US Military Aviation
Stay Tuned
A new emergency warning system will be tested on Wednesday -- 60 years after another radio network warned Americans of Cold War air raids.
November 07, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
The Warbird Woodstock
A new book highlights the final Gathering of Mustangs in 2007.
November 02, 2011 |
By Pat Trenner
Mind If I Borrow It?
The day an Air Force mechanic commandeered a North American F-86.
November 2011 |
By Paul D. Mather
Moments & Milestones: Trophy Mission
Honors for a risky bombing run.
November 2011 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
King of the Bombs
Fifty years ago this weekend, the biggest nuke ever.
October 28, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The World’s First Warplane
One hundred years ago this Sunday, on October 23, 1911, Captain Carlo Piazza climbed onto his spindly Blériot XI and made military history.
October 21, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Lightning on Deck
The Marine Corps version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is undergoing sea trials this week and next, and already has chalked up a milestone: the first vertical landing of the F-35B at sea.
October 05, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
F-22 Pilots Breathing Easier?
We'll find out soon enough. After four months on the ground, the F-22 Raptor was cleared by the U.S. Air Force to resume operations this week.
September 21, 2011 |
By Heather Goss
X-47 on Deck, Kind Of
This summer the X-47B unmanned combat aircraft made its first arrested landing on the USS Eisenhower. Well, actually it was an F/A-18D Hornet (left) operating as a surrogate, using the software and [...]
September 12, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Going Once….The 1920 Pulitzer Race Trophy
From the Chicago Daily Tribune, November 28, 1920: "At last the pride of the Army air service, the Verville-Packard chasse biplane, has established its worth by romping ahead of thirty-four starters in the first Pulitzer...
September 02, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
The Changing of the Guard
Ten years after 9/11, what life is like in an Air National Guard unit.
September 2011 |
By Ed Darack
The Raiders Remember
In an annual ceremony, the last of the Doolittle Raiders recall their part in victory over Japan.
September 2011 |
By Paul Hoversten
Stranded
Four aircraft, 12 airmen, 25 days, 40 below zero, in the middle of nowhere.
September 2011 |
By Edward Farmer
Heroes in the Tower
Stories about air traffic controllers that you probably didn’t see on the evening news.
September 2011 |
By Michael Klesius
Apollo in Afghanistan
Three legendary astronauts—Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Gene Cernan—were in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday, meeting with American service men and women as well as young Afghan Air Force trainees. From the NATO press release: “This is the best day of my life!” said Lt. Fatama Abteen, one of a small handful of female Afghan Air Force [...]
August 17, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Conan Knows Best
Who can forget the immortal question posed by the Mongol General in the 1982 classic Conan the Barbarian? Wait…don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? When the Mongol General bellows “What is best in life?” some (sissy) barbarian offers the following: “The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.” (“The [...]
August 12, 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Coming Extractions
The Army’s CH-47 Chinook helicopter has flown a stunning but standard maneuver—the aft-wheel pinnacle landing—since 1962. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the move has reached its peak. This month as many as 5,000 pairs of boots will leave the ground, with a goal to extract 33,000 by next September. Many will exit the same way they [...]
August 10, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
D.B. Cooper (Still) Missing
After investigating a thousand suspects since a person who called himself (or herself) D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971, the FBI thought it finally had a “credible” tip. Until last night, that is, when CBS News reported that the Cooper lead had fizzled and the FBI was expected to formally rule [...]
August 02, 2011 |
By Roger Mola
Flights and Fancy: How I Bagged an F-4J
Who would think a kite could down a fighter?
August 2011 |
By Michael Barton
Last One Out, Shut off the Helium
Fifty years ago, the Navy ended its lighter-than-air program.
August 2011 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
