The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States.

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twin-engined, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and ground attack aircraft. Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 that lost against the YF-16 in the United States Air Force's lightweight fighter program. The United States Navy selected the YF-17 for the Navy Air Combat Fighter program, further developed the design and renamed it F/A-18; the United States Marine Corps would also adopt the aircraft. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels.

Naval Air Station Patuxent River, also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station in St. Mary’s County, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River.

Maryland is a state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east, as well as with the Atlantic Ocean to its east, and the national capital and federal district of Washington, D.C. to the southwest. With a total area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km²), Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area, and its population of 6,177,224 ranks it the 18th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated. Maryland's capital city is Annapolis, and the state's most populous city is Baltimore.

November 18 is the 322nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 43 days remain until the end of the year.