Company pilot Sam Shannon makes the first official flight of the Convair Model 7002, the first true delta-winged aircraft, at Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. (A short hop had been made on June 9.) (The 7002 was to be the prototype for the XF-92, but USAF canceled the design program and accepted the 7002 as the XF-92 in June 1949.) The XF-92 will prove invaluable as a test-bed for delta-wing research.
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.