Air Force Historical Foundation

1968: APOLLO 7. The first manned mission in the lunar landing program launched from Kennedy Space Center Complex 34 on a Saturn IB booster. The crew, which included USAF Major Donn F. Eisele, splashed down on 22 October after completing 163 revolutions of the earth. Apollo 7 (October 11–22) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo 7 crew was commanded by Walter Schirra, with command module pilot Donn Eisele and Lunar Module pilot R. Walter Cunningham even though there was no LEM on the flight.

2006: From a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, AFFTC parachutists made 10 jumps at Edwards AFB to test a new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter parachute system. The IGQ type 6000, which incorporated the parachute and harness into the F-35 cockpit, was designed to inflate at various speeds. It resembled an aeroconical dome when extended.

Know the Past…Shape the Future The Official Podcast of the AFHF New Episode Drops Today Part I: New World Vistas, the 1995 Technology Forecast that looked forward thirty years to the future of the USAF and the Space Force. The Air Force Historical Foundation is proud to present former CSAF, Gen Ronald Fogleman and Mrs. Natalie Crawford, Chair of the Attack Panel, who recount the creation of NWV, its impact, and its failures. This is the first of three episodes covering New World Vistas with our host, Matt Jolley.

1912: Lieutenant Henry H. Arnold won the first Mackay Trophy competition for the most outstanding military flight of the year. Arnold and Lieutenant Thomas Milling had been challenged to fly a triangular route between Fort Myer, College Park, and Washington, DC, and pinpoint a “troop concentration.” In winning the award, Arnold had completed the reconnaissance course and reported the simulated enemy troop concentrations to the event judges. In one respect the “contest” was not a contest at all. Milling, the only other participant, had aircraft problems that kept him on the ground. The flight demonstrated one of the doctrinal missions for Army aviation, something the Army air arm was still struggling to define. Perhaps because of these circumstances, Arnold did not take himself or his accomplishment too seriously. The young lieutenant wrote that, "It [the trophy] certainly is handsome. I figure that it will hold about four gallons so I cannot see how you can fill it with anything but beer.” He was not far off. While cleaning the Mackay Trophy one day in 2006 (it is housed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) the curatorial staff tested the volume of the trophy using non-reactive Styrofoam balls. In fact, the Mackay Trophy cup holds a volume of five gallons (of Styrofoam balls anyway).

2024 AFHF Special Medal for “Old School” Technical Research This is a Special AFHF Literary Award for original primary source technical research across two articles. “Ballistic Missile Shock Isolation Systems,” by David K. Stumpf (Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation, Winter 2022) “Operation Button Up: Security at Minuteman Launch Facilities,” by David K. Stumpf (Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation, Fall 2023)

2023 AFHF Best Article Award “The SA–2 and U–2: The Rest of the Story,” by John A. Schell (Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation, Summer, 2023)

2024 Space History Book Prize Aaron Bateman, Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative, MIT Press (2024).

2023 AFHF Book Prize for Space (for a series or multiple titles) John J. Klein, Understanding Space Strategy: The Art of War in Space (London, UK: Routledge, 2019). John J. Klein, Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2023).

2023 AFHF Air Power History Book Prize Sean Maloney, Emergency War Plan: The American Doomsday Machine, 1945-1960. Lincoln, NE: Potomac, 2021.

The AFHF is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s literary awards. We will highlight each author and their work for our readership. The recipients will receive their awards at the 22 May 2025 AFHF Annual Awards Banquet that will be held at the National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center located in Chantilly, VA. Registration for the event will be available on the AFHF website very soon. The AFHF Symposium previously scheduled for November 2024 has been rescheduled for 21 May 2025 at the Udvar-Hazy Center and is limited to 140 participants. Check the website for registration information coming soon.