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…
Cold War
How, during the few times the sound barrier in the F-102 was broken, the cockpit noise level never changed
The F-102 Delta Dagger The United States Air Force’s first operational supersonic, all-weather interceptor with Mach 1 capability was the F-102 Delta Dagger. Its signature wasp-waisted delta-wing design, manufactured by…
Cold War
The VF-142 F-4B that was able to make an emergency landing aboard USS Ranger after her radome was destroyed by Vietnamese AAA
VF-142 F-4B emergency landing A U.S. Navy McDonnell F-4B Phantom II (BuNo 150643) belonging to Fighter Squadron VF-142 Ghostriders appears in the article’s featured photograph. VF-142 served with the aircraft…
Cold War
During his first scramble, a USAF F-15 pilot explains why he had to buy beers after taking off without a G-suit
Scramble In the event of a threat, military forces need to react quickly for safety reasons. Aircraft scrambling is a part of a military aviation technique used to get an…
The SR-71 Blackbird The SR-71 Blackbird, a plane that could travel more than three times faster than the sound made by its own engines, was created in the 1960s by…
Cold War
How two tiny dents on the SR-71 nose stopped surface-to-air missiles from hitting the Blackbird
The SR-71 Blackbird The US Air Force (USAF) created the SR-71 Blackbird in the 1960s; it was a plane that could fly at a speed greater than three times the…
The Black Hawk Multirole Helicopter The Black Hawk is the military’s most versatile helicopter, suited for a variety of missions, including command and control, air assaults, medical evacuations, and lift…
McDonnell Douglas YC-15 Vs Boeing YC-14 A tactical transport aircraft with four engines designed for short takeoff and landing (STOL) was the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) YC-15. It was McDonnell…