416th Flight Test Squadron

The 416th Flight Test Squadron (416 FLTS*) is part of the 412th Test Wing and is based at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It performs flight testing on F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

History

Established in early 1942 as a B-17 Flying Fortress reconnaissance squadron; redesignated as a heavy bomb squadron before activation in June. Trained under II Bomber Command in the Pacific Northwest, being deployed with B-17Es directly to the XII Bomber Command in North Africa shortly after the Operation Torch Landings in March 1943. In Algeria, the squadron engaged in combat operations in support of American ground forces in Algeria and Tunisia during the 1943 North African campaign.

Helped force the capitulation of Pantelleria Island in June 1943. Bombed in preparation for and in support of the invasions of Sicily and southern Italy in the summer and fall of 1943. Was reassigned to the new Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) Fifteenth Air Force in October 1943 and until the German Capitulation in May 1945, engaged in strategic bombardment of enemy targets in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece, attacking oil refineries, marshaling yards, aircraft factories, and other strategic objectives.

After V-E Day, was assigned to Air Transport Command Green Project which was the movement of troops from Italy to staging areas in Morocco. B-17s were dearmed with flooring and seats for 25 passengers installed. Crew consisted of Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator and Flight Engineer. Carried passengers from Tortorella and later from Marcianise Airfields to Port Lyautey Airfield, French Morocco where ATC transports moved them across the Atlantic or to Dakar for movement via South Atlantic Transport Route.

Squadron was demoblized in Italy in late 1945; inactivated in November. Activated in the reserves in 1947 and possibly assigned some B-29 Superfortresses, however unit never fully equipped or manned. Inactivated in 1949 due to budget restraints.

Reactivated for flight testing of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1989.^[1] Former members of the 416th FLTS who have been hired by NASA to be astronauts include Mike Bloomfield, Duane Carey, Rex Walheim and Jim Dutton.

Lineage^[1]

• Constituted as: 26th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942

Redesignated: 416th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 Apr 1942

Activated on 1 Jun 1942

Redesignated: 416th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, on 20 Aug 1943

Inactivated on 8 Nov 1945

• Redesignated: 416th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy, on 3 Jul 1947

Activated in the Reserve on 17 Jul 1947

Inactivated on 27 Jun 1949

• Consolidated (1 Oct 1992) with 6516th Test Squadron

Designated, and activated, on 10 Mar 1989

Redesignated: 416th Test Squadron on 2 Oct 1992

Redesignated: 416th Flight Test Squadron on 1 Mar 1994.

Assignments^[1]

• 99th Bombardment Group, 1 Jun 1942-8 Nov 1945; 17 Jul 1947-27 Jun 1949
• 6510th (later, 412th) Test Wing, 10 Mar 1989
• 412th Operations Group, 1 Oct 1993-Present

Stations^[1]

Aircraft^[1]

• B-17 Flying Fortress (1942–1945)
• B-29 Superfortress, 1947-1949
• F-16 Fighting Falcon (2005–Present)

Operations^[1]

• World War II

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, AL: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} AFHRA 416 FLTS Page

• USAF 416th Flight Test Squadron History

External links