Operation Leader

Operation Leader was a successful air attack conducted against German shipping in the vicinity of Bodø, Norway, on 4 October 1943, during World War II. The raid was executed by aircraft flying from the United States Navy aircraft carrier , which was attached to the British Home Fleet. The American airmen located many German and Norwegian ships in this area and are believed to have destroyed five and damaged another seven. Two German aircraft searching for the Allied fleet were shot down as well. Three American aircraft were destroyed in combat during the operation and another crashed while landing.
The attack followed a two-year lull in Allied aircraft carrier operations against Norway and took the German occupation forces by surprise. The choice of target was guided by intelligence gained from decoding German radio signals and reports from Norwegian Secret Intelligence Service agents; two Norwegian airmen flew with the attack force to provide advice on the local geography. While historians have found it difficult to determine the exact number of ships sunk, Operation Leader damaged the German war effort by considerably disrupting the convoy system in the region and reducing shipments of iron ore.
Background.
During mid- to late-1943 the Home Fleet, the Royal Navy's main striking force stationed in the United Kingdom, was augmented by two forces of United States Navy warships to replace British ships dispatched to the Mediterranean and Pacific. These reinforcements were considered necessary to ensure that the fleet remained able to counter the German battle group based in Norway, which was built around the battleships "Tirpitz" and "Scharnhorst", and the heavy cruiser "Lützow".
The initial US Navy task force arrived in May, and comprised the battleships and , the heavy cruiser and five destroyers. This force came under the command of Rear Admiral Olaf M. Hustvedt and conducted patrols into the Norwegian Sea with British warships, but did not make contact with German forces. The two battleships and the destroyers were withdrawn in August, and proceeded to the Pacific.
A second task force built around the aircraft carrier replaced the two battleships in September 1943. The other elements of this force were the heavy cruisers and "Tuscaloosa", as well as five destroyers; Hustvedt remained in command. "Ranger"s air wing was made up of three squadrons: VF-41 with 27 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters, VB-41 with 27 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, and VT-41 with 18 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. Prior to "Ranger"s arrival the Home Fleet was assigned only a single aircraft carrier, the elderly , which was unavailable for operations at the time as she was undergoing a refit. "Ranger" had last seen combat against Vichy French forces while supporting the Operation Torch landings in Morocco during November 1942, and had later been used to ferry aircraft to North Africa and train aircrews off the United States east coast. On 8 September 1943 the main body of the Home Fleet, including the American task force, sortied in response to reports that "Tirpitz", "Scharnhorst" and nine destroyers had put to sea. The Allied force returned to the Home Fleet's main base at Scapa Flow the next day after it was learned that the German ships had returned to port after briefly attacking Allied positions on Spitsbergen.
On 22 September the German battle group in Norway was attacked by several British midget submarines. This raid inflicted significant damage on "Tirpitz", leaving the battleship unable to proceed to sea until repairs were complete. Once this was known to the Allies, the commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Bruce Fraser, judged that the changed balance of forces would allow his force to assume a more offensive role by attacking German shipping off Norway and restarting the Arctic Convoys to the Soviet Union.
Preparations.
Following the midget submarine operation Fraser decided to dispatch the main body of the Home Fleet to conduct an air attack against ports and German shipping in northern Norway. "Ranger" was assigned responsibility for attacking the port of Bodø, which was an important rendezvous point for German and German-controlled Norwegian shipping. Fraser also initially planned to use the aircraft carrier to attack shipping in the port of Brønnøysund, to the south of Bodø, but this element of the operation was cancelled due to unfavourable weather. The slow-moving Fairey Albacores on "Formidable" required cloud cover to operate over hostile territory. While several "Luftwaffe" (German Air Force) bases were located near Bodø, most of the aircraft previously stationed in northern Norway had been transferred elsewhere and those that remained posed little threat to the Allied fleet. In the case no shipping could be found, the American pilots were given as alternative targets Bodø Air Station, the oil depot in Bodø, and radar installations at Røst.
The Home Fleet's plans were informed by considerable intelligence on German shipping movements and forces in northern Norway. The Royal Navy's Operational Intelligence Centre collated information on these topics, and regularly provided assessments to the Home Fleet and other commands. The decision to attack the Bodø area was made on the basis of Ultra intelligence obtained by decoding German radio signals, from which the Allies learned that the ships in the region included the large oil tanker , which was carrying fuel for the German battle group at Altafjord. In addition, at the time of Operation Leader two groups of Norwegian Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) agents operated radio transmitters on the coast of Helgeland: "Crux III" on the island of Renga and "Pisces" on Lurøy. Both groups provided reports to the Allies on the weather and shipping movements in the target area in the lead-up to the attack. From 3 October onwards, "Crux III" radioed weather reports every half hour.
Attack.
The Home Fleet sailed from Scapa Flow on 2 October 1943. The British elements of the force were the battleships (Fraser's flagship) and , the light cruiser and seven destroyers. The US Navy component comprised "Ranger", "Tuscaloosa" and four destroyers. The Allied ships were not detected by German forces during their voyage north, and arrived at the flying-off position for "Ranger"s air wing approximately off Bodø shortly before dawn on 4 October.
The US Navy attack force was organised into two groups of aircraft: the Northern Attack Group, which was to strike shipping at Bodø, and the Southern Attack Group, which was to target ships near the town of Sandnessjøen nearly to the south. Both groups had one Norwegian navigator from No. 333 Squadron RAF in the lead aircraft, providing knowledge of the local geography.
The Northern Attack Group, which comprised 20 Dauntless dive bombers escorted by eight Wildcat fighters, began to take off at 6:18 am. These aircraft flew at low altitude towards Bodø until their crews sighted Myken Lighthouse, and then turned to the north and climbed as they neared the target area. Weather conditions were clear, and the air crews had good visibility. Four Dauntlesses and a pair of Wildcats were detached from the force shortly after it passed Myken Lighthouse to search for German shipping near Åmøya island. They soon sighted the German freighter , and two of the dive bombers attacked the ship. The Americans believed that "La Plata" was badly damaged, and the six aircraft rejoined the main body of the Northern Attack Group.
In the meantime the other American aircraft continued north, sighting but not attacking many small cargo ships and fishing boats. At 7:30 am they located a German convoy comprising the steamer and the tanker "Schleswig" under the escort of the minesweeper . Eight of the Dauntlesses attacked "Schleswig" and another pair targeted "Kerkplein", inflicting significant damage on both. One of the escorting Wildcats was damaged by gunfire during the attack and returned to "Ranger". "Schleswig" was beached to avoid sinking, and later salvaged and brought to Bodø for repairs. Following this engagement, the eight Dauntlesses which had yet to drop their bombs continued on to Bodø where they attacked four small German cargo ships: the ore carrier was sunk, was badly damaged, received minor damage from a near miss, and the small steamer was machine-gunned. Two of the dive bombers were shot down by anti-aircraft guns located on the shore and ships. The crew of one of the aircraft survived and were taken prisoner after ditching into the sea, but both men on the other Dauntless were killed.
The Southern Attack Group began launching from "Ranger" at 7:08 am. It was made up of ten Avenger torpedo bombers and six Wildcats. Two of the Avengers attacked the Norwegian cargo ship off the island of Løkta south of Sandnessjøen; the ship was set on fire and beached to avoid sinking. Three of the Norwegian crew members on "Topeka" were killed in the attack, along with several German soldiers manning anti-aircraft guns on board the ship. One of the attacking aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the shore with only its pilot, Lt(jg) John H. Palmer, surviving. "Topeka" was carrying a cargo of cement and timber, and had until the previous evening been sailing in an escorted German convoy. Local fishermen made their way to the burning vessel to help rescue those on board.
