The United States Air Force has a long and rich history. This chronology presents a few highlights of that history, along with other concurrent technological and contextual events through the years.

1900s

2 July 1900

First flight of the German Zeppelin, a "rigid" airship that was the first aircraft to use large metal structures.

22 October 1900

The Wright brothers make their first glider flight.

23 March 1903

First Wright brothers airplane patent is filed in America, based on their 1902 glider.

17 December 1903

Orville Wright achieves the world's first manned, powered, sustained, and controlled flight by a heavier-than-air vehicle. The Wright Flyer first lifts into the air at 10:35 AM and flies for twelve seconds, covering a distance of 121 feet.

20 September 1904

The Wright brothers accomplish the first successful banking turn and complete a circular flight in Dayton, Ohio.

23 June 1905

The first flight of the Wright Flyer III is made at Huffman Prairie, outside Dayton, Ohio. It is the Wright brothers' first fully controllable aircraft, able to turn and bank and remain aloft for up to thirty minutes.

22 May 1906

The U.S. government issues the Wright brothers the first patent on their flying machine (after turning down two earlier submissions from them).

12 November 1906

Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont sets the first recognized absolute speed record of 25.66 miles per hour in the Santos-Dumont Type 14bis at Bagatelle, France. However, this speed is slower than speeds previously posted by the Wright brothers in the U.S.

1 August 1907

The Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps--forerunner of the U.S. Air Force--is established.

26 October 1907

Henri Farman sets the recognized absolute speed record of 32.74 miles per hour in a Voisin-Farman biplane at Issy-les- Moulineaux, France.

23 December 1907

The Army's Chief Signal Officer, Brigadier General James Allen, issues the first specification for a military airplane.

10 February 1908

The War Department contracts with the Wright brothers for $25,000 for one flying machine.

14 May 1908

The first passenger flight in an aircraft takes place at Kitty Hawk. Wilbur Wright pilots a Wright airplane with Charles Furnas as the first passenger.

19 May 1908

Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge of the U.S. Army Signal Corps becomes the first soldier to fly a heavier-than-air machine.

3 September 1908

Orville Wright makes the first test flight of an Army flying machine at Fort Myer, Virginia.

17 September 1908

Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge is killed when the Wright Flyer crashes at Fort Myer, Virginia. He is the first person in history to die in an accident involving a powered aircraft.

27 July 1909

Orville Wright, with Army Lt. Frank P. Lahm as passenger, makes the first official test flight of the U.S. Army's first airplane at Fort Myer, Virginia.

2 August 1909

The Army accepts its first airplane, bought from the Wright brothers for $25,000, plus a $5,000 bonus because the airplane exceeds the speed requirement of 40 miles per hour.

23 August 1909

At the world's first air meet in Reims, France, Glenn Hammond Curtiss becomes the first American to claim the recognized absolute speed record as he flies his Reims Racer biplane at 43.385 miles per hour.

7 September 1909

The U.S. Army establishes its first aerodrome in College Park, Maryland.

26 October 1909

Lt. Frederick E. Humphreys becomes the first Army pilot to solo in the Wright Military Flyer at College Park, Maryland.

3 November 1909

Lt. George C. Sweet becomes the first Navy officer to fly, as a passenger in the Wright Military Flyer.

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1910s

19 January 1910

Signal Corps Lt. Paul Beck, flying as a passenger with Louis Paulhan in a Farman biplane, drops three 2-pound sandbags in an effort to hit a target on the ground at the Los Angeles Flying Meet. This is the first bombing experiment by an Army officer.

10 July 1910

Walter Brookins becomes the first airplane pilot to fly at an altitude greater than one mile. He reaches 6,234 feet in a Wright biplane over Atlantic City, New Jersey.

20 August 1910

Lt. Jacob Fickel fires the first shot from an airplane at a race track near New York City.

