Decades ago, on June 3rd at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Republic Aviation test pilot Oscar O. "Bud" Haas would make the first flight of the XF-96A, a swept-wing variant of the F-84 Thunderjet. The year was 1950, and 22 days after the first flight of the new swept-wing Thunderjet, North Korea would send more than 98,000 men across the 38th parallel, overwhelming the defenses of South Korea and bringing the world back to war at the dawn of the new era of world conflict: the Cold War.