Military Archives - Flight Journal

On This Day in Aviation History

1905 – Birth of Elizabeth Muriel Gregory “Elsie” MacGill, known as the “Queen of the Hurricanes;” she becomes the world’s first female aircraft designer. 1936 – First flight of the Fokker D.XXI (shown), a Dutch low-wing monoplane fighter. 1945 – Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan’s ports and waterways, begins. The mining runs are […]

A Tale of Two Mules

It has been said that an Army travels on its stomach—and depends on its ammo. This is another way of saying that, although the Quartermaster Corps is probably the most mundane and unheralded segment of any military, it should share top billing with the most elite of the frontline combat troops. If the Quartermaster Corps […]

Mustang Ace of Aces

P-40s in the Pacific When the U.S. entered WW II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, George Preddy was completing his flying training with the USAAF at Elgin Field, Florida. He graduated as a qualified pilot five days later. He was assigned to the 9th Pursuit Squadron of the 49th Pursuit […]

North American Aviation X-15 Space Age Pioneer

The experimental X-15 carried the first human into the weightless realm above. Devoid of the oxygen essential to life, space is defined as beginning at an altitude of 62 miles. Many of the 199 missions (each was brief) penetrated the inky black boundary of outer space. Eight of the dozen X-15 pilots were ultimately awarded […]

Inner Workings of a P-51D

If you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of a warbird, this is must-see TV! Take an in-depth look inside a WW II P-51D fighter with Jake O’Neal, owner and CEO of Animagraffs. From prop to tail, you’ll see the inner workings of one of the most historic fighters in amazing 3D graphics. If you […]

Going Supersonic with the Thunderbirds!

If you’ve ever dreamed of flying with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds–and going supersonic!–this video is a must-watch!

America’s Few: Marine Aces of the South Pacific

Written by aviation historian Bill Yenne, “America’s Few” is a new book from Osprey Publishing that delves into the history of U.S. Marine Corps aviation in World War II, following the feats of the Corps’ top-scoring aces in the skies over Guadalcanal. Marine Corps aviation began in 1915, functioning as a self-contained expeditionary force. During […]

Robin Olds was born to be a fighter pilot and his career began in the P-38, where he made good use of the firepower concentrated in the nose. (Photo by John Dibbs/facebook.
com/theplanepicture)

Lightning Ace! P-38 legend Robin Olds

I knew about Muroc Dry Lake because my father had been involved with building a bombing target there in the late 1930s. It was still there. Considering the ongoing rivalry at that time with the admirals in the surface navy, it didn’t surprise me that the target turned out to be a large wooden replica […]

Peter Teichman pulls in close to the cameraship
in his Mustang, painted as “Jumpin’ Jacques.” Teichman’s Mustang, his first acquisition for the
North Weald, England-based Hangar 11 Collection,
is unique as it is one of only a few Mustangs with
combat history. It still carries the field repairs from battle scars she received while flying with the 332nd Fighter Group. (Photo by John Dibbs/facebook.com/theplanepicture)

South Pacific Warrior: A rare combat Mustang

“We’d fly over the target, level, and the target would go under the wing. We’d be slowing down, and slowing down, pull up, and just do a wing over. Slightly beyond the target, pull over, and then come straight down. We had a gun sight, but [we’d] just line the target up on the seam […]

A US Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II, Minnesota ANG 66-647, cruises in the wild blue yonder.

Trolling for SAMs

It was another humid day, with the smells of Thailand heavy in the morning air as I walked into the Triple Nickel Fighter Squadron building at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in northeast Thailand. The 555th was the top MiG-killer squadron, but hunting had been scarce since I joined them earlier in the […]