Swan Song for the Battle Phrog
The venerable CH-46 Sea Knight served with distinction for half a century, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Dambusters: A Legendary World War II Air Raid
After 70 years, the bold British raid on Germany’s strategic river dams remains one of history’s most audacious bombing missions—a testament to ingenious engineering and the bravery of RAF aircrews.
Dragon Lady Down: Crazy Night Landing in a U-2 Spyplane
Republic of China Air Force Major “Mike” Hua pulled off a nighttime dead-stick landing in an early U-2
60-Year-Old U-2 Spyplane Still Seeks Out the Enemy
Sixty years after its introduction, Lockheed’s U-2 spyplane continues to serve as America’s eyes in the sky over distant battlefields.
How the B-25 Became the Ultimate Strafer of World War II
Armed to the teeth with machine guns and a 75mm cannon, B-25s played a key role in World War II as low-level bombers and strafers.
Giving the Machine Gun Wings
On April 1, 1915, Roland Garros took off in a Morane-Saulnier L from an airfield in northern France, planning to play an April Fool’s Day trick on the Germans.
Build Your Own Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
During Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944, Observation Fighter Squadron 1 (VOF-1) pilots Ensign Alfred Wood and Lt. (j.g.) Edward Olszewski took turns flying the same Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, shooting down a total of four German aircraft.
The Luftwaffe’s Carrier Plane That Never Flew From a Ship
Designed as a carrier-based torpedo bomber, the Fieseler Fi-167 ended up hunting Yugoslav Partisans when its ship never materialized.
Arch and Teddy: First Flight By a U.S. President
A bromance blossomed between Archibald Hoxsey and Theodore Roosevelt in 1910 when the early aviator took TR for a short flight—the first by a U.S. president.
Boyington’s Bastards: The Legendary Black Sheep Squadron
It was one of the biggest air raids in the entire campaign for the Solomon Islands. More than a year after U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Navy TBF Avengers and SBD Dauntless dive bombers were to hit the Japanese base on Ballale,
Operation Bodenplatte: Last Gasp of the Luftwaffe
In the early morning hours of the first day of 1945, Allied pilots in northwest Europe might have expected to see pink elephants before they saw Nazi aircraft. Since the Normandy invasion, Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Forces fighters had largely driven the Luftwaffe from the skies.
The Missile With a Man In It
The breathtakingly sleek Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was designed for a purpose that was too far ahead of its time.
Operation Linebacker II: The 11-Day War
The so-called Christmas Bombings in 1972 brought the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table, but at a high cost
KAL 902 is Down: When the Soviets Attacked an Airliner
In a controversial Cold War incident, a Korean Air Lines 707 was downed by a missile from a Soviet fighter, killing two passengers and touching off a diplomatic firestorm.