Following the attack on "Topeka" the American aircraft continued north, and bombed and sank the Norwegian cargo liner off Fagervika without loss of life. The crew of "Vaagan" had observed the bombing of "Topeka" and brought their unarmed ship close to shore, lowering the lifeboats in preparation for a possible attack. "Vaagan" was carrying a cargo mostly of food for civilian consumption, and the sinking led to a margarine shortage in parts of northern Norway. The force then bombed "La Plata", causing her to be beached on the island Rødøya where the ammunition on board exploded, and she burned for several days. The aircraft also bombed the Kriegsmarine troop ship (a Norwegian cargo ship requisitioned with her crew by the German occupying authorities), which had some 850 German soldiers embarked and was protected by two escorts. "Skramstad" was severely damaged and beached, burning for days. The number of casualties on board this ship are unclear, with some sources stating that 200 of the troops died while others report that only one Norwegian sailor and a few German soldiers were killed. The Norwegian resistance movement claimed after the attack that around 360 Germans had been killed in the bombing of "Skramstad", while the official German reports state that 37 soldiers died. The American aircraft also strafed the German cargo ship and attacked the ammunition barge "F231", which was hit by a bomb and beached. After all the aircraft had completed their attacks, the force returned to "Ranger" shortly before 9:00 am. As well as the four American aircraft destroyed, six suffered damage from anti-aircraft artillery.
The German response to the raid was hampered by a shortage of capacity within the local military communication network. Following the attacks, a German report described their channels of communications as "constantly noisy with interruptions" during the attack. This prevented the Germans from sending warnings once the attack had begun.
Aftermath.
At about 2 pm on 4 October, as the Home Fleet was sailing westwards, three German reconnaissance aircraft approached "Ranger". At this time two pairs of Wildcats were providing a combat air patrol over the fleet, and were guided to intercept the German aircraft by "Ranger"s fighter director. Two of the fighters shot down a Junkers Ju 88 bomber from the carrier, and the other pair downed a Heinkel He 115 float plane from "Ranger". The remaining aircraft, a Ju 88, was not sighted by the fighter pilots and managed to escape. These were the first German aircraft to have been shot down by US Navy aircraft. One of the Wildcats involved in this engagement crashed during landing, but its pilot survived. All of the elements of the Home Fleet dispatched for Operation Leader returned to Scapa Flow by 6 October.
Wartime Allied military commanders and post-war historians deemed Operation Leader a success. Rear Admiral Hustvedt believed that the best result of the attack was that it demonstrated that American and British ships could work together with "effectiveness, mutual understanding and complete cooperation". Admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger, the air commander of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet, was also pleased with the performance of the aircrews. Captain Gordon Rowe, commanding officer of "Ranger", did however point out that the Dauntless and Wildcat aircraft employed in the operation were outdated and that the US Navy "...should not ask our pilots to fight in obsolete aircraft when better types are available...". Following the operation the commander of the Southern Attack Group, Commander J. A. Ruddy, was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, while other servicemen taking part in the operation were awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. The British official historian Stephen Roskill judged that the attack was an "outstanding success", especially as it was the first combat mission for sixty percent of the aircrews involved.
Writing in 2012, historian Robert C. Stern stated that it is difficult to determine how many ships were sunk during Operation Leader as some of the vessels which were run ashore were possibly refloated and repaired. He assessed that five ships ("Cap Guir", "La Plata", "Rabat", "Skramstad" and "Vaagan") were probably destroyed, with these vessels having a total of approximately 19,000 gross register tonnage of carrying capacity. In contrast, Norwegian sources pre-dating Stern's claims by decades state that two ships ("Rabat" and "Vaagan") were sunk, and three ships ("La Plata", "Skramstad" and "Topeka") were damaged beyond repair. The German naval historian Jürgen Rohwer also lists the ships destroyed by aircraft in Operation Leader as "La Plata", "Rabat", "Skramstad", "Topeka", and "Vaagan". "Cap Guir", assessed by Stern as probably destroyed, is listed by Rohwer as having survived the damage inflicted by the American aircraft at Bodø. The ship was eventually sunk by Soviet torpedo bombers in the Baltic in April 1945. In his 1974 book "Deutschlands Handelsschiffe 1939–1945", the German maritime historian gives the same list as Rohwer for German ships destroyed in Operation Leader. Schwadtke states that "La Plata" and "Rabat" were the German vessels lost off the Bodø area on 4 October 1943, and lists "Cap Guir" as sunk in 1945.
While German and Norwegian sources mostly give the same number and names of ships destroyed in Operation Leader, English-language authors are more split in their estimates. While writers like British aviation author Christopher Chant, American military historian Eric M. Hammel, American historian James P. Levy, British military historian Chris Mann, and American aviation author Barrett Tillman, list five ships as destroyed, others like American military historians Kermit Bonner and Spencer C. Tucker write that six ships were sunk.
Stern has also written that the disruption to the convoys off Norway caused by Operation Leader would have caused even greater damage to the German war effort than the shipping losses. This is in line with a wartime assessment by the British Ministry of Economic Warfare, which estimated that the raid was the main factor responsible for a 58 percent decrease in the amount of iron ore shipped from the important northern Norwegian port of Narvik during October 1943.
Operation Leader was both the only offensive operation undertaken by the US Navy in northern European waters during World War II, and the last major American operation in this theatre of the war. "Ranger" remained with the Home Fleet until being replaced by British aircraft carriers in late November 1943, during which time she took part in a patrol of the Norwegian Sea. The carrier departed Scapa Flow on 26 November, and arrived in Boston on 6 December. "Ranger" was used to train aircrews and transport aircraft for the remainder of the war, and did not see combat again.
The German forces in Norway were taken by surprise during Operation Leader. The area had not been raided by carrier-borne aircraft for two years, leading to inadequate preparations for such an attack. Precautions against further raids were put in place, and the British carrier forces which repeatedly attacked Norway until the end of the war did not encounter any concentrations of shipping like that located by "Ranger"s airmen off Bodø. Operation Leader revealed a serious weakness in the composition of the German armed forces in occupied Norway, which were lacking sufficient numbers of combat aircraft to respond effectively to Allied attacks. Following the attack, the Germans searched the area for radio transmitters, arresting several local Norwegians and narrowly missing the agents of the "Pisces" group. The two members of the "Pisces" team were evacuated to the United Kingdom by Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat on 24 November 1943. The last SIS agents of the "Crux" group were evacuated from Renga by a No. 330 Squadron RAF Catalina on 6 June 1944, but the transmitter on the island continued sending reports to the United Kingdom for the duration of the war, manned by a local volunteer who had been trained by the agents.
The wreck of the Avenger torpedo bomber shot down in the operation was located off Fagervika with the help of local Norwegians in 1987, and partially salvaged by the Royal Norwegian Navy. The remains of two of the airmen killed in the operation were recovered from the sea. A memorial in the honour of the airmen killed in the operation was erected at the former site of a German coastal artillery position at Fagervika. The memorial was dedicated on 4 October 1987 in the presence of American diplomat Richard Norland, naval attaché Lieutenant Commander Robert B. Murrett, and relatives of one of the airmen killed in Operation Leader. Included in the memorial is one of the three propeller blades recovered from the Avenger wreck, the other two blades being displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida and at the Norwegian Home Guard base in Søvik, near Sandnessjøen, respectively. The memorial at Fagervika has been used as the site of remembrance ceremonies organized by the Norwegian Reserve Officers' Federation and with the participation of American veterans of Operation Leader.
One of the two Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers shot down in the operation was located in 1990 and partially salvaged in 1993, with its engine put on display at the Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodø. The remains of the Dauntless' two crew members, Lt(jg) Clyde A. Tucker, Jr., and his turret gunner, ARM2c Stephen D. Bakran, were recovered from the wreck and identified at the Nordland Central Hospital in Bodø. The 50th anniversary of Operation Leader on 4 October 1993 was commemorated in Norway by the issuing of a first-day cover and the unveiling of a sculpture at Bodø Airport.