2 September 1910

Blanche Stuart Scott becomes the first unofficial American woman to fly solo, flying a Curtiss pusher at the Curtiss company field in Hammondsport, New York. She is not granted a pilot's license, however.

16 September 1910

Bessica Faith Raiche becomes the first official American woman to solo an aircraft.

18 January 1911

Navy Lt. Eugene Ely, flying a Curtiss pusher, makes the first landing on a ship. He touches down on a 119-foot-long wooden platform on the stern of the cruiser USS Pennsylvania, riding at anchor in San Francisco Bay.

10 December 1911

Cal Rodgers completes the first transcontinental flight in the Wright EX "Vin Fiz," flying from Long Island, New York, to Pasadena, California.

22 February 1912

Jules Vedrines pushes the recognized absolute speed record past the 100 mile per hour mark, as he hits 100.22 miles per hour in a Deperdussin racer at Pau, France.

1 March 1912

Captain Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a powered airplane.

7-8 June 1912

The first machine gun mounted on an airplane is tested by Capt. Charles Chandler.

14 August 1912

Sgt. Vernon Burge receives rating as the U.S. Army's first enlisted pilot.

5 February 1913

Lt. J. H. Towers, US Navy, makes the first attempt at bombing stationary targets from an airplane.

13 May 1913

The first flight of the world's first four-engine airplane, the Russian Knight, takes place in Russia. The aircraft is designed by Igor I. Sikorsky.

1 January 1914

America's first regularly scheduled airline starts operation across Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, with one Benoist flying boat. It lasts three months.

19 January 1915

Germany launches the first zeppelin bombing raids on England, with two airships attacking Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn.

15 March 1916

The 1st Aero Squadron begins operations with General John J. Pershing in a punitive expedition against Mexico and Pancho Villa.

16 March 1916

The first aerial reconnaissance flight for the 1st Aero Squadron is conducted during the Mexican Punitive Expedition.

5 November 1916

Cpl. Eugene Bullard of the United States, flying for the French, becomes the world's first black pilot.

6 April 1917

The United States enters World War I. During this month, Major William "Billy" Mitchell becomes the first American Army officer to fly over German lines.

15 May 1918

The Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps begins regular airmail service from Washington, DC, to New York City.

3 May 1919

The first municipal airport in the United States is dedicated in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

19 May 1919

MSgt. Ralph Bottriell makes the first jump with a backpack parachute.

14-15 June 1919

Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown of Great Britain make the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, flying from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours and 12 minutes.

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1920s

4 June 1920

The Army reorganization bill is approved, creating an Air Service with 1,514 officers and 16,000 enlisted men.

12 November 1921

Wesley May climbs from the wing of one aircraft to the wing of another with a 5 gallon can of gasoline strapped to his back, making the first "air-to-air" refueling.

4 September 1922

Lt. James Harold Doolittle makes the first transcontinental crossing in an aircraft in a single day, traveling 2,163 miles in 21 hours and 20 minutes.

2-3 May 1923

Lt. Oakley G. Kelly and Lt. John A. Macready complete the first nonstop transcontinental flight. The trip from New York to San Diego takes 26 hours, 50 minutes, 3 seconds in a Fokker T-2.

6 April-28 September 1924

The Army Air Service completes the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. Four crews in Douglas World Cruisers begin the voyage in Seattle, Washington, but only two of the aircraft and their crews complete the trip.

2 February 1925

President Calvin Coolidge signs the Kelly Act, authorizing the air transport of mail under contract. This is the first major legislative step toward the creation of a U.S. airline industry.

16 March 1926

Dr. Robert H. Goddard launches the world's first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts.

20-21 May 1927

The first solo non-stop transatlantic flight is completed by Charles A. Lindbergh in the Ryan NYP monoplane Spirit of St. Louis, flying from New York to Paris in 33 hours and 32 minutes.

11 November 1928

Sir George Hubert Wilkins and Lt. Carl B. Eielson fly a Lockheed Vega aircraft in the first flight over Antarctica.

