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X-47B Conducts Ops with Manned Aircraft

Story and photo by U.S. Navy The U.S. Navy’s unmanned X-47B returned to carrier operations aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Aug. 17 and completed a series of tests, operating safely and seamlessly with manned aircraft. Building on lessons learned from its first test period aboard TR in November 2013, the X-47B team is now […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1935 – First flight of the Seversky P-35 (shown), a U.S. single-seat, all-metal fighter. 1937 – Lufthansa begins seaplane services between the Azores and New York with the assistance of seaplane tenders stationed along the route. 1945 – Birth of Charles Barbin “Chuck” DeBellevue, U.S. Air Force officer; he became the first USAF weapon systems officer (WSO) to […]

Army Squadron Says Goodbye, For Now

It was a bittersweet goodbye for aviators and family members of a helicopter squadron Thursday morning at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. They gathered to remember the legacy of the U.S. Army’s 4-6 Attack Reconnaissance Squadron— part of a U.S. Cavalry outfit, known as the “Fighting Sixth,” that dates back to the Civil War. […]

Fork-Tailed Oddballs

There’s the P-38 Lightning known and loved by generations — a large, yet lithe twin-engine, twin-boom fighter with an informed sense of streamlining that inspired descriptions like “three bullets on a knife.” The P-38 marched through the war generating alphabetical models through “M” totaling around 10,000 copies. But it would be facile to leave the […]

USAF Aggressor Squadron Going Away

The next time fighter jets take off from Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev., for a U.S. Air Force Red Flag air combat exercise, there will be fewer would-be “bad guys” to battle. Up-and-coming pilots who will be flying their first 10 simulated combat missions will face an adversary force that has fewer […]

England Hosts Avro Lancaster Reunion

It is a sight to bring a lump to the throat of even the most battle-hardened veteran. The world’s only two airworthy Avro Lancaster bombers are united on a windswept airfield for what will probably be the last time. For Vera – an Avro Lancaster Mk X bomber with the registration VR-A – it is part […]

Lightning: The Fork-tailed Devil Revealed

Is there a more identifiable outline in all of fighterdom, WW I to today, than the Lockheed P-38 Lightning? We don’t think so. No other airframe has emblazoned such a clear image in history’s hall of fame. So, what can be said about it that hasn’t already been said? The answer is “nothing.” The facts […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1909 – Birth of Leonid Illarionovich Ivanov, Soviet World War II flying ace who also served during the Finnish-Soviet Winter War. 1934 – James Ayling and Leonard Reid takes off for the first non-stop flight from Canada to England in a de Havilland DH.84. 1941 – More than a dozen Ilyushin DB-3T torpedo bombers of […]

PT-13D Trainer Goes on Display in Ohio

By Sarah Swan, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force A highly-accurate, pristine example of one of the most used trainers during World War II is now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio. The Stearman PT-13D Kaydet was a standard primary trainer flown by the U.S. and several […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Austin Lloyd Fleming, Canadian World War I flying ace who also served in World War II. 1919 – French Air Force officer Charles Godefroy makes the first flight through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (shown) with a Nieuport 11 “Bébé.” The flight was made three weeks after the victory parade on […]