Aircrew Flight Equipment: Saving Lives Daily!

Heading out to the aircraft, it’s one of the last places an aviator stops on the way out the door. This one particular TLA (three-letter acronym) operates for the most part  in the background, taking care of gear a pilot depends upon to save their butt, should there be a sudden parting of ways between aircraft […]

Milestone Sunday: B-1B Lancer First Flight

Happy Sunday, FighterSweep Faithful! Today we celebrate one of our favorite aircraft of all time: the sleek, sexy, and supersonic Rockwell B-1B Lancer. On this day in 1984 the B-1B, resurrected by President Ronald Reagan after the B-1A was canceled in 1977, took to the sky for the very first time. The swing-wing bomber was […]

Burner Saturday: 65th AGRS F-15

It was just before 10am on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Already another hot day in the desert, a portion of the morning Weapons School sorties were either in the overhead or landing and the first launches of the morning go for this Red Flag 08-3 mission were holding at EOR. […]

Burner Friday: 62nd Fighter Squadron F-16

Happy Friday, FighterSweep fans! We know this Burner Friday comes on the heels of a rough day, but we sincerely hope that this lifts your spirits at least temporarily. The ‘Spikes‘ of the 62nd Fighter Squadron just recently transitioned to the F-35 and we wanted to send their Vipers into the sunset on a high […]

From The Cockpit: Eagle Airlifters in Alaska

Aside from being home to phenomenal salmon fishing, North America’s tallest mountain, and some of the biggest mosquitoes in existence (it’s the state bird, right?), Alaska boasts some of the finest military airspace on the planet. It’s no wonder the aircrews at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base love being stationed there. The 67,000 […]

Milestone Monday: Boeing KC-46A First Flight

Aviation history was made this past Friday, 25 September 2015, and U.S. Air Force officials were on hand in droves to witness the maiden flight of their new Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker. While the Pegasus test bed flew last December and has subsequently accumulated 150 hours of flight test thus far, this was the first […]

Remembering YUKLA 27

We all love to celebrate various milestones occurring along mankind’s endless journey into, and even beyond the earth’s atmosphere. For the most part we like to commemorate our successes, the times we somehow got it all right and miraculously bested gravity for a time. But sometimes we need to stop and remember what it took […]

20th Fighter Wing Deployment Compilation

Happy Sunday, FighterSweep Fans! Today we are very fortunate to bring you a very special presentation, one that has been in the works for some time and we feel is finally ready to share with all of you! We have talked a lot about deployments, TSPs, and the various challenges of getting warfighters both downrange […]

The A-10 Video Some Didn't Want You To See

While the A-10 Debate rages on Capitol Hill and down the long corridors of the Pentagon, the mighty Hawg continues to demonstrate why it is one of the most in-demand assets aerial warfare has ever known. In this particular piece, we get to go inside the cockpit as you know we love to do, and […]

Happy Birthday To The USAF!

Happy Friday, FighterSweep Fans! Today we are celebrating the creation of the United States Air Force, sixty-eight years ago today when President Truman signed the National Security Act and established a new defense organization independent of its previous life as part of the Army. As you read these words, airmen all over the globe are […]

Happy Birthday to the 179th Fighter Squadron!

If you follow USAF aviation closely, you know this week is a big week in the service’s history. While you might have noticed the C-17’s first flight anniversary earlier this week, or know that the USAF’s 68th birthday is right around the corner, you might not know about another momentous cause for celebration at a […]

Milestone Tuesday: Boeing C-17A First Flight

On September 15, 1991, a camouflage-painted, pointy-nosed Boeing C-17A took off for the first time from the Long Beach, California airport. The initial prototype, dubbed T-1, lifted off with throngs of gathered onlookers cheering and ushering in a new era of USAF aviation. Despite cost overruns and early underperformance, the “Globemaster III” would prove to be […]