909th Air Refueling Squadron

The 909th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The squadron was first activated in 1942 as the 19th Reconnaissance Squadron, but was redesignated the 409th Bombardment Squadron shortly after activation. After briefly serving as an antisubmarine unit, it participated in combat in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operations, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. After the surrender of Germany the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated.
The squadron was reactivated shortly after the end of World War II as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit, and became one of the first units of Strategic Air Command in 1946. It was inactivated later that year when its parent group was replaced by the 43d Bombardment Group.
The 909th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in 1963 at Amarillo Air Force Base, Texas. The squadron supported Strategic Air Command operations from activation and, starting in 1964, supported operations in Southeast Asia from Amarillo, March Air Force Base, California and Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. After the end of the Vietnam War, the squadron continued to support refueling and reconnaissance operations in the Pacific. In 1985 the 409th and 909th squadrons were consolidated into a single unit. The squadron also provided support for combat operations in Southwest Asia during the 1990s.
Mission.
The 909th is the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)'s "lead force" for air refueling U.S. and allied aircraft during contingencies. The squadron accomplishes aeromedical evacuations for military and civilian members, transporting patients to as far away as the United States when necessary. It also conducts Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and headquarters- and command-directed missions.
History.
World War II.
Training and initial operations.
The squadron was established as the 19th Reconnaissance Squadron in early 1942 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana as one of the original four squadrons of the 93d Bombardment Group. The squadron was formed from a cadre supplied by the 44th Bombardment Group and was equipped with Consolidated B-24D Liberators. Shortly after activation the 19th was redesignated as the 409th Bombardment Squadron. It completed its Phase I training at Barksdale. The squadron moved to Page Field, Florida, and flew antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea until the end of July. Its parent group claimed the destruction of three U-boats while stationed in Florida.
Two weeks later the squadron began to deploy to the European Theater of Operations. Its ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 31 August, arriving in Scotland on 1 September. The air echelon transferred to Grenier Field, New Hampshire, where it received new B-24Ds. It flew the first formation crossing of the Atlantic in September.
The squadron was a member of the first B-24 heavy bomber group to become part of VIII Bomber Command in England. It flew its first mission on 9 October against a steel factory at Lille. Until December, it operated primarily against submarine pens on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The squadron flew some antisubmarine patrols with RAF Coastal Command from RAF Holmsley South. Later in the month the 409th transferred some of its personnel to the 329th Bombardment Squadron, which was training for special operations.
Deployments to the Mediterranean Theater.
In early December, the air echelon of the squadron deployed to Algeria, where it was attached to XII Bomber Command. Operating with inadequate supplies under difficult conditions the squadron struck heavy blows against enemy shipping and lines of communication during its Mediterranean deployment. Tafaraoui Airfield had no hardened runways, and the first four missions had to be cancelled when heavy rains turned the airfield into a sea of mud, making it impossible to taxi. After flying one mission, the unit moved to Gambut Main, Libya, where it came under the control of IX Bomber Command. At Gambut, dust storms "played havoc" with the engines of the squadron's B-24s. The 409th flew 22 missions, attacking enemy ports and attacking Italian supply centers to support the British Eighth Army. The squadron was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation for these efforts.
The squadron returned to England in February 1943 and until June attacked engine repair facilities, power plants, harbors, and other targets in France, the Low Countries and Germany. In May the squadron was withdrawn from operations and began to train for night attacks. However, this training ended abruptly and the squadrons of the 93d group joined those of the only other B-24 group in Eighth Air Force, the 44th Bombardment Group, in flying diversionary missions, while Eighth's Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked primary targets. On 29 May the squadron was once again taken off operations and began practicing low level flights over England. Norden bombsights were removed from unit B-24s and a modified gunsight, optimized for low level attacks, replaced them. Liberators that had been modified for night operations were sent to another unit and bomb bay tanks were installed in others.
In June, the air echelon returned to Libya and initially supported Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, flying ten missions. Following this, the unit resumed low level training in Libya. On 1 August, the squadron participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the low level attack on oil refineries near Ploiești, where 60% of the Axis fuel was produced. This attack involved a round trip of over 2,000 miles. The squadron's formation followed the 376th Bombardment Group which had mistaken the Initial Point for the bomb run and flew the wrong course to the target, bombing targets that had been assigned to other groups, despite heavy opposition from enemy forces that had been fully alerted to the approach of the bombers. For this action, the squadron earned its second Distinguished Unit Citation. Before departing the Mediterranean, the squadron flew an attack against the Messerschmitt Bf 109 factory at Wiener Neustadt, stretching the range of its B-24s and requiring it to recover at bases in Tunisia, which were closer than its station in Libya.
The squadron returned to England in August, but flew only two missions before the air echelon returned to the Mediterranean to fly missions from Tunisia to support the Fifth Army at Salerno during Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy. The crews and aircraft returned to England in October.
European Theater and post war.
From England, the squadron resumed strategic bombardment raids against marshalling yards, aircraft factories, chemical plants, and oil refineries in Germany. The squadron also made tactical attacks on gun emplacements near Cherbourg during Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, in June 1944 and attacked troop concentrations during the Saint Lo breakout the following month. In August and September, its bombers were diverted to airlifting food, gasoline, water and other supplies to Allies advancing through northern France. It also dropped supplies to airborne troops engaged in Operation Market Garden airborne attacks in the Netherlands.
Near the end of the war, on 24 March 1945, the squadron dropped supplies to airborne forces near Wesel and bombed a night fighter base near Störmede during Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine. The squadron ended combat operations in April, and began returning to the United States in May and June. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary and received thirty days leave upon arrival. In July the 409th was inactivated when its parent group began conversion to Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.
The squadron was activated again at Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas in August where it began to train with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. At the end of the year the squadron moved to Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico.
In the spring of 1946 the squadron became one of the first units assigned to the new Strategic Air Command, and in June it moved to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, where it was assigned to the 444th Bombardment Group. In October, the 444th group and its squadrons were inactivated and their mission, equipment and personnel were transferred to the 43d Bombardment Group.
Air refueling operations.
The 909th Air Refueling Squadron was organized at Amarillo Air Force Base, Texas in Apr 1963. Once the squadron was combat ready in July, half of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. The squadron trained with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and conducted worldwide air refueling and participated in Strategic Air Command (SAC) directed exercises. The 909th deployed to refuel tactical units in Southeast Asia as part of Operation Young Tiger and deployed crews and planes to Spain and Alaska for support of Operation Chrome Dome airborne alert forces. The squadron also supported Operation Arc Light B-52 strikes in Southeast Asia.
The 909th maintained combat proficiency at Amarillo until June 1966, when it moved to March Air Force Base, California, where it was assigned to the 22d Bombardment Wing, which became a "super wing" with two bombardment squadrons and two air refueling squadrons assigned. From May to October 1967 the squadron was non-operational as the 22d wing was reduced to a small rear echelon non-combat organization with all its tactical resources allotted to SAC organizations involved in combat in Southeast Asia.
The unit rotated aircrews to Southeast Asia from 1967 to 1973. In 1971 SAC decided to maintain a permanent tanker presence in the Pacific and the squadron moved to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. The squadron supported the tanker task force at Kadena (Giant Bear) and reconnaissance operations (Rivet Joint and Cobra Ball). In 1991, the squadron was transferred to Pacific Air Forces and reassigned from the 376th Strategic Wing to the 18th Operations Group.
The 909th provided air refueling in Southwest Asia during Operation Desert Storm from August 1990 to March 1991. In 1996 it revisited Southwest Asia to support Operation Desert Strike, an attack against fixed surface-to-air missile sites and air defense sites in Iraq.
Expeditionary operations.
The 909th has been a major force provider for a number of operations in the Pacific area. For these operations, PACAF has activated a provisional 909th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron for the operations, using the squadron's resources. The 909th expeditionary squadron has been:
Lineage.
409th Bombardment Squadron
909th Air Refueling Squadron


List of defunct airlines of the Maldives

This is a list of defunct airlines of the Maldives.


Kiichi Hasegawa

 was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Biography.
Hasegawa was born in Saitama prefecture. He graduated from the 42nd class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1914, ranked 27th out of 117 cadets. As a midshipman, he served on the cruisers and , and the battlecruiser . After his promotion to ensign, he was assigned to the cruiser .
After attending torpedo school and naval artillery school, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and served on the battleship , cruiser and destroyer . Hasegawa was promoted to lieutenant in 1920, and attended advanced studies in torpedo warfare from 1920–1921, after which he was assigned to the cruiser .
From 1922–1923, he attended pilot training at Yokosuka and was assigned to a naval fighter squadron based at Kasumigaura. From 1924–1925, he was assigned to the seaplane carrier . Serving a number of staff assignments at the Yokosuka Naval District and Naval Air Command from 1925–1932, he was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1926 and to commander in 1931. In 1933, he was sent as a naval attaché to the United States and Europe. On his return, he became the executive officer on the aircraft carrier . Promoted to captain in 1936, he was subsequently assigned command of a number of fighter squadrons until given command of "Ryūjō" in 1939.
On 25 March 1941, he took command of the aircraft carrier , which became flagship for Admiral Chuichi Nagumo during the attack on Pearl Harbor. While on "Akagi", Hasegawa participated in the invasion of Rabaul in January 1942, the air strikes against Darwin, Australia in February, the invasion of Java in the Dutch East Indies in March, and the Indian Ocean raid in April. Just prior to the sortie of "Akagi" and Kido Butai for the Battle of Midway, he yielded his command to Captain Taijiro Aoki. Hasegawa was promoted to rear admiral on 1 November 1942.
After participating in many carrier battles in the Pacific War Hasegawa was killed in action on 29 March 1944. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of vice admiral.


The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (2003 video game)

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a 3D shooting game based on the animated science fiction series of the same name and released in October 2003 in Japan for the PlayStation 2 console.
Production.
The game was produced by Bandai and created by the Sega AM2 team that programmed Aero Dancing. The game features a blend of arcade shooting and aerial combat similar to the Ace Combat series.
Gameplay.
In the game players play through the events of either the television animated series or the movie. In the longer yet less difficult TV series version of events, players take the pilot role of Skull Seven (スカル７番機 "Sukaru Nanabanki") who is then promoted to command of the Purple Team as Purple Leader. In the shorter yet more difficult movie route, the character is referred to as Skull Seven (スカル・セブン "Sukaru Sebun") and later on as Apollo Leader.
In both versions, the player's wingmen are two original characters named "Eddie Juutilainen" and "Bruce Rudel". In addition, another original character called "Emma Granger" acts as the team's tactical officer from aboard the bridge of the SDF-1 Macross.
The player's character in the game is unnamed. This character never utters a word and his face is never seen during any of both the TV and movie paths of the entire game.
Other differences between routes include the armament of the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighters (the later upgrades used in the movie route are more well equipped), boss fights (the only constant is a duel with Milia, a Zentradi/Meltrandi ace pilot), and the song that pop idol Lynn Minmay sings during the final battle.
In the course of the game, players will occasionally encounter characters from the series, such as receiving briefings from Roy Focker or duelling with Quamzin Kravshera.


Eglin Field


Fleet Air Force (JMSDF)

In the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), the Fleet Air Force () is its naval aviation branch, responsible for both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft and headquartered in Naval Air Facility Atsugi. As of 2012, it was equipped with over 200 fixed-wing aircraft and 150 helicopters. These aircraft operate from bases throughout Japan, as well as from the JMSDF's ships.
History.
The JMSDF's first aircraft were 16 Lockheed P2V Neptune maritime patrol aircraft, which were provided to the force by the United States Navy in 1956. The US Navy also provided Japan with 60 Grumman S-2 Trackers from 1957. During the 1980s, the JMSDFs force of 82 Neptunes (most of which were the locally built Kawasaki P-2J variant) was replaced by about 100 Lockheed P-3 Orions. The JMSDF's first combat helicopters were the Mitsubishi HSS-2 (the Japanese variant of the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King). These helicopters were replaced by SH-60Js during the 1990s.
The JMSDF is the only force to operate minesweeping helicopters other than the US Navy. The first helicopters used for this purpose were eight V-107As. These helicopters were replaced by eleven MH-53Es during the 1990s. Seven MCH-101 helicopters have been ordered to replace the MH-53Es, of which five had been delivered by mid-2012.
The Diet of Japan approved the modification of the ships of the "Izumo-class" to operate STOVL aircraft and in 2019 ordered 42 STOVL Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs.The US Marine Corps will at first operate in cooperation their own F-35Bs to build up a Japanese capability to operate this type. The Asahi Shimbun quotes Japan’s Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya “The Izumo-class aircraft carrier role is to strengthen the air defense in the Pacific Ocean and to ensure the safety of the Self-Defense Force pilots.” He also states, “There may be no runway available for the US aircraft in an emergency. I cannot say that the US F-35B should never be placed on an [JMSDF] escort vessel.” The current plan is for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to operate the aircraft once delivered.
Equipment.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force aviation maintains a large naval air force, including 201 fixed-wing aircraft and 145 helicopters. Most of these aircraft are used in anti-submarine warfare operations.
Current organization.
The organization of the JMSDF's aviation units is based on that of the US Navy. The main organizational units are "Koku Shudan" (air groups), "Kokugun" (air wings), "Kōkūtai" (air squadrons) and "Hikōtai" (flights).
As at mid-2012, the structure of the JMSDF's aviation units was as follows:
Fleet Air Force (Atsugi Air Base)
"Units attached to Naval District destroyer fleets"
Air Training Command


List of Croatia Airlines destinations

Croatia Airlines currently flies to 27 destinations in 23 countries (). Croatia Airlines originally started with a domestic route network, flying from Zagreb to Split in 1991. In 1992, the airline started international service flying MD-82s to Frankfurt.
The Zagreb-Sarajevo route began in 1996 and was the first civil air route flown out of Sarajevo since the beginning of the Bosnian War.


