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  • 75th Anniversary coin, logo represent history

    How do you put 75 years of history together into one simple anniversary logo?That was the question Tinker’s 75th Anniversary design committee had to answer, and it wasn’t easy.“We had several things to consider, like being home to three flying wings from three major commands, one air base wing, a

  • TINKER HISTORY: J35 Allison turbojet engine

    The J35 turbojet is an outgrowth from the earliest mass-produced turbojet engine, the J33. The J35s initial refinements increased thrust, but it wasn’t until project management was placed in the hands of General Motor’s Allison Division that a radical redesign and development of afterburner created

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: ‘Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio and the 7th AAF

    Before World War II, the Hawaiian Air Force was jokingly referred to as the Pineapple Air Force. After the attacks on Dec. 7, 1941, it was renamed the 7th Army Air Force and a born leader and warrior, Brig. Gen. Clarence L. Tinker, was sent in to get the unit in fighting form. That he did,

  • TINKER HISTORY: Douglas C-54 Skymaster

    The Douglas Aircraft Corporation C-54 “Skymaster” was a four-engine cargo and troop transport built around a high-aspect ratio wing with conventional tail unit featuring a single rudder. The low-wing configured aircraft sat on retractable tricycle landing gear. Building upon the success of the

  • 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