheer.
September 2 Another gender barrier falls as the first 10 female Air Force pilots are given their wings.
SEPTEMBER 30 From Charleston, South Carolina, a C-141 Starlifter flies across the Atlantic without a navigator, being guided instead by a Delco inertial guidance system. This new technology leads to navigators being phased out.
OCTOBER 1 In the Panama Canal Zone,
C-130s from the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard arrive at Howard Air Force Base as part of a new series of quarterly deployments entitled Operation
VOLANT OAK.
OCTOBER 12 At Colorado Springs, Colorado, the first five female navigators graduate from the Air Force Academy’s undergraduate navigator training (UNT).