Neil Wheeler

Air Chief Marshal Sir Henry Neil George Wheeler, (8 July 1917 – 9 January 2009) was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer.
Military career.
Educated St Helen's College in Southsea and the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Wheeler was commissioned into the RAF in 1935. He served with Bomber Command from 1937 and then spent part of the Second World War as Officer Commanding No. 236 Squadron in Fighter Command before going to the RAF Staff College and US Army Staff College in 1943.
After the war he joined the Directing Staff at the RAF Staff College and then transferred to the Far East Air Force in 1947. He was posted to the Directing Staff at the Joint Services Staff College in 1949 and to Bomber Command in 1951 before going to the Air Ministry in 1953. He was appointed Assistant Commandant at the RAF College in 1957 and Officer Commanding RAF Laarbruch in 1959. He attended the Imperial Defence College in 1961 and then served in the Ministry of Defence from 1961. He became Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Germany (2 Tactical Air Force) in 1963 and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1966. He was made Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1967 and Commander of the Far East Air Force in 1969. He was Air Member for Supply and Organisation at the Ministry of Defence from 1970 and then Controller of Aircraft at the Procurement Executive from 1973.
In retirement he became a Director of Rolls Royce Limited.
Family.
In 1942 he married Elizabeth Weightman and then went on to have two sons and a daughter. He was the younger brother of Major General Norman Wheeler, and uncle of General Sir Roger Wheeler.


RCAF Resolution Island


Qaanaaq Airport

Qaanaaq Airport () is an airport located northwest of Qaanaaq, a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northern Greenland. It was established in 1991 to serve Qaanaaq and neighboring communities because Thule Air Base in Pituffik is not open for regular passenger traffic. It is the only civilian airport north of Upernavik and is a lifeline for northern Greenland. Fresh food and other consumer products are transported by air.
Airlines and destinations.
Air Greenland operates government contract flights to villages in the Qaanaaq region. These mostly cargo flights are not featured in the timetable, although they can be pre-booked. Departure times for these flights as specified during booking are by definition approximate, with the settlement service optimized on the fly depending on local demand for a given day.
Travel from south Greenland to Qaanaaq include plane changes at Ilulissat and Upernavik. Travel from other countries include plane changes in Copenhagen, Kangerlussuaq, Ilulissat and Upernavik, or Reykjavik, Ilulissat and Upernavik.
Transfers at Thule Air Base.
Travellers bound for Thule Air Base in Pituffik are required to apply for transfer permit from either Rigsombudsmanden in Nuuk (residents of Greenland), or the Danish Foreign Ministry (all others). Failure to present the permit during check-in results in denial of boarding. The same rules apply for transfers at Pituffik, including a stopover on the way from Qaanaaq to Savissivik. Travel from Upernavik (with connections from southwest Greenland) to Qaanaaq is not influenced.


Rance Howard

Rance Howard (born Harold Rance Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who starred in film and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of the actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard.
Howard appeared in many notable films such as "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Chinatown" (1974), "Splash" (1984), "Ed Wood" (1994), "Apollo 13" (1995), "Independence Day" (1996), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), "Cinderella Man" (2005), "Frost/Nixon" (2008), "Nebraska" (2013), and "Max Rose" (2016). For co-producing the television film "The Time Crystal" (1981), he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.
Early life.
Howard was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt in Newkirk, Kay County, Oklahoma, the son of Ethel Cleo (née Tomlin) and Engel Beckenholdt, a farmer. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. Howard studied at the University of Oklahoma.
Career.
His professional acting career began in 1948 when he went to New York City, auditioned and landed a job in a children's touring company. The role that got him noticed nationally for television and film was playing the part of Lindstrom in the touring company of the play "Mister Roberts" with Henry Fonda in 1950, portraying the character for about a year-and-a-half in major cities across the U.S.
Both Rance and elder son Ron, who was two at the time, made their feature film debuts together in the 1956 western "Frontier Woman". Later in the 1950s, Rance's roles included his TV debut in the series "Kraft Theatre", on which he appeared three times in 1956–57.
After son Ron went on to play Opie in "The Andy Griffith Show" in the early 1960s, Rance had guest parts in five episodes of the show. Howard was known best for his role on television in 25 episodes of the 1960s TV series "Gentle Ben" starring his younger son, Clint. Howard played Henry Boomhauer, a backwoodsman who befriended the family. Another well-known TV role was on "Babylon 5", in which he had a recurring role as David Sheridan, the father of Babylon 5 captain John Sheridan. He also starred in the short-lived 2000 TV series "Driving Me Crazy". His television guest appearances include "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", "Kung Fu", "The Waltons", "CBS Schoolbreak Special" 1986 episode "The Drug Knot", "Angel", "7th Heaven", "Cold Case", "That's So Raven", and two appearances on "Seinfeld" (as different characters). On "The Waltons", Howard portrayed Dr. McIver in five different episodes, one of which included Ron.
Howard appeared in over 100 films, including the 1967 movie "Cool Hand Luke", "The Music Man" (in an uncredited bit part playing "Oscar Jackson"), and many other films. Howard acted in many of his son Ron's films including "Splash", "Cocoon", "Apollo 13", "A Beautiful Mind", "Cinderella Man" and "Frost/Nixon". He also appeared as Dottie and Kit's father in "A League of Their Own". In 2013, he played Woody Grant's brother in "Nebraska". He often took parts as a priest or minister, county sheriff, or western marshal, and made numerous appearances in films by Joe Dante.
His final film role, completed in September 2017, is also the largest in his career. He plays the role of Carl Robbins in the Michael Worth road-trip drama, Apple Seed, playing on film for the first time the father of his real-life son Clint Howard.
Personal life.
Howard married actress Jean Speegle Howard in Burbank, California, in 1949. They remained married until her death, in September 2000. Their sons are actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard. He was also the grandfather of actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard. His son Ron was born while he served three years in the United States Air Force.
In 2001, Howard married Judy Howard, a year after his first wife's death. Judy Howard died in January 2017 in Burbank, ten months before Rance's death.
Death.
Howard died on the morning of November 25, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, eight days after his 89th birthday, from heart failure spurred on by a West Nile virus infection.


List of airlines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This is a list of airlines that have an air operator's certificate issued by the national aviation authority of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Autorité de l'Aviation Civile.
Defunct airlines.
This is a list of now defunct airlines from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


William Theak

Air Vice Marshal William Edward Theak, (1898 – 28 January 1955) was a First World War pilot in the Royal Flying Corps and a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and the post war decade.
In 1940, Theak was appointed as the Chief Signals Officer at the Headquarters of Bomber Command. In February 1944, he was promoted to air vice marshal and given command of No. 60 (Signals) Group.
After the War Theak was made the Director-General of Signals at the Air Ministry. In 1949 he took up post as the Air Officer Administration at the Headquarters of the Middle East Air Force. In 1951 he returned to Great Britain to serve as Air Officer Commanding No. 90 (Signals) Group. He retired in March 1954 and died the following year.


LANPASS


List of aircraft propeller manufacturers

This is a list of aircraft propeller manufacturers both past and present:


List of United Express destinations

This is a list of United Express destinations by carrier.
Operated by GoJet Airlines.
GoJet flies to over 80 destinations within the U.S. and Canada, operating both for United Express and Delta Connection. Below are the destinations for its United Express flights, per a 2017 route map.
Operated by Mesa Airlines.
Mesa operates for United Express and American Eagle; below are the United Express destinations (as far as can be discerned from 2016 company route map) – some routes may only be seasonal.
Operated by Republic Airways.
Republic operates for United Express, American Eagle and Delta Connection; below are the United Express destinations
Operated by SkyWest Airlines.
SkyWest operates for United Express, American Eagle, Delta Connection and Alaska SkyWest; below are the United Express destinations.


