282
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION
1910-1995
1970-Contin
ued
25 November
The
Chief of Naval Material estab-
lished a Navy Space Project Office with responsibility
for the integration and coordination of space activities
within the purview of the Naval Material Command
and with responsibility for management of designated
space projects.
21 December
The F-14A aircraft, piloted by
Grumman test pilots Robert Smyth and William Miller,
made its first flight at Grumman's Calverton, Long
Island, N.Y., plant.
1971
1 January
Task Force 77, the Attack Carrier Striking
Force Seventh Fleet, continued operations off Vietnam
on Yankee Station, the "on line" area in the Gulf of
Tonkin, with missions consisting of interdiction of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, air support for allied
ground forces in South Vietnam (SVN), photographic
reconnaissance, combat air patrols and electronic war-
fare. On station at the beginning of the year were
Hancock
and
Ranger.
6 January
The Marine Corps/Navy's first AV-8
Harrier was accepted by Major General Homer S. Hill,
USMC, at Dunsfold, England. The Harrier was the first
vertical take-off and landing (V/STOL) fixed-wing air-
craft ever accepted for use as a combat aircraft by U.S.
armed forces.
19 January
Enterprise
completed sea trials with her
newly designed nuclear reactor cores which contained
enough energy to power her for the next ten years.
22 January
The Navy's most advanced antisubma-
rine warfare aircraft, the land-based P-3C Orion, estab-
lished a world record in the heavyweight turboprop
class for long distance flight. The production model
aircraft, piloted by Commander Donald H. Lilienthal
with a crew of eight, set the record with a flight of
6,857 statute miles over the official great circle route
from NAS Atsugi, Japan, to NAS Patuxent River, Md.
The flight, which topped the Soviet Union's IL-18 tur-
boprop record of 4,761 miles set in 1967, lasted 15
hours, 21 minutes. In order to avoid Russia's
Kamchatka Peninsula, the Lilienthal flight actually cov-
ered 7,010 miles.
26 January
The AV-8A Harrier arrived at the Naval
Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. for commence-
ment of Board of Inspection and Survey trials.
,
, ,'"'-;
(OM.UN '
(ltun
-'-
NOItJH
h..' 11118 '"
( .
..1....
-,
VIET
. "..181I
--
GUlf
OF
TONIIN
.
I
--HAM "
I
1
\ -
.
,
.
.
.
1
L
.
,
1
\.. .
_-#'
,- '
III ---
,
... '.
-..
\
...,
.. -
..# :'"
__ \ltIIl ,..
...............
";: .
'10"1010 ...1
1
\,
SOUTII
.A "'"
to.
--
.. -- ..'''.
j
I "dl : .
.'1 U"
..
(J..OD...
'YIEI
.
HA.IIU.N
--
.
Y All KH
SUTtON
.
THAIlAIIID I
j
J
CHINA
SEA
-
NAM
. 'II .t.-w
T <,.
U"
i
In. ...
.
--
II"
......
... _.--
,/ -"IMi'.
. .
,- 8.li.u -
. .
--
'-
GUlf
Of
THAIlAND
!t9, 'IUI.
.......
.
DIXIE
S1AIION
.
.,
,
"I..,, nl
Un 'II .""ltLr nLl'
. '.S> 8,".111'.' ''''1
-- ..'- un '.., "'0'11.. IKIII IV)"I,.q.,..
"... ... llUlt t''''''1
... (U"CI (U81nl ''''HIIII.'
"I' I m
san. 11......
..
tn, '4" 011 h.'" ... "w lC8tn 51UI0I
.. II II
Ut 1If11
u _",.,..
. S
'''rt u..et ".n 1.a:1ta",
, r
11.11"'..
t1 ..\ .
III
,
... lJulJ, " II. .'11I8" ""
".1. ..b'l I'
L I
11M
.I4WI UPt
y.J..
,
1 II' "U..II. .un ("'51
Southeast Asia.
27 January
A P-3C at the Naval Air Test Center,
Patuxent River, Md. with Commander Donald H.
Lilenthal as Plane Commander established a world
speed record for its class of 501.44 mph over the 15 to
25 km course.
27 January
NAVAIR expedited procurement of the
TCW-33P VWS (Ventilated Wet Suit) to permit its
issuance to VS and VP squadrons during the winter of
1971-1972. The evaluation of 3,100 ventilated wet
suits had begun in 1969 and enthusiastic acceptance
by flight crews led to the decision that the suits should
 |
4 |
 |