1 January 1929

The "Question Mark," a Fokker C-2A, remains aloft for approximately 151 hours, circling above Southern California as a demonstration of aerial refueling.

10-11 February 1929

Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout sets a women's solo flight endurance record of 17 hours, 21 minutes, 37 seconds in the monoplane Golden Eagle.

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1930s

25 October 1930

Transcontinental commercial air service begins between New York and Los Angeles.

3-5 October 1931

Americans Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr., make the first nonstop transpacific flight from Japan to America, in a Bellanca monoplane. The trip takes 41 hours and 13 minutes.

25 August 1932

Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to complete a nonstop transcontinental flight.

15-22 July 1933

Famed aviator Wiley Post, flying the Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae, becomes the first person to fly around the world solo. The 15,596-mile trip takes 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes at an average speed of 134.5 miles per hour.

19 February 1934

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issues an Executive Order canceling existing airmail contracts because of fraud and collusion. The Army Air Corps is designated to take over airmail operations.

15 September 1935

Alexander P. de Seversky sets a recognized class for record speed over a 3-kilometer course (piston-engined amphibians) of 230.41 miles per hour in a Seversky N3PB at Detroit, Michigan. This is the oldest certified aviation record still standing.

4 September 1936

Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes become the first women to win the Bendix Trophy transcontinental race from New York to Los Angeles in a Beech Model 17 Staggerwing with an average speed of 165.346 miles per hour. Total flying time is 14 hours and 55 minutes.

12 April 1937

Frank Whittle benchtests the first practical jet engine in laboratories at Cambridge University in England.

29 September 1938

Brigadier General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold is named Chief of the Army Air Corps, succeeding Major General Oscar Westover, who was killed in a plane crash on 21 September 1938.

3 April 1939

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the National Defense Act, which authorizes a $300 million budget and 6,000 airplanes for the Army Air Corps and increases AAC personnel to 3,203 officers and 45,000 enlisted personnel.

20 May 1939

Regularly scheduled transatlantic passenger and airmail service begins.

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1940s

8 October 1940

The Royal Air Force announces the formation of the first Eagle Squadron, a Fighter Command unit to consist of volunteer pilots from the United States.

21 March 1941

The first black flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, is activated. As part of the 332nd Pursuit Squadron, it will later become known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

20 June 1941

The United States Army Air Forces are formed.

9 March 1942

The War Department is reorganized into three autonomous forces: Army Air Forces, Ground Forces, and Services of Supply.

18 April 1942

Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle leads the "Doolittle Raiders" in B-25s on first U.S. bomb run over Japan in World War II.

1 October 1942

The Bell P-59 "Airacomet," America's first jet-propelled airplane, makes its initial flight at Muroc Dry Lake, California (now Edwards Air Force Base).

27 January 1943

The first American air raid on Germany is made by Eighth Air Force B-17 crews against Wilhelmshaven and other targets in the northwestern part of the country.

5 August 1943

Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) forms, headed by Jacqueline Cochran.

4 March 1944

B-17s of the Eighth Air Force conduct the first daylight bombing raid on Berlin.

14 September 1944

Col. Floyd Wood, Maj. Harry Wexler, and Lt. Frank Record, flying a Douglas A-20 "Havoc," are the first to fly into the heart of a hurricane to obtain meteorological data.

8 May 1945

VE Day: The war in Europe ends.

6 August 1945

The "Little Boy" atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, from the B-29 "Enola Gay," commanded by Col. Paul Tibbets, Jr.

2 September 1945

VJ Day: Japan signs the instrument of surrender on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, marking the end of World War II.

9 February 1946

Gen. Carl A. Spaatz is designated Commanding General, Army Air Forces, succeeding Gen. Henry H. Arnold.

17 August 1946

MSgt. Lawrence Lambert becomes the first human to eject from an aircraft.

