Category Archives: planes
Firebirds!
No, not the uber-cheezey Nic Cage film. VA-304, the Naval Air Reserve A-6 Intruder squadron made a video back in the day. The home base is NAS Alameda, which most of you know today as the runway where the Mythbusters … Continue reading
Intruders
I don’t want to make this “All Intruders, all the time!” here, but folks that know me know I love the old Grumman A-6 Intruder. Some of it is family history, and some of it is a love of utilitarianism. … Continue reading
Aeronautics pic of the day
Cool vortex. This is a test of the engine health monitoring system on a C-17 at Dryden Flight Research Center. (update: that’s water being sucked into the engine.) NASA’s Aviation Safety Program is developing technology for improved sensors to help … Continue reading
Filed under planes
DARPA releases cause of hypersonic glider anomaly – Yahoo! News
A gradual wearing away of the vehicle’s skin was expected because of extremely high temperatures, but an independent engineering review board concluded that the most probable cause was “unexpected aeroshell degradation, creating multiple upsets of increasing severity that ultimately activated … Continue reading
Filed under planes
410 Cougars
The Canadian Forces were, IIRC, the first foreign force to operate the F/A-18 Hornet (though they designate it the CF-18). They operate a fairly small, but highly respected force. Learning to fly takes time. Learning to fight a Hornet takes … Continue reading
Filed under planes
B-52 Bomber Milestones
h/t to Doctrine Man!!: B-52 Bomber Marks Major Milestones in 2012 They’ve been part of the landscape of Northwest Louisiana since the late 1950s, and this year the big B-52s at Barksdale Air Force base will mark a number of … Continue reading
The F-35 and implications for allies
We tend to see the F-35 through the lens of the US military requirements. Earlier this week, Jeffrey W. Hornung offered an interesting take on the F-35: While the Defense Ministry is responsible for choosing the F-35, officials are concerned about … Continue reading
South Dakota Air & Space Museum
This museum was a pleasant surprise. It’s not Dayton or DC, but there’s a very nice collection of planes here. Inside is the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, including barnstormer and airmail pilot Nellie Zabel Willhite, who didn’t let … Continue reading
Armed Drones at War
It’s not exactly a new idea. I found this video over at DefenseTech. Not a lot of background on the program, but my guess is it was an attempt to improve Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses capabilities. Why do I … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Random thoughts from Roamy
The map and registration in the glovebox joke went over pretty well yesterday. I even got to use my “they’re just going around in circles” joke again. :D One nephew in the Army is shipping out for Germany, and another … Continue reading
F-35 Overruns Top $1 Billion… with a “B”
Almost a “dog bites man” <yawn> story at this point. From Business Week: Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s first 63 F-35 fighter jets are exceeding their combined target cost by $1 billion, showing the Pentagon’s costliest program lacks a reliable design … Continue reading
RIP- Carroll LeFon “Neptunus Lex”
At about 9:15am yesterday morning, the hazards of Naval Aviation claimed the life of CAPT Carroll F. LeFon, USN (Ret.). “Lex” was one of the first blogs I bookmarked, sometime back in 2003 or 2004. From his days on active … Continue reading
Filed under ARMY TRAINING, navy, planes
Airborne Laser Test Bed is put to rest in the Boneyard – Laser Focus World
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced this week that the Airborne Laser Test Bed — a megawatt-class 1.3 µm chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) mounted in a modified Boeing 747 and intended to shoot down ballistic missiles in their boost … Continue reading
Filed under planes
C-123
We mentioned in the comments on an earlier post that we like our airplanes a little ugly (but not our women!). Here’s a slightly ugly one for you- The Chase/Fairchild C-123 Provider. Never heard of it? You’ve almost certainly seen … Continue reading
Before the Red Tails
I grew up in South Carolina, and one of the people we learned about in history class was Mary McLeod Bethune. I had forgotten that she was involved in the National Youth Administration during the Depression, but she was responsible … Continue reading
USAF Reveals Latest X-Plane: X-56A
USAF Reveals Latest X-Plane: X-56A | AVIATION WEEK. Designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the X-56A flying wing will also later be flown by NASA, and is an innovative modular unmanned air vehicle designed to test active flutter suppression and … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Ejection seat problems ground 15 F-35 jets
Fifteen of the 23 F-35 jets delivered to the Pentagon by Lockheed Martin have been grounded because ejection seat parachutes were improperly installed. via Ejection seat problems ground 15 F-35 jets | Business | Dallas Business, Texas Business,…. Glad THAT … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Spartan Shenanigans, Or how the C-27J program is history repeating itself.
Way back in October, Craig posted about the Army’s CV-2/C-7 Caribou fleet and how the Air Force took that program away just as it was proving its worth in Vietnam. Fast forward forty years, to 2005. The Army, dissatisfied with … Continue reading
Filed under Afghanistan, Air Force, army, planes
Pride in a KC-135
Leon from The H2 sends us this link. Mrs. Leon is involved in this project. “We Stand Ready” – nice!
Japan May Purchase F-35
From Reuters: Japan decision on F-35 jet now seen next week The Japanese government has delayed a formal announcement on its choice of a next-generation fighter jet until December 20, according to two sources familiar with the process, but Lockheed … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Iran Displays Captured Drone
From Euronews: I can’t quite make out the color scheme on the drone. Perhaps one of our Air Force readers can identify. Is that just plain old Army style desert CARC paint? In some views (on other news stories) I … Continue reading
F-22′s still grounded
The Air Force granted a flight waiver to move F-22′s out of the path of Hurricane Irene, but the planes have been grounded off and on for the last five months while investigators try to figure out what’s wrong with … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Sea Harrier Demonstration Flight
I (Craig) wanted to get this posted back when XBrad was working up his excellent Falklands set. But I’ve been short of time to compile and post the video. So… better late than never. The video is from the October … Continue reading
Filed under planes
Photos of those Early Cold War Interceptors
Adding onto XBrad’s post on the early Cold War interceptors, I’ll add some photos from my (Craig’s) warbird files. The US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base displays F-86D, F-94 and F-89. I’m a big fan of high-res … Continue reading
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