The Specifications Developed from the P-36 Hawk, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk saw improvements through its use of an inline V-12 Allison engine and improved armament of two .50-cal and four 30-cal machine guns. This would later be upgraded to six .50-cal machine guns with the introduction of the P-40E model. However, the P-40’s streamlined shape […] More
Richard I. Bong was America’s top flying ace in WWII and was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots the US ever had. Here are ten things you should know about the Ace of Aces: 1. Became interested in flying at a young age Richard Bong grew up on a Wisconsin farm near then-President […] More
It was a calm afternoon in Fujian, China, on December 8, 1942. A lookout scanned the skies and spotted an aircraft flying on the horizon, slowly approaching from occupied Taiwan. Quick Response The lookouts sounded the alarm, and pilots Robert Lee Scott and Johnny Hampshire of the Flying Tigers scrambled toward their P-40s. Both men […] More
Reported Missing Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, a 24-year-old British pilot, was part of the 260 Squadron of the RAF Volunteer Reserves flying the P-40 Kittyhawks. In June 1942, Copping was tasked to fly one of the P-40s (serial code ET574) on a ferry flight to a neighboring British airbase to have the undercarriage repaired. The […] More
Finding A Replacement America’s leading ground-attack aircraft in the early days of the Vietnam War was the A-1 Skyraider. The Skyraider carried a large payload, but its propeller design was already outdated by the 1960s. In September of 1966, US Air Force Chief of Staff General John McConnell ordered the development of a rugged and […] More
The Petlyakov Pe-8 was a Soviet heavy bomber developed during WWII. It was designed by Vladimir Petlyakov in 1939 and was one of the largest aircraft built in the Soviet Union at that time. Despite its size and capabilities, the Pe-8 was plagued by problems, forcing the Soviets to retire the bomber earlier than expected. […] More
Flying a fighter plane through the Eiffel Tower only happens in the movies, right? Well, apparently not. This is the story of William Overstreet – the American pilot who flew his P-51B through the Eiffel Tower to chase a German Bf-109G. A Daredevil At Heart William “Bill” Overstreet Jr. enlisted in the US Army when […] More
A top-secret Soviet project from the late ‘50s could have been the fastest military aircraft ever built. It was expected to fly at supersonic (or even at hypersonic speeds) and was designed to “bring destruction” to any western city using its stealth and nuclear capability. However, as you might have known by now, the USSR […] More
When you think about WWII planes, you think of the Mustangs, Lightnings, and Spitfires. However, one aircraft seems to have evaded everyone’s radar – the P-80 Shooting Star. Lockheed’s creation enabled the US to have its own jet fighter by the 1940s. Here are 5 facts about the lesser-known Shooting Star of WWII: The first […] More
Have you ever wondered why an F-4 Phantom is somehow faster than the F-35? For reference, the Phantom can fly 450 mph faster than the US’ latest fighter jet. Fighter jets haven’t gotten faster in the past 50 years, and here’s why. When Intuition Meets Reality The Vietnam War went on for twenty years. During […] More
When thinking about spy planes, we tend to think of the U-2 and the SR-71. However, one aircraft with the designation “A-12 Archangel”, was actually made to be the U-2’s successor. Nobody knew it existed because it was only declassified thirty years after its retirement. Here’s everything you need to know about the A-12, the […] More
