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Wolfpack Assassin: Confessions of a MiG Killer

By Lt. Col. Everett T. Raspberry , USAF (Ret.), as told to and written by James P. Busha Before I joined the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1955, I was just a “good ol’ boy” from Macon, Georgia. But flying a jet fighter only enhanced some of those Southern traits. Less than 12 years […]

Greek F-4s Return to Air Show Duty

Technically the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II is not a warbird just yet, because it’s still operational within a handful of air arms across the globe. However, it’s such an iconic aircraft that every news item featuring its current flying exploits these days is worthy of mention. The Hellenic Air Force has confirmed its participation at […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1923 – Birth of Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver and pilot. 1929 – Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout flies a 90-horsepower Golden Eagle Chief to an altitude of 15,200 feet, breaking the light class aircraft altitude record. 1946 – First flight of the Lavochkin La-9 (shown), a post-World War II Soviet fighter. 1955 – As part of an […]

Backfire Bombers Getting Upgrades

There’s no bomber quite like a Backfire. In many ways, Russia’s Tu-22M3 is a Cold War throwback. An intermediate-range, variable-geometry machine, the Tupolev design really gave NATO planners headaches in the 1970s and ’80s. If the Cold War had turned hot, Tu-22Ms would have attacked high-profile targets including American aircraft carrier battle groups in the […]

2014 Eagle Recalls D-Day, Lost Comrades

With more than 7,500 flight hours logged in more than 130 types of aircraft, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, a 2014 Eagle who visited Maxwell (Ala.) Air Force Base for the Gathering of Eagles June 2-6, has cemented his position as a pioneer in American military during times of war. During […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1917 – Death of John Arthur Vessey, British World War I flying ace; he is killed in a flying accident in his Sopwith 1½ Strutter. 1919 – French aviatrix Baronne Delaroche sets an altitude record of 15,748 feet. 1924 – Birth of George Herbert Walker Bush, World War II naval aviator and American politician; he later […]

World’s Biggest Airplane Heads to UK

Aircraft enthusiasts are preparing to welcome the world’s biggest plane to East Midlands Airport in England. The Antonov An-225, the world’s biggest aircraft, is due to touchdown tonight. The Ukrainian-built plane will land at around 6 p.m. and stay overnight before taking off again at around 10 a.m. on Friday. And plane lovers across the county have spoken […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1874 – Birth of Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr., American aviation pioneer. 1920 – First flight of the Verville VCP-1 (shown), an American biplane fighter; it is later rebuilt into a successful racing aircraft. 1944 – The crew of a Royal Canadian Air Force Consolidated Canso of No. 162 Squadron sinks German submarine U-980 north of […]

Skyraider Wreck Discovered in Florida

WarbirdsNews recently learned of the discovery in April of the wreck of a long-lost Douglas AD-4 Skyraider AD-4 in the Florida Everglades. The aircraft was located by the aviation-archeology minded volunteers at Aeroquest.org, and we have reproduced some of their photographs here for your interest. The group had actually been out on a quest to locate the remains […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1910 – The world’s youngest flyer, 16-year-old Frenchman Marcel Hanriot, gets his pilot’s brevet. 1929 – Birth of James Alton McDivitt, Korean War fighter pilot; he later became a test pilot and a NASA astronaut. 1967 – First flight of the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-23 (NATO reporting name: “Flogger”), a Soviet variable-geometry fighter aircraft. 1972 – […]