B-1B Upgrade

A pod positioned under the fuselage of a B-1B bomber was the part of the focus of a test conducted Nov. 15 by the 419th Flight Test Squadron and Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force and the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Dyess AFB, Texas. The test completed the Laptop Controlled Targeting Pod Phase II upgrade to the B-1. The upgrade gives the aircraft new capabilities including a reduced timeline to find and strike moving targets in close air support of ground troops. (U.S Air Force photo by Kate Blais)

Amazing Sky

Maj. Robert Ungerman, 416th Flight Test Squadron, on approach at Edwards AFB, CA. December 20. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Christian Turner)

Jack Woolams establishes an altitude record

Bell Aircraft Corporation test pilot Jack Woolams, standing, established an unofficial U.S. altitude record when he climbed to 47,600 feet in a prototype YP-59A Airacomet jet aircraft at Edwards AFB on December 15, 1943. (Courtesy Photo)

Unmanned

The unmanned GM A-1 Bug, which was launched from a wheeled dolly on a track laid out on the lakebed near what is now North Base and made its first successful flight on December 5, 1941. (Courtesy Photo)

The XP-59A, America’s first turbojet-powered airplane

The XP-59A, America’s first turbojet-powered airplane. On October 1, 1942, as Bell test pilot Bob Stanley completed the final series of high-speed taxi tests, the aircraft's wheels lifted off from the surface of Rogers Dry Lake and, for the first time, an American turbojet became airborne. The official first flight took place October 2. (U.S. AIr Force Photo courtesy AFFTC History Office)

60th Ann. displays

Aircraft were displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Center's 60th Anniversary celebration in Hangar 1600, Oct. 14. (Air Force photo by Edward Cannon)