General Ulpiano Paez Airport

General Ulpiano Paez Airport is a public/military joint-use airport serving the coastal city of Salinas, in the Santa Elena Province of Ecuador. The city and airport are on a peninsula extending into the Pacific Ocean.
The Salinas non-directional beacon (Ident: SLS) and VOR-DME (Ident: SAV) are located on the field.
History.
During World War II the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force defending the South American coastline and the Panama Canal against Japanese submarines. Flying units assigned to the airfield were:


CFB Valcartier

Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), now re-designated 2 Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, north northwest of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The 2nd Canadian Division is stationed at the base, comprising the 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and the 2nd Canadian Division Support Group.
Origins.
CFB Valcartier was originally erected as a military training camp in August 1914 as part of the mobilization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the onset of World War I.
Inaugurated by Jean Chrétien, then Prime Minister of Canada, in 1995, a high bronze figure of a World War I soldier (1995) by André Gauthier at the entrance to CFB Valcartier commemorates the training of Canadian Army volunteers for the European battlefields in World War I.
The site was also used as an internment camp for "enemy aliens", mainly eastern Europeans. The name Valcartier comes from the town of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, of which a large section was expropriated in order to create the military training camp. Due to its proximity to the Port of Quebec, Valcartier became the largest military camp on Canadian soil, including some 32,000 men and 8,000 horses.
In 1968, after the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, the title 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group was assigned to the brigade group established in CFB Valcartier.
Geography.
The base is and is located in the Quebec City region, of Quebec, Canada.
Military presence.
Currently, Valcartier is home to 2nd Canadian Division. The division has two formations: 2nd Canadian Division Support Group (2 Cdn Div SG) and 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (5 CMBG).
The following units are stationed at Valcartier. Included are affiliated units and other units that are not directly part of 2nd Canadian Division:
The base also houses 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, CI SQFT (Land Force Quebec Area Training Centre), in addition to providing training facilities for most Quebec-based reserve units. The Myriam Bédard Biathlon Training Centre is also located on the base.
CFB Valcartier is also home to a Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) location, which conducts military research for the Canadian Armed Forces.
Cadets.
ASU Valcartier is also the home of the Army Cadet Summer Training Centre Valcartier, which trains Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, Royal Canadian Army Cadets and Royal Canadian Air Cadets of the Eastern Region / Province of Quebec.
In July 1974, an explosives safety training accident involving "D" Company killed six cadets and injured over 50. A coroner's inquiry found the instructor criminally responsible.
The various summer training courses offered at Valcartier Cadet Training Centre are the following:
Command team.
Colonel Stéphane Boucher is commander, and chief warrant officer Dominic Gaudreau is sergeant major.
100th Anniversary.
In 2014, CFB Valcartier celebrated its 100th anniversary. David Johnston, then Governor General of Canada, offered a message about the role the base and its soldiers who have played in the history of Canada. Prime minister Stephen Harper also thanked the soldiers.
CFB Valcartier newspaper.
"Adsum" is a bi-monthly newspaper (22 copy / year) for CFB Valcartier and the military community in the Quebec eastern area. The newspaper was created in 1972. It publishes 4,200 copies. The readers of the newspaper are mostly the military (active and retired) and civilians working at CFB Valcartier. The newspaper team also publishes the "Military Community Guidebook - Quebec Region" annually.
Saint Jeanne d’Arc Chapel.
The Military Ordinariate of Canada integrated a chapel which is situated at CFB Valcartier. The chapel is named Saint Jeanne d’Arc Chapel. This service is for all military persons of CFB Valcartier. The Chapel Life Coordinator is Captain Titus Ndala.
Military Cemetery.
CFB Valcartier Military Cemetery, opened to serve the camp in 1914, contains the graves of nine Canadian Army personnel, six from World War I and three from World War II, registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Contaminated water.
In 1997, a cancer-causing chemical, trichloroethylene, was found in the water supply of CFB Valcartier and the nearby town of Shannon, Quebec. Trichloroethylene, which has been linked to liver cancer, was used for degreasing metal parts at the base for decades. The Shannon Citizens Committee (Regroupement des Citoyens de Shannon) has launched a class-action lawsuit against the Department of National Defence in 2003.


Taftanaz Military Airbase

Taftanaz Air Base is an airbase located south of Taftanaz, Idlib Governorate and east of Ta'um, Idlib Governorate, Syria.
Taftanaz was home to two squadrons of Mil-8/17 Hip helicopters until its capture by the Syrian Opposition.
Led by jihadist fighters from the Al-Nusra Front and an Ahrar ash-Sham battalion, Syrian rebels overran Taftanaz during the second week of January 2013.
On 6 February 2020, the Turkish Armed Forces constructed a military installation on the premises of the airbase, as Syrian Government forces advanced toward it during the 2020 Northwestern Syria offensive. It was targeted with airstrikes by the Syrian Air Force just hours after being constructed.
On 2 March 2020, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a Syrian Government attack on Taftanaz Airport leaving one Turkish soldier dead and three wounded.


Operation White

Operation White was a British attempt to deliver 14 aircraft—12 Hawker Hurricane fighters and two Blackburn Skua dive bombers—to Malta from the aircraft carrier , on 17 November 1940. The operation was thwarted by the presence of the Italian Fleet at sea, which prompted a premature take-off of the fighters, and bad weather, with the result that only five aircraft reached Malta. White was one of several so-called "Club Runs" that supplied short-range fighters for the defence of Malta.
Previous missions.
After the entry of Italy in the Second World War, British authorities designed a formal system of aircraft reinforcement to Malta, in order to build up a credible air defence and replace potential losses. Only two possible routes remained open after the fall of France: the most obvious, via North Africa, by shuttling the fighters through the Sahara or the Suez Canal to Egypt, and its alternative, by delivering them by carrier from the western Mediterranean.
The first unit to be transferred by carrier was 418 Flight, a group composed by Navy and RAF pilots specially trained for deck operations. They accomplished a successful mission on 2 August 1940 from the old carrier HMS "Argus", escorted by the fleet carrier , three battleships, two cruisers and 10 destroyers. Three Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 medium bombers attacked the convoy, but a group of Skuas from "Ark Royal" shot down one of the SM.79s and repulsed the surviving two.
All the British fighters reached the airstrip of Luqa at Malta, although two planes crash-landed. The first engagement of the new arrived aircraft took place on the night of 13 August, when they shot down another SM.79. By 16 August 418 Flight and the original Malta units were merged into 261 Squadron.
First moves.
Following this success, both the Navy and the RAF were encouraged to repeat the mission in November. Again, the aircraft were to be delivered by HMS "Argus", escorted by the battlecruiser , the carrier HMS "Ark Royal", the cruisers and and seven destroyers. The convoy—under the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville—departed from Gibraltar at dawn on 15 November. The Italian naval headquarters ("Supermarina"), was informed of the ongoing operation four hours later.
A fleet commanded by Admiral Inigo Campioni sailed out from Naples and Messina, and by the morning of 17 November the battleships and , along with two heavy cruisers and several destroyers were waiting southwest of Sardinia. Earlier the same day, a report was passed to Somerville about the deployment of the Italian fleet south of Naples, with the apparent intention of intercepting the British squadron. He then decided to launch the fighters as soon as possible.
Delivery.
The British convoy was west of Malta when the first wave of fighters took off from "Argus" at 06:15. Given the correct speed and the best cruise-range, the Hurricanes would have been left with just 45 minutes of fuel after reaching the coast of the island. But they lost a third of this reserve while scrambling and forming up. The fighters flew at at a height of , far from the ideal height and speed intended for their best range.
The second wave was launched an hour later, as the convoy turned back at full speed. The wind backed from southwest to southeast, hampering the eastward path of the aircraft. Near the Galite Islands, a Short Sunderland flying boat met them to lead the formation to Malta. Two Hurricanes were lost after running out of fuel at 09:08 and 09:12. One of the pilots was rescued by the Sunderland, the other was never found. Eventually, the four remaining Hurricanes and the Skua landed at Luqa at 09:20.
The second wave missed the Sunderland's assistance when the flying boat failed to take off from Gibraltar to escort them. They also missed the Galite Islands and a bomber sent from Malta to replace the Sunderland. One by one, the Hurricanes ran out of fuel and ditched in the sea, with the loss in all cases of both pilots and aircraft. One Skua managed to crash-land near Syracuse, Sicily, just before its fuel tanks became empty, and after being fired upon by an anti-aircraft artillery unit of the Italian army. The two-man crew was taken prisoner.
Aftermath.
Admiral Somerville privately assessed the operation "a frightful failure." The official inquiry put the blame on the Skua crew, but it was agreed that poor weather, lack of cooperation between the Navy and the RAF and the fleet's reluctance to take risks were the real cause of the fiasco. The loss of experienced fighter pilots was particularly painful. Nevertheless, the most successful aces survived the ordeal, some of them being veterans of the Battle of Britain.


Operation Grog

Operation Grog was the name assigned to the British naval and air bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia on 9 February 1941, by a fleet consisting of , , and , screened by ten fleet destroyers including , , , , and .
Events.
The operation was originally scheduled to start on 31 January 1941, but the ships didn't leave Gibraltar until 6 February.
Four destroyers carried out an anti-submarine sweep while the heavy ships carried out a feint to deceive Italian and German observers into thinking they were supporting a convoy.
Genoa harbour was bombarded on 9 February, with the force sinking four cargo ships and damaging 18. A majority of Italian sources only reported heavy damage on the merchant ships "Salpi" and "Garibaldi" and the sinking of the old civilian training ship "Garaventa". Author Ermingo Bagnasco also reports the loss of fourteen lighters and the motor sailor "Antonietta Madre". According to the official files of the Italian Marina Militare, the "Antonietta Madre" was sunk during the Allied bombing of Genoa on 23 October 1942.
A salvo from HMS "Malaya" landed between 200 and 50 yards short of the battleship "Caio Duilio", undergoing repairs in dry dock north of Molo Giano; no damage was reported on the Italian battleship. A targeting error by a gunnery officer on board HMS "Malaya" some thirteen miles offshore caused an armour-piercing round to hit Genoa Cathedral; the shell failed to explode and remains on display there.
"Ark Royal"s aircraft attacked Livorno and mined La Spezia.
An attempt by the Italian fleet to intercept the British force failed, and all ships returned to Gibraltar on 11 February.
There were 144 civilian dead and 272 wounded at Genoa as result of the shelling.


Havre de Grace Seaplane Base

Havre de Grace Seaplane Base is a privately owned, public-use seaplane base located one nautical mile (2 km) east of the central business district of Havre de Grace, a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay.
Facilities and aircraft.
The publicly-used Seaplane Base is located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on the Susquehanna River. Pilots land aircraft on the water then taxi to the loading dock. The floating airport includes a docking and storage facility for aircraft, similar to a land-based terminal.
Havre de Grace Seaplane Base covers an area of and has two seaplane landing areas designated N/S and E/W, each measuring 8,000 x 200 ft (2,438 x 61 m). For the 12-month period ending March 19, 2007, the airport had 240 general aviation aircraft operations.


