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83-397: Holloman Air Force Base ( IATA : HMN , ICAO : KHMN , FAA LID : HMN ) is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo , which is the county seat of Otero County , New Mexico , United States. The base was named in honor of Col. George V. Holloman , a pioneer in guided missile research. It

166-593: A comprehensive and controlled series of studies into the effects of deceleration on the human body. This led to fundamental concepts that could be applied to better safeguard aircraft occupants during a crash. The initial phase of the program, as set up by the Aero Medical Laboratory of the Wright Air Development Center , was to develop equipment and instrumentation. This was so aircraft crashes might be simulated, and to study

249-595: A conventional strike force in Europe, the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Holloman. The move was a result of French president Charles DeGaulle 's deep suspicion of "supranational organizations" and his country's shift away from the NATO orbit in the early 1960s that ultimately led to the closure of American air bases in France . 366th TFW was organized as follows: At the time of the wing's arrival at Holloman, they flew

332-453: A former host unit at Holloman, the 366th TFW which was transferred from Da Nang Air Base South Vietnam . F-15 Eagle era On 20 December 1977, the wing began converting from the F-4D to F-15A/Bs. The transition was completed on 4 June 1978. History was made during February 1980, when two pilots from the 49th each flew their F-15s 6,200 miles in just over 14 hours, establishing a record for

415-441: A human can withstand at least 46.2 g (in the forward position, with adequate harnessing). This is the highest known acceleration voluntarily encountered by a human, set on December 10, 1954. Stapp reached a speed of 632 mph (1,017 km/h), which broke the land speed record and made him the fastest man on Earth. Stapp believed that the tolerance of humans to acceleration had not yet been reached in tests. He believed it

498-535: A major role, dropping the first bombs against an Iraqi leadership target in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. In all, F-117 pilots flew more than 80 missions and dropped nearly 100 enhanced guided bomb units against key targets. Approximately 300 people deployed with the air package and provided direct support to the F-117 mission. Additionally, hundreds of other 49th FW personnel were deployed on other missions. The 479th TTW

581-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

664-612: A project officer and medical consultant in the Biophysics Branch and transferred to the U.S. Air Force when it became an independent service in September 1947. His first assignment included a series of flights testing various oxygen systems in unpressurized aircraft at 40,000 ft (12.2 km). One of the major problems with high-altitude flight was the danger of "the bends" or decompression sickness . Stapp's work resolved that problem as well as many others, which allowed

747-539: A result, many Military Air Transport Service (MATS) aircraft in USAF and carrier on-board delivery aircraft in USN were equipped or retrofitted with this type of seat. Commercial airlines were made aware of these findings, but still use forward-facing seats. The British Royal Air Force also installed it on many of their military transport aircraft. As a result of Stapp's findings, the acceleration requirement for fighter seats

830-494: A suborbital flight launched 31 January 1961, the first great ape in space, and Enos on a 1961 orbital flight as the third great ape to orbit Earth. The 366th Tactical Fighter Wing arrived on 15 July 1963, making Holloman a Tactical Air Command (TAC) operating base. On 8 April 1966, the 4758th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron (DSES) arrived from Biggs AFB Texas . The squadron evaluated aircraft weapons systems and to provide training for air defense units. Aircraft flown by

913-618: A wing's entire fleet. In May 1972 the 49th deployed their F-4 aircraft and 2,600 personnel to Takhli RTAFB Thailand . During this deployment the 49th flew more than 21,000 combat hours over just about every battle zone from An Loc to vital installations in the Hanoi vicinity. During five months of combat, the wing did not lose any aircraft or personnel. The unit received an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device for its participation. The 49th TFW officially closed out its Southeast Asia duty on 9 October 1972, turning over Takhli to

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996-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1079-617: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

1162-523: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1245-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1328-488: Is much greater than thought possible. He said "I felt a sensation in the eyes, somewhat like the extraction of a molar without anesthetic," but his survival without any permanent injuries supported the development of further safety technologies including the ejection seat . Also developed by Stapp as an added safety measure was an improved version of the currently used shoulder strap and lap belt . The new high-strength harness withstood 45.4 g (445 m/s²), compared to

1411-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1494-741: Is the home of the 49th Wing (49 WG) of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). In addition to hosting several combat wings, Holloman supports the nearby White Sands Missile Range and currently hosts the Royal Air Force RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) Formal Training Unit (FTU) and the Italian Air Force RPA training courses. The base previously hosted the German Air Force Flying Training Center. Planned for

