Seventeen Republic F-84G Thunderjets, refueling from Boeing KC-97s, fly nonstop 4,485 miles from Turner Air Force Base, Ga., to RAF Lakenheath, UK. Seven others fly from Turner to Nouasseur Air Base, French Morocco.
The flight to Lakenheath is, up to this point, the longest mass movement of fighter-bombers in history and the greatest distance ever flown by single engine jet fighters. The operation, dubbed “Longstride,” earns the 40th Air Division the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.
