No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (No. 2 OCU) is a fighter training
unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Located at RAAF Base
Williamtown, New South Wales, it trains pilots to operate the McDonnell
Douglas F/A-18 Hornet (pictured), conducts refresher courses, and trains
future Hornet instructors. Pilots new to the Hornet enter No. 2 OCU
after first qualifying to fly fast jets at No. 79 Squadron and
undertaking initial fighter combat instruction at No. 76 Squadron. Once
qualified on the F/A-18, they are posted to one of the RAAF's
operational Hornet squadrons. No. 2 OCU was established as No. 2
(Fighter) Operational Training Unit in April 1942. During World War II
it provided training on a wide range of aircraft, including P-40
Kittyhawks, Vultee Vengeances, Avro Ansons, CAC Boomerangs, Supermarine
Spitfires and Airspeed Oxfords. Disbanded in March 1947, the unit was
re-formed at Williamtown in March 1952 in response to the demand for
more highly trained pilots in the Korean War. It was renamed No. 2
(Fighter) Operational Conversion Unit in September 1958, and before the
Hornet it conducted training with the CAC Sabre, Dassault Mirage III,
and Macchi MB-326.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._2_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAAF>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
649:
War against the Western Turks: The forces of Kucha surrendered
after a siege led by Tang Dynasty general Ashina She'er, establishing
Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_campaign_against_Kucha>
1746:
During the Second Jacobite Rising, Bonnie Prince Charlie
occupied the town of Stirling, Scotland, but failed to capture its
castle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling>
1862:
American Civil War: In their first significant victory, Union
forces defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Mill Springs near
modern Nancy, Kentucky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mill_Springs>
1917:
Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in
Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing over 70
people and injuring over 400 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion>
1996:
A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in South Kingstown,
Rhode Island, US, spilling an estimated 828,000 US gallons
(3,130,000 l) of home heating oil.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cape_oil_spill>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ascertain:
To find out definitely; to discover or establish.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ascertain>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
 Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado.
--Edgar Allan Poe
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe>