August 2021 Articles

• It was another humid day, with the smells of Thailand heavy in the morning air as I walked into the Triple Nickel Fighter Squadron building at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in northeast Thailand. The 555th was the top MiG-killer squadron, but hunting had been scarce since I joined them earlier in the […]

  

  Trolling for SAMs – Flying an F-4D decoy mission in Vietnam

  It was another humid day, with the smells of Thailand heavy in the morning air as I walked into the Triple Nickel Fighter Squadron building at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in northeast Thailand. The 555th was the top MiG-killer squadron, but hunting had been scarce since I joined them earlier in the […]
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• In 1934, Tubal Claude Ryan created a new corporation, aptly named the Ryan Aeronautical Corp., whose first design, the ST—for sport trainer—became an instant classic. As a trainer, the ST was a big improvement over its competitors.

  

  Classic Ryan

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• The first of four B-1A bomber prototypes blazed into the wild blue yonder in December of 1974. Initially designed for low-level penetration at a blistering Mach 2, the B-1A was ultimately canceled due to budget constraints. President Reagan later resurrected the program and the B-1B was born, with the first production aircraft flying in October […]

  

  Lethal Lancer – Bad-to-the-bone B-1B bomber

  The first of four B-1A bomber prototypes blazed into the wild blue yonder in December of 1974. Initially designed for low-level penetration at a blistering Mach 2, the B-1A was ultimately canceled due to budget constraints. President Reagan later resurrected the program and the B-1B was born, with the first production aircraft flying in October […]
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• During the desperate days of the first half of 1942, the virtually unchallenged Japanese Army and Naval forces had almost completed their domination of the Western Pacific. The Philippines were abandoned; Indochina, Java, the Solomons and Burma had been overrun. China was half occupied and losing ground, and even India was being threatened. There was little hope for the Allies, except for the stopgap efforts of the Flying Tigers in China.

  

  Second Kill

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• Designer Alexander Yakovlev’s Russian fighter has always lived in the shadows of the more glamorous fighters like the Mustang and Spitfire. Its only advantage over these airplanes was that it could be manufactured much more quickly and in far greater numbers than its Allied counterparts. It was a run-of-the-mill aircraft that was designed to use […]

  

  Attack Yak

  Designer Alexander Yakovlev’s Russian fighter has always lived in the shadows of the more glamorous fighters like the Mustang and Spitfire. Its only advantage over these airplanes was that it could be manufactured much more quickly and in far greater numbers than its Allied counterparts. It was a run-of-the-mill aircraft that was designed to use […]
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• Fighter pilots live, work, fly and fight in an extremely competitive environment. Winning or losing may well mean the difference between life and death in the fast-moving and lethal business of aerial combat. For sheer survival, fighter pilots want—indeed need—to be the best, and they want to be flying the best. In aerial combat there […]

  

  The Battle of Britain’s Best – Spitfire and Hurricane vs. Bf 109

  Fighter pilots live, work, fly and fight in an extremely competitive environment. Winning or losing may well mean the difference between life and death in the fast-moving and lethal business of aerial combat. For sheer survival, fighter pilots want—indeed need—to be the best, and they want to be flying the best. In aerial combat there […]
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