418th Flight Test Squadron The 418th Flight Test Squadron ( 411 FTS ) 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 418th FTS performs flight testing on C - 130 Hercules and special operations variants ; CV - 22 Osprey ; KC - 135 Stratotanker and special variants as part of Global Reach Group . History . World War II . Established as a B - 17 Flying Fortress reconnaissance squadron in January 1942 ; redesignated as a heavy bomb squadron in April and activated in June . Trained initially under Third Air Force in the southeast ; transferring to Second Air Force in the Pacific Northwest . Operated as an Operational Training Unit ( OTU ) in the Midwest until being deployed to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) , being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England in June 1949 . Engaged in strategic bombardment operations over Occupied Europe and Germany , sustaining very heavy losses of personnel and aircraft while conducting many unescorted missions over enemy territory attacking airfields , industries , naval facilities and transportation hubs . During the summer of 1944 , aircrews bombed enemy positions at Saint - Lô , followed by similar campaigns at Brest in August and September . In October 1944 , the squadron attacked enemy and ground defenses in the allied drive on the Siegfried Line , then bombed marshaling yards , German occupied villages , and communication targets in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945 . Attacked enemy targets in Germany during the spring of 1945 , ending combat operations with the German Capitulation in May 1945 . Remained in Europe as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe occupation forces , dropping food to the people in the west of the Netherlands , and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France . Demobilizing in England , in December 1945 the squadron inactivated as a paper unit . Cold War . Activated in the Reserves in 1947 at Miami Airport , Florida . Unclear whether or not the unit was manned or equipped ; inactivated in 1949 due to budget restrictions . The squadron was activated in 1959 as a result of Strategic Air Command phasing out the B - 47 Stratojet , and additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings , and the replacement of the B - 47 by B - 52 Stratofortress es . In March 1961 , President John F . Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B - 47 be accelerated . and the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962 as part of the drawdown of the USAF B - 47 force , with the aircraft were sent to AMARC storage at Davis - Monthan . Flight Test Squadron . Reactivated as a flight testing squadron at Edwards AFB . It has conducted flight testing of the MC - 130H Combat Talon II and AC - 130U Spooky aircraft since 1989 . Supported test programs for miscellaneous large aircraft ( other than the Edwards - owned Boeing C - 135 Stratolifter and C - 137 Stratoliner fleets ) . Also managed small test programs including the T - 3 Firefly , T - 6 Texan II , and C - 130J Hercules . Gained the C - 17A Globemaster III program from the inactivating 417th Flight Test Squadron in 1995 . Added EC - 18 and NKC - 135 types from the 452d Flight Test Squadron in a realignment of Edwards flight test squadrons on 1 October 2000 . Ceased operating the EC - 18s on 24 Aug 2001 when they were retired .