1577-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1660-497: The 359th Base Headquarters beginning on 10 June 1942). Alamogordo Army Air Field (Alamogordo AAFld, Alamogordo AAF) was named on 21 November as a Second Air Force installation equipped with aprons, runways, taxiways and hangars. From 1942 to 1945 the AAF had more than 20 different groups for overseas training, initially flying Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses then Consolidated B-24 Liberators . Training began in 1943 and in addition to

1743-769: The 586th Flight Training Squadron . IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

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1826-720: The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS). In 1973 Stapp was awarded the Franklin Institute 's Elliott Cresson Medal . In 1979 Stapp was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame . The New Mexico Museum of Space History , which houses the International Space Hall of Fame, includes a John P. Stapp Air & Space Park which holds Sonic Wind No. 1, a rocket sled ridden by Stapp. In 1985, Stapp

1909-584: The British Overseas Training program which was not pursued, construction for the USAAF base 6 mi (9.7 km) west of Alamogordo, New Mexico , began on 6 February 1942. After the nearby Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range was established by Executive Order No. 9029 (range designation on 14 May), the neighboring military installation was designated Alamogordo Field Training Station (27 May) and Alamogordo Army Air Base (operated by

1992-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

2075-664: The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak , which were former Air National Guard aircraft transferred to France during the 1961 Berlin Crisis as part of Operation Tack Hammer. At Holloman, the wing began converting to the new McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II in February 1965. Later that year, the wing sent its first squadron to the Republic of Vietnam . The 390th Fighter Squadron was assigned to Da Nang AB , and

2158-487: The Tonopah Test Range Airport Nevada , arrived at Holloman. The 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Tonopah was inactivated with the transfer of the last F-117s to Holloman on 8 July 1992. F-117s were initially assigned to the following squadrons: These squadrons were PCS (moved Permanent Change of Station) to Holloman as part of the 37th Operations Group on 15 June 1992. The formal transfer to

2241-569: The University of Minnesota , Twin Cities , in 1944. He interned for one year at St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota . Stapp was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Baylor University. Stapp entered the U.S. Army Air Forces on 5 October 1944 as a physician and qualified as a flight surgeon. On 10 August 1946, he was assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field as

2324-420: The solar plexus , as was the case with the old harness. Stapp also participated in wind-blast experiments, in which he flew in jet aircraft at high speeds to determine whether or not it was safe for a pilot to remain with his aircraft if the canopy should accidentally blow off. Stapp stayed with his aircraft at a speed of 570 mph (920 km/h) with the canopy removed, and suffered no injurious effects from

2407-406: The 17 g (167 m/s²), which was the limit that could be tolerated with the old combination. Basically, the new pilot harness added an inverted "V" strap crossing the pilot's thighs added to the standard lap belt and shoulder straps. The leg and shoulder straps and the lap belt all fastened together at one point, and pressure was distributed evenly over the stronger body surfaces, rather than on

2490-497: The 391st went to Cam Ranh Bay AB in early 1966. On 20 March 1966 the rest of the wing entered the conflict and moved to Phan Rang AB , Republic of Vietnam in support of combat operations in Vietnam . With the transfer of the 366th to Vietnam, the 6583d Air Base Group became the host unit at Holloman. On 1 July 1968, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing arrived at Holloman Air Force Base from Spangdahlem AB , West Germany , becoming

2573-734: The 4758th DSES were the B-57 Canberra and F-100 Super Sabre . On 31 October 1970 the squadron was merged with the 4677th DSES at Tyndall AFB Florida . On 1 August 1970, per Air Force Systems Command Special Order G-94, the Air Force Missile Development Center was inactivated. TAC assumed host responsibilities for Holloman Air Force Base. Associate units and programs transferred to other locations within Air Force Systems Command . The Test & Evaluation activities that remained were

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2656-616: The 48th saved 33 lives in real-world rescues in the American Southwest. The unit was inactivated on 1 February 1999. The 8th and 9th Fighter Squadrons deployed to Aviano Air Base , Italy and Spangdahlem Air Base , Germany , from 21 February–1 July 1999, in support of Operation Allied Force. Flying more than 1,000 total sorties, pilots flew into heavily defended skies, littered with surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire. In particular, F-117A pilots bravely trusting in their aircraft's low observable technology struck some of

2739-416: The 49th Operations group occurred on 8 July 1992 when the 37th OG was inactivated. In 1993 these squadrons were inactivated with assets transferred to the 7th, 8th and 9th Fighter Squadrons. The 7th was designated a combat training squadron, the 8th and 9th being deployable operational fighter squadrons. On 1 July 1993, the 20th Fighter Squadron was activated as part of the 49th Operations Group, taking over

