The F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it was the only American aircraft to have been removed from combat due to high […]
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An Explosives-Laden Ukrainian Drone Follows Russian Troops into a Wrecked Armoured Vehicle
A Russian infantry team were caught out in the open around Avdiivka during a daylight assault, they sought cover in an unlikely place: the rusting hulk of a destroyed BTR wheeled fighting vehicle. The metal shell of an old vehicle might hide you from a drone’s prying video camera. Assuming, of course, the drone didn’t […]
Turbo Compound Piston Engines – Almost Magic Tech
The Douglas DC-7 and Lockheed Starliner were the Superprops of airliners. They used Wright Turbo Compound Engines which at first glance appear to be in violation of the laws of physics. A turbo-compound engine is a reciprocating engine that employs a turbine to recover energy from the exhaust gases. Instead of using that energy to […]
B-21 Bomber Takes First Flight
The first B-21 Raider bomber took off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, just after dawn on Nov. 10, in a flight that concluded at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif, after 90 minutes, according to local observers. “The B-21 safely landed,” said Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek. “This was a test flight.” The aircraft […]
Douglas F-4D / F-6 Skyray – A Short History
The Douglas F4D Skyray (later redesignated F-6 Skyray) is an American carrier-based fighter/interceptor designed and produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was the last fighter produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company prior to its merger with McDonnell Aircraft to become McDonnell Douglas. Development of the Skyray was started by Douglas during the late 1940s […]
Chinese Fighter Comes 10 Feet from B-52 in ‘Unsafe’ Nighttime Intercept
A Chinese fighter jet closed within 10 feet of a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber in a nighttime intercept over the South China Sea on Oct. 24 that U.S. Indo-Pacific Command deemed “unsafe and unprofessional.” The incident marks the latest close call between Chinese and U.S. aircraft in the region. The Pentagon recently claimed in its […]
Should the F104 Starfighter Have Been the USAF’s Air Superiority Fighter in Vietnam?
The F-104C Starfighter is a real symbol of ‘50s and ‘60s aviation. It looks fast. It looks aggressive. It just exudes air superiority. And yet, when the US really needed to establish that superiority over the jungles of Vietnam it was the F-4 Phantom that got the call. When the results of Project Featherduster were […]
Convair B-58 Hustler was Useless Before it Even Took to the Sky…
The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC). To achieve the high speeds desired, Convair chose a delta wing design used by contemporary […]