Description: 305th Bombardment Wing (Medium) Patch Pilots and crew enjoy this beautifully embroidered 305th Bombardment Wing (Medium) Patch; it is a great collector's patch and can be displayed proudly. 4 inches Iron On US Veteran-Owned Business Reproduction The 305th Bombardment Wing was established on 20 December 1950 and activated on 2 January 1951 at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.[1] The wing took charge of the 305th Bombardment Group's former flying squadrons when the Air Force reorganized its wings into the tri-deputate system. Initially training with the Boeing B-29 and B-50 Superfortress, the 305th received its first Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter later that year. Following this, the group began training heavily in its new dual mission of strategic bombardment and aerial refueling. In June 1952, the wing became the second Strategic Air Command (SAC) wing to receive the Boeing B-47A Stratojet bomber. Operational squadrons of the wing were the 305th, 364th, 365th and 366th Bombardment Squadrons, while the 306th Bombardment Squadron was intended to act as a training unit to prepare future B-47 crews. The B-47As were primarily training aircraft and were not considered as being combat-ready, since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components In 1953, the 305th was upgraded to the B-47B production Stratojet and the wing began operational strategic bombardment and refueling missions from MacDill. The wing deployed overseas three times, once to England (September-December 1953) and twice to North Africa (November 1955 - January 1956 and January-March 1957), in keeping with its mission of global bombardment and air-refueling operations. The wing's deployments marked the first overseas deployment of the B-47B. Two of the wing's B-47s set speed records on 28 July 1953 when one flew from RCAF Goose Bay, Labrador, to RAF Fairford, England, in 4:14 hours and the other flew from Limestone Air Force Base, Maine, to RAF Fairford in 4:45 hours.[1] During this period, the 305th also figured prominently in the filming of the 1955 James Stewart and June Allyson film, Strategic Air Command, a portion of which was filmed in and around both the 305th Bombardment Wing and 306th Bombardment Wing areas and their B-47 aircraft at MacDill. In 1955, SAC upgraded the 305th to the B-47E, the major production version of the Stratojet. A major tragedy struck the 305th on the evening of 10 October 1956, when 50 of its personnel returning from a 90-day temporary duty assignment in England on a Military Air Transportation Service flight died when the United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster carrying them disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. A search discovered wreckage from the aircraft, but no survivors or bodies ever were found.[6][7][8]
Price: 14.95 USD
Location: Seymour, Tennessee
End Time: 2024-12-25T04:09:24.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money back or replacement (buyer's choice)
Type: Patch
