Flying-Aviation
Flight Journal
Running With The Devil
Becoming an ace with “Satan’s Angels”
10+ min |
October 2018
Flight Journal
Right Place, Right Time
How luck and fate allowed me to survive my missions.
10+ min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Never Stay Still
Geoffrey Wellum: The Battle of Britain’s Youngest Warrior.
10+ min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Sharp-Shooting Hellcat
“Mac” McWhorter runs up the score.
9 min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Jugs Vs. Jets
P-47 pilot scores the ultimate kill.
10 min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Out For A Sunday Ride
Civilian Pilots Caught in History’s Path.
10+ min |
December 2016
Flight Journal
Perennial Bad Guy: The MiG-21 65 Years Old And Still Kickin' Butt
If the United States has developed fighters that have staying power over many yearsthe venerable F-4, F-15, and F-16 come to mindthen the Russian MiG-21 must surely share that space. The MiG21 made its public debut in a Soviet air display in 1956. Known as an air-to-air missile fighter, the MiG-21 can also wage war with an internally mounted 23mm cannon. Some like to call the MiG21 the AK-47 of jet fighters. Like the famed short Soviet rifle, the MiG-21 has proven to be both lethal and long-lived around the world.
10 min |
December 2018
Flight Journal
Shooting Blanks Top-Secret Cold War Recce Missions
Right after the war ended, I learned to fly in a Piper Cub before I went into the Air Force. I started out in Stearmans, even though they were phasing them out. They just lined us up according to height, and the shortest one-third of the guys got into Stearmans. I was happy because I wanted to fly the Stearman, and we got a lot more acrobatics than the guys in the AT-6 did. I eventually flew the P-51s at Williams Field in Phoenix, Arizona. I was 19 years old and just having a ball, and it only got better from there because they had the F-80 Shooting Stars at Williams Field. I was selected to go into a reconnaissance squadron and flew the RF-80, which was a reconnaissance version of the F-80, out at March Field in California. I actually liked recon work better than the fighters because we were flying all over the United States taking pictures. The poor fighter boys would just go to the gunnery range, shoot into the sand, and head back.
10+ min |
December 2018
Flight Journal
Which Way Did They Go?: Midway's Mysterious Tragedy Is Solved By A $10 Bill
There is one mystery concerning the June1942 Battle of Midway that has long confoundedhistorians: Why did not even one Hornet divebomber attack the Japanese carrier force? Reportedly, they were on the same course as theplanes from Yorktown and Enterprise and took off at the same time. Numerous official and unofficialexplanations all came down to simple bad luck.There is no denying that luck and chance playeda major role at Midway. In the case of HornetsAir Group 8, however, so did bad judgment, poorleadership, and arrogance. It was a simple $10 billthat provided the missing clue to the mystery.
10+ min |
December 2018
Flight Journal
Reliable Reliants Stinson's SR-5 Straight Wing
The 1930s had more than its share of dichotomies that, from this end ofhistorys telescope, make little sense. The stock-market crash of 1929 seta record depression in motion that numbed America for most of the nextdecade. To make matters worse, nature decided to make mid-America intoa dust bowl, where real estate in one state often found its way to another.
2 min |
December 2018
Flight Journal
Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk
The image captured here is exceptionalfor more reasons than one.
1 min |
December 2018
Flight Journal
Forgotten Survivor
The Culver PQ-14 Cadet Target Drone.
3 min |
October 2018
Flight Journal
Bomber Crew: A Day In Their Lives
B-17 Crewmen Remember the German Missions.
10+ min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Piggyback In A P-38
A Daring Rescue under Fire.
10 min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
UFOs Vs. Marines Do You Believe In UFOs?
His name was Ray Watkins, and he was a helluva nice guy and smart as they come. He got his Double “E” degree through the NESEP Program. Ray had just asked me the question that was sure to come up sooner or later in any Ready Room in the Fleet. I knew Ray was a mathematician as well and mused a bit before answering. “Ray,” I said, “I know the mathematical odds are that there has to be some form of life out there in the galaxies. I just don’t believe they reside in this solar system.” Ray had a twinkle in his eye and said, “I think you’re wrong.”
8 min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
Death At Daybreak
Kiwi goes to war in a hawker tempest.
6 min |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Flight Journal
Aviation-History Travel
Visiting the Sites, Events, and Hardware That Made History.
10+ min |
April 2019
Flight Journal
Wolfpack Warrior
A New Pilot Learns from 56th FG Pros.
10+ min |
April 2019
Flight Journal
Rabbits Out Of A Hat
Archivist Miracles
3 min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
The Art And History Of The Aviator Watch
The art and history of the Aviator Watch
9 min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
Flying The FM-2 Wildcat
A Modern Pilot’s Personal Perspective
10+ min |
August 2019
Flight Journal
Sonic Boom Salesman
Adventures of a cold war interceptor pilot
10+ min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
Lee Lauderback Sets A Record
10,000 Hours of Mustang Flying
3 min |
June 2019
Flight Journal
Fairchild's Model 71
A Working Bird to the End
3 min |
June 2019
Flight Journal
The Death Rattlers
Flying and Fighting with VMF-323
10+ min |
June 2019
Flight Journal
Artificial Intelligence For Beginners
AI, Aviation, and Human Destiny
3 min |
August 2019
Flight Journal
China Blitzer
Combat Over The Hump
10+ min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
Flying Legends
Hawks flock to duxford
10 min |
February 2019
Flight Journal
So You Wanna Fly A Warbird
YOUR GUIDE TO THE WARBIRD EXPERIENCE
3 min |
August 2018
Flight Journal
Air Apaches
BRAVE LITTLE INDIANS
10+ min |