2822-501: The 49th underwent a number of transitions. On 1 October 1991, the 49th was redesignated the 49th Fighter Wing as part of an Air Force wide redesignation of units. On 1 November 1991, the 7th Fighter Squadron ceased F-15 operations, performing a Lead-In Fighter Training (LIFT) mission with Northrop AT-38B Talons , preparing for the transition to the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk . during most of 1992. On 1 June 1992

2905-605: The 8th Fighter Squadron ceased F-15 operations and started flying AT-38B LIFT missions. The 9th Fighter Squadron ceased F-15 operations on 5 June 1992 and received F-4E aircraft from the 20th Fighter Squadron from the closing George AFB California as the Fighter Training Unit for the German Air Force. The last F-15 departed Holloman 5 June 1992, ending 14 years of Eagle operations. On 9 May 1992, four Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters from

2988-818: The Central Inertial Guidance Test Facility (CIGTF), the High Speed Test Track , the Radar Target Scatter Facility (RATSCAT), and the Target Drone Facility. These organizations were combined to form the nucleus of a Holloman AFB tenant organization, the 6585th Test Group , with the Air Force Special Weapons Center (AFSWC) at Kirtland Air Force Base , New Mexico, designated as the headquarters for

3071-629: The F-4Es of the 9th FS. The mission of the 20th FS was to conduct training with the German Air Force. The F-4Es which the 20th FS flew initially were USAF-owned aircraft, however in 1997 the squadron began flying German-owned F-4F aircraft. The F-4Fs, however flew in USAF markings. The 20th Fighter Squadron was inactivated on 20 December 2004 and the F-4Fs were flown to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group . The first arrival, 72-1118,

3154-701: The Holloman range and the White Sands Proving Ground merged to become the New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range (later renamed White Sands Missile Range ), and the renamed Holloman Air Force Base (13 January 1948) supported WSMR launch complexes ( Launch Complex 33 , etc.) firing of Tiny Tim (the first Army rocket) , Rascal , V-2 rocket , Ryan XQ-2 Drone, Falcon , MGM-13 Mace , MGM-1 Matador , and AGM-45 Shrike . The 2754th Experimental Wing

3237-517: The QF-106 as a target for an infrared homing missile. The aircraft had burners placed on pylons underneath the wings to act as IR sources for heat-seeking missiles. The intention of the program was for the QF-106 to survive repeated engagements with air-to-air missiles , to make it possible for each QF-106 to last as long as possible before it was destroyed. The last shootdown of a QF-106 (57–2524) took place at Holloman AFB on 20 February 1997. The QF-106

3320-624: The Rapid Deployment Force until July 1981, when the tasking was transferred to the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley Air Force Base Virginia . The 49th demonstrated its capabilities in the fall of 1988, winning top honors at the William Tell air-to-air weapons competition. The wing outdistanced the nearest competitor by more than 2,000 points. The 49th won a variety of awards, including the coveted "Top Gun" for best fighter pilot. F-117 Nighthawk era From 1991 to 1993,

3403-799: The Test Group. In 1975, AFSWC was disestablished, and the 6585th Test Group at Holloman became part of the Armament Development and Test Center (ADTC) at Eglin AFB Florida . Holloman was designated a Tactical Training Center on 1 August 1977 and on 1 October 1993, the Air Force Development Test Center at Eglin AFB was redesignated as the Air Armament Center (AAC). In 1986, a contract

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3486-480: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . John Stapp John Paul Stapp (July 11, 1910 – November 13, 1999)

3569-542: The USAF itself. Much of the conversion work was done before the aircraft were removed from storage at AMARC, with further work being carried out at East St Louis , Illinois . The QF-106s began operating as a Full-Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) in late 1991 at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico, and later at the Eglin Gulf Test Range in Florida (based at Holloman and Tyndall). A typical mission would employ

3652-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

3735-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

3818-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

3901-502: The base was planned to "be manned by a skeleton crew merely as a plane refuelling station, [for] emergency landings, etc.", and it was temporarily inactivated on 28 February 1946. Post-war the AAF was used to support the Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base which had its first Boeing Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft launch on 14 November 1947. With the September 1947 formation of the USAF, in late 1947

3984-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

4067-420: The decelerator had profound implications for both civilian and military aviation. For instance, the backward-facing seat concept, which was known before, was given great impetus by the crash research program. It proved beyond a doubt that this position was the safest for aircraft passengers and required little harness support, and that a human can withstand much greater deceleration than in the forward position. As

