Fairchild 24 Sean Neal pays tribute to history

“AT THE END OF THE WAR, there was an interview with a senior German U-boat commander asking why they pulled their submarines from the Atlantic coast in 1943,” American Airlines Boeing 737 captain Sean Neal recalls. His reply was, It was because of those damn little red and yellow airplanes!” The little red and yellow airplanes the U-boat skipper was referring to were the general aviation aircraft pressed into service by the newly formed Civil Air Patrol CAP) in 1942 to report, deter, and disrupt the operations of German submarines, which had begun to devastate merchant vessels along the East Coast that January.

FIRST BRIDGE The start of the Vietnam war

General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, was not happy. First-line U.S. fighters had been in South East Asia in small numbers since 1960. By mid-1964, more fighters began rotating through bases in South Vietnam and Thailand as a show of force. Reconnaissance missions with a pair of fighters as escorts, known as armed recce,” were being flown into Laos and Vietnam, but they were severely restricted in their operations. The fighters escorting the reconnaissance aircraft could attack enemy positions only if they were first fired upon. The politicians were being cautious. By January 1965, there had been several protective reactions,” and even a few fragged planned) missions, but nothing of any real scope. In fact, many of the preplanned missions had failed to find their targets in the confusing jungle landscape or reported disappointing Battle Damage Assessment.

Hying for "DEVOTION"

Behind the scenes with the pilots who brought the story of Ensign Jesse Brown & LTJG Thomas Hudner to life, Artic cold invaded Jesse Brown’s cockpit as he desperately looked for a place to land his F4U-4 Corsair in the snow-covered mountains of North Korea, near the Chosin Reservoir.

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!\"

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.

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.

Samurai SURVIVOR

Zero ace Saburo Sakai

The Guys with the Wrenches

The pilots got the glory but the unknown heroes were the mechanics

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."

IVANS & INDIANS

Fighting the Allies with a Fw 190

RUFF STUFF

Memories of an early war South Pacific fighter pilot

DARK BLUE

Royal Navy Corsairs-the first to fly from carriers BY CLIVE ROWLEY, MBE RAF (RET.)`

BOMBING  THE BOMBERS

Me 262s take desperate measures against the Allies

MARVELOUS MUSTANGS

Pilots of the 78th FG trade in their P-47s for P-51s-and love them!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

SR-71 BLACKBIRD

Faster than a speeding bullet!

RARE BEAR

The wrecked F8F-2 Bearcat that became Air Racing’s winningest Unlimited racer

STRAIGHT WINGS VS. SWEPT WINGS

F-84 Thunderjets & MiG-15s over Korea

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.

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.

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.

Fleet Finch

The classic WW II Canadian trainer

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.

RAMPANT RAIDERS

April 25, 1967, VA-212 tests the A-4 to the limit

THE GROWLER

Boeing’s electronic attack weapon

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.