June 2023 Articles

• Eighty years ago this May, Operation Chastise, more commonly known as the “Dams Raid,” took its place in military history. Flying at ultra-low-level, at night, a few RAF Lancaster crews successfully breached two major dams, the Möhne and the Eder, in the heart of Germany. The incredible story of the raid, executed by a newly […]

  

  “Dams Raid” John “Hoppy” Hopgood, heroic “Dambuster”

  Eighty years ago this May, Operation Chastise, more commonly known as the “Dams Raid,” took its place in military history. Flying at ultra-low-level, at night, a few RAF Lancaster crews successfully breached two major dams, the Möhne and the Eder, in the heart of Germany. The incredible story of the raid, executed by a newly […]
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• ALTHOUGH THE WRIGHT BROTHERS may have flown first, there are few who would argue that Glenn Curtiss was actually the driving force that developed the flying machine from a curiosity into an airplane and made it both a practical and controllable entity. Few of the Wrights’ design innovations survived into even the ’20s, but Curtiss […]

  

  “America” Flies Again – Restoring the Curtiss Seaplane

  ALTHOUGH THE WRIGHT BROTHERS may have flown first, there are few who would argue that Glenn Curtiss was actually the driving force that developed the flying machine from a curiosity into an airplane and made it both a practical and controllable entity. Few of the Wrights’ design innovations survived into even the ’20s, but Curtiss […]
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• Spring 1944: Allied heavy bombers and their airborne “little friends” had been hammering away at Fortress Europe since early in the year. Around-the-clock strategic bombardment missions, in concert with low-level “Chattanooga Choo Choo” strafing missions by Allied fighters, helped soften up intended targets. As fliers, our objectives were railways, airfields, and German emplacements, and to […]

  

  Mustangs over Normandy – P-51s search and destroy targets of opportunity

  Spring 1944: Allied heavy bombers and their airborne “little friends” had been hammering away at Fortress Europe since early in the year. Around-the-clock strategic bombardment missions, in concert with low-level “Chattanooga Choo Choo” strafing missions by Allied fighters, helped soften up intended targets. As fliers, our objectives were railways, airfields, and German emplacements, and to […]
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• Fifteen minutes after takeoff from Santa Paula Airport northwest of Los Angeles, California, Matthew Taylor heard a loud whining sound coming from the Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial mounted just beyond the firewall of his 1943 Howard DGA. It was May 2008 and Taylor, his wife Candi, and their two-year-old daughter Josie were leaving the […]

  

  Howard DGA GH-2 The “Big Blue Freeloader” Earns Its Keep

  Fifteen minutes after takeoff from Santa Paula Airport northwest of Los Angeles, California, Matthew Taylor heard a loud whining sound coming from the Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial mounted just beyond the firewall of his 1943 Howard DGA. It was May 2008 and Taylor, his wife Candi, and their two-year-old daughter Josie were leaving the […]
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• IT WAS MAY 10, 1972, when four Air Force F-4D Phantoms, using their AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, initiated a head-on engagement with a four-ship formation of MiG-21s. The MiGs had no weapons capable of engaging from a fontal aspect. Oyster Flight was part of a 28-ship F-4D prestrike MiGCAP configured to intercept any Vietnamese People’s Air […]

  

  Rise Phantom – Evolution of the Legendary F-4

  IT WAS MAY 10, 1972, when four Air Force F-4D Phantoms, using their AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, initiated a head-on engagement with a four-ship formation of MiG-21s. The MiGs had no weapons capable of engaging from a fontal aspect. Oyster Flight was part of a 28-ship F-4D prestrike MiGCAP configured to intercept any Vietnamese People’s Air […]
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• Over 200 speaking programs a year! That was part of being an Air Force recruiter as well as running my own business. Seldom do the masters of ceremonies at these functions skip over the phrases, “…the Air Force’s only Viet Nam pilot ace… only MiG-21 ace… last American ace …” And yes, I’m proud of […]

  

  America’s Last Ace

  Over 200 speaking programs a year! That was part of being an Air Force recruiter as well as running my own business. Seldom do the masters of ceremonies at these functions skip over the phrases, “…the Air Force’s only Viet Nam pilot ace… only MiG-21 ace… last American ace …” And yes, I’m proud of […]
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