How Navy Aircrews Scored the First MiG Kills Over Vietnam
A textbook intercept and missile launch by U.S. Navy F-4 Phantoms resulted in the first confirmed MiG kills of the Vietnam War.
Aviation History Book Review: Sherman Lead
As an aviator who flew the F-4D Phantom II with “Satan’s Angels” of the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron while stationed at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in 1968-69, Gaillard Peck knows that air combat is both taxing and adrenaline-inducing.
Building a MiG-Killer F-4B Phantom II
Phantom “phans” can be a picky bunch when it comes to the myriad nuances among the many versions and upgrades that the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II underwent following its first flight in 1958.
Light Singles Under Pressure: Quest to Pressurize Private Planes
The effort to develop a pressurized lightplane for private pilots deflated when it became clear the market for such aircraft was nearly nonexistent.
Over the Side: Life on the Edge of an Aircraft Carrier
A U.S. Navy aerial photographer captured dramatic images of aircraft carrier flight operations during the Korean War.
Build Your Own Rainbow
In 1943 the U.S. Army Air Forces urgently needed a long-range photoreconnaissance aircraft to track Japanese forces in the Pacific. Republic Aviation proposed the XF-12 for that role.
Flight of the Yellow Bird and the First Transatlantic Stowaway
Three Frenchmen were in for a surprise when they took off from Maine’s Old Orchard Beach on a transatlantic flight attempt to Paris in 1929.
Northrop’s Radical Flying Wing Bomber of the 1940s
Jack Northrop dreamed big with his futuristic flying wing, but the radical bomber proved too great a technological leap for his company to bridge in the late 1940s.
Sitting Ducks Over Normandy: A C-47 Pilot Remembers D-Day
A C-47 pilot gives his son a firsthand look at the dangerous missions he flew in flak-filled skies on D-Day and beyond.
The Forgotten Story of Midway’s Marine Defenders
Outnumbered and outgunned, the Marine pilots of VMF-221 paid a heavy price for their heroic efforts to stem the Japanese onslaught on Midway Atoll.
Combat Veteran BUFF: Restoring a Vietnam War Bomber
Some of the volunteers working to restore a historic B-52D Stratofortress at the Yankee Air Museum serviced the very same aircraft during the Vietnam War.
Poll Triplane: What Happened to This German Giant?
The Poll Giant would have been World War I’s biggest bomber—had it actually been completed.
