Snapshot
July 29, 2010
Across the Pacific
A U.S. Air Force RB-45C is shown making a rocket-assisted takeoff more than half a century ago. Manufactured by North American aviation, the bomber chalked several firsts: It was the world's first four-engine jet bomber, the U.S. Air Force's first operational jet bomber, and the first jet to be refuled in the air. On July 29, 1952, piloted by Major Lou Carrington and his crew, it became the first airplane to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean. Refuled twice in mid-air by KB-29 tankers, the RB-45C flew from Alaska to Japan in nine hours and 50 minutes.
Photo: U.S. Air Force
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