CATEGORIES

F7F Tigercats Over North Korea
Flight Journal

F7F Tigercats Over North Korea

Grumman's svelte postwar killer

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2019
Vietnam Bombing Mission
Flight Journal

Vietnam Bombing Mission

What movie was that?

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2019
The A-20 Havoc Story - An Unknown Warrior
Flight Journal

The A-20 Havoc Story - An Unknown Warrior

A Unknown Warrior

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2019
Pilots Who Have Shot Down Airplanes From All Three Axis Powers
Flight Journal

Pilots Who Have Shot Down Airplanes From All Three Axis Powers

Pilots who have shot down airplanes from all three axis powers

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2019
Record Setting Transcontinental Glider Flight
Flight Journal

Record Setting Transcontinental Glider Flight

Frank Hawks at the End of a Rope

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2019
Dragon's Jaw
Flight Journal

Dragon's Jaw

An Epic Story of courage and Tenacity in Vietnam

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Government Gets Something Right
Flight Journal

Government Gets Something Right

Super Light Titanium Timepiece Loses Only One Second Every 20 Million Years.

time-read
1 min  |
June 2018
Cosmic Connections
Flight Journal

Cosmic Connections

A Circular Bit of History

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2018
Vanished Hero
Flight Journal

Vanished Hero

THE MYSTERY OF LT. COL. ELWYN RIGHETTI

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2018
the future of aerial warfare
flight journal

the future of aerial warfare

are hyper-sophisticated fighters actually needed? 

time-read
5 mins  |
april 2017
A Tale Of Two Mules
Flight Journal

A Tale Of Two Mules

CLASSICS

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2019
In A Tiny Corner Of A Huge World: What Are The Chances?
Flight Journal

In A Tiny Corner Of A Huge World: What Are The Chances?

TAILVIEW

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2019
When Plumbing Fixtures Ruled The Skies
Flight Journal

When Plumbing Fixtures Ruled The Skies

Humor and American Ingenuity at Work.

time-read
10 mins  |
April 2019
Kingfisher To The Rescue
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.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2017
The Flying Heritage Collection F6F-5 Hellcat
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.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2017
Flying Jackets
Flight Journal

Flying Jackets

History’s love affair with the aviator’s best friend.

time-read
9 mins  |
October 2018
Burma Banshees
Flight Journal

Burma Banshees

The 90th fighter squadron in the CBI. 

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2018
Running With The Devil
Flight Journal

Running With The Devil

Becoming an ace with “Satan’s Angels”

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2018
Right Place, Right Time
Flight Journal

Right Place, Right Time

How luck and fate allowed me to survive my missions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Never Stay Still
Flight Journal

Never Stay Still

Geoffrey Wellum: The Battle of Britain’s Youngest Warrior.

time-read
10+ mins  |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Sharp-Shooting Hellcat
Flight Journal

Sharp-Shooting Hellcat

“Mac” McWhorter runs up the score.

time-read
9 mins  |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Jugs Vs. Jets
Flight Journal

Jugs Vs. Jets

P-47 pilot scores the ultimate kill.

time-read
10 mins  |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War
Out For A Sunday Ride
Flight Journal

Out For A Sunday Ride

Civilian Pilots Caught in History’s Path.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2016
Perennial Bad Guy: The MiG-21 65 Years Old And Still Kickin' Butt
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.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2018
Shooting Blanks Top-Secret Cold War Recce Missions
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.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2018
Which Way Did They Go?: Midway's Mysterious Tragedy Is Solved By A $10 Bill
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.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2018
Reliable Reliants Stinson's SR-5 Straight Wing
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.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2018
Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk
Flight Journal

Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk

The image captured here is exceptionalfor more reasons than one.

time-read
1 min  |
December 2018
Forgotten Survivor
Flight Journal

Forgotten Survivor

The Culver PQ-14 Cadet Target Drone.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2018
Bomber Crew: A Day In Their Lives
Flight Journal

Bomber Crew: A Day In Their Lives

B-17 Crewmen Remember the German Missions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War