The KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing Company’s model 367-80 served as the basic design for both the KC-135A Stratotanker and the commercial 707 passenger aircraft. The Air Force acquired the first…
Cold War
F-14 Tomcat
US Navy F-14 RIO recalls when his section of two Tomcats had to divert to Pakistan during Operation Enduring Freedom
The F-14 Tomcat Following Grumman’s tradition of naming its aircraft after cats, the “Tomcat” made its first flight On Dec. 21, 1970. After a number of changes following flight testing,…
US Army UH-60 Blackhawk in Afghanistan In 2009, the most crucial year of Operation Enduring Freedom, US Army UH-60 Blackhawk pilot Joshua Havill wrote the book War and Coffee. It…
History
The Lightning pilots’ defense prevented the Luftwaffe Bf 109s from shooting down a single bomber despite their assault on USAAF P-38s escorting 72 B-25s
Luftwaffe Bf 109s Vs USAAF P-38s Following Operation Torch in 1942, USAAF fighter pilots encountered a baptism of fire while flying the highly sophisticated P-38 Lightning over North Africa. Their…
F-16 honoring Robin Olds This post has an intriguing photo that was taken on September 17, 2023, at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea. It shows an F-16C Fighting Falcon…
Cold War
How a US Army OV-1 pilot brought down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 with his Mohawk’s rockets and gun
The strangest aerial engagement of the Vietnam War What was maybe the most peculiar aircraft combat of the Vietnam War occurred in late February 1968 over the triple canopy jungle…
F-14 Tomcat
F-14 plane captain recalls when his Tomcat RTB from ACM training with 95% of its starboard stab missing. The pilot never knew it was missing and just used a little trim for the ACM mission.
F-14 Tomcat ACM training Air combat maneuvering (ACM) is the art of maneuvering a combat aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on…
F-14 shooting down RF-4C A US Air Force (USAF) RF-4C Phantom II was shot down by a US Navy F-14 Tomcat on September 22, 1987, over the Mediterranean during NATO…
F-14 Tomcat
Cradle of Aviation Museum unveils newly restored F-14D ‘Felix 101’, the last US Navy Tomcat to ever fly
Cradle of Aviation Museum restores Felix 101 On Sep. 14, 2023 the curatorial staff and dedicated team of restoration volunteers at the Cradle of Aviation Museum presented the newly restored…
History
The P-47 that survived a strafing run with its wing torn off and its tail damaged by Spitfires
The P-47 Thunderbolt One of the most well-known fighter aircraft of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II was the P-47, affectionately known as “Jug.” The P-47…