Learning to dance with a high-spirited lady By James H. Farmer By 1959, Major Ernest Craigwell, Tuskegee Airman and a current Air Defense Command fighter pilot, had already enjoyed his fair share of time flying hot jets and a certain modest measure of notoriety. Two years earlier, his role flying F-51s alongside Korean War legend [...]
Life magazine, with the help of the USN, commissioned the construction of an incredible series of gigantic dioramas that illustrated the various events and phases of the Battle of Midway. While preparing Barrett Tillman’s exhaustive article on that operation in this issue, our own Stan Piet stumbled upon what appears to be the entire file [...]
Ten years ago in Flight Journal In the April 2002 issue of Flight Journal, the multi-faceted Walt Boyne, known to the world as a familiar face on many TV aviation documentaries as the former Director of the National Air and Space Museum, and as the author of dozens of nationally recognized books and novels, steps [...]
B-17 crewmen remember the German missions By Mark Carlson Ex communi periculo fraternitas ‘From common peril, brotherhood’ board each of the thousands of B-17 Flying Fortresses that left the soil of England bound for targets in Europe were 10 young men. Outwardly, they were no different from any late-teen or early-twenties boy you’d meet anywhere [...]
In September 1939, while Europe was erupting for the second time in two generations, America slowly prepared for war. That month, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama applied to the Civil Aeronautics Administration to participate in the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPT). Thereby, black males tentatively became eligible for government flight training—a revolutionary development in American [...]
There’s that wonderful word again: Free! This time we’re offering high- quality PDF downloads of William Wylam’s fabulous drawing of the B-17G Flying Fortress. The detailing is incredible and the PDF could be blown up to almost any size without losing quality. Enjoy! Click here.
Roger McCollester was a 21-year-old kid when he strapped on a B-24 and headed for a German town named Regensburg. And another nightmare mission was underway. Told as only a pilot in the middle of the bomber stream could tell it, readers will quickly understand why bomber pilots had a different kind of war than [...]
We became more than just a little excited when we discovered we had complete sets of the original pen- and-ink drawings of the very first, fixed-gear Model 17 (Staggerwing) Beechcraft from the master, William Wylam. These are superb collector’s items! Download it here
In a bizarre sequence of events, under orders, a P-61 Black Widow shoots down a B-29 Super Fort off of Iwo Jima. Arvid Shulenberger was at the controls of the night fighter turned Fort destroyer and in the October 2001 issue of Flight Journal, he tells, in his own words, how he came to shepherd [...]
The P-39 Airacobra, as featured in this issue, wasn’t the last in the line of the mid-engine Bell fighters. Its bigger brother, the Kingcobra, was never used in combat by the USAAF, but the Russians dearly loved its ground-pounding abilities. The Wylam drawing we’re offering is of killer quality and would frame beautifully. Enjoy! Click [...]
War was coming to the ocean called “Pacific.” Imperial Japan, in need of oil to feed its growing ambition, squirmed under the stricture of an American embargo (implemented because of Japan’s aggression toward China). Japan would not be denied its self-proclaimed destiny, so Tokyo’s warlords cast covetous eyes southward to the petroleum-rich Dutch East Indies, [...]
Dr. Alfred Price, a UK-based historian and respected author gives us yet another view of the Battle of Britain, including inside information on the aircraft and tactics. Lots of terrific color photos of the Spitfire, Hurricane, Messerschmitt and more Read it Now
A downloadable, vintage line-drawing of the Spitfire Mk. II by the fabulous William Wylam is available Click Here
F-8 Crusader pilots are a breed unto themselves who share an intense camaraderie based on the firm conviction that they flew the finest, and probably last, dogfighter ever built. Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, USN (Ret.) logged over 2,000 hours in the type, and he puts us in the cockpit for a lighthearted tour of what [...]
