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P-51 Mustang Now on Oahu

The P-51 Mustang slated to fly guests over Pearl Harbor and Oahu WW II battle sites is now in Honolulu, having arrived in a Matson container March 7th. The aircraft is now airworthy, prepared for its modern-day mission and is expected to take its first guests on flights over Oahu this week. Jim Martinelli, manager […]

Missing WW II Warbirds Found in the South Pacific [VIDEO]

Three aircraft associated with seven American servicemen missing in action from World War II were recently discovered in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, by Project Recover partners from the University of Delaware and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of the University of California, San Diego.

The Boy Next Door Goes to War

Like every other new pilot in 1942, Cary Benjamin “Ben” Jones experienced an abrupt introduction to combat. At that point in the war, the enemy had been flying combat for several years, but almost every American pilot, Jones included, was new to that particular lethal game. Still, he flew P-40s in the Mediterranean, Africa, Sicily, […]

Martha’s Vineyard’s Workin’ Wacos

Contrary to a bit of universally accepted fake news, the 1940s are not actually over. The decade is still alive and well, although somewhat disassociated from the main landmass of America, and lagging behind the new millennium. If you don’t believe that, head for Katama Airfield, 1B2, owned by Edgartown, Massachusetts. And don’t plan on […]

Secret A-12 Footage Released

Check out this historical video detailing the development and deployment of the A-12 photo reconnaissance aircraft — the world’s highest and fastest flying manned aircraft — in the 1960s.

Fairey Swordfish Restoration [VIDEO]

This is the story of the marathon 26 month restoration of the world’s oldest flying Fairey Swordfish, W5856, filmed at the Brough factory by British Aerospace in the ’90’s. What an extraordinary aircraft the Fairey Swordfish turned out to be. Born at the end of the biplane era, this was an aircraft totally unsuited to […]

69 Years Ago Today – Douglas F4D Skyray

First flown on January 23, 1951, the Douglas F4D Skyray was an American carrier-based fighter/interceptor built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Although it never entered combat, it was the first carrier-launched aircraft to hold the world’s absolute speed record, at 752.943 mph, and was the first US Navy and US Marine Corps fighter to exceed […]

First African-American Military Pilot

Eugene James Bullard, was the first African-American military combat pilot.His life has been surrounded by many legends. However, Bullard, who flew for France, was unquestionably one of the few black combat pilots during World War I, along with the Ottoman Empire’s Ahmet Ali Çelikten. Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia on this day (October 9, […]

Jan. 15, 1991, Operation Desert Shield – Desert Storm

Operation Desert Storm was the first major foreign crisis for the United States after the end of the Cold War. On Aug. 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein led a well-equipped Iraqi army into Kuwait, a major supplier of oil to the United States. The U.S. had supplied Iraq with military aid during its eight-year war with […]

Voodoo Magic: Learning to dance with a high-spirited lady

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 Dean Hess had been dramatized in the popular Universal-International feature film […]