Fightersweep

A small plane owned by Harrison Ford has crashed on a golf course near Venice, California. The pilot, described as the “single male occupant,” suffered cuts on his head is is reportedly in critical condition at a local hospital. The aircraft came down on Penmar Golf Course, in the vicinity of both Venice and the […]

We look at the prerequisite requirements for the USMC Weapons and Tactics Instructor course and careers paths of WTI instructors.

There are two types of people: those who love clean, shiny machines, and those who love grimy machines. Some like a sparkling new Ferrari, some a mud covered Jeep. When it comes to airplanes, most folks favor the clean. Less parasite drag, right? I fall in the grimy category, especially when it comes to airplanes. The dirtier […]

It’s March. The month, of two months out of the year, where the wives and girlfriends of fighter pilots smile through thinly-veiled disdain and start counting the days until April arrives. Of all things that could be causing such contempt – Red Flag, Green Flag, TDYs, Air Wing workups at Fallon, or CRIs – the one thing […]

Our love affair with the mighty Grumman Iron Works F-14 Tomcat unapologetically continues, fueled by gems such as this one. This clip features a pair of A-model Turkeys from VF-202 Superheats bringing some super heat and noise to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas in 1993. Complete with flares, some Vulcan cannon action, and of course incredibly low passes by […]

On February 26, 1981 while participating in Special Warfare Exercise 81 (SPECWAREX), an MC-130E Combat Talon I (callsign STRAY59) from the 1st Special Operations Squadron crashed into the ocean shortly after departing NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines on a predawn mission. Eight of the nine crewmembers and 15 special operators perished upon impact with […]

Royal Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons have been employing the relatively new dual-mode Paveway IV precision-guided bomb in their air campaign against ISIS. Paveway IV’s were first used by the Royal Air Force against targets in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick. The precision strikes by the RSAF come approximately one year after the US State Department […]

A friend of mine once said, “You want to know what the most capable platform in the U.S. Air Force inventory is? It’s the Strike Eagle.” Pretty strong praise, considering this friend of mine was a Weapons School graduate in the F-15C, shot down a MiG-29 in combat, then went back to Nellis to teach […]

Last night, two McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs of the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri crashed during a training exercise. Sadly, according to the Turkish General Staff, all four crew members were killed in the incident. “Search operations were immediately started. At 2045 the wreckage of our two planes was discovered and unfortunately four pilots have been […]

After a somewhat tedious look at the scientific background to high gravitational (G) forces and how they affect the human body in flight, we need to understand how military aviators flying high-performance aircraft maintain consciousness and continue to press their attack in such a physically demanding and stressful environment. The G-LOC Before we get into that, I need to address the dreaded G-induced Loss Of Consciousness. […]

For any aviator, military or civilian, one of the most dangerous – or shall we say, incident prone – phases of flight is the approach and landing phase. Even though aircraft spend little time in this regime compared to cruising at altitude, it accounts for a large percentage of aircraft accidents or incidents. It’s rightfully named […]

We have all heard the stories about how perilous trapping aboard an aircraft carrier can be for those who wear the “Wings of Gold,” be they Navy or Marine Corps. While the objective is the “perfect” three-wire trap, the number of things that can go wrong is eye-watering. We all love the Tomcat. One simply […]