18 September 1947

The birth of the United States Air Force. Stuart Symington becomes the first Secretary of the Air Force. Air activities transfered from the Army to the Air Force.

25 September 1947

President Harry Truman names Gen Carl A. Spaatz as the first USAF Chief of Staff.

26 September 1947

Secretary of Defense James Forrestal orders the transfer of personnel, bases, and materiel from the Army to the new Department of the Air Force.

14 October 1947

The first supersonic flight is made by Capt. Charles E. Yeager in the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 (later redesignated X-1) over Muroc Dry Lake, California.

26 April 1948

The Air Force announces a policy of racial integration -- the first service to do so -- well before President Harry Truman's Executive Order on equal opportunity in July 1948.

25 January 1949

The United States Air Force adopts blue uniforms.

2 March 1949

The B-50A "Lucky Lady II" completes the first nonstop around-the-world flight: 23,452 miles in 94 hours, 1 minute.

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1950s

20 May 1951

Capt. James Jabara (USAF) becomes the first jet "ace."

25 June 1950

North Korea attacks South Korea to begin the Korean War.

8 November 1950

1st Lt. Russell Brown, Jr., in an F-80 "Shooting Star," downs a MiG-15 in Korean War, the first all-jet aerial combat.

20 September 1951

The Air Force makes the first successful recovery of animals from rocket flight when a monkey and 11 mice survive an Aerobee flight to an altitude of 236,000 feet.

1 November 1952

The United States tests its first thermonuclear device at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. The device, codenamed Mike, has a yield of 10.4 million tons of TNT, 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II.

16 July 1953

LtCol William Barnes pushes the recognized absolute speed record past 700 miles per hour, hitting 715.751 mph in a North American F-86D over the Salton Sea in California.

20 November 1953

NACA test pilot Scott Crossfield becomes the first pilot to exceed Mach 2. His Douglas D-588-II Skyrocket research plane is dropped from a Navy P2B-1S (B-29) at an altitude of 32,000 feet over Edwards AFB, California.

1 April 1954

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law a bill creating the United States Air Force Academy.

26 February 1955

North American Aviation test pilot George Smith becomes the first person to survive ejection from an aircraft flying at supersonic speed. His F-100 Super Sabre is traveling at Mach 1.05 when the controls jam and he is forced to punch out.

10 March 1956

The recognized absolute speed record passes the 1,000 mile per hour mark as company pilot Peter Twiss hits 1,132.13 mph in the Fairey Delta 2 research aircraft at Sussex, England.

18 January 1957

Commanded by USAF MajGen Archie Old, Jr., three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses complete a 24,325-mile round-the-world non-stop flight in 45 hours, 19 minutes, with an average speed of 534 miles per hour. It is the first globe-circling nonstop flight by jet aircraft.

31 January 1958

Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, is launched by the Army at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The satellite is launched on a Jupiter-C rocket and will later play a key role in the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt around the Earth.

28 February 1959

The Air Force successfully launches the Discoverer I satellite into polar orbit from Vandenburg AFB, California.

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1960s

16 August 1960

USAF Captain Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., makes the highest parachute jump and longest free fall ever recorded. He steps from the gondola of a high-altitude balloon at 102,800 feet over Tularosa, New Mexico, and waits four and a half minutes before opening his parachute. He free-falls 84,700 feet, reaching a speed of 614 miles per hours. He lands unharmed 13 minutes and 45 seconds after jumping.

12 April 1961

The Soviet Union stuns the world with the first successful manned spaceflight. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is not only history's first spaceman, he is also the first person to orbit the Earth.

5 May 1961

Alan Shepard becomes the first American to fly in space aboard the "Freedom 7" Mercury capsule on a 15-minute suborbital flight.

10-11 January 1962

Major Clyde P. Evely sets a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (jet aircraft) of 12,532.28 miles from Kadena AB, Okinawa, to Madrid, Spain, in a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress. The record still stands.