Warkworth Aerodrome

Warkworth Aerodrome is an aerodrome constructed in 1942 by the Royal Australian Air Force as a satellite aerodrome north of Warkworth, New South Wales, Australia during World War II.
The runway ran south west to north east and was long x wide. The aerodrome was used as a dispersal satellite field for RAAF Station Bulga near Singleton.
The aerodrome is currently the home of the Hunter Valley Gliding Club Co-Op.


Hernando Village Airpark

Hernando Village Airpark is a privately owned, public use airport in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Hernando, Mississippi. The airport is part of the Green Village Residential Airpark in Hernando.
History.
Hernando Village Airpark opened in 1988 by Diane and Bill Hawks of Mississippi. Their plan was to have a fly-in community, and, along with it, a place where pilots could taxi in along the grass strip runway and park their planes in a hangar on their own property. Two years later, they developed Green Village Residential Airpark by selling lots on of their land just east of the airport in Hernando. The project encompasses a total of with the airport and subdivision as of 1998.
Facilities and aircraft.
Hernando Village Airpark, Inc Airport covers an area of 40 acres (16 ha) at an elevation of 242 feet (74 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 14/32 with a turf surface measuring 3,340 by 65 feet (1,018 x 20 m).
The Avgas and tie-down spaces are administered by the owner of Hernando Village Airpark.
For the 12-month period ending October 2, 2012, the airport had 2,970 aircraft operations, an average of 247 per month: 98% general aviation and 2% military. At that time there were 12 aircraft based at this airport: 92% single-engine and 8% multi-engine.
External links.
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Pam Beggs

Pamela Anne Beggs (née Austin; born 23 May 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1993, representing the seat of Whitford.
Beggs was born in Inverell, a country town in northern New South Wales, and raised in country Western Australia, attending primary school in Greenbushes and high school in Bridgetown and Bunbury. After leaving school, she served in the Women's Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) for a period, and subsequently worked as a dietician and as a laboratory assistant. After her marriage in 1972, she and her husband operated a roadhouse near Geraldton for a period, later moving to the northern suburbs of Perth. Beggs joined the Labor Party in 1977, and at the 1983 state election was preselected for the seat of Whitford. She won the contest with 57.7 percent of the vote, as Labor (led by Brian Burke) won in a landslide.
Following the 1986 election, where she increased her majority, Beggs was appointed to the Burke ministry as Minister for Tourism and Minister for Racing and Gaming. She and Kay Hallahan became the first women to serve as ministers in a Labor government. When Burke retired in 1988, Beggs retained her portfolios in the new ministry led by Peter Dowding, and was additionally made Minister for Housing. In a reshuffle in February 1989, she was kept on as Minister for Housing and also made Minister for Planning, but lost her other portfolios. When Carmen Lawrence became premier in February 1990, Beggs was made Minister for Transport in the Lawrence ministry, and also regained two of her previous titles (becoming Minister for Tourism and Minister for Racing and Gaming for a second time). However, at the 1993 state election, she was defeated in Whitford by the Liberal candidate, Rob Johnson, bringing her career in politics to an end. The Lawrence government was also defeated.


Ramphos Trident

The Ramphos Trident is an Italian amphibious ultralight trike, designed and produced by Ramphos of Fontanafredda. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.
Design and development.
The Trident was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, including the category's maximum gross weight of . The Trident features a strut-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit with a rigid boat hull, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.
The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its double surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth and its boat hull made from either fibreglass or carbon fibre and Kevlar. Its span Hazard wing has struts and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. The powerplant is a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition Rotax 582 engine or a four-cylinder, air and liquid-cooled, four-stroke, dual-ignition Rotax 912UL engine or a converted Smart Car four stroke turbocharged engine. All engines are fitted with a clutch that stops the propeller from turning when the engine is at idle to permit water handling. The boat hull features a water rudder.
Starting in 2005 the frame and wing portion of the aircraft was taken from the Skyrider Sonic ultralight trike, built by Skyrider Flugschule.


Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter


List of Iranian Air Force bases

This page lists bases and airports operated or used by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). Categories include: (1) "Tactical Air Bases" (TAB), the 17 major IRIAF operational air bases, (2) "Other Military Aviation Installations" and joint civil/military, installations without TAB designation numbers, and (3) "Civil Airports", facilities under civil authority that sources indicate to be of strategic importance to the IRIAF for contingency scenarios, etc.
Former military aviation installations.
converted into VELAYAT park


List of Chengdu J-7 variants

This is a list of variants and specifications for variants of the Chengdu J-7, which differed considerably between models in its 48 years of production run. Production ceased after delivering of 16 F-7BGI to Bangladesh Air Force in 2013.
Development.
Production of Chengdu J-7 lasted nearly half a century, beginning in November 1964 when Shenyang Aircraft Factory (SAC) started components manufacturing for J-7, and eventually ended in May 2013 when production finally ceased. State certification of the first J-7 for series production was received on December 28, 1966, after Cultural Revolution started, and as a result of the political turmoil caused, early production J-7s suffered quality issues that lasted into the 1980s, well after the end of the Cultural Revolution. More than 2400 have been built in approximately seven and half a dozen different models of J-7 listed below.
Type 1962/62 series.
Due to Sino-Soviet split, MiG-21 were not used in China, and referred as Type 1962 instead. Designation Type 62 is subsequently used to refer to those Chinese license assembled MiG-21F-13 from kit provided by former-USSR.
J-7 series.
J-7 series were the first group of J-7 produced. MiG-21F-13 directly imported from former USSR were the earlier production batches of MiG-21, but the kits for license assembly in China were later production batches with numerous improvement. Decision was made to reverse engineer to the standard of the latest production batch. Coupled with the inability of Chinese aerospace industry to produce some of the components, design went through four major changes. The initial production of J-7 was serious affected by the political turmoil at the time, namely, Cultural Revolution, which delayed the planned production run. Due to the urgent need of the fighter, original plans of some early models had to be scaled back to less ambitious scale by producing what could be done at the time, and then make improvement later when technologies matured.
J-7I series.
J-7I is the improvement of earlier J-7, with production started in March 1969 after the order was formally given on August 25, 1968. However, the original goal proved to be too ambitious for Chinese aerospace industry at the time, especially during the political turmoil of Cultural Revolution. The program only succeeded after Tu Jida obtained the permission to drastically reduce the originally planned six major upgrades by half to merely three, when he was named as general designer at the end of 1969 to resolve the production problems and quality issues. Mr. Tu would later become the general designer of many more different models of J-7.
J-7II series.
J-7II is series is the one with the second most numerous models within the series. The general designer of most models of the J-7II series is the same one of J-7I, Tu Jida.
J/F-7M Air Guard series.
J/F-7M Air Guard series is the one with the most numerous models within the series. Originally intended for domestic use but the plan was cancelled after the budget was cut, the series became a major export success, and received the name Air Guard. Most models of the series are equipped with British avionics, which are later produced in China as part of the technology transfer deal. The general designer of most models of within the series is the same one of J-7I & J-7II, Tu Jida. Due to the need to meet the urgent delivery schedule of the first customer, it was decided to take a multipronged approach to speed up the development: Several different kinds of prototypes were developed to test different subsystems of the aircraft. Program first initiated at the end 1978 and negotiation begun on March 3, 1979. After 10 rounds of negotiation that lasted 16 months, deal was signed on June 30, 1980, which included technology transfer. The entire J-/F-7M Air Guard program took six years to complete, and various models produced are listed below:
F-7MP/P Sky Bolt series.
Pakistan did not purchase any F-7M and later returned all 20 F-7Ms to China after evaluation to require China to provide a better fighter, which eventually resulted in F-7MP/P Sky Bolt series (PAF does not distinguish the two types from each other after F-7MP is upgraded to F-7P, and refer both as Sky Bolt). Evaluation by PAF has led to the conclusion that with the exception of range, F-7 Sky Bolt series outperforms Dassault Mirage 5 in every aspect. The initial improvements over the original F-7M required by PAF totaled 24, making the F-7MP/P sufficiently distinct from earlier F-7M series to form a series of its own:
J-7III series.
J-7III series are the first J-7s to be equipped with fire control radar and thus the first all-weather fighter models of J-7s. However, due to the limitation of Chinese avionics industry in the 1980s, the performance of the domestic Chinese fire control radars were not satisfactory, because due to their relatively large size, the nosecone had to be enlarged, resulting in decrease in aerodynamic performance of the series. As a result, only very limited numbers of this series were built.
F-7C series.
F-7C series is the first J-7 series to adopt side air-intake design with intention to house more powerful radar in the nosecone with increased the size. Project first begun in 1985 but none of the series has entered production. The general designer of this series is Tu Jida.
J-7E series.
J-7E series is a series of day time fighter of J-7 that utilizing double delta wing which greatly improved maneuverability. It was decided that in order to maintain good maneuverability, the series would not be equipped with fire control radar and medium range AAMs. Equipped with only ranging radar and close range AAM, J-7E series are still daytime fighter. New features of this series includes utilization of carbon-carbon composite brake that quadrupled the service life to more than a thousand landings, utilization of aluminum-lithium alloy that reduces weight by 17%, and pressure ground fueling system replaced gravity ground fueling system that drastically reduced the time of fueling by 80% to 6 minutes from the original half an hour. Deletion of the portside gun resulted in increase of fuel capacity by 100 liters, and the ammo for the starboard side gun is reduced to 60 rounds. WP-13F engine increased mean time between overhaul (MTBO) to 300 hours and service life to 900 hours. Maximum payload is increased to 1.6 ton. Newer avionics replaced the older ones on earlier J-7's. The general designer of J-7E series was Mr. Lu Yu-Ying (陆育英).
J/F-7F series.
J/F-7F series is an alternative development to earlier F-7C series in that the series inherits the design characteristic of eliminating the nose intake, but instead of side intakes adopted by the F-7C series, J/F-7F series utilizes under-chin intake. This series is mainly intended for research on under-chin intakes and has not entered series production.
MiG-21 upgrade subcontract.
In the 1990s, export of F-7 series had significantly dropped from its peak in the 1980s when China failed to secure any new orders in the decade. However, China was successful in completing two deals for MiG-21 and F-7 upgrades by Israeli Elbit Systems as its subcontractor, and experience gained from these subcontracting jobs enabled China to later develop more capable J-7 models.
J/F-7MG series.
After nearly a decade long hiatus on the internal military aircraft market in the 1990s, China attempts to return by marketing the F-7MG series fighters based on the J-7E series. As with earlier J/F-7M series, in order to speed up the development, it was decided to first develop different prototypes each with a different tasks of trials.
J/F-7PG series.
Although SSR radar is more advanced than its predecessor Sky Ranger 7M, it remains a ranging radar, which PAF was not satisfied with. To meet Pakistani requirement of more capable airborne radar, a fire control radar was needed. In addition, PAF also required other improvements over the original J-7MG, which resulted in J/F-7PG series.
J/F-7G series.
J/F-7G series is the further development of earlier J-7E series. Contrary to many frequent but erroneous claims, the fire control radar is not the Chinese development of EL/M-2001B radar, because EL/M-2001B is a pulse Doppler ranging only radar. Instead, the Chinese fire control radar for J-G is developed from EL/M-2032 fire control radar China obtained from Israel when it was a subcontractor for Elbit in the Romanian MiG-21 LanceR program described above.
F-7BGI.
F-7BG upgraded with J-7G technology for Bangladesh. Unlike other cheaper and downgraded export variants of J-7G, the F-7BGI (I for Improved) is in fact more advanced than J-7G it is developed from. Improvements of F-7BGI over F-7BG such as 3 MFDs and more powerful fire control radar would in turn, incorporated to J-7G2 developed later. The capability of F-7BGI is improved over earlier F-7BG resulted from upgrades listed below, and delivery of 16 was signed in 2011 and completed in 2013. Even with the latest J-7 technology, this aircraft does not have the capability to carry any BVR missile and armed only with short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missiles for air to air combat, like other J-7s.
JJ-7 trainer series.
J-7 trainer variants are Chinese developed trainer version for domestic Chinese uses, and this series is supplied to both PLAAF and PLANAF.
FT-7 trainer series.
FT-7 trainer variants for export is characterized by the fact that nearly every trainer version is equipped with the same avionics and weaponry of its equivalent fighter version to minimizing transition process, and to maintain combat capability of the trainers.


