aviation

2016 seems to have had a more than usual number of military pilots that have been lost. As you read the many stories of crashes and accidents you may have seen someone comment, “Throw a Nickel on the Grass.” There may be a bit of debate about the exact origins of the saying but all […]

The U.S. Air Force is turning obsolete F-16 Fighting Falcons into target practice, a longstanding tradition as older planes age out. The dronified F-16s will be used to test new weapons, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Air Force had previously relied on F-4 Phantoms turned into target drones, but the supply of obsolete […]

Aerial application is a relatively obscure flying profession piloting large, single seat, turbine tailwheel airplanes. Add that attraction to legally strafing the ground low and fast, dozens, if not hundreds of times a day. The catch? It’s extremely specialized, and requires the aviator to be half farmer, half fighter pilot (in that order). The best […]

Bell Helicopter has unveiled a new aircraft that could be the shape of future U.S. Army helicopters to come. The aircraft is one of two that will demonstrate new technologies for the ground service’s helicopter fleet, scheduled to receive a fleetwide upgrade in the 2030s. The aircraft, known as the V-280 Valor, was unveiled at […]

Congress understands the desperate need to increase aviation readiness levels and they are targeting acquisition reform as a key function to help in the effort. Bob Simmons and Chris Brose, staff directors of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees (majority) respectively, spoke yesterday about how to improve warfighter readiness through the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act […]

Marine Corps pilots are getting a chance to see how the ground-pounders live in a new immersive program designed to bring the air and ground elements of the Corps’ fighting machine closer for better collaboration. Called the aviator immersion program, the initiative aims to have one pilot from each squadron within Camp Pendleton, California’s Marine […]

A highlight of some of the U.S. Marine and U.S. Navy aircraft which work together to keep the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group at the tip of the spear during Western Pacific Deployment.

I’ve always loved aviation, I think it started when I was a kid. Star Wars X-wing fighters, then the space ships of Buck Rogers, and of course, Battlestar Galactica (the original). I couldn’t get enough. As a kid I wanted to go to one of the service academies but, having left home at sixteen with […]

“The inability to operate in degraded visual environments is the primary contributing factor to Army aviation mishaps over the past decade,” said Steffanie Easter. Easter, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, spoke at the Army Aviation Association of America-sponsored 2016 Army Aviation Mission Solution Summit in Atlanta, April 29 […]

It was the early 1990s, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and the Gulf War had recently ended. The military was scrambling to justify manpower, means, and technology to a Democratic Congress and the Clinton administration, which foolishly saw to cuts in defense until 2000. In the midst of this scramble a security and technology deployment […]

FighterSweep Fans,  tens of thousands of people, maybe even hundreds of thousands, have dreamed of flying in a fighter of some type or other. It is an experience difficult to describe with words, and the feeling it leaves you with echoes each and every time you see or hear another pointy-nosed military aircraft ripping through […]

Since 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps has prided itself on being “The Few” and “The Proud.” But while the Corps takes pride in doing more with less, senior Marine officers are warning that the Corps’ aviation service is being stretched to the breaking point. Today, the vast majority of Marine Corps aircraft can’t fly. The […]