16-19 June 1963

Cosmonaut Jr. Lt. Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. Her Vostok 6 flight lasts nearly three days.

19 August 1964

The Hughes Syncom III satellite is launched by a Thor-Delta launch vehicle. After several weeks of maneuvers, it becomes the world's first geosynchronous satellite.

8 February 1965

The U.S. Air Force performs its first retaliatory air strike in North Vietnam.

4 March 1966

A flight of USAF F-4C Phantoms is attacked by three MiG-17s in the first air-to-air combat of the war over North Vietnam.

27 January 1967

Astronauts USAF Lt. Col Virgil I. Grissom, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Roger B. Chaffee, and USAF Lt. Col. Edward H. White are killed in a flash fire aboard their Apollo 1 command module during a ground test. The disaster sets the moon-landing effort back two years.

29 February 1968

Jeanne M. Holm, WAF Director, and Helen O'Day, assigned to the Office of the Air Force Chief of Staff, become the first women promoted to Colonel.

20 July 1969

Mankind sets foot on the moon for the first time. At 10:56 PM EDT, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong puts his left foot on the lunar surface. He and lunar module pilot Col. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., USAF, spend just under three hours walking on the moon. Command module pilot Lt. Col. Michael Collins, USAF, remains in orbit.

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1970s

24 August 1970

Two Air Force crews complete the first nonstop transpacific helicopter flight as they land their Sikorsky HH-53Cs at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, after a 9,000-mile flight from Eglin AFB, Florida. The helicopters were refueled in flight during the trip.

16 July 1971

Jeanne M. Holm becomes the first female general officer in the Air Force.

20 February 1972

Lt. Col. Edgar Allison sets a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (turboprop aircraft) of 8,732.09 miles, flying from Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, to Scott AFB, Illinois, in a Lockheed HC-130. The record still stands.

27 January 1973

Cease-fire agreements ending the war in Vietnam are signed in Paris.

1 September 1974

Major James V. Sullivan and Major Noel Widdifield set a New York to London speed record of 1,806.964 miles per hour in a Lockheed SR-71A. The trip takes 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 55 seconds.

1 September 1975

USAF General Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., becomes the first black officer to achieve four-star rank in the U.S. military.

27-28 July 1976

Three different SR-71 pilots (Major Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Captain Robert C. Helt, and Captain Eldon W. Joersz) set three absolute world flight records over Beale AFB, California: altitude in horizontal flight (85,068.997 feet), speed over a straight course (2,193.16 mph), and speed over a closed course (2,092.294 mph).

23 August 1977

Cyclist/pilot Bryan Allen wins the $95,000 Kremer Prize for successfully demonstrating sustained, maneuverable, man-powered flight in the MacReady Gossamer Condor. Allen pedals the aircraft, which is made of tubular aluminum covered with Mylar, over a 1.15-mile course at the airport in Shafter, California.

22 February 1978

The first test satellite in the Air Force's Navstar Global Positioning System is launched into Earth orbit.

12 June 1979

Pilot/cyclist Bryan Allen makes the first human-powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

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1980s

28 May 1980

The United States Air Force Academy graduates its first female cadets. Ninety-seven women are commissioned as Second Lieutenants. Lt. Kathleen Conly graduates eighth in her class.

12 April 1981

The space shuttle orbiter Columbia, the world's first reusable manned space vehicle, makes its first flight with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen aboard.

1-30 September 1982

H. Ross Perot, Jr., and Jay Coburn complete the first circumnavigation of the globe by helicopter. Flying a modified Bell 206L Longranger, the duo average 117 miles per hour during their 246.5 hours of flight time. The trip starts and ends in Fort Worth, Texas.

18 June 1983

The first American woman to go into space, Sally K. Ride, is aboard Challenger on the seventh space shuttle mission (STS-7).

