The Northrop Gamma started out in 1933 as a private venture involving the latest advances in structural techniques that influenced later generations of aircraft. Later to be designated the A-17, the last military version to bear the name Gamma was the Gamma 5. Only three were built before Northrop switched over production the A-17.

The first Gamma 5 was sold with US government approval to Japan in October 1935. Shipped to Japan the following month, it was evaluated by both Mitsubishi and Nakajima on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Navy and designated the BXN1.

The third Gamma 5 was shipped (again with US government approval) to the Imperial Japanese Navy and designated by the IJN as the BXN2. It was then turned over to Nakajima for further evaluation and is believe to have influenced the design of the Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber.

Source: Aerospace Modeler Magazine, No. 7/Summer 2007. "The Northrop Military Gamma Family: Part 1" by Geoff Hays, p36.

The Air Force Space Command was formed in September 1982 initially responsible for space monitoring and space-related activities connected with the defense of the United States and Canada. In 1993 the ICBM force passed from the Air Combat Command to the Space Command and since then AFSPC has been responsible for the ICBM nuclear deterrent force, the early warning of ballistic missile launches, the launch and operation of military satellites (including the GPS constellation) and worldwide space surveillance.

But the only manned aircraft assigned to the Air Force Space Command are approximately 26 Bell UH-1Ns assigned to three Flights to fly launch crews to ICBM missile silos and transport security teams to ICBM sites. The three Flights are based at three Air Force bases of the 20th Air Force, the operating AF for the ICBM force- Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (tail code "FE"), Minot AFB, North Dakota ("MT"), and Malmstrom AFB, Montana ("MT"). A fourth Flight of UH-1s is based at Vandenberg AFB ("HV") to support missile and space launch activities.

Source: US Air Force: The New Century by Bob Archer. Midland Publishing, 2000, p29.

In terms of revenue, the current helicopter industry leader is Eurocopter with over $6 billion in revenue in 2008. The number two spot is surprising given their past labor and financial problems- Sikorsky with over $5 billion in revenue. The remaining three spots in descending order based on revenue for 2008:

#3: AgustaWestland (previously the #2 leader until passed by Sikorsky in 2006)- over $4 billion.

#4: Boeing - over $3 billion in revenue.

#5: Bell Helicopter - just under $3 billion.

Since 2003 all of the above companies have experienced a growth in revenue. The companies' rankings in 2003 in descending order were Eurocopter, AgustaWestland, Boeing, Sikorsky, and Bell.

Source: Aviation Week and Space Technology, May 4, 2009. "Worst to First" by Joseph Anselmo, p49.

One of the more unusual operators of the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor was the Federal Aviation Administration. From June to December of 1970, the USAF loaned an F-102 to the FAA who operated it with the registration number N300. It was assigned to provide data that would be used to develop takeoff airworthiness standards for the planned American SST as well as US certification of the Concorde. Equipped with a tail skid to limit takeoff rotation to angles and runway lengths more appropriate to the supersonic transports, N300 was flown by FAA pilot Robert LeSuer from Edwards AFB.

The data collected by N300 would be used to define the operating rules for Concorde operations in the United States. Upon completion of its program, the aircraft was retired to Davis-Monthan AFB's boneyard.

Source: Warpaint Series No. 64: Convair F-102 Delta Dagger by Terry Panopalis. Warpaint Books, p39.

The first generation of UAVs had their start with Leigh Dugmore Denny, a Hollywood actor with Paramount Studios. Denny had a passion for radio-controlled aircraft and even opened a hobby shop on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1934 he founded Denny Industries to build RC model planes and quickly realized that there would be military potential for his models. The following year he founded Radioplane Company and would later secure a large contract to build aerial targets during the Second World War.

In 1952 Radioplane was acquired by Northrop and became the Radioplane Division and by the 1960s, it would be renamed the Ventura Division of Northrop, still engaged in the manufacture of UAV aircraft. In 1968, the year after Denny passed away, the Ventura Division delivered the first MQM-74/BQM-74 Chukar to the US Navy. By the time of Operation Iraqi Freedom, over 5000 Chukar UAVs had been built. Some were even used in Desert Storm as well as Iraqi Freedom to lay chaff corridors for inbound strike aircraft.

Source: Attack of the Drones: A History of Unmanned Aerial Combat by Bill Yenne. Zenith Press, 2004, p15-31.

When the Bell AH-1 Cobra gunship was being developed, the Army's intent was to name the aircraft after an American Indian tribe as had been its long tradition. However, at the time of the development of the Cobra gunship, the Department of Defense was in a legal battle with Piper Aircraft who also named their aircraft after American Indian tribes.

In Vietnam, UH-1 "Hueys" were called "Slicks" if they were operating unarmed, "Hogs" if they were armed with rockets, and "Cobras" if they were armed with guns. As Bell's main pitch for the procurement for the AH-1 was that it was a low-risk development of the UH-1 Iroquois (to some degree true given that the original gunship proposal was called the Iroquois Warrior and had more in common with the UH-1 than the final AH-1 design), the AH-1 got named "Huey Cobra".

Source: New Vanguard: Huey Cobra Gunships by Chris Bishop. Osprey Publishing, 2006, p6-7.

The Israeli air-to-surface missile Rafael Popeye was already ordered by the USAF to fulfill a long-standing requirement for a stand-off penetrator weapon as the AGM-142 Have Nap when Desert Storm began. The Air Force quickly got 24 missiles direct from Israeli Air Force stocks with the start of the air war but were never used- it was speculated that the political repercussions of using an Israeli weapon against an Arab state resulted in the missiles not being used by the B-52.

Source: Stratofortress: The Story of the B-52 by Martin W. Bowman. Pen and Sword Books, 2005, p180.

The first Lockheed Skunk Works contract with the CIA wasn't the U-2 spyplane, but a spyplane adaptation of the Lockheed P2V Neptune maritime patrol aircraft. Predating the U-2 contract by several months, seven P2V-7 Neptunes were modified by Kelly Johnson's team into RB-69s. The aircraft were equipped with the first operational terrain avoidance radar (built by Texas Instruments), doppler navigation radars, a variety of ECM equipment, and in later years a large General Electric SLAR unit in a housing on the right side of the aft fuselage.

The first missions assigned to the RB-69s were the mapping of the Russian power grid in Eastern Europe. Missions were flown out of Wiesbaden AB in West Germany in 1955-1956. Beginning in 1957, missions were also flown over China from bases in Taiwan, usually with Taiwanese crews and markings.

Source: Lockheed Secret Projects: Inside the Skunk Works by Dennis Jenkins. MBI Publishing, 2001, p29.

As of 2008 the largest commercial fleet of Douglas DC-3s belonged to Buffalo Airways in Canada- they have ten examples, but four are in storage at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. They are used for personnel and cargo transport throughout the northern part of Canada.

Four Star Air Cargo of San Juan, Puerto Rico, operates six DC-3s on freighter services throughout the Caribbean.

The largest passenger operator is currently Discovery Air Tours based at Sydney-Bankstown in Australia. They also operate six DC-3s on day and night scenic tour flights of the area.

Source: Air International, March 2009. "Douglas' Time Machine" by David Willis, p57.

For a brief period during the Vietnam War, Convair F-102 Delta Daggers were used in the night ground attack role- the infrared equipment designed to track Soviet bombers was used to detect Viet Cong activity in the jungles of South Vietnam. Pilots soon became adept at identifying insurgent campfires and even tracking someone smoking a cigarette. An IR missile intended for air-to-air engagements would be fired at the heat source, sometimes resulting in secondary explosions.

With the arrival of increasing number of F-4 Phantoms in theater, the ground attack role of the F-102 was short lived.

Source: Combat Aircraft, October-November 2008. "Century Series: F-102 Delta Dagger" by Warren E. Thompson, p72.