October 2022 Articles

• Less than a kilometer south of the U.S. Army’s Forward Operating Base “Salerno” in southeastern Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Joseph Priester pulled pitch to put his OH-58D down in a hastily improvised landing zone. Priester had already landed in the spot three times, picking up wounded commandos while under fire. Sweat-soaked and fatigued, he […]

  

  OH-58D Kiowa Warrior pilots battle Afghan insurgents

  Less than a kilometer south of the U.S. Army’s Forward Operating Base “Salerno” in southeastern Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Joseph Priester pulled pitch to put his OH-58D down in a hastily improvised landing zone. Priester had already landed in the spot three times, picking up wounded commandos while under fire. Sweat-soaked and fatigued, he […]
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• After watching the big screen experience of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the thrilling, high-G, gravity-defying film starring Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell—the sequel landing more than three decades after the late Tony Scott’s original—there is not a doubt in my mind that this is the cinematic event of the year and beyond. I truly […]

  

  A Patriotic Sequel…

  After watching the big screen experience of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the thrilling, high-G, gravity-defying film starring Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell—the sequel landing more than three decades after the late Tony Scott’s original—there is not a doubt in my mind that this is the cinematic event of the year and beyond. I truly […]
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• By the early 1930s, the Army Air Corps was no longer interested in the “ancient technology” of biplane fighters. For a very short while, the Army Air Corp thought they had the ultimate fighter on their hands. The P-40 was sleek and fast and carried an assortment of machine guns above its nose and in […]

  

  Evolution of the Breed – The Curtiss P-40

  By the early 1930s, the Army Air Corps was no longer interested in the “ancient technology” of biplane fighters. For a very short while, the Army Air Corp thought they had the ultimate fighter on their hands. The P-40 was sleek and fast and carried an assortment of machine guns above its nose and in […]
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• The Americans christened the P-40F the Warhawk (more fitting and aggressive than the British moniker of Kittyhawk II), and it saw action on many fronts, including the Pacific. It was here, on a quiet former battle ground of World War II, that one of Curtiss’ combat-hardened warriors was to survive through to the 1970s, as […]

  

  A Survivor’s Tale – The Fighter Collection’s P-40F

  The Americans christened the P-40F the Warhawk (more fitting and aggressive than the British moniker of Kittyhawk II), and it saw action on many fronts, including the Pacific. It was here, on a quiet former battle ground of World War II, that one of Curtiss’ combat-hardened warriors was to survive through to the 1970s, as […]
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• I AM APPROACHING THE AGE at which we begin to lose our faculties. I no longer run; I creak when I walk. Hair grows in all the wrong places. My eyesight, once as sharp as an eagle’s, is hopelessly blurred without bifocals, and I am useless for almost all things after 9 p.m. I am […]

  

  RISINGER Raid – It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

  I AM APPROACHING THE AGE at which we begin to lose our faculties. I no longer run; I creak when I walk. Hair grows in all the wrong places. My eyesight, once as sharp as an eagle’s, is hopelessly blurred without bifocals, and I am useless for almost all things after 9 p.m. I am […]
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• Very few “families” of military aircraft ever evolved with such dramatic design changes as the legendary Curtiss Helldivers. Sharing that same intimidating name, it is hard to believe that the early Curtiss XF8C fixed gear, fabric covered, 450-horsepower biplane had anything in common with the massive, all metal, 1,900-horsepower monplane. Derived from the famous line […]

  

  An “Interesting” Family Tree

  Very few “families” of military aircraft ever evolved with such dramatic design changes as the legendary Curtiss Helldivers. Sharing that same intimidating name, it is hard to believe that the early Curtiss XF8C fixed gear, fabric covered, 450-horsepower biplane had anything in common with the massive, all metal, 1,900-horsepower monplane. Derived from the famous line […]
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• Science-fiction writer and aeronautical engineer Robert Heinlein famously said, “A generation which ignores history has no past—and no future.” Warbird aircraft have been a part of American life since airplanes were adapted for warfare during World War I. Almost immediately afterward, the newly-surplus “war birds” that a few years before had served as fighters, bombers […]

  

  The new generation of warbird pilots, restorers & mechanics

  Science-fiction writer and aeronautical engineer Robert Heinlein famously said, “A generation which ignores history has no past—and no future.” Warbird aircraft have been a part of American life since airplanes were adapted for warfare during World War I. Almost immediately afterward, the newly-surplus “war birds” that a few years before had served as fighters, bombers […]
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• “We were launched while our fleet was 180 to 200 miles northeast of Manila. My group was assigned to hit Japanese ships in Manila Harbor. As we approached our dive area at 10,000 feet, big, black puffs of smoke from anti-aircraft fire began popping all around us.” Leslie Bennett Case, known as Ben, is describing […]

  

  Ben Case and the SB2C Helldiver

  “We were launched while our fleet was 180 to 200 miles northeast of Manila. My group was assigned to hit Japanese ships in Manila Harbor. As we approached our dive area at 10,000 feet, big, black puffs of smoke from anti-aircraft fire began popping all around us.” Leslie Bennett Case, known as Ben, is describing […]
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• On January 1, 1945, Second Lieutenant Robert L. Nesmith of the 54th Fighter Squadron, 343rd Fighter Group, was practicing low-altitude gunnery passes through Tenmak Valley on the Aleutian island of Attu. The war had moved from the Aleutians and closer to Japan, but flying in the frozen north was still very risky. Distracted, Nesmith flew […]

  

  Alaskan Miracle Bird

  On January 1, 1945, Second Lieutenant Robert L. Nesmith of the 54th Fighter Squadron, 343rd Fighter Group, was practicing low-altitude gunnery passes through Tenmak Valley on the Aleutian island of Attu. The war had moved from the Aleutians and closer to Japan, but flying in the frozen north was still very risky. Distracted, Nesmith flew […]
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