5-13 October 1984

On the 13th space shuttle mission, Challenger lifts off for the first time with a crew of seven. Mission 41-G is the first to have two female astronauts (Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan, who will become the first American woman to make a spacewalk) and the first to have a Canadian astronaut aboard (Marc Garneau). Commander Robert L. Crippen becomes the first to fly on the shuttle four times. Aloft, the crew refuels a satellite in orbit for the first time.

25 October-2 November 1985

USAF units take part in joint operations against Cubans and Marxists in Grenada in Operation Urgent Fury.

15 April 1986

In Operation Eldorado Canyon, 18 USAF F-111s flying from RAF Lakenheath in England are joined by carrier-based Navy aircraft in air strikes against Libya in response to state-sponsored terrorism.

17 September 1987

Major Brent A. Hedgpeth and crew set nine recognized class records for 5,000-km speed with and without payload (jet aircraft) of 655.09 miles per hour in a Rockwell B-1B at Palmdale, California. The records still stand.

12 November 1988

Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov break the world space endurance record as they remain on board the space station Mir for their 326th day in orbit.

10 June 1989

Captain Jacquelyn S. Parker becomes the first female pilot to graduate from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California.

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1990s

7 August 1990

The United States begins Operation Desert Shield, the large-scale movement of U.S. forces to the Middle East in response to Iraq's 2 August invasion of Kuwait and threat to Saudi Arabia.

17 January 1991

War begins in the Persian Gulf. Operation Desert Shield becomes Operation Desert Storm. More than 1,200 combat sorties are flown, and 106 cruise missiles are launched against targets in Iraq and Kuwait during the first 14 hours of the operation.

10 February 1992

Operation Provide Hope begins, the delivery of food and medical supplies to the former Soviet Union.

13 January 1993

USAF Major Susan Helms, flying aboard space shuttle Endeavour, becomes the first U.S. military woman in space.

10 February 1994

Lieutenant Jeannie Flynn, the first female selected for USAF combat pilot training, completes her F-15E training.

27 April 1995

Air Force Space Command declares that the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation has achieved full operational capability.

4 January 1996

Operation Provide Promise, the longest sustained humanitarian airlift in history, officially ends after delivering 160,536 metric tons of relief cargo to Bosnia-Herzegovina since July 1992. The U.S. Air Force flew 4,597 of the 12,895 sorties. On 9 January there will be a commemorative final flight.

18 September 1997

The United States Air Force celebrates its 50th anniversary.

1 June 1998

The USAF Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, celebrates its 45th anniversary. The team performs in 57 demonstrations nationwide for over 5 million spectators during the year.

24 March-20 June 1999

USAF aircraft participate in Operation Noble Anvil, the American component of NATO's Operation Allied Force. This campaign is aimed at crippling the Serbian war machine in Kosovo and enforcing compliance with international peace agreements. USAF fighters down five MiG-29s during the fighting.

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2000s

February-April 2000

U.S. Air Force personnel and cargo aircraft participate in Operations Atlas Response and Silent Promise, airlifting humanitarian relief supplies to Mozambique and South Africa following severe flooding in those nations.

7 October 2001

Operation Enduring Freedom, America's war on international terrorism, begins in the wake of terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September.

22 August 2002

Operation Provide Hope, the largest single U.S. humanitarian assistance medical project for Uzbekistan since that nation's independence, begins. USAF cargo aircraft begin the airlift of vital medicines and supplies.

17 December 2003

The world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first manned, powered, sustained, and controlled flight by a heavier-than-air vehicle.

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Sources

Boyne, Walter J. Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force, 1947-1997. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.

Carter, Kit C., and Robert Mueller, compilers. U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941- 1945. Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History, 1991.

Haulman, Daniel L. One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903-2002. Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 2003.

Shaw, Frederick J., Jr., and Timothy Warnock. The Cold War and Beyond: Chronology of the United States Air Force, 1947-1997. Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1997.

United States Air Force History & Museums Program. Aerospace Power in the 20th Century: The United States Air Force Timeline. Washington, DC: Air Force History Support Office, 1998.

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