On the nose of the B-1B Lancer, a quotation was added, “In remembrance of the Doolittle Raiders.” Many base events were held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Doolittle…
The story of Major George E. Preddy, the most successful P-51 Mustang Pilot of all time that was Killed In Action in a Tragic Case of Friendly Fire on Christmas Day 1944
With a final official score of 26.833 aerial victories, Major George E. Preddy remains the most successful P-51 Mustang pilot of all time The awesome artwork in this post was…
The A-12 was an early attempt by Lockheed to create a spy plane that could avoid enemy detection and anti-aircraft fire. It was the first “attempt” at a stealth aircraft…
The Imperial Japanese Navy’s Ryujo: The Forgotten, Unique, one-off Hybrid of a Cruiser Hull with an Aircraft Carrier Superstructure Grafted on to it
The Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Ryujo was a unique, one-off hybrid of a cruiser hull with an aircraft carrier superstructure grafted on to it The Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Ryujo…
Brigadier General Fred Castle, the B-17G Copilot, was killed in the crash of his bomber
Brigadier General Fred Castle was flying as a copilot in the lead B-17G Flying Fortress with the 487th Bomb Group, 1Lt. Robert W. Harriman, and their skilled lead crew of…
How the Sukhoi OKB seized control of the Russian aviation industry
The head of the then-Sukhoi OKB convinced the Russian Federation’s President to select his firm’s designs as the country’s principal fighter aircraft during negotiations with post-Soviet Russian President Yeltsin Having…
Ex-USAF F-4 pilot tells how he managed to land his Phantom II safely following the right engine explosion
The fuel flow controller on the F-4 Phantom II had NEVER broken down. It wasn’t mentioned in the flight handbook, the book of emergency procedures, or anywhere else The McDonnell…
How the Warthog’s CCIP Gun/Rockets mode calculates Range and Impact Point without Radar
Without radar, how does the A-10 Warthog’s CCIP gun/rockets mode calculate range and impact point? A calculation produced by a weapon’s sighting system is known as a Continually Computed Impact…
As the squadron prepared to switch from the AV-8B to the F-35B, VMA-214 was renamed VMFA-214
VMA-214 was renamed VMFA-214 as part of the switch from the AV-8B Harrier to the F-35B Lightning II On March 25, 2022, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, held…
Jackie Cochran, the first woman to breach the sound barrier, (with Chuck Yeager flying the Chase Plane)
Jackie Cochran broke the sound barrier on May 18, 1953, and she set a record for women’s absolute speed of 652.337 mph A jet sped through the desert close to…