During World War II, 98-year-old Dick Miralles served as a gunner on the SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber in the Pacific Theater. He’s the last surviving member of Air Group 11 and still has his logbook up to this day. He also gets to be a tail gunner again in his SBD Dauntless for the first […] More
With advanced new fighters being introduced, it seems clear that the US is moving further away from dogfighting platforms, doubling down on beyond-visual range engagements. But for many, it feels like Déjà vu. After all, didn’t the Americans already learn this lesson in Vietnam? A Thing of the Past America prizes air superiority in its […] More
The Dornier 335 was a heavy fighter built for Germany during the Second World War. Today, we’ll be exploring the story of the quickest aircraft the Nazis have ever built: Origins Claude Dornier was a German aircraft designer and engineer known for his unusual taste in aircraft designs. While he gained fame with his more […] More
The Handley Page Hampden was a British twin-engine bomber that served the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was also known as the “Flying Suitcase,” because of its cramped crew conditions. Developing The Prototype The Handley Page team proposed a radical design placing emphasis on performance rather than payload- the HP 52. […] More
Proponents of the sixth-generation idea say that it’s really quite simple. What defines this new generation is its unconventional systems and its relationship with information. For many, the fact that the vast majority of systems being imagined and prototyped are very far distant from the traditional idea of a fighter aircraft means that we’re clearly […] More
The United States became the first nation to have a fifth-generation fighter in its war arsenal when the F-22 Raptor first made its maiden flight on September 1997. Unwilling to be outdone by the West, China soon unveiled its own fifth-generation warplane, the mightily impressive Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon. In fact, it was so impressive […] More
During the 1980s NASA built the High Angle-of-Attack Technology Program or HATP. It chose the F-18 Hornet to be used in the program. However, throughout the years, it was severely cannibalized for parts, so mangled that the Navy thought it will never fly again. Still, engineers remembered it as a legendary High Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle, […] More
The F/A-18E/F was developed as the US Military’s first all-weather fighter and attack aircraft. It could take on traditional strike applications, including interdiction and close air without compromising its fighter capabilities. Multi-Role Aircraft In 1999, the plane entered service with the US Navy as a replacement for the F-14 Tomcat. It was highly capable in […] More
On July 30th, 1943, a B-17 named Tondelayo is under attack, and in the back is tail gunner Michael L. Arooth. He’s ready as German Me 109s and Fw 190s come in to attack. Relentless Mike fires away at the mass German fighters. The Germans were relentless. Navigator Elmer Bediner, later on, said, “I fired […] More
The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star also known as T-Bird is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was the first jet fighter used operationally by the US Army Air Force. However, some foreign nations would eventually use this seemingly harmless training plane for dark purposes. Its guns would eventually be turned against the US forces in […] More
Self-sealing fuel tanks are what the Allies and Axis powers adopted to decrease the vulnerability of their aircraft. In fact, according to a 1948 declassified report, Effectiveness of Incendiary Ammunition Against Aircraft Fuel Tanks, one of the most economical means of destroying enemy aircraft is by setting the enemy’s fuel tank on fire or fuel […] More
The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, highly maneuverable, and tactical fighter and has been the backbone of the US Air Force in one of the most potent aerial combat platforms in the world. The Silent Eagle was to bridge the gap between the traditional 4th generation fighter designs and stealth. History The new F-15 is […] More
