March Air Reserve Base, previously known as March Air Force Base is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and the host 452d Air Mobility Wing, the largest air mobility wing of the Fourth Air Force. In addition to multiple units of the Air Force Reserve Command supporting Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command and Pacific Air Forces, March ARB is also home to units from the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and the California Army National Guard. For almost 50 years, March AFB was a Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War.
Long Beach Airport is three miles northeast of downtown Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California. It was formerly called Daugherty Field.
The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. The aircraft flew westerly 26,366 statute miles at an average altitude of 11,000 feet (3,350 m).
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1931:
Frank Wilbur "Spig" Wead was a U.S. Navy aviator who helped promote United States Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. Commander Wead was a recognized authority on early aviation. Following a crippling spinal injury in 1926, Wead was placed on the retired list. In the 1930s, he became a screenwriter, becoming involved in more than 30 movies. He also published several books, short stories and magazine articles. During World War II, he returned to active duty. He initially worked in a planning role, but later undertook sea duty in the Pacific, where he saw action against the Japanese in 1943–44 before being placed on the retired list in mid-1945.
Bertrand Blanchard Acosta was a record-setting aviator. With Clarence D. Chamberlin they set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron. He was known as the "bad boy of the air". He received numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.
The 452nd Air Mobility Wing is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Fourth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at March Air Reserve Base, California. If mobilized, the Wing is gained by the Air Mobility Command.
Walter Edwin Lees was an early American aviator who set a flight endurance record in 1931.
Major Thomas Hans Orde-Lees, OBE, AFC was a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917, a pioneer in the field of parachuting, and was one of the first non-Japanese-born men known to have climbed Mount Fuji during the winter.
Barbara Ann Allen Rainey was one of the first six female pilots in the U.S. armed forces. Rainey received her wings of gold as the first female to be designated a naval aviator in February 1974 and became the first Navy woman to qualify as a jet pilot. She attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. She was killed in an aircraft crash in 1982 while performing her duties as a flight instructor.
USS Ptarmigan (AM-376) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. She was the only U.S. Navy ship named for the ptarmigan, a grouse with feathered feet, found in northern regions.
USS Constant, (AM-427/MSO-427) was an Aggressive class minesweeper vessel in the United States Navy.
The Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker was a six-seat utility aircraft, built primarily in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a development of the Bellanca CH-200, fitted with a more powerful engine and, like the CH-200, soon became renowned for its long-distance endurance.
USS Joyce (DE-317) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
USCGC Minnetonka (WHEC-67) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The war ended before the ship was completed and consequently Minnetonka did not see wartime service until the Vietnam war.
The 115th Airlift Squadron is a unit of the California Air National Guard 146th Airlift Wing located at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Oxnard, California. The 115th is equipped with the C-130J Hercules.
Imeson Field, also known as Jacksonville Imeson Airport, was the airport serving Jacksonville, Florida, from 1927 until its closing in 1968. It was known as Jacksonville Municipal Airport prior to World War II, Jacksonville Army Airfield when the United States Army Air Forces controlled the facility during World War II, and at its closing the airport was Jacksonville - Thomas Cole Imeson Municipal Airport.
The Packard DR-980 is an American nine-cylinder air-cooled aircraft Diesel engine first certificated in 1930. The engine was unpopular despite its economy and reliability due to the unpleasant nature of its diesel exhaust fumes and considerable vibration when running; approximately 100 were built.
The Bowlus SP-1 Paperwing was an American high-wing cantilever monoplane, single-seat, glider that was designed in 1928 and completed by William Hawley Bowlus on January 1, 1929. The SP-1 was Bowlus' sixteenth glider, and was test flown at Lindbergh Field in San Diego in January, 1929. Later tests were also made from hillsides near Bonita, California in April, 1929. SP-1 received identification mark "493" from the United States Department of Commerce and was one of the first licensed gliders in the United States. Many refer to the Bowlus SP-1 as the first sailplane of U.S. design and construction.
William Lyon is a retired major general of the United States Air Force who served as Commander of the United States Air Force Reserve Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C., and commander, Headquarters Air Force Reserve, a separate operating agency located at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. As chief of Air Force Reserve, Lyon served as the principal adviser on Reserve matters to the Air Force Chief of Staff. As commander of AFRES, he had full responsibility for the supervision of U.S. Air Force Reserve units around the world.
