Company test pilot Ed Schoch makes the first successful unhook, free flight, and hook on in the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin parasite fighter over Muroc, Calif. Intended to be carried in the bomb bay of a B-36 for fighter support over a target, the two XF-85s built would only be flown seven times and would only make three successful in-flight hook ups. The project would be abandoned in early 1949 when air refueling proves more practical.
The Air Force F-117A Nighthawk—America’s first stealth fighter—will soon go on display among other iconic aircraft at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's Udva-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.
