Usually, when a plane gets snapped in half, you’d expect to find no survivors. However, on November 29, 1943, one tail gunner would live to tell the tale of what happened to him and his crew. A Dangerous Mission That day, Eugene Moran, a B-17 tail gunner, and his crewmates were flying aboard Riki Tiki […] More
Fighter jet technology is evolving faster than ever before. For China, this comes in the form of the Shenyang FC-31 Gyrfalcon. The Chinese fighter comes with a strong resemblance to American fighters and may soon make the jump from prototype to production line in the 2020s. Here are five things you need to know about […] More
The F-4 Phantom is perhaps one of the most famous warbirds the US has ever operated. Its achievements in combat and its easily distinguishable design helped make the F-4 what it is today. But with that said, here are 5 things you might not know about the F-4 Phantom. 1. The second crew member had […] More
Once upon a time, there was an aircraft designed to fly with 52 gallons of Vodka to keep its 3 crewmembers comfortable during the flight. Whatever vodka wasn’t used up during the flight would be divided up between the flight crew and the maintenance crew on the ground. Though it may seem fictional, this was […] More
In the 1960s, Republic started a daring new project led by the same people behind the legendary P-47 and F-84. This aircraft, however, was different. It was the Cold War, so it just had to be an aircraft that was also capable of carrying a nuclear bomb. Later on, this aircraft would prove to be […] More
Paddy Mayne was a remarkable figure for the Allies during the Second World War. His story encompasses everything – from punching a Commanding Officer to being one of the most decorated soldiers in the British army. Joining The Reserves Paddy joined the British Supplementary Reserves in March of 1939, six months before Hitler’s invasion of […] More
A German Ace by the name of Friedrich Beckh had quite an unusual story. By most standards, Beckh was too old for a combat position in WWII. He was born in 1908 and first joined the army in 1926 as part of the cavalry. After a nine-year tenure, he traded his horse for a fighter […] More
In the summer of 1943, Japanese Admiral Kamito Kuroshime proposed the use of “volunteer dive bomber attacks.” The idea was that the pilots would attempt to crash into enemy ships in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedos, and other explosives. However, Japanese officials would rebuff Kuroshime’s proposal as they had high hopes of winning the war […] More
During WWII, Germany was experimenting with different designs for unpowered aircraft such as gliders. By then, they’d already had experience with rocket engines, but they could only sustain flights for short periods before using up their fuel. So why not put a rocket engine in a glider? Me 163 Komet After numerous prototypes (and a […] More
Named after a deck of cards, “Extra Joker” was a B-24 assigned to the 451st Bomb Group based in Italy in the summer of 1944. Extra Joker and her crew flew plenty of sorties for two months until August 23, 1944. A Rule Change That morning, the 451st was assigned to bomb an industrial target […] More
The Beriev Be-4 is a rather easily-forgotten aircraft developed by Beriev Aircraft Company. Despite only having less than 50 copies of this flying boat, it was still used by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet during WWII. Here are five facts about the Soviet Union’s forgotten flying machine: 1. Featured an inverted gull wing The flying […] More
The year is 1943. America’s bombing campaign in Germany is now the top priority of the Eight Air Force. Every day, strategic targets are brought down throughout Western Europe. And the aircraft leading the charge is the B-17 Flying Fortress, America’s trusty and durable heavy bomber. No Fighter Escorts In 1943, however, fighter escorts were […] More
