FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-149 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (September 18, 2023) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps, off we go into the wild blue yonder with some history of the U.S. flying forces.  

AIM HIGH

The United States Air Force was established on September 18, 1947.  Its predecessor, the US Army Air Forces, was largely independent from the US Army in World War II, but creating a new military branch made the separation quite clear.

The nearly 500,000 men and women strong Air Force has cool toys, like the bombers B-1, B-2 (stealth) and my favorite, the well-aged B-52; Eagle and Falcon fighter jets; another favorite, the Warthog attack plane, among many others, including a series of drones.  And, yes, they have the missiles.

A key supplier to the officer talent pool to the Air Force is the US Air Force Academy, located just north of Colorado Springs, Colorado.  A typical incoming class has 1200 cadets of whom 80% graduate and enter the Air Force, and now optionally the Space Force.

Colorado is rather rectangular in shape, as shown in this 1911 map of the state by Rand McNally.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.