461st Flight Test Squadron

The 461st Squadron tests aircraft systems at Edwards Air Force Base. ==History==

World War II The squadron was organized and trained in the Northeast United States by First Air Force. During training it was a part of the northeast air defense, linking it to the New York and Boston Fighter Wings. , England, 1944. The 461st Squadron was deployed to England aboard the and served in combat as a part of the VIII Fighter Command from October 1943 to May 1945. The 461st ran operations in preparation for the invasion of the European continent; they supported the landings in Normandy and the Allied drive across France and Germany. The squadron flew Republic P-47 Thunderbolts until they were replaced by North American P-51 Mustangs in November 1944. Aircraft of the 461st were identified by a magenta/blue diamond pattern around their cowling, carrying fuselage code QI. The 461st was reactivated on 1 July 1977 at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle, conducting fighter aircraft aircrew training for pilots. The improved F-15C/D model arrived in 1982 for pilot training. In 1985 the Air Force consolidated the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with the World War II 361st Fighter Squadron, ==Lineage==

; 361st Fighter Squadron • Constituted as the 361st Fighter Squadron on 8 December 1942 : Activated on 12 December 1942 : Redesignated 361st Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 20 September 1944 : Inactivated on 11 November 1945 • Consolidated with the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron as the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on 19 September 1985 England, 27 August 1943 • RAF Martlesham Heath (AAF-369), England, 9 October 1943 – 28 October 1945 • Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, 10–11 November 1945 • Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany, 8 February 1956 • Hahn Air Base, West Germany, 2 May 1956 – 1 August 1959 • Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, 1 July 1977 – 5 August 1994 • Edwards Air Force Base, California, 27 October 2006 – present Aircraft • Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1943–1944) • North American P-51 Mustang (1944–1945) • North American F-86 Sabre (1956) • North American F-100 Super Sabre (1956–1959) • Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (1956) • McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle (1977–1988) • McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle (1988–1994) • Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (2006–present) ==See also==