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The French Air Force Mirage III that buzzed a U-2 flying at 65, 000 ft on a mission to spy on France's nuclear facilities
10+ hour, 17+ min ago (424+ words) In complete secrecy, a team headed by Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson at Lockheed's "Skunk Works" in Burbank, Calif. , designed and built the U-2 to fly surveillance missions. With sailplane-like wings suited for the thin atmosphere above 55, 000 feet (over 70, 000 feet for later models),…...
Video shows RAF Buccaneer attack aircraft doing a record-breaking short flight of 92 seconds
3+ day, 1+ hour ago (336+ words) Designed by Blackburn Aircraft (later Hawker Siddeley Aviation) to a naval requirement for a carrier-based, low-level maritime strike aircraft, the Buccaneer S1 entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1962. Filmed in 1994 the interesting video in this post features the latest…...
The USAAF L-4 crew who shot down a German Fi 156 Storch with their Colt. 45 Pistols and scored the last American air-to-air victory over Germany of WWII
5+ day, 6+ hour ago (435+ words) The Piper J-3 Cub was vastly popular as a civilian trainer and sport plane before the'US Army Air Corps'selected the aircraft for evaluation as an artillery spotter/director platform. Military versions of the Piper Cub were known as the L-4 Grasshopper, for…...
B-17 pilot Colin P. Kelly, the US first hero of World War II
1+ week, 10+ hour ago (365+ words) Each convoy was escorted by a destroyer division, six or seven destroyers led by a light cruiser. A force of two heavy and one light cruisers, two destroyers and a seaplane tender covered the invasion convoys. At 0550hrs, as civil twilight…...
An average Stuka loss rate of 100 per cent: why Luftwaffe replaced the Ju 87 with the Fw 190
1+ week, 2+ day ago (292+ words) He told Milch that St G 2 had lost 89 of its crews in just eight months. "This represents a yearly average of 100 per cent. If we keep on this way, it will mean the end of the dive-bomber units. Furthermore, the…...
When America's Top Ace Richard Bong nailed a crocodile With a burst of 20mm cannon fire from his P-38 to protect his comrades trying to rescue a fellow pilot who had been missing in the jungle
1+ week, 4+ day ago (236+ words) The Pacific Theater of Operations produced the two highest scoring aces in American history, Maj. Richard I. Bong and Maj. Thomas B. Mc Guire Jr. Both men flew P-38 Lightnings in the Southwest Pacific, and each received the Medal of Honor in recognition…...
The C-47 secret airline that flew only in bad weather to evacuate Allied Airmen interned in neutral Sweden
2+ week, 1+ day ago (232+ words) But how could it be done? Flying from Sweden to England meant crossing over or near enemy territory, and German fighter planes patrolled the escape routes, alert to any attempt by the Allies to rescue their flight crews. Brigadier General…...
The lone RAF Lightning pilot who intercepted 80 Soviet strategic bombers
3+ week, 5+ day ago (309+ words) Following the successful demonstration of supersonic flight by the two P1 research aircraft WG760 and WG763, English Electric was contracted to develop the P1 B fighter aircraft. It was known as the Lightning and was capable of supersonic interceptions of enemy aircraft; it remained…...
We Killed Yamamoto: the P-38 assassination of the man behind Pearl Harbor
4+ week, 2+ day ago (482+ words) The Lightning truly shined in the Pacific theater; seven of the top eight scoring USAAF aces in the Pacific flew the P-38. On April 18, 1943, the long range of the P-38 enabled USAAF pilots to ambush and shoot down an aircraft carrying Admiral…...
The P-51 that flew under the Eiffel Tower in hot pursuit of a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109
1+ mon, 2+ day ago (261+ words) The Mustang The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain's request. The design showed promise, and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941, primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance. But in…...