Aviation

Ever since flying machines began taking to the skies there have been instances of an airship or aircraft disappearing, sometimes with little or no trace, making it very difficult for investigators to ascertain exactly what happened. Over the years flying has become considerably less risky and the odds of vanishing in an aircraft became increasingly […]

According to a manning report, the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR), also known as Night Stalkers, is facing significant manning shortages. The report, first obtained by the Army Times, concerns the final quarter of Fiscal Year 2019. It reveals the following numbers of pilot shortages: With regard to the MH-60 Black Hawk […]

On this day in 1983, members of the 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions, 82nd Airborne Division, Marine Corps 8th Marine Regiment, US Army Delta Force and Navy SEAL commandos invaded the island nation of Grenada. The small island, located about 100 miles north of Venezuela, was under strife after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was placed […]

Although it was introduced way back in 1966, and retired from service a whopping eighteen years ago, the SR-71 Blackbird remains among the most popular military aircraft of all time — and for good reason. Despite its relative old age when compared to modern feats of aviation ingenuity like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or […]

An F-105 Thunderchief avionics technician remembers writes what it was like to work on the jet and live in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. I’ll be writing from memory after 48 years and it grows dimmer with the passage of time and the aging process. But during this revisit to my time in the […]

Tullia continued to unload and accelerate, watching the missiles as they closed on his aircraft. As he reefed his Viper into yet another series of gut-wrenching turns, one missile passed so close that Tullia heard the roar of the rocket motor as it went by.

Get into the cockpit with CDR Reggie Hammond when he intercepts a Russian SU-24 Fencer near the coast of North Korea in one his first flights in the F-14 Tomcat. It was just another day at the office. I was a brand new naval aviator, or “nugget”, in an F-14A Tomcat squadron, forward deployed to […]

What’s the best way to simulate Air Combat? Flight simulator? Nope. Roller Coaster? Not even close. Watch Top Gun in IMAX? Yeah…no. Instead, try this: drive a car through a city (preferably in South Korea) while your passenger reads you math problems to answer, and at the same time listen to news radio, internalize the […]

So you think you know the answer on who wins between the F-16V and the J-39E? Well let’s see if you agree with our resident expert.

Combat Aviation Advisors all call the 6TH Special Operations Squadron home; it is the only Combat Aviation Advisory Organization in the Air Force. Though its mission is Foreign Internal Defense (FID) and Combat Foreign Internal Defense (CFID), those aren’t the preferred AFSOC catchwords. They use phrases like “combat aviation advisory unit” and “non-standard aircraft squadron” […]

In the back of my freezer resides a bottle of a chilled bourbon liqueur called ‘Jeremiah Weed,’ a potent elixir revered in Fighter Pilot Culture, known as much for its razor blade taste as for the stories and traditions it embodies.

The Weapons and Tactics Instructor course (WTI) at MCAS Yuma covers mission planning, tactics and weapons employment, and it is badass!