Civilians in communities near Miramar called the base and local news media asking about a ‘berserk F-14 pilot’… Author Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek, former F-14 radar intercept officer (RIO), an instructor…
“There was a major in the Air Force… He saw the first couple of ones. He said, ‘Geez, that thing is as ugly as a warthog.’ And it stuck,” Elliot…
The SR-71 Blackbird crew that established the still-standing absolute speed record
While the SR-71 was operational, several pilots flew the Blackbird faster than the official record but not during sanctioned record attempts The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft…
The last recorded air-to-air kill by the USMC was achieved by piloting a USAF F-15C
Captain Magill and his wingman thought they had caught the two Fulcrums off guard when the MiG-29s suddenly began maneuvering and turned aggressively toward their formation… An F-15C assigned to…
Viktor Belenko, the pilot who stole the top secret Soviet MiG-25 fighter jet
The Lockheed SR-71A strategic reconnaissance aircraft could only be intercepted by the MiG-25 until the MiG-31 entered service, making it of particular importance to the Soviet air defense Lt. Viktor…
The Black Arrows and the story of the World record “22 Hunter Loop” formation
“All the Hunters are now standing vertically on their tails. For better or worse we are now virtually committed to completing this loop in some fashion or other. From this…
“We could have been throwing up dust clouds behind us, we were so low. One wrong move and we’d have been splattered over miles of cactus,” Jay Lacklen, former B-52…
OV-10A An Iraqi SAM shot down Bronco BuNo 155424 on February 25, 1991. Major Joseph Small, the pilot, was captured, and Captain David Spellacy, the observer, was killed. The intriguing…
In contrast to other frontline fighters from the past, the Israelis appeared unable to obtain a MiG-29 using clandestine methods. But with the end of the Cold War, it was…
A Soviet MiG-19 shot down an American Elint aircraft over the Barents Sea
Before swinging back to launch a cannon strike, the MiG-19 broke away from the RB-47H during the maneuver. The aircraft was shot down after two firing attempts The 55th Strategic…