The B-58 Hustler On November 11, 1956, the B-58, the US Air Force’s first operational supersonic bomber, took off. Apart from its delta wing design, the Hustler was distinguished by…
Cold War
The F-16N Viper The US Navy purchased an F-16N Viper, a version of the F-16 Fighting Falcon used by the US Air Force, to simulate fourth-generation Soviet fighters as adversary…
Most of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Maritime fleet of CH-148 Cyclone helicopters is undergoing repairs after cracks were found in the tails of the aircraft Most of the Royal…
Cold War
A-7 Corsair II pilot once used a $40K AGM-62 Walleye to destroy a $2K broken-down pickup truck blocking a road intersection during the Vietnam War
The AGM-62 Walleye The Martin Marietta AGM-62 Walleye, although designated as an air-to-ground missile (AGM), was actually an unpowered glide bomb guided to its target by a television camera attached…
History
40 years ago, NATO aircraft operated on German autobahn: the story of the biggest exercise to date to use a highway as improvised airfield
NATO aircraft land on German autobahn In 1984, forty years ago, an exercise involving many nations was carried out by NATO aircraft to evaluate the alliance’s ability to use specific…
The P-51 Mustang The secret to controlling the ground turned out to be controlling the air. The Allied success relied heavily on the long-range P-51 Mustang fighter, enabling the resumption…
History
The U-2/SR-71 “yellow” pressure suits were borrowed by NASA for the first space shuttle mission
David Clark Company American’s David Clark Company (DCC) is a manufacturer and designer of a broad range of industrial and aerospace protective equipment such as headsets, anti-G suits, pressure-space suit…
US Navy’s search for an advanced carrier-based air superiority fighter In an effort to support the Department of Defense’s goal of commonality with the Air Force and its F-111A, General…
Cold War
SR-71 pilot set 13 acres of Maryland on fire by dumping fuel after one engine exploded during his last flight
The SR-71 Blackbird The US Air Force (USAF) created the SR-71 Blackbird in the 1960s. It was a plane that could move at a speed that was more than three…
Cold War
A Tu-16 bomber crew member recalls a training mission where the aircraft dropped a real nuclear bomb
Nuclear testing At the height of the Cold War, in the early 1960s, nuclear testing was resumed by both the US and USSR. The largest thermonuclear bomb ever dropped was…