Almost five years after the prototype was ordered, company test pilots Beryl A. Erickson and G.S. “Gus” Green and a crew of seven make the first flight of the mammoth Convair XB-36 prototype at Fort Worth, Tex.
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

