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NEWS | Feb. 2, 2011

This week in Air Force history

By Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs 628 Air Base Wing

Jan. 30, 1948 - Orville Wright died in Dayton, Ohio, at 76.

Jan. 31, 1956 - The 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., received the first RB-66C aircraft.

Feb. 1, 1965 - The first Minutemen II squadron, the 447th Strategic Missile Squadron, was activated at Grand Forks, N.D.

Feb. 2, 1962 - The first Air Force aircraft loss in South Vietnam occurred when a C-123 crashed while spraying defoliant on a Viet Cong ambush site. The crew of three died.

Feb. 3 1995 - U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen M. Collins becomes the first woman space shuttle pilot.

Feb. 4, 1966 - An F-111A made a high-speed, low-level test flight of 1,844 miles from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to Eglin AFB, Fla.

Feb. 5, 1974 - Lt. Col. James Rider, lightweight fighter program test director, became the first U.S. Air Force pilot to fly the F-16.