461st Flight Test Squadron The 461st Flight Test Squadron ( 461 FLTS ) is a United States Air Force squadron . It is assigned to the 412th Operations Group , Air Force Materiel Command , stationed at Edwards Air Force Base , California . Overview . The 461 FLTS squadron performs flight testing on the F - 35 Lightning II . History . World War II . Organized and trained in the Northeast United States by First Air Force . During training was part of the air defense of the northeast , being attached to the New York and Boston Fighter Wings . Deployed to England aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth and served in combat as part of VIII Fighter Command from October 1943 to May 1945 , participating in operations that prepared for the invasion of the Continent , and supporting the landings in Normandy and the subsequent Allied drive across France and Germany . The squadron flew P - 47 Thunderbolt s until they were replaced by P - 51 Mustang s in November 1944 . Aircraft of the 461st were identified by a magenta / blue diamond pattern around their cowling , carrying fuselage code " QI " . From October 1943 until January 1944 , operated as escort for B - 17 Flying Fortress / B - 24 Liberator bombers that attacked such objectives as industrial areas , missile sites , airfields , and communications . Fighters from the 461st engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after 3 January 1944 , with its targets including U - boat installations , barges , shipyards , aerodromes , hangars , marshalling yards , locomotives , trucks , oil facilities , flak tower s , and radar stations . Bombed and strafed in the Arnhem , Netherlands area on 17 , 18 , and 23 September 1944 to neutralize enemy gun emplacements providing support to Allied ground forces during Operation Market - Garden . In early 1945 , the squadron ' s P - 51 Mustang s clashed with German Me 262 jet aircraft . The squadron flew its last combat mission , escorting B - 17 ' s dropping propaganda leaflets , on 7 May 1945 . Remained in the United Kingdom during the balance of 1945 , most personnel were demobilized and returned to the United States , with aircraft being sent to storage facilities in the UK . The squadron was administratively inactivated at Camp Kilmer New Jersey on 10 November 1945 without personnel or equipment . Cold War . The 461st Fighter - Day Squadron was re - activated at Landstuhl Air Base , West Germany during Feb 1956 , equipped with North American F - 100 Super Sabre s , being one of the first USAFE squadrons equipped with supersonic jet aircraft . Aircraft carried three black diagonal stripes on tail . Between 1956 - 1959 , it conducted air superiority and general support missions as directed by Twelfth Air Force and , later by United States Air Forces in Europe . It also maintained and trained forces for a limited fighter - bomber capability with basic air to air weapons . Inactivated August 1959 due to budget restraints . Reactivated on 1 Jul 1977 at Luke AFB , Arizona as a Replacement Training Unit ( RTU ) for the F - 15A Eagle , conducting fighter aircraft aircrew training for pilots . The improved F - 15C / D model arrived in 1982 for pilot training . In 1985 , as there was no 461st Fighter Squadron during World War II , the Air Force Historical Research Agency consolidated the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with the World War II 361st Fighter Squadron , giving the squadron a combat heritage and lineage . In the late 1980s , the F - 15E Strike Eagle dual - role version of the F - 15C arrived at Luke . The 461 TFTS received the first new F ‑ 15E on 12 April 1988 . The 461 TFTS continued to gain aircraft and the first F ‑ 15E transition class ( TX ) graduated on 24 February 1989 . Once qualified the crews were then reassigned to an operational squadron at the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing located at Seymour - Johnson AFB , North Carolina . It was inactivated on 5 August 1994 as part of the phase - down of F - 15 training at Luke . Modern era . The squadron was reactivated at Edwards Air Force Base , California , in 2006 . It ' s mission is flight testing aircraft , primarily the F - 35 Lightning II .