On October 14, 1947, the first manned supersonic flight took place. General (then Captain) Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager flew the Bell X-1, christened “Glamorous Glennis” after his wife, past the speed of sound. The plane was launched from the belly of a specially modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress and reached a speed of 700 miles per hour, Mach 1.06, at an altitude of 13,000 meters. Consequently, the National Aeronautic Association awarded the prestigious Collier Trophy for the year 1947 to the three main participants in the program. Lawrence Dale “Larry” Bell of Bell Aircraft, John Stack of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and General Yeager were honored by President Harry S. Truman at the White House.

The Bell X-1,, originally designated XS-1, was the result of a cooperative program initiated in 1944 by NACA and the US Army Air Forces. On March 16, 1945, Bell Aircraft Corporation was awarded a contract to develop three transonic and supersonic research aircraft, and the company built three rocket-powered XS-1s. The XS-1 was the first high-speed aircraft built purely for aviation research purposes and was never intended for production. It was also the first of the X-planes, a series of experimental US aircraft used for testing of new technologies and usually kept highly secret during development.

Capt. Bruce Boynton, commanding officer of hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) and the oldest crew member, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, and Fire Controlman Seaman Christian Demarzio, the youngest crew member, celebrate the Navy’s 232nd birthday with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony on the ship’s mess deck on October 12. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Karsten.

On the eve of its 232nd birthday, the United States Navy launched a new website which will better serve its sailors, their families and the public. Navy.mil offers a variety of new multimedia capabilities, allowing visitors to browse through content more easily. One noticeable change is the new site design, which is now focused on rich media content instead of electronic print media. The media port logo button gives instant access to all Naval Media Center products, which include All Hands Radio, All Hands Television, Daily News Update, Podcasts, Photo Gallery, Every Day in the Navy and All Hands Magazine.

“Our goal in this redesign is to provide the US.Navy and its public the type of site they’ll not only like but use regularly as a source of reliable information,” said William Spencer, the Interactive Media Program Manager for Navy.mil. “The feedback we’ve received in beta testing has been extremely positive and people think the site’s high-speed, cutting-edge look and feel better reflects our high-tech Navy.”

The Navy turned 232 on October 13, 2007. Birthday messages from the Honorable Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy and Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations can be viewed at the following links:

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32524
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32488

See the Navy’s new website at http://www.navy.mil.

2Lt William A. “Billy” Duke’s crew joined the 754th Squadron just a few days before Christmas 1944. After a brief period of indoctrination, the crew began flying combat missions. Squadron records do not indicate how many missions Duke’s crew had flown prior to the February 22, 1945 mission to the Peine and Hildesheim marshalling yards. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were to face that day.

Read more on this compelling story at http://www.458bg.com/crewli41duke.htm as it tells the story of the crew and the demise of my great uncle Baldamore Garcia. It has been a pleasure finding out more, and meeting Richard Eselgroth II was a pleasant surprise. View my photo blog here: http://www.nordingarcia.com/jason/ironduke.

Also, it has been a pleasure working at TMC Pacific Modelworks as their Graphic Designer/Art Director.

A weapon systems video still photograph shows
the airstrike that occurred on September 25, 2007.

On September 25, a US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped precision munitions near Al Nussayyib, Iraq, killing three terrorists. Abu Nasr al-Tunisi and two other al-Qaida Iraq operatives were killed when two laser-guided 500-lb joint direct attack munition guided bomb unit-12 bombs fell on the terrorist safe house they were meeting in.

“Airpower is crucial to setting the conditions for stability in Iraq,” said Lieutenant General Gary L. North, commander of the Combined Air Forces component. “Airpower overhead provides capability to the fight with precision targeting, which was used on (September 25, 2007) to ensure these individuals could no longer target innocent Iraqi citizens.”

Coalition Air Forces provide close air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, theater airlift, air-to-air refueling and aeromedical evacuation, all of which are crucial for the joint force commanders, joint and combined forces, and the forces of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force operations.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon, first produced in 1976, was designed as a lightweight fighter but has evolved into a successful multirole aircraft. It is highly maneuverable and has proven its worth in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack in various missions. The USAF plans to retain it until 2025.