Robert G. Ferry, 85, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew a record-setting nonstop solo helicopter flight from California to Florida in 1966, died Jan. 15 of natural causes at his home in Lake San Marcos, Calif. The Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 9 that Ferry, born in Minneapolis, flew 90 helicopter missions during the Korean War and then was a test pilot at Edwards AFB, Calif., from 1954 to 1960. He joined Hughes Aircraft in 1964 and worked there for 18 years as chief test pilot. In April 1966, he made his record 2,213-mile flight in a Hughes YOH-6A light observation helicopter from Culver City, Calif., to Ormond Beach, Fla., in 15 hours and eight minutes, without refueling. This record still stands, according to the Times.
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…