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  • TINKER HISTORY: Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress”

    The Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” was a four-engine, heavy bomber produced for the Army Air Corps prior to and during World War II. The aircraft was used in all theaters of the war with particularly heavy use in the European campaign.According to official Tinker history documents, the Oklahoma City

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: The Rosies

    Life in America was transformed by the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941. The leader of those attacks, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, famously concluded, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Rarely has someone in the moment so perfectly

  • TINKER HISTORY: Douglas IM-99 BOMARC missile

    The Boeing/Michigan Aeronautical Research Center IM-99A/B BOMARC missile was the world’s first ground-based long-range, anti-aircraft missile and the only anti-aircraft missile ever operated by the U.S. Air Force. The missile was supersonic capable and equipped with a 7-10 kiloton nuclear warhead.

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: Mustache March from days of Olds

    The United States Air Force, despite being the youngest American military service, has a few outstanding traditions. Civilians vaguely know the tradition of Mustache March as an occasion used by some to raise money for charity. Many in our own military ranks only know Mustache March as “some damn

  • TINKER HISTORY: O-series engines

    O-series engines powered many small aircraft used by the U.S. military in a wide variety of missions. O-series is the common name for reciprocating engines featuring horizontally-opposed pistons connected to a central crankshaft.Some of the earliest and sustaining work performed at Tinker was in

  • TINKER HISTORY: Douglas C-47 Skytrain

    The Douglas Aircraft Corporation C-47 “Skytrain” was a twin-engine, cargo and troop transport built around a cantilever low-wing configuration and tailwheel landing gear. The C-47 is a derivative of the Douglas DC-3 airliner which opened up air travel to the masses in the early 1940s and became

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

    Benjamin O. Davis, an aviation pioneer, is one of the most famous Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. His military career spanned five decades and three wars. He was the first African-American officer in the Army Air Forces, and was a member of the first African-American pilot-training class at

  • TINKER HISTORY: Allison J33 engine, unprecedented advancement

    The Allison J33 turbojet was the first mass-produced jet engine used by the military. The J33 was an outgrowth of the turbojet engine developed for aircraft use prior to and during World War II by the British in the form of the Whittle engine.The J33 powered what became known as “jet” aircraft like