Gablingen Kaserne

Gablingen Kaserne is a former military facility in Gablingen near Augsburg, Germany, which was closed in 1998. Its primary use was signals intelligence collection during the Cold War.
History.
Part of Gablingen Kaserne was constructed prior to World War I for use by the Royal Bavarian Air Force. The airfield was closed in 1918 and flight activities were prohibited in 1919 as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.
Reopened in 1936 as a Luftwaffe airfield, Gablingen was home to three Luftwaffe flying schools: Flugzeugführerschule A5, Nachtjadgschule 1, and Flugzeugführerschule C7. In addition, the entire facility was enlarged as one of the two German Air Bases in the Augsburg area, the other one being Lechfeld Airbase.
One of the most interesting aspects of the history of Gablingen is the complex tunnel system beneath the old airdrome, which may have been used to conceal the existence of a Messerschmitt test facility located there prior to, and during, the Second World War. The Messerschmitt plant used laborers from the Dachau concentration camp. Messerschmitt's rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me 163 were tested at this facility as early as 1941.
American forces seized the base almost unopposed on 1 May 1945 and the facility was quickly secured. IX Engineer Command engineers from the 833rd Aviation Engineer Battalion moved into the facility and designated the base as Advanced Landing Ground "R-77", although no combat unit moved to the airfield until 15 May, after the German Capitulation to perform occupation duty. Renamed as Army Airfield Station Gablingen, several USAAF groups were assigned to the airfield until 1 July 1946, when the facility was turned over to the United States Army.
U.S. Army use.
Gablingen was used by the U.S. Army as a barracks, housing various elements of the different divisions stationed in the Augsburg area, as well as USASA Field Station Augsburg, a signals intelligence facility. Around 1970, the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division moved to Goeppingen.
The AN/FLR-9 circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, was built at many locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could quickly and accurately locate an HF communications from almost anywhere on the planet. Today, advances in technology have made the AN/FLR-9 obsolete.
The kaserne was closed in 1998.


Provincial Airlines


George Arthur Barnes

George Arthur Barnes (19 July 1883 – 1 February 1919) was an English racing motorcyclist and a pioneer aviator.
Early life.
Barnes was born at Hoxton, London on 19 July 1883. He attended school at North House School Crawley.
Cycling.
His first pedal cycle race in Southend was over Easter weekend in April 1901. He earned the 1 mile tandem cycle record at Crystal Palace on 8 October 1901. He also earned the one hour and 50 miles records at Crystal Palace on 19 June 1902.
Motorcycles.
Between 1904 and 1905, Barnes was in a partnership with George Wilton, manufacturing and selling motorcycles as "George A. Barnes & Co."; the partnership was dissolved on 17 August 1905.
Aviation.
On 21 June 1910, Barnes flew a Humber monoplane at Brooklands to gain the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's Certificate No. 16, although he was already employed by the Humber company as a pilot. In the 1911 Census of Lewisham, he described himself as an aviator living at the Crown and Anchor in Lewisham with his widowed mother.
He died of Pneumonia on 1 February 1919 at Paddington, London.


Mariya Tolstova

Mariya Ilyichina Tolstova (; 15 May 1918 8 January 2004) was a flight commander in the 175th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment, and one of the few women to fly the Il-2.
Civilian life.
Tolstova was orphaned at a young age, resulting in her attending a boarding school for much of her youth. After completing school she worked at a railway station and later as a schoolteacher before eventually becoming a flight instructor at an aeroclub. After the war she worked for the civil air fleet, flying cargo in a Po-2 until retiring from aviation in 1959.
World War II.
Despite her experience as a flight instructor and aviation background, Tolstova volunteered to become a medical officer in order to be sent to the front. She briefly served as a field medic in the 5th Guards Airborne Regiment where she assisted hundreds of wounded soldiers, before her request for a transfer to aviation was granted. Initially she worked as a flight instructor in the 11th separate training regiment, training 36 pilots while doing so, before eventually being posted to the 175th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment in 1944. There, she flew 42 sorties on the Il-2 by the end of the war.


List of airlines of Armenia

This is a list of airlines which have an Air Operator Certificate issued by the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia.


Little Red Air Service


Myra, West Virginia

Myra is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States. Myra is located on the Mud River, south of Hamlin. A post office was operated at Myra from September 7, 1883 until it was closed on March 19, 2011. The community was founded at the same time the post office was established.


Starshatter

Starshatter is an independently developed space flight simulator by American developer Destroyer Studios. It is published by Matrix Games. In October 2006, a sequel, was released.


Iraqi no-fly zones conflict

The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intended to protect the ethnic Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by U.S., British, and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1996.
The Iraqi government claimed 1,400 civilians were killed by Coalition bombing during the NFZ. The Kurdish dominated north gained effective autonomy and was protected from a feared repeat of the Anfal genocide in 1988 that killed tens of thousands of civilians. Over 280,000 sorties were flown in the first 9 years of the NFZs.
This military action was not authorised by the United Nations. The Secretary-General of the UN at the time the resolution was passed, Boutros Boutros-Ghali called the no-fly zones "illegal" in a later interview with John Pilger.
Legality.
The American, British and French governments used United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 to establish no-fly zones with the stated aim to protect humanitarian operations in Iraq, though the resolution made no explicit reference to no-fly zones. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time of the NFZ referred to them as "illegal" in an interview with Australian journalist John Pilger.
Role in preparation for ground invasion.
From March to December 2002 the number of bombs dropped increased by 300%. This was recognised as "a clear indication that the no-fly zone is being used to destroy the country's air defence systems in anticipation of an all-out attack". Whitehall officials privately admitted to "the Guardian" that the no-fly zones were being used to weaken Iraq's air defence systems instead of the stated aim of defending the Marsh Arabs and the Shia population of Iraq.
The commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln's air wing said that the NFZ "makes any potential action infinitely easier ... to fly over the same territory you're going to attack is a real luxury".
Civilian deaths.
The United Nations reported that in 1999 alone 144 civilians were killed during Coalition bombing raids. Reports from Baghdad by the Iraqi government claimed that more than 1,400 civilians were killed. By 1999 over 1,800 bombs had been dropped on Iraq.
Hans von Sponeck, coordinator of the UN Humanitarian Program in Iraq from 1998-2000 said:“On average, during the time I was in Iraq, there were bombing incidents every 3 days. The casualties were in the very areas that they allegedly established to protect people. How, at a 10,000-meter height, can you protect a Shi’ite population? That is a fantasy. The cruel reality is that people are dying as a result of these no-fly zones.”
The United States and coalition countries denied these allegations and cited popular Kurdish and Shia demands for no-fly zones, in order to protect against Saddam Hussein, who unhindered had committed numerous atrocities a few years earlier, such as the infamous 1988 Anfal genocide that killed 50,000 to 182,000 Kurdish civilians. The establishing of no-fly zones effectively cut off Saddam Hussein from much of the north and secured the Kurdish population, who gained effective autonomy directly following the intervention. This autonomy has continued to thrive and even avoided the chaos and bloodshed that characterized the rest of Iraq during the 2003 Iraq war.
History.
From 1992 to the United States-led coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003, there were two NFZs in Iraq. The NFZ in the north of Iraq was established shortly after the Gulf War, extending from the 36th parallel northwards. In August 1992 the NFZ in the south to the 32nd parallel was established, but in 1996 it was expanded to the 33rd parallel. The northern NFZ was initially part of Operation Provide Comfort relief operations to a persecuted Kurdish minority in Iraq, and was followed on by Operation Northern Watch. The southern NFZ was maintained by Operation Southern Watch.
When Operation Desert Storm ended in 1991, the safety of Kurds who were fleeing during the uprising from Iraqi persecution became an issue, and Operation Provide Comfort began. This operation essentially created a Northern NFZ to Iraqi military aircraft. The operation provided the Kurdish population with humanitarian aid and reassurance of safe skies.
On 26 June 1993, the U.S. conducted a cruise missile attack on the Iraqi Intelligence Service's (IIS) principal command and control complex in Baghdad, publicly announced as retaliation for the assassination attempt by the IIS on former President George H. W. Bush while he was visiting Kuwait in April of that year to commemorate a coalition victory over Iraq in the Gulf War. Fourteen cruise missiles were launched from and nine of them launched from . Sixteen hit the target, while three struck a residential area, killing nine civilians and wounding 12 others. Four missiles were unaccounted for.
In October 1994, Baghdad once again began mobilizing around 64,000 Iraqi troops near the Kuwaiti border because of their expressed frustrations of economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In response, the U.S. begins to deploy troops in the Persian Gulf to deter Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. Code-named Operation Vigilant Warrior, 1st Brigade of the Fort Stewart, Georgia-based 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) deployed and drew pre-positioned equipment in Kuwait. The 23rd Wing's (Flying Tigers) 75th Fighter Squadron (Tigersharks) and its full complement of A-10s initially deployed from Pope AFB, North Carolina to Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia, followed by the first forward deployment to Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait. This allowed better face-to-face coordination with tactical air control parties (TACP) assets further forward deployed at Camp Doha, Kuwait and points north. Iraq would later withdraw troops near the Kuwaiti border in response to a massive U.S. military build-up.
However, this was marred by a friendly-fire incident on 14 April 1994 when two United States Air Force F-15 Eagle fighter planes mistakenly shot down two United States Army Blackhawk helicopters, killing 26 Coalition military and civilian personnel.
In September 1996, the U.S. conducted Operation Desert Strike, and ships from the Battle Group, including , and , in conjunction with B-52 bombers escorted by F-14D Tomcats from USS "Carl Vinson", launched 27 cruise missiles against Iraqi air defense targets in southern Iraq. A second wave of 17 was launched later that day. The missiles hit targets in and around Kut, Iskandariyah, Nasiriyah, and Tallil. This was done in response to Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, attempting to launch an Iraqi military offensive campaign in the Kurdish town of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Operation Provide Comfort officially ended on 31 December 1996. Following Operation Provide Comfort, the United States continued to watch over the northern skies with the launching of Operation Northern Watch on 1 January 1997. Operation Northern Watch continued to provide air security to the Kurdish population in the north. By 1999, the Department of Defense had flown over 200,000 sorties over Iraq.
American and British aircraft continuously enforced the NFZ, receiving anti-aircraft fire from Iraqi forces almost daily. The operation ran until its conclusion on 1 May 2003. In the south, Operation Southern Watch was underway to watch over the persecuted Shi'ite populations. This operation was launched on 27 August 1992 with the mission of preventing further human rights abuses against civilian populations. Iraq challenged the no-fly zone beginning in December 1992 when a USAF F-16 fighter plane shot down an Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat fighter which had locked onto it in the Southern no-fly zone. The next month Coalition planes attacked Iraqi SAM sites in the South. Baghdad eventually halted firing on patrolling Coalition aircraft after August 1993.
In December 1998, Operation Desert Fox was conducted by the USAF and the Royal Air Force, which was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 December to 19 December 1998. The contemporaneous justification for the strikes was Iraq's failure to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions and its interference with United Nations Special Commission inspectors.
In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, Iraq announced it would no longer respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Coalition aircraft. Saddam Hussein offered a $14,000 reward to anyone who could accomplish this task, but no manned aircraft were ever shot down by Iraq. Air strikes by British and American aircraft against Iraqi claimed anti-aircraft and military targets continued weekly over the next few years. In the early 2000s (decade), the U.S. developed a contingency plan, Operation Desert Badger for dealing with pilots shot down over Iraqi no-fly zones.
The operation continued until it transitioned to Operation Southern Focus in June 2002. They began to carry out offensive sorties, not only against targets that had fired on them, but upon installations that had demonstrated no hostile intent. The U.S. claimed that these increased attacks were the result of increasing Iraqi provocations, but later, in July 2005, the British Ministry of Defense released figures showing that the number of provocations had actually dropped dramatically prior to and just after the increase in allied attacks. Their records indicate that in the first seven months of 2001, there had been 370 provocations on the part of Iraq. In the seven months from October 2001 into May 2002, only 32 such provocations were recorded. General Tommy Franks later acknowledged that the dramatic increase in offensive sorties was an attempt to destroy the Iraqi defenses in much the same way as the air strikes at the beginning of the Gulf War had.
In purported retaliation for the Iraqis' now-daily air defense attacks on coalition aircraft, the September attacks included a 5 September 100-aircraft attack on the main air defense site in western Iraq. According to an editorial by Michael Smith for the "New Statesman", this was "Located at the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shi'a; it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected."
The NFZs effectively ceased to exist with the beginning of the Iraq War in March 2003, since air superiority over the country was quickly attained by the coalition. The NFZs were officially deactivated right after Saddam Hussein's overthrow.


Air Dravida

Air Dravida was an airline project based in Chennai, India, promoted by Premier Tours & Travels and Zircon International, a construction company with business interests in Malaysia and Singapore. The company intended to commence operations in October 2006 within southern India using a fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft but never completed its establishing process and was shut down in the same year.
History.
Air Dravida's parent company, Premier Tours And Travels (Chennai) Ltd was founded in 1982. In 2004, they planned to start an airline division. The company announced they were waiting for approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to commence operations with a fleet of four CRJ 200 aircraft to connect the cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai and Trivandrum with hubs at Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The company was formally launched in November 2005 but never completed its establishing process and was shut down again in the same year.


907th Air Refueling Squadron

The 907th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 91st Bombardment Wing at Glasgow AFB, Montana, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1968. From 1963 to 1968 the squadron served as the air refueling element of its parent wing.
The first predecessor of the squadron was the 27th Troop Carrier Squadron, a World War II troop carrier squadron that served in the China Burma India Theater as an airlift unit. Its last assignment was with the 443d Troop Carrier Group at Liangshan, China, where it was inactivated on 27 December 1945.
The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit in 1985, but the consolidated unit has not been active since.
History.
World War II.
The 27th Transport Squadron was activated in early 1942 as one of the original five squadrons of the 89th Transport Group. The squadron acted as a replacement training unit under I Troop Carrier Command, initially training transport and glider pilots, then replacement aircrews. The unit used militarized versions of the Douglas DC-3 (C-48s and C-49s) at first, then it flew Douglas C-47 Skytrains and Douglas C-53 Skytroopers. From June to August 1942 the squadron moved to Kellogg Field, Michigan, where it was attached to the 62d Troop Carrier Group. In July 1942 the squadron and its parent group were redesignated as Troop Carrier units. In November 1943 the replacement training mission terminated and the 27th prepared for transfer overseas to the China Burma India Theater.
The air echelon of the squadron gathered at Baer Field, Indiana, where it received new aircraft. It ferried the airplanes to India via the South Atlantic ferry route, leaving Morrison Field, Florida in December and arriving in India in January. The ground echelon did not arrive in theater until late March
The squadron flew airlift missions and evacuated wounded personnel, sometimes landing on unimproved airstrips. It participated in Operation Thursday, the transport of troops behind enemy lines in Burma, along with aircraft of the 1st Air Commando Group. After moving to China, the squadron supported Office of Strategic Services missions in China and Southeast Asia. The squadron remained in China after the termination of hostilities in August 1945 and was inactivated there in December.
Cold War.
The 907th Air Refueling Squadron was established in July 1963 by Strategic Air Command at Glasgow Air Force Base, however its first Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker did not arrive until October and it was December before the squadron became combat ready. The squadron mission was to provide air refueling support to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers of its parent 91st Bombardment Wing and other USAF units as directed, including supporting Operation Chrome Dome airborne alert sorties. The squadron kept half its aircraft on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike until it became nonoperational in 1968, except for periods when it deployed its aircraft and aircrews to support operations in the Pacific.
The 907th deployed to the Western Pacific region to support Operation Arc Light from September 1966 to March 1967 and to Okinawa from February to March 1968 during the Pueblo Crisis. It also deployed to Southeast Asia to support Operation Young Tiger, refueling tactical aircraft on strike missions.
The squadron became non-operational in May 1968 and was inactivated in June when Glasgow closed.
The 27th Troop Carrier Squadron and the 907th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated in 1985, but the consolidated unit has not been active.
Lineage.
27th Troop Carrier Squadron
907th Air Refueling Squadron