Flying-aviation
Flight Journal
The Original "Old Crow"
Col. Bud Anderson's airborne reunion with a P-39Q Airacobra,The evening sun was low on the horizon as John Cyrier taxied toward the Commemorative Air Force's (CAF's) ramp at San Marcos, Texas on July 28. He had just completed the final leg of a four-stop flight home from AirVenture 2022 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Cyrier pivoted the Central Texas Wing's P-39Q around to the right, braked to a stop, and cut power to the fighter's Allison V-1710 V-12 engine. Just after its 11-foot, seven-inch Aeroproducts propeller swung to a stop, he shot both arms through the P-39's rolled-down cockpit door windows, clenched his fists, and yelled an exultant \"Yeeeaaah!\"
10+ min |
January - February 2023
Flight Journal
F-117s OVER BAGHDAD
Stealth fighters adapt new tactics in Desert Storm, On January 16, 1991 Nighthawks unleashed their stealth capabilities and Guided Bomb Units (GBUs) on Baghdad and some of the most heavily defended airfields in Iraq. During the “43 Day War,” F-117As of the 415th and 416th Tactical Fighter Squadrons flew nearly 1,300 sorties under the command of Col. Alton Whitley.
10+ min |
January - February 2023
Flight Journal
THE LAST COMBAT Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 Wk. Nr. 1342
In 1988, a Frenchman walking on the beach near Cap BlancNez near Calais, France, discovered a piece of metal sticking out of the sand. There had been a storm and, as sometimes happens, the sand on the beach had shifted, revealing something that had been buried for almost 50 years. It was the wingtip of a crashed World War II fighter aircraft. As the tides ebbed and flowed, most of the wreck of a relatively intact German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter was revealed, with both wings, the landing gear, and parts of the fuselage.
10+ min |
January - February 2023
Flight Journal
Samurai SURVIVOR
Zero ace Saburo Sakai
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
The Guys with the Wrenches
The pilots got the glory but the unknown heroes were the mechanics
3 min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
EARLY CHANNEL BATTLES Spitfires fend off Me 109s
Of all the written accounts by the fighter pilots of the RAF during 1941, two stand out, in my opinion. Both were by pilots who flew Spitfire Mk Vs with 610 Squadron, which by summer 1941 was one of the squadrons under Wing Commander Douglas Bader. "Circuses" were usually composed of six bombers, escorted by many squadrons of fighters, typically Spitfire Mk Vs; the formation was called a "Beehive."
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
IVANS & INDIANS
Fighting the Allies with a Fw 190
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
RUFF STUFF
Memories of an early war South Pacific fighter pilot
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
DARK BLUE
Royal Navy Corsairs-the first to fly from carriers BY CLIVE ROWLEY, MBE RAF (RET.)`
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
BOMBING THE BOMBERS
Me 262s take desperate measures against the Allies
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
MARVELOUS MUSTANGS
Pilots of the 78th FG trade in their P-47s for P-51s-and love them!
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
MARVELOUS MUSTANGS Pilots of the 78th FG trade in their P-47s for P-51s-and love them!
IN EARLY DECEMBER OF 1944, most of the pilots in the 78th Fighter Group, especially those with over 25 combat missions under their belts, felt "fat and sassy" flying the reliable and hard-hitting P-47 Thunderbolt. Seasoned pilots realized early on that the "Jug" was like a flying tank: one that could deliver deadly punishment to the enemy and absorb most anything thrown at it.
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
FM-2 Wildcat action in the battle of Leyte Gulf
IN MID-1943, the Grumman Aircraft Corp. began to deliver the F6F Hellcat-its latest and greatest fighter-to the U.S. Navy. It was fast, maneuverable, heavily armed and armored. It was built "Grumman tough" and soon earned the nickname "Ace Maker." As a replacement for its little brother, the F4F Wildcat, the Hellcat was everything the F4F wasn't.
