Featured News Archives - Page 28 of 286

In a Tiny Corner of a Huge World: What Are the Chances?

Sadly, I recently attended the funeral of our friend Nancy, who was 80-something. Sitting with the other mourners, I couldn’t help but think about an obscure, meaningless fact that I was certain her son and I were the only ones in attendance knew. We alone knew her connection to one of aviation’s enduring controversies: Who […]

Great Planes: The B-24 Liberator

Throughout the history of aviation only a few aircraft have excelled to become legend. One of them is the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Enjoy this terrific documentary!

Do You Believe in UFOs?

His name was Ray Watkins, and he was a helluva nice guy and smart as they come. He got his Double “E” degree through the NESEP Program. Ray had just asked me the question that was sure to come up sooner or later in any Ready Room in the Fleet. I knew Ray was a […]

When Plumbing Fixtures Ruled the Skies

By the time the first shot was fired in 1914 during the “war to end all wars,” the airplane was barely out of its infancy stage. The early “knights of the air” puttering around in their mostly wooden and fabric-covered flying contraptions were mere observers to the large-scale battles that lay below them. As they […]

F/A-18 Hornet: a Dynasty in the Making

The Hornet has been a highly controversial airplane from the day it was initially proposed. Hornet detractors point at their hero, the massive F-14, and say the Hornet isn’t worthy of following in that great airplane’s steps. No range, no load, no nothin’. Well, folks, guess what? Right or wrong, the Tomcat’s on it’s way […]

Fighter of the Week: the Lockheed P-38 Lightning

A WW II-era American piston-engined fighter aircraft, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was developed for the United States Army Air Corps. It had distinctive twin tail booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. The P-38 was used for interception, dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, night fighting, photo reconnaissance, and escort missions for […]

Aviation Insider: F-35 Lightning II

When the 100th F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter was delivered, it was a “big deal for the Air Force,” said chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Welsh is the most visible face and the strongest voice supporting the F-35. A respected fighter pilot, Welsh is trying to steer his service at a time when […]

Learning to Fly at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

Article from Warbird Tails: In aviation circles, there are a number of airfields and collections around the world that capture the imagination and become almost mythical as part of aviation folklore. Old Rhinebeck is most certainly amongst those legends, especially for those with an interest in those early years of aviation right through until the […]

Supermarine Spitfire – Free Wylam Drawing

Somewhere there is probably a list of the world’s most beautiful airplanes but the process of selecting those airplanes has undoubtedly prompted numerous fistfights. However, when it came to putting the Spitfire on, or at the top, of the list, it’s doubtful anyone anywhere disagreed. Reginald Mitchell created a piece of art as much as […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1938 – First flight of the Bell P-39 Airacobra, a principal American fighter in service at the start of World War II. It is the first fighter in history with a tricycle undercarriage and the first to have the engine installed in the center fuselage, behind the pilot. 1962 – The Royal Canadian Air Force […]