The origin of the Commemorative Air Force is the organization called the "Confederate Air Corps" created by Oscar Harper in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1953.
Led by the fictional character "Thaddeus P. Throckmorton" and his recruiting officer "Jethro Culpepper", the CAC established several features that later became key characteristics of the CAF: folksy, tongue-in-cheek southern humor; a membership structure based on each member having the equal rank of colonel; and a rallying cry of "Semper, Mint Julep" ("Always Mint Julep").
The P-51D "Red Nose" was the first airplane of the CAF.
In 1957, Lloyd Nolen and four friends purchased a P-51 Mustang called "Red Nose", splitting the $1,500 cost.
In 1958, the group made their second purchase: two Grumman F8F Bearcats[6] for $805 each. Along with the P-51, this gave the pilots two of the most-advanced piston-engine fighters to see service with the U. S. Army Air Forces and the United States Navy.
In 1960, the CAF began to seriously search for other World War II aircraft. The CAF colonels were shocked to find that the aircraft which played such a major role in winning World War II were being rapidly and systematically scrapped as obsolete with no efforts, not even by the Air Force or Navy, to preserve any for display for future generations. The warbirds that remained airworthy were mostly in private hands modified for air racing or had been converted for commercial use as air freighters and aerial firefighters.
On September 6, 1961, the CAF was chartered as a nonprofit Texas corporation to restore and preserve World War II-era combat aircraft.
By the end of the year, the CAF owned nine aircraft. By 1963, the group had achieved their initial goal of acquiring one of each fighter plane operated by U. S. forces during World War II. They held their first airshow on March 10, 1963.
The CAF added the B-29 FIFI in the 1970s.
In 1965, the first museum building was completed at old Rebel Field, Mercedes, Texas. The CAF created a new Rebel Field at Harlingen, Texas, and moved there in 1968,[6] occupying three large buildings including 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) of museum space. By the end of the decade, the CAF fleet had added medium and heavy bombers such as the North American B-25 Mitchell, B-17, Consolidated B-24 Liberator. In 1971, they bought one of the two airworthy Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, FIFI.
In 1976, the CAF sponsored an air show where a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets, the pilot who flew the B-29 which bombed Hiroshima during World War II, reenacted the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (including a mock mushroom cloud). This air show prompted the Japanese government to lodge a formal complaint with the United States Embassy, resulting in the U. S. government issuing an apology.
In 1983, the American Airpower Heritage Foundation was founded to financially support the CAF.
The group's accomplishments were recognized in 1989 with a National Aviation Hall of Fame Spirit of Flight Award. [10] That year, Texas Governor William Clements signed a resolution designating the CAF the air force of Texas.
In 1990, the CAF added two corporations. [6] The first was the American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum, tasked with obtaining and maintaining the CAF's aircraft titles. The second was the American Airpower Heritage Museum, which acquired and maintained the CAF's non-aircraft pieces and static displays. In September 1990, CAF joined a statewide anti-littering campaign (Don't Mess With Texas), filming a low-level, high-speed pass of the B-17 Sentimental Journey on a mock bombing run of a highway-littering pickup truck, as part of a 30-second television spot.
The CAF C-47 That's All, Brother was the plane that led the parachute assault on Normandy during D-Day.
In 1991, the CAF moved operations to Midland, Texas, where the group opened the CAF Airpower Museum and the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.
In April 2014, the CAF announced the move of their headquarters and all of the planes associated with the headquarters to Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas, Texas.
