314

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1975-Continued

14 August The newly commissioned Nimitz com-

pleted refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,

before beginning her cruise with a nuclear task force

to northern European waters. The world's largest ship

at the time, Nimitz had an overall length of 1,092 feet,

an extreme breadth of 292 feet, a flight deck area of

four and a half acres, and displaced 95,000 tons with a

combat load. The Navy's second nuclear carrier,

Nimitz was named in honor of the World War II hero

and former Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral

Chester W. Nimitz.

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Nimitz commissioned on 3 May 1975 1161470

26 Septmber The Chief of Naval Operations

approved the popular name Tomahawk for the Navy's

SLCM.

3 October VMGR-352 took delivery of the first KC-

130R Hercules refueler/transport.

22 October The Chief of Naval Operations and

Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council initiated

new policies on development and operational test

and evaluation functions along with weapon system

acquisition.

24 October The Navy reported that a new method

of conducting Shrike pilot training programs had been

developed. This method consisted of captive flight fir-

ings linked to a communications pod and was per-

formed at the Air Combat Maneuvering Range at

Yuma, Ariz. The new method could be adopted to all

versions of the A-4 Sky hawk, A-6 Intruder and A-7

Corsair aircraft.

27 October Inchon and five surface vessels served

as a contingency evacuation force, with John F

Kennedy in support, as U.S. citizens were advised to

evacuate their dependents from Lebanon due to pro-

longed government instability and increased armed

skirmishing among political factions in the country.

1 November Effective this date, the Naval

Aerospace Recovery Facility at NAF El Centro, Calif.,

was disestablished and the mission statement of the

National Parachute Test Range, also at El Centro, was

modified to absorb its function. The Naval Air Facility

was assigned to the CNO for command and support.

25 November The first launch in the XJ521

Program took place at Point Mugu. The XJ521 was

an air-to-air medium range missile resulting from

modifications by the United Kingdom to the

American Sparrow AIM-7E-2. The missiles were

fired from an F-5 aircraft at QT-33 targets.

6 December H-46 Sea Knight helicopters from

NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., began search and res-

cue operations in the northwestern Washington

state areas flooded by heavy rains. Four days of this

humanitarian work saw a total of 113 people evacu-

ated after being stranded by the flood waters.

8 December The first production prototype of

Sikorsky's three-engine, multi mission CH-53E

transport helicopter made its first flight at the com-

pany's Connecticut plant. The flight of about 30

minutes consisted of low-altitude hovering and

limited maneuvering.

1976

28 January The Navy awarded a contract for an ini-

tial funding of $16 million to the McDonnell Douglas

Corporation to begin full-scale development of the

new F-18 Air Combat Fighter.

11 February The first Terrain Contour Matching

(TERCOM) Guidance Test Vehicle was flown using a

modified Navy Firebee drone. TERCOM was then used

in the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.