The History of the US Navy’s TOPGUN School
The popular Tom Cruise movