420th Flight Test Flight

The 420th Flight Test Flight (420 FLTF) is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve squadron. It was last assigned to the 413th Flight Test Group of Air Force Reserve Command at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Arizona, where it was inactivated on 31 October 2007.

The flight was first active during World War II as the 420th Night Fighter Squadron. The squadron served from 1943 to 1944 as an Operational Training Unit for night fighter aircrews.

The 420th Air Refueling Squadron was activated under Tactical Air Command in 1954 but moved to England, where it served under United States Air Forces Europe until being inactivated as Strategic Air Command assumed the role of single manager for USAF air refueling. In 1985 the night fighter and refueling squadrons were consolidated into a single unit.

The 6520th Test Squadron was organized in 1989 by Air Force Systems Command. In 1992, as the USAF eliminated Major Command controlled (MAJCON) units, the 6520th was consolidated with the 420th and redesignated the 420th Flight Test Squadron. The squadron was inactivated as a regular unit in 1997, but was activated four years later in the reserves as the 420th Flight Test Flight.

World War II
The squadron was first established in mid-1943 as the 420th Night Fighter Squadron, a defensive Night Fighter interceptor squadron at the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. Night fighter combat over the skies of England made the USAAF aware of the need for night air defense training and tactics development.

AAFSAT was ordered to develop a training program to produce pilots with night fighting skills. The 420th Night Fighter Squadron was designated as the Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Orlando for the training program.

AAFSAT's immediate requirement was to train night fighter pilots for two operational squadrons that were destined for Hawaii and for Panama. However, initially the training program could not be carried out due to a lack of training aircraft. The school acquired a collection of aircraft from AAF Training Command. Only a few Douglas P-70 Nighthawks were modified for night operations. Production delays at Northrop for the P-61 Black Widow fighter aircraft required the unit to use what it had until the first YP-61s were received in early 1944.

In January 1944 the entire program moved to Hammer Field, California and was placed under IV Fighter Command. The move placed the squadron near Northrop manufacturing facility at Hawthorne, California and most programmed P-61 squadrons were planned for operations in the Pacific and China Burma India Theaters.

In March 1944 the 420th was disbanded when the AAF found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit during a reorganization of units in the United States. The squadron's personnel and equipment were transferred to Squadron A of the 450th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Night Fighter Replacement Training Unit).

Cold War
The 420th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in 1954 by Tactical Air Command to provide dedicated air refueling for TAC bombers, fighters, and fighter bombers. The 420th was activated at Alexandria AFB, Louisiana and was the first TAC air refueling squadron. The squadron received KB-29Ps fitted with the refueling boom.

In 1955 the unit deployed to United States Air Forces in Europe and was based at RAF Sculthorpe, Norfolk, England to provide air refueling for USAFE squadrons. However, the KB-29s were simply too slow to refuel jet fighters. The increasing performance of operational fighters made it necessary to boost the performance of the tankers, and this was done by re-equipping with the KB-50 Superfortress in 1957 which provided greater speed to refuel jet aircraft. KB-50s were modified to KB-50J configuration in 1958 which added a J-47 turbojet engine underneath each wing in place of the auxiliary fuel tanks to increase the speed of the aircraft. The KB-29P was phased out in 1958.

Unfortunately, the elderly KB-50Js began to deteriorate almost as soon as they were delivered, and due to a chronic parts shortage TAC was forced to resort to cannibalization to keep the retrofitted tanker aircraft flying. Landing gear malfunctions were frequent, and many parts started to break simply because of old age. More and more maintenance had to be performed in order to keep the aircraft flying.

By 1963 the squadron's aircraft began to be phased out, the mission being taken over primarily by Air National Guard Boeing KC-97 Stratotankers. rotating to Europe under Operation Creek Party. The squadron inactivated in early 1964 and its KB-50Js were sent to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan AFB. Arizona.

B-2 Spirit Flight Testing
Air Force Systems Command] activated the 6520th Test Squadron in March 1989 at Edwards AFB, California. Its mission was the pre-operational testing of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The B-2 was first revealed to the public on 22 November 1988, when AV-1 (82-1066 "Spirit of America") was unveiled at Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, California. At this time the aircraft was still not ready for its first flight. Taxi tests began on 10 July 1989. The B-2 finally made its first flight on 17 July 1989 from Palmdale. The flight lasted 112 minutes and ended with a landing at Edwards and delivery to the 6520th. After carrying out initial tests, AV-1 was used for radar cross section tests. In early 1993, AV-1 was placed in long term storage to await upgrading to full service configuration prior to joining the operational fleet. The second test aircraft (AV-2, 82-1067 "Spirit of Arizona") flew for the first time on 19 October 1990 from Palmdale, landing at Edwards AFB. It was heavily instrumented and served as the loads test aircraft.

