On This Date

Nov. 6, 1986: The first off-range flight test of the B-1B Automatic Terrain Following system took place.

Nov. 7, 1956: The first ejection test of the F-101A ejection seat was conducted on the High Speed Track, at a velocity of Mach 0.78.

Nov. 7, 1963: Limited performance handling and tank jettison evaluations of the UH-1B Huey with 60-gallon external tanks began. This was one of six follow-on qualitative tests being conducted on the attack helicopter for the Army during this period.

Nov. 7, 2000: The X-35A accomplished its first aerial refueling. During its 10th flight, the JSF demonstrator completed four refueling operations from a KC-135 at 23,000 feet and verified its compatibility with the tanker’s flow-field wake and refueling boom.

Nov. 8, 1950: During the Korean War, the first jet-plane battle took place as U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Russell J. Brown shot down a North Korean MiG-15. Brown, flying an F-80C Shooting Star, shot down the MiG near Sinuiju, a North Korean city that lay along the Yalu River.

Nov. 8, 1951: The Air Force completed qualitative handling tests of the Bell X-5 (s/n 838) and delivered it to NACA for its research program.

Nov. 9, 1946: The Lockheed XR60-1 Constitution made its first flight, a 45-minute flight from the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, Calif., to Muroc Army Airfield. Joe Towle and Tony LeVier flew the aircraft. Ordered by the Navy, the XR60-1 was a very large, double-deck transport powered by four 3,000 hp P&W Wasp radial engines.

Nov. 9, 1951: The second Bell X-5 aircraft (s/n 839) arrived at Edwards.

Nov. 9, 1961: Maj. Robert M. White capped an eventful year by taking the X-15 to Mach 6.04 (4,093 mph) or six times the speed of sound, exceeding its design speed by 93 mph. He thus became the first human to exceed Mach 4, Mach 5 and Mach 6, and to fly above 200,000 feet. During the flight, the heat on the leading edges of the X-15’s wing reached 1,147 degrees Fahrenheit. From left: Col. Chuck Yeager, White and Brig. Gen. Irving Branch.

Nov. 10, 1982: The newly finished Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in Washington, D.C., three days before its dedication.

Nov. 11, 1918: Fighting in World War I ended as the Allies and Germany signed an armistice in the Forest of Compiegne. The day later became known as Armistice Day, and is now known in the United States as Veterans Day.

Nov. 11, 1921: The remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding.

Nov. 11, 1964: A crew flew a Lockheed C-141A nonstop from Edwards to the East Coast and back. The sortie, covering 6,535 miles, was conducted to evaluate the APN-151 Loran C radio navigation system.

Nov. 11, 1966: Gemini 12 blasted off on a four-day mission with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. aboard; it was the 10th and final flight of NASA’s Gemini program.

Nov. 11, 1972: The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.