4150-934: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

4233-548: The first dual-based tactical fighter wing. The 6583d Air Base Group was inactivated in place. Under the dual-basing concept, the 49th, stationed at Holloman, deployed individual squadrons periodically to Europe , fulfilling their NATO commitment. The operational squadrons of the 49th TFW upon its arrival were: All three squadrons flew the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II . In 1972 squadron aircraft tail codes were standardized on "HO". In 1969,

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4316-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

4399-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

4482-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

4565-817: The history of Air Force space and missile programs. In the years before his death, Stapp was president of the New Mexico Research Institute, headquartered in Alamogordo, New Mexico , as well as chairman of the annual Stapp Car Crash Conference. This event meets to study car crashes and determine ways to make cars safer. In addition, Stapp was honorary chairman of the Stapp Foundation, which is underwritten by General Motors and provides scholarships for automotive engineering students. Stapp died peacefully at his home in Alamogordo at

4648-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

4731-410: The longest flight of a single-seat fighter aircraft. The flights required six aerial refuelings, proving the global power of the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing. In July 1980, the wing acquired the commitment of a primary Rapid Deployment Force unit. This tasking, which lasted for a year, required the wing to be ready to deploy its aircraft, crews, and support personnel on short notice. The wing served with

4814-538: The most valuable, and highly guarded targets in Serbia . The F-117s penetrated the heavily defended areas, which conventional aircraft could not reach, and at least two aircraft were lost. Global War on Terror People, airplanes, and equipment of the 49th Fighter Wing played a key role in the continued global war against terrorism and particularly in Operation Iraqi Freedom . The wing's F-117s played

4897-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

4980-665: The next generation of high-altitude aircraft and the HALO insertion techniques. He was assigned to the deceleration project in March 1947. In 1967, the Air Force loaned Stapp to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conduct auto-safety research. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1970 with the rank of Colonel . As early as 1945, service personnel realized the need for

5063-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

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5146-477: The popularizer, as well as the author of the final form of the principle known as Murphy's law , "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Stapp is credited with creating Stapp's Law (or Stapp's Ironic Paradox ) during his work on the project. It states: "The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle." In 1957, he was presented with the Gorgas Medal from

5229-501: The range, a detached installation operated by the base was the Alamogordo Gasoline Storage and Pumping Station Annex . In 1944 the "base operating unit" changed to the 231st Army Air Force Base Unit (25 March) and 4145 AAFBU (24 August), and on 16 April 1945 Alamogordo AAF was relieved of its training mission and assigned to Continental Air Forces to become a permanent B-29 base. Instead, by 30 January 1946,

5312-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

5395-461: The shoulder facing the forward part of the aircraft. It protected the wearer from the force of crash impacts, takeoffs and landing bumps. It withstood a crash force of approximately 8,000 lbf (35,600 N) of force and was developed to replace the old-fashioned lap belts, which gave inadequate protection to their wearers. By riding the decelerator sled, in his 29th and last ride at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico , Stapp demonstrated that

5478-452: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

5561-422: The strength factors of seats and harnesses. Human tolerance to the deceleration encountered in simulated aircraft crashes could also be simulated. The first run on the rocket sled took place on 30 April 1947 with ballast. The sled ran off the tracks. The first human run took place the following December. Instrumentation on all the early runs was in the developmental stage, and it was not until August 1948 that it

5644-400: The subjects in the backward position, and 55 in the forward position. Stapp, one of the most frequent volunteers on the runs, sustained a fracture of his right wrist during the runs on two separate occasions, also broke ribs, lost fillings from his teeth and developed bleeding into his retinas that caused temporary vision loss; in one run he survived forces up to 38 g. Stapp's research on

5727-401: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

5810-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

5893-416: The wind blasts. Among these experiments was one of the first high-altitude skydives, executed by Stapp himself. He also supervised research programs in the field of human factors in escape from aircraft. Stapp was an inveterate collector of aphorisms and adages, kept a logbook of such, and the practice spread to his entire working group. He published a collection of these in 1992. Stapp is credited with being

5976-415: The wing participated in its first dual-basing exercise, Crested Cap I, deploying 2,000 personnel and 72 aircraft to NATO bases in Europe. Also in 1969, the 49th earned the coveted MacKay Trophy for the "most meritorious flight of the year", for the redeployment from Germany to Holloman after Crested Cap II. The MacKay Trophy recognized the 49th for the fastest non-stop deployment of jet aircraft accomplished by

