Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review, April 29, 2022

On this date ...
May 2, 1977: As part of the first women in the Undergraduate Pilot Training Program, 1st Lt. Christine E. Schott became the first woman to solo in a Northrop T-38A Talon at Williams AFB, Ariz. Class 77-08, which started Sept. 19, 1976, included 10 women and 36 men. Class 77-08 received their silver wings on Sept. 2, 1977. Later, Schott would become the first Air Force female to qualify as an aircraft commander on the C-9A Nightingale.
May 6, 1941: The prototype Republican Aviation Corporation XP-47B Thunderbolt made its first flight. The flight, eight months after the prototype was ordered, was piloted by Lowery Brabham. A total of 15,683 Thunderbolts were built; more than any other Allied fighter type. In aerial combat, it had a kill-to-loss ratio of 4.6:1. The P-47, though, really made its name as a ground attack fighter, destroying aircraft, locomotives, rail cars, and tanks by the many thousands. It was one of the most successful aircraft of World War II.
April 30, 1962: Though it had been airborne briefly just a few days earlier on April 26, “Article 121”, the first Lockheed A-12, took off from a Top Secret facility at Groom Lake, Nev., on its “official” first flight. Lockheed test pilot “Lou” Schalk, Jr. was in the cockpit. The 72,000-pound aircraft lifted off the 8,000- foot runway at 196 mph. During the 59-minute test flight, Schalk kept the airspeed to just 391 mph, but climbed to 30,000 feet while he tested systems and handling characteristics.
May 1, 1951: The Experimental Flight Test Pilot School, newly transferred from Wright- Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and renamed, opened its first classes at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The TPS shared its facility with the Base Transient Maintenance Hangar, Bldg T-1011. Pictured are Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Lieutenants Christie, Bennette and Greene, who had transferred from Wright- Patterson to complete their test pilot training.
May 4, 1950: The prototype reconnaissance platform Northrop YRB-49A, made its first flight from Hawthorne, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. After only 13 flights, testing ended April 26, 1951. It was then flown back to Northrop’s headquarters on what would be its last flight. There, this remaining flying wing sat abandoned at the edge of Northrop’s Ontario airport for more than two years. It was finally ordered scrapped on Dec. 1, 1953.
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April 29, 2022
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