In total, two US naval aviators flying the F/A-18E Super Hornet and four French aviators, flying the French Rafale and an E-2C Hawkeye, conducted carrier operations including touch-and-goes and one…
The XF-84H was a turboprop fighter plane developed in the early 50s that caused such bad headaches among pilots they never went into combat, despite being the first airplane with…
Airshows
The story behind Van Halen music video for Dreams featuring Blue Angels in the A-4 Skyhawks
McDonnell Douglas gave Warner Bros. decade-old stock footage of the Blue Angels flying the iconic A-4F Skyhawk II and Warner Bros decided that Van Halen’s soaring track “Dreams” was a…
The Antonov AN-124 Ruslan (Ukrainian: Антонов АN-124 Руслан) (NATO reporting name: Condor) is a strategic airlift jet aircraft. It was designed by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR…
The XB-70 Valkyrie was a planned supersonic bomber that became known as a “technology demonstrator”. Its main descendant is the B-1 Bomber, and its technology has been used for civilian…
Carriers
[Updated] That time a USAF B-52 Strategic Bomber did a fly-by below the flight deck of USS Ranger Aircraft Carrier
B-52 Pilot: “Ranger, we’re 5 miles out.”USS Ranger: “We do not have visual…”B-52 Pilot: “Look down” Taken in the spring of 1990 in the Persian Gulf, the impressive pictures in this post feature…
F-14 Tomcat
The Story behind this Photo of An F-14 Tomcat Shooting Itself Down while Firing an AIM-7 Sparrow Air-to-Air Missile
One of the most complex parts of the F-14 Tomcat testing was firings of AIM-7 Sparrows from stations on the belly of the aircraft. Here is something for all those…
Helicopters
The USAF’s HH-60W rescue helicopter is called “Jolly Green II” to honor the “Vietnam-era Giants”
The USAF named its newest combat rescue helicopter, the HH-60W, the “Jolly Green II,” following the legendary tradition of the Vietnam-era HH-3E Jolly Green and HH-53 Super Jolly Green crews…
The most complex navy vessels at sea, possibly except for submarines, are aircraft carriers. Carriers must operate a fleet of planes securely in addition to the usual issues of warships,…
The Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet was the first rocket-propelled aircraft to enter operational service by any country in the world. Developed by Alexander Lippisch during World War II, it is one…