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Multi-Engine Monday: B-25 Mitchells over the Mediterranean

Multi-Engine Monday: B-25 Mitchells over the Mediterranean

Wavetop warfare: Skip-bombing and Big Guns When the North American NA-62, officially dubbed B-25, first flew in August of 1940, it was less than a roaring success. The UK and France had just chosen the smaller Douglas DB-7 Boston (A-20 Havoc) attack bomber over the North American design. However, in the years leading up to […]
Utility Warbird Cessna’s LC-126

Utility Warbird Cessna’s LC-126

Here’s a question for Flight Journal readers: How many are familiar with the Korean War–era Cessna LC-126? Let’s have a show of hands. Hmm. Not many. If we rephrased that question as “How many are familiar with the Cessna 195?” we’d see lots of hands. This is interesting considering that they are the same airplane—sort […]

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A Tale of Two Mules

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 […]
Monday Mustang: the Might P-51

Monday Mustang: the Might P-51

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts. During World War II Mustang pilots claimed 4,950 enemy aircraft shot down, the most of any Allied fighter. It was conceived, designed and built by North American Aviation […]

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From the Archive: Mentoring a Thunderbird Pilot

From the Archive: Mentoring a Thunderbird Pilot

As one of six stars of the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds squadron, Maj. Jason Curtis has all the qualities of an elite pilot. He’s intelligent, focused, personable and flies with unparalleled precision. He’s also humble — and quick to credit those who guided him during his childhood in Kalispell. Curtis, 33, is returning to his hometown […]
MiG-15: Crude but Effective

MiG-15: Crude but Effective

The Yalu river runs wide and dark across the huge peninsula that is Korea. On either side, the topography is the same and at 40,000 feet, the hard blue sky doesn’t change color just because the politics below are different. One morning in 1950, however, when American and ROK (Republic of Korea) pilots came back […]

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Messerschmitt Bf 109E “Emil”

Messerschmitt Bf 109E “Emil”

Apart from its combat record, the Bf 109 remains a historic aircraft for sheer numbers produced. More than seven decades after WWII, only the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik exceeds the Messerschmitt’s total of 34,000 produced, even under the pressure of continual Allied bombing. Nothing else comes close. Frequently, the Soviet Yakovlev fighter series is compared to […]
D-Day: Planning the Aerial Assault

D-Day: Planning the Aerial Assault

Today the numbers involved in Operation Overlord are unthinkable: 6,000 bombers, more than 5,000 fighters, some 1,600 transport aircraft, and 2,500 gliders. All crammed into scores of airfields throughout Britain, but mainly in southern England. All were serviced, armed, and assigned aircrews, eager to take off on the day called “D.” That spring, the American […]

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D-Day Fighter Pilot Accounts: Little Friends over the Beach

D-Day Fighter Pilot Accounts: Little Friends over the Beach

They must have been a sight for sore eyes to the soldiers on the beach as wave after wave of fighters, bombers, and paratrooper-stuffed transports, some towing gliders, passed overhead, all of them adorned with black and white painted stripes. The invasion was on, and many of the fighter pilots expecting a Luftwaffe slugfest were […]
The Fewest of the Few: How the Supermarine Spitfire Won the Battle of Britain

The Fewest of the Few: How the Supermarine Spitfire Won the Battle of Britain

Those who have previously studied the Battle of Britain have most often come the conclusion that, although the Spitfire was an integral part to the Royal Air Force’s defense of Britain, it was ultimately the workhorse Hawker Hurricane that won the battle. However, a new theory proposed by aviation historian Ryan Clauser challenges that school […]
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