6059-425: Was activated at Holloman on 1 January 1977 to provide Lead-In Fighter Training (LIFT) training for pilots assigned to fly tactical fighter or attack aircraft. The 479th Flew AT-38B Talons with the following squadrons: All 479th TTW aircraft carried the "HM" tail code. The LIFT program was sharply cut back in 1991, and the wing replaced by the 479th Fighter Group at Holloman, with the aircraft being consolidated under

6142-443: Was activated on 20 September 1949 to oversee all research and development projects. The Holloman Air Development Center became the base operating unit on 10 October 1952, and the 3,500 ft (1,100 m) rocket-powered sled was first run on 19 March 1954. On 10 December 1954, Lt Colonel (Dr.) John P. Stapp rode a Holloman rocket propelled test sled, Sonic Wind No. 1, to a speed of 632 miles per hour (1,017 km/h). The center

6225-474: Was adequate to begin recording. By August 1948, sixteen human runs had completed, all in the backward-facing position. Forward-facing runs started in August 1949. Most of the earlier tests ran to compare the standard Air Force harnesses with a series of modified harnesses. This was to determine which type gave the best protection to the pilot. By June 8, 1951, 74 human runs had been made on the decelerator, 19 with

6308-462: Was an American career U.S. Air Force officer, flight surgeon , physician , biophysicist , and pioneer in studying the effects of acceleration forces on humans. He was a colleague and contemporary of Chuck Yeager , and became known as "the fastest man on earth". His work on Project Manhigh pioneered many developments for the US space program. Born in Salvador de Bahia , Brazil , Stapp

6391-515: Was awarded to Flight Systems Inc. (later Honeywell) to modify 194 surplus Convair F-106 Delta Dart aircraft stored at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona to the QF-106A target drone configuration. This program came to be known as Pacer Six, and the first flight of a converted drone took place in July 1987. Following the completion of an initial batch of ten QF-106s in 1990, most of the work was transferred to

6474-493: Was delivered by Col. Kevin Zeeck on 18 November. The second, 72-1218, arrived at the base two days later. The remaining 14 F-4s arrived at AMARG by the second week of January 2005 in 4 further waves. The 48th Rescue Squadron was activated at Holloman AFB on 1 May 1993 with its six Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. The personnel of the 48th deployed six times in support of Operations Northern and Southern Watch. Additionally,

6557-414: Was increased considerably up to 32 g (310 m/s²). His work showed that a pilot could walk away from crashes when properly protected by harnesses if the seat does not break loose. The "side saddle" or sideways-facing harness was also developed by Stapp. The new triangular-shaped harness gave vastly increased protection to fully equipped paratroopers. It was made of nylon mesh webbing, fit snugly over

6640-655: Was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame for his work in aviation safety. In 1991, Stapp was awarded the National Medal of Technology , "for his research on the effects of mechanical force on living tissues leading to safety developments in crash protection technology". In 2012, 13 years after his death, Stapp was awarded the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers award. The award recognizes individuals for their significant role in

6723-750: Was renamed the Air Force Missile Development Center on 1 September 1957 and inactivated on 1 August 1970. Additionally, Captain Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. , stepped out of an open balloon gondola at 102,800 feet (31.3 km) on 16 August 1960, in an attempt to evaluate techniques of high altitude bailout. Capt Kittinger's jump lasted 13 minutes, reaching a velocity of 614 mph (988 km/h). That jump broke four world records: highest open gondola manned balloon flight, highest balloon flight of any kind, highest bailout, and longest free fall. The Aero-Medical Field Laboratory at Holloman "conducted space flight training with chimpanzees [in] 1961–1962", including Ham on

6806-686: Was replaced by the QF-4 Phantom drone. Today, the 96th Test Group from Eglin Air Force Base Florida is responsible for operational testing and evaluation of new equipment and systems proposed for use by these forces. Current initiatives include advanced self-protection systems for combat aircraft, aircrew life support systems, aerial reconnaissance improvements, new armament and weapons delivery systems, and improved maintenance equipment and logistics support. On 15 July 1963, after serving at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base , France as

6889-755: Was the eldest of four sons of Reverend Charles Franklin Stapp and Mrs. Mary Louise Shannon, Baptist missionaries. He studied in Texas at Brownwood High School in Brownwood and San Marcos Baptist Academy in San Marcos . In 1931, Stapp received a bachelor's degree from Baylor University in Waco , an MA from Baylor in 1932, a PhD in Biophysics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1940, and an MD from

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