Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • AAF to England

    Because of severe shortages of planes, personnel, supplies and equipment, the Army Air Forces was not able to send any units to England immediately. The first contingent of 1,800 personnel sailed from Boston for Liverpool on April 27, 1942. The first airplanes, 18 B-17s, left the United States on

  • Allied Counteroffensive

    In the spring of 1944, the Japanese began a series of successful offensives and by year's end had driven the 14th Air Force from many of its forward bases and had established a continuous line of communications from French Indo-China to North China. During the offensive, however, 14th Air Force

  • Air Force Association Lifetime Achievement Award

    The Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the Air Force Association, recognizes not a single achievement, but a lifetime of work in the advancement of aerospace. In September 2009, the AFA presented this award to the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders.Click here to return to the Doolittle Raid Overview. 

  • A Raider's Toast: The Doolittle Raiders' Goblets

     These 80 silver goblets commemorate the 80 men who flew the Doolittle Raid against Japan in April 1942. Over the years, these goblets have taken a highly symbolic place in the history of military aviation.In December 1946 Gen. James "Jimmy" Doolittle and his fellow Raiders gathered to celebrate his

  • America Hits Back: The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders

    In the spring of 1942, America's morale slumped from numerous Japanese successes, and the country desperately needed a victory. Capt. Francis S. Low, a U.S. Navy submariner, suggested an attack against the heart of Japan using U.S. Army Air Forces medium bombers flown from a U.S. Navy aircraft

  • America's Top Two Aces

     The Pacific Theater of Operations produced the two highest scoring aces in American history, Maj. Richard I. Bong and Maj. Thomas B. McGuire Jr. Both men flew P-38 Lightnings in the Southwest Pacific, and each received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his courage and accomplishments. Maj.

  • Aleutian Campaign

    As a diversionary move in conjunction with their strike against Midway, the Japanese in June 1942 bombed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Island chain and landed troops on Kiska and Attu islands. Here the Japanese remained, primarily in a defensive situation, to prevent any movement by American forces

  • AN-M26 Parachute Flares

    Note:  This item has temporarily been removed from display.Parachute flares provided illumination for night photo or observation missions. A fuze ignited the flare, and a parachute retarded its fall while it burned for about three minutes with a yellowish light of about 800,000 candlepower.Click

  • Allison V-1710-85 & Drive Train for P-39Q

    In the aircraft designer's search for better streamlining and higher speed, some aircraft were designed with the large and heavy engine mounted amidships and the propeller driven by an extension shaft that passed between the pilot's feet. This permitted the nose contours of the fuselage to be shaped

  • Allison V-1710

    The V-1710 engine was the product of an extensive Army program to develop a high-power, liquid-cooled engine. Derived from a model designed in 1930 for airship use, the V-1710 was first used by the Air Corps in 1932. Rated at 1,000 hp, it was installed in the Consolidated XA-11A, an experimental