AV-3 (82-1068 "Spirit of New York") took to the air for the first time on 18 June 1991. It was the first radar and navigation test aircraft. AV-4 (82-1069 "Spirit of Indiana") followed on 17 April 1992, and AV-5 (82-1070 "Spirit of Ohio") on 5 October 1992. These two planes were used for avionics and weapons testing. The first bomb to be tested with the B-2 was a 2000-lb Mk 84, which was dropped from AV-4 on 12 September 1992. AV-5 was the intended for armament, climactic, and low-observability testing.

On 1 October 1992, the 6520th Test Squadron was consolidated with the 420th Air Refueling Squadron. The next day the consolidated unit was renamed the 420th Test Squadron.

The last development aircraft, AV-6 (82-1071 "Spirit of Mississippi") flew on 2 February 1993. It was used for technical order validation and for further weapons and avionics testing. By January 1995 the six B-2s had logged more than 2300 hours in the air in more than 490 flights. Terrain-following certification flights were undertaken by AV-4 in September 1996. By January 1997, the B-2 had reached limited operational capability and testing at Edwards was phased down. B-2 flight testing was transferred to the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the squadron was inactivated at the end of 1997.

T-38 Talon Flight Testing
The 420th was reactivated in 2001 at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Arizona (formerly Williams AFB) as the 420th Flight Test Flight. The flight acted as a T-38 Talon functional check flight organization. The 420th replaced Operating Location E of the 622d Regional Support Group, which originally stood up in May 2000. After the 413th Flight Test Group was created at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, transferred to the group in 2003.

The unit supported the T-38C avionics upgrade program by flying depot-level test sorties and acceptance check flights after the cockpit upgrades were completed. In addition, pilots would pick up aircraft and bring them to Mesa for upgrade at a Boeing facility and then deliver them after the work was complete. The squadron was inactivated on 30 October 2007 due to budget reductions.

Lineage
420th Night Fighter Squadron
 * Constituted as 420th Night Fighter Squadron on 25 May 1943
 * Activated on 1 June 1943
 * Disbanded on 31 March 1944


 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 420th Air Refueling Squadron on 19 September 1985

'''420th Air Refueling Squadron
 * Constituted as the 420th Air Refueling Squadron, Fighter-Bomber on 8 December 1953
 * Activated on 18 March 1954
 * Re-designated 420th Air Refueling Squadron, Tactical on 8 August 1958
 * Discontinued and inactivated on 25 March 1964


 * Consolidated with the 420th Night Fighter Squadron on 19 September 1985 as the 420th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy
 * Consolidated with the 6520th Test Squadron on 1 October 1992

420th Flight Test Flight
 * Designated as the 6520th Test Squadron and activated on 10 March 1989
 * Consolidated with the 420th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 October 1992
 * Redesignated 420th Test Squadron on 2 October 1992
 * Redesignated 420th Flight Test Squadron on 1 March 1994
 * Inactivated on 30 December 1997


 * Re-designated 420th Flight Test Flight on 24 September 2001
 * Activated in the Reserve on 1 October 2001
 * Inactivated on 31 October 2007.

Assignments

 * Air Defense Department, Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, 1 June 1943 (attached to 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group after 17 July 1943)
 * 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, 26 July 1943 - 31 March 1944
 * Ninth Air Force, 18 March 1954 (attached to 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 18 March 1954 - 22 September 1955)
 * Third Air Force, 9 October 1955 (attached to 47th Bombardment Wing, 15 March 1960 - 1 July 1961)
 * Seventeenth Air Force, 1 July 1961 (remained attached to 47th Bombardment Wing)
 * 47th Bombardment Wing, 8 November 1961
 * Seventeenth Air Force, 22 June 1962 (attached to 7375th Combat Support Group after ca. June 1962)
 * 7375th Combat Support Group, 1 October 1962 - 25 March 1964
 * 6510th (later, 412th) Test Group, 10 March 1989 - 30 December 1997
 * 622d Regional Support Group, 1 October 2001
 * 413th Flight Test Group, 1 October 2003 - 31 October 2007

Stations

 * Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, 1 June 1943
 * Kissimmee Army Air Field, Florida, 1 June 1943
 * Dunnellon Army Air Field, Florida, 20 August 1943
 * Hammer Field, California, 18 January - 31 March 1944
 * Alexandria (later, England) Air Force Base, Louisiana, 18 March 1954 - 22 September 1955


 * RAF Sculthorpe, England, 9 October 1955 - 25 March 1964
 * Edwards Air Force Base, California, 10 March 1989 - 30 December 1997
 * Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Arizona 1 October 2001 - 31 October 2007

Aircraft

 * AT-11 Kansan, 1943–1944
 * A-20 Havoc, 1943–1944
 * P-70 Havoc, 1943–1944
 * BT-13 Valiant, 1943–1944
 * C-78 Bobcat, 1943–1944


 * P/YP-61 Black Widow, 1944.
 * KB-29 Superfortress (Tanker), 1954–1959
 * KB-50 Superfortress (Tanker), 1956–1964
 * B-2 Spirit, 1989–1997
 * T-38 Talon, 2001–2007