Military Archives - Page 7 of 180

The USAF’s Contract Killers – Rental Bad Guys

“Kill the F-16, right-hand turn, 18 thousand feet, over the Farms.” And so another victory is claimed in the perpetual war occurring in the Nevada skies north of Las Vegas. It is not part of some separating-a-tourist-from-his-money air-combat experience but the deadly game of “good guy” Blue Air jets fighting the “bad guy” Red Air […]

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.

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.

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 […]

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 […]

Warbirds: Do They Have a Future?

With the prices of restorable warbirds escalating out of sight and new restorations taking to the air almost daily, we often lose sight of the fact that at one time, most of those airplanes were cast off as junk. There were few museums and almost no private collectors who tracked historic aircraft down and saved […]

The Grumman Avenger

This impressive Grumman TBM-3E Avenger is based at the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, Long Island, NY. The museum is located at the Republic Airport. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. Despite the loss of five of the six Avengers on its combat debut, it […]

Douglas F4D Skyray

The first United States Navy and United States Marine Corps fighter that could exceed Mach 1 in level flight, the Douglas F4D Skyray was an American carrier-based fighter/interceptor. Although it was in service for a relatively short time and never entered combat, it was the first carrier-launched aircraft to hold the world’s absolute speed record, […]