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
The Fighting 56th BY STAN PIET
P-47D UN-V, NAMED "PAT," from the famed 56th FG, 63rd FS, prepares for another fighter sweep in support of the D-Day invasion. The second mount of Capt. Gordon S. Stevens, it survived until early September, when it was lost with Capt. Roy Fling at the controls. Stevens himself was lost in a "Pat" replacement on September 18, a victim of flak over Belgium.
2 min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
The U.S. Mint Just Struck Morgan Silver Dollars for the First Time in 100 Years!
Struck in 99.9% Fine Silver for the First Time EVER!
1 min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
RUTHLESS JUG JOCKEY Flying with the 317th Fighter Squadron BY LT. GEORGE NOVOTNY, USAAF RET.), AS TOLD TO AND WRITTEN BY JAMES P. BUSHA
I HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A FIGHTER PILOT, the man in charge,” if you will. After I had earned my wings in 1943, I was given the choice of single-engine fighters or bombers. Although multi-engines may have sounded safer, I knew that the only person who would be able to put my flying abilities to the test was me! I was sent to the 54th Fighter Group in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to begin my indoctrination into becoming a fighter pilot. Most of the guys in the group had just returned from combat in the Aleutian Islands and the whole group was getting ready to go to the Southwest Pacific.
10+ min |
November - December 2022
Flight Journal
SR-71 BLACKBIRD
Faster than a speeding bullet!
10+ min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
RARE BEAR
The wrecked F8F-2 Bearcat that became Air Racing’s winningest Unlimited racer
10+ min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
STRAIGHT WINGS VS. SWEPT WINGS
F-84 Thunderjets & MiG-15s over Korea
10+ min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
The Sleeping Pilot
IN JULY OF 1943, it was the same as now: sunshine was a treasured commodity in Oxfordshire, England. So, even in the middle of a war, when the sun came out and the guns were quiet, young men would do the natural thing and enjoy it in the most natural of ways: with an afternoon nap. The war be damned.
1 min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
Mustang ACE of ACES - MAJOR GEORGE E. PREDDY
Squadron Leader Clive Rowley MBE RAF (Ret.), a former Royal Air Force fighter pilot, tells the story of USAAF fighter pilot and top-scoring Mustang ace George E. Preddy.
10+ min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
P-51: The 18th Fighter Bomber Group
With thousands of late-model P-51s available at the end of WW II, the Mustang became the predominant airframe inactive and guard units into the 1950s until they were supplanted by jets.
1 min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
Fleet Finch
The classic WW II Canadian trainer
8 min |
September - October 2021
Flight Journal
Impossible barriers are made to be broken
Few technologies have had such a rapid development and such a powerful impact on mankind as the invention of the airplane.
4 min |
March - April 2021
Flight Journal
RAMPANT RAIDERS
April 25, 1967, VA-212 tests the A-4 to the limit
10 min |
March - April 2021
Flight Journal
THE GROWLER
Boeing’s electronic attack weapon
10+ min |
March - April 2021
Flight Journal
Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3
Authenticated by its log books, an N3N that 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush trained in is preserved and still flying—now owned by Stewart Wells.
1 min |
March - April 2021
Flight Journal
Five-Gun Fury .
Lt. Floyd Fulkerson: Wingman to the Aces
10+ min |
March - April 2021
Flight Journal
YELLOW SCORPIONS - P-51 Mustangs rule the skies in China
Using Chinese airfields, the 311th Fighter Group was the first to take World War II to the Japanese. The 311th’s 530th Fighter Squadron, which became known as the “Yellow Scorpions,” was the first squadron based in China. During their combat tour, they flew A-36 dive bombers along with all versions of the P-51 (A, B, C and D). However, it was their expertise with P-51 B and C models that earned them the respect of Japanese pilots.
10+ min |
January - February 2021
Flight Journal
WACO “Super Sport” S3HD - A Golden Age king
The WACO “Super Sport” S3HD is often referred to as the “King of the WACO biplanes.” Built as only one example, it is the stuff of legends.
1 min |