Flying-Aviation
Flight Journal
Building an RC Blackbird
An SR-71 nine years in the making
1 min |
February 2020
Flight Journal
Untold Story: How The USAF Won The Korean War But Couldn't Tell Anyone
Not even the most aggressive aerial bombing in history was winning the Korean War, until one heroic Air Force mission did the impossible—ended the war—and violated every rule command leadership had created. Author Thomas McKelvey Cleaver reveals the secrets behind this daring mission.
9 min |
December 2019
Flight Journal
Confessions Of A Type Hunter
What, you may logically ask, is a type hunter? Well, they come in degrees, but a dedicated type hunter is a severely addicted person with a clear goal to fly as many different types of airplanes as possible. He or she can’t explain why. It just is.
3 min |
December 2019
Flight Journal
Elliptical Elegance: Flying And Evaluating The Seafire Mark III
It’s commonly agreed that the Spitfire/Seafire configuration was the most beautiful fighter ever. Its elliptical wing and long, slim fuselage were most delightful to the eye, and its flight characteristics equaled its aerodynamic excellence. The Navy Spitfire, the Seafire, was heavier, but otherwise retained all of the Spitfire’s delightful flight characteristics.
4 min |
December 2019
Flight Journal
Lost Cause: Luftwaffe Bombers
The Uphill Struggle
10 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
F7F Tigercats Over North Korea
Grumman's svelte postwar killer
10+ min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
Vietnam Bombing Mission
What movie was that?
8 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
The A-20 Havoc Story - An Unknown Warrior
A Unknown Warrior
3 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
Pilots Who Have Shot Down Airplanes From All Three Axis Powers
Pilots who have shot down airplanes from all three axis powers
10 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
Record Setting Transcontinental Glider Flight
Frank Hawks at the End of a Rope
2 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
Dragon's Jaw
An Epic Story of courage and Tenacity in Vietnam
1 min |
October 2019
Flight Journal
Government Gets Something Right
Super Light Titanium Timepiece Loses Only One Second Every 20 Million Years.
1 min |
June 2018
Flight Journal
Cosmic Connections
A Circular Bit of History
3 min |
June 2018
Flight Journal
Vanished Hero
THE MYSTERY OF LT. COL. ELWYN RIGHETTI
10+ min |
June 2018
flight journal
the future of aerial warfare
are hyper-sophisticated fighters actually needed?
5 min |
april 2017
Flight Journal
A Tale Of Two Mules
CLASSICS
2 min |
April 2019
Flight Journal
In A Tiny Corner Of A Huge World: What Are The Chances?
TAILVIEW
3 min |
April 2019
Flight Journal
When Plumbing Fixtures Ruled The Skies
Humor and American Ingenuity at Work.
10 min |
April 2019
Flight Journal
Kingfisher To The Rescue
Balancing himself carefully on the root of the OS2U Kingfisher’s right wing, Chief Aviation Radioman Ruben Hickman waited for the opportunity to grab the cable and hook suspended from a crane aboard the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore.
3 min |
June 2017
Flight Journal
The Flying Heritage Collection F6F-5 Hellcat
The Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) at Paine Field, Everett, Washington, proudly displays and flies Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat Bureau Number 79863, the 11,008th Hellcat accepted by the U.S.
2 min |
June 2017
Flight Journal
Flying Jackets
History’s love affair with the aviator’s best friend.
9 min |
October 2018
Flight Journal
Burma Banshees
The 90th fighter squadron in the CBI.
10+ min |
October 2018
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 |