Flight Journal - January - February 2023

In this issue

FEATURES: The Last Combat, F-117s Over Baghdad, The Original “Old Crow”, Flying for “Devotion”, First Bridge, REGULARS: Editorial, Gallery: Fairchild 24, Tailview

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.

10+ mins

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.

10+ mins

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!\"

10+ mins

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.

10+ mins

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.

10+ mins

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.

9 mins

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Flight Journal Magazine Description:

Flight Journal is like no other aviation magazine in the world, covering the world of flight from its simple beginnings to its high-tech, no-holds- barred future. We put readers in the cockpit and let them live the thrill and adventure of the aviation experience, narrated by those who know the technology and made the history. The spectacular photography – from air-to-air shots to rarely seen archival photos–enhances each and every story. Each issue brings the stories of flight–past, present and future – to life.