Valston Hancock (31 May 1907 – 29 September 1998) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Hancock transferred to the RAAF in 1929 and qualified as a pilot. After fifteen years of occupying staff and training posts, he saw combat in the Aitape–Wewak campaign of the Pacific War during 1945. Flying Bristol Beaufort light bombers, he led No. 100 Squadron, and later No. 71 Wing, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, Hancock became the inaugural commandant of RAAF College, followed by a succession of senior positions, before being promoted to air marshal and serving as Chief of the Air Staff from 1961 to 1965. He was knighted in 1962. In his role as the Air Force's senior officer, Hancock continued the policy of developing a chain of forward airfields in Northern Australia. He also evaluated potential replacements for the RAAF's English Electric Canberra bomber.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valston_Hancock
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1940:
Two Avro Ansons of the Royal Australian Air Force collided in mid-air over Brocklesby, but locked together and were landed safely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Brocklesby_mid-air_collision
1962:
Alouette I, Canada's first satellite, and the first constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_1
1963:
The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich, England, after talk of establishing a university in the city began as early as the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_East_Anglia
1990:
The Lockheed YF-22, the prototype for the F-22 Raptor, made its first flight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YF-22
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Neptunian: 1. (Roman mythology) Of or pertaining to Neptune, the Roman god of fresh water and the sea, the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. 2. (by extension, rare) Of or pertaining to water or the sea. 3. (by extension, geology) Formed by the action of water. 4. (by extension, geology, historical) Of, pertaining to, or supporting Neptunism (“a discredited theory that rocks were formed from the crystallisation of minerals in the early Earth's oceans”). [...] 5. (astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Neptune. 6. (astronomy) Of or pertaining to the planet Neptune. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Neptunian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells that which it is necessary for him to see, hear, touch, taste and smell in order to preserve his life. The decay or loss of any of these senses increases the risks with which his life is environed, and if it increases them less in the state of society in which we are actually living, the reason is that some see, hear, touch, taste and smell for others. A blind man, by himself and without a guide, could not live long. Society is an additional sense; it is the true common sense. --Miguel de Unamuno https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno