Flying-aviation
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
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
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
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
Out For A Sunday Ride
Civilian Pilots Caught in History’s Path.
10+ min |
December 2016
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
the future of aerial warfare
are hyper-sophisticated fighters actually needed?
5 min |
april 2017
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
an angel in my pocket
surviving the luftwaffe’s new year’s surprise party
10+ min |
april 2017
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 |
August 2018
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 |