514th Flight Test Squadron The 514th Flight Test Squadron ( 514 FLTS ) is a United States Air Force squadron . It is assigned to the Ogden Air Logistics Center ( OO - ALC ) , Air Force Materiel Command , stationed at Hill Air Force Base , Utah . Overview . The 514th FLTS ' current mission is to accomplish high - risk acceptance flights on F - 16 Fighting Falcon , A - 10 Thunderbolt II and C - 130 Hercules aircraft following depot level maintenance . 514th FLTS aircrews provide the final quality control checks to ensure aircraft are airworthy and capable of returning to combat units . As the OO - ALC Center Test Authority , the 514th FLTS is the focal point for managing and providing test process expertise and support for all test and evaluation at the OO - ALC . History . World War II . Established in the Middle East during late 1942 to aid British Forces during the Western Desert Campaign . Initially equipped with obsolete B - 17C / D Flying Fortress es transferred from Tenth Air Force . Replaced with B - 24 Liberator s flown from Florida via South America ; over to then across Central Africa then north to Egypt in early 1943 . Became part of United States Middle East Air Forces ( USMEAF ) , later Ninth Air Force . Operating from bases in British Palestine , Egypt , Libya and Tunisia , attacked shipping in the Mediterranean and harbor installations in Libya , Tunisia , Sicily , and Italy to cut enemy supply lines to North Africa . Struck airdromes , marshalling yards , and other objectives in Sicily and Italy after the fall of Tunisia in May 1943 . Reassigned to Fifteenth Air Force in late 1943 , and moved to southern Italy . Squadron flew long range strategic bombardment missions to targets in Italy , France , Germany , Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , and the Balkans to bomb factories , marshalling yards , oil refineries , oil storage facilities , airdromes , bridges , harbors , and other objectives . After the German Capitulation in May 1945 , returned to the United States ; was re - equipped with B - 29 Superfortress bombers and trained under Second Air Force for deployment to the Pacific Theater . However with the Japanese Capitulation in August , the training ended and most personnel demobilized by the end of October . Remained in active status but not fully manned or equipped , and subsequently inactivated in early 1946 due to budget restrictions . The squadron was not fully manned or equipped between 10 November 1945 and 26 March 1946 and was unmanned from , 23 May 1947 – 20 September 1948 . Cold War . Based in Japan at the beginning of the Korean War , the squadron , flying RB / WB - 29s , performed daily strategic weather reconnaissance missions over the combat zone , conducted shipping surveillance and visual reconnaissance , and accomplished electronic countermeasures reconnaissance until 20 February 1951 . In the early days of the conflict , the squadron also dropped leaflets . Initially unarmed , and later only lightly armed with two . 50 - caliber machine gun s in the tail turret , the WB - 29s flew daily missions over enemy - held territory . During 27 June through 27 December 1950 , the squadron flew over 200 combat missions , making over 5 , 000 vitally needed weather observations . These missions were exceptionally hazardous because of extremely varying weather conditions and exposure to attack over enemy territory . Reactivated in May 1951 . Practiced electronic countermeasures with B - 29 aircraft from c . 1952 until conversion to B - 47 Stratojet jet medium bombers in 1954 . Between 1954 and 1965 , flew a long series of simulated combat bombardment missions to maintain readiness as a unit of the Strategic Air Command , testing electronic warfare devices and radar techniques , using B - 47 and EB - 47 aircraft . Inactivated in 1965 with the retirement of the B - 47 . Flight testing . Reactivated in 1970 as the 6514th Test Squadron at Edwards AFB , California . Mission was to support flight testing and modifications of the Ryan AQM - 34Q Firebee reconnaissance drone , being used in the Vietnam War by the 556th Reconnaissance Squadron to gather intelligence over strongly defended areas over North Vietnam . . Moved to Hill AFB , Utah in 1973 and became a geographically - separated component of the Air Force Flight Test Center ( AFFTC ) . At Hill , the squadron continued conducting and supporting the Firebee as well as other RPV , UAV , and cruise missile test missions , and supported various test operations at the Utah Test and Training Range ( UTTR ) . From the late 1970s , the 6514th operated a DC - 130H Hercules ( later , NC - 130H ) drone launch / control airplane along with an HC - 130H . Added two C - 130B ( later , NC - 130B ) and a DC - 130A in the 1980s . The squadron also used a few HH - 53C and CH - 3E helicopters which were used to retrieve drones and missiles and transport people to and from remote sites on the range . By the mid - 1980s , the heavy helicopters gave way to HH - 1H helicopters . The 6514th Test Squadron was renumbered as the 514 FLTS on 2 Oct 1992 during the Air Force ' s downsizing and reorganization as all 4 - digit squadrons were reassigned a 3 - digit number from Air Force heritage . Absorbed the AFRES 15th Flight Test Squadron in 1993 and began depot flight testing C - 130 , A - 10 and F - 16 aircraft . Completed the AFFTC drone and range mission and realigned under Ogden ALC on 30 September 1995 . Currently , the 514th quality - control checks involve performing flight checks , which means strapping themselves into planes that have usually been stripped to the bone and put back together again . The checklists for the check flights vary depending on the plane , model and maintenance or upgrades completed at the depot . According to the pilots and crew members , the standard check flight for an F - 16 can take up to an hour , while the A - 10 and C - 130 flights can last for an hour and a half . Once the Ogden ALC Maintenance Directorate is finished with a plane , it does a series of ground checks before handing it over to the 514th , who then perform their own set of ground checks before sending the pilots and crew down the runway . In addition , the 514th provides delivery of foreign military sales aircraft all over the world , from Thailand to Italy . Many of those aircraft come from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center , or " bone yard , " at Davis - Monthan AFB , Ariz . , and the 514th sends pilots there to test them once they have been reassembled and put back into flying condition .