The experimental-and by this time militarily obsolete-Douglas XB-19 bomber is flown for the first time by Army Air Forces Lt. Col. Stanley Umstead and Maj. Howard G. Bunker (with a crew of five) at Clover Field, Santa Monica, Calif. The XB-19, with a wingspan of 212 feet, a length of 132 feet, and a height of 42 feet is the largest aircraft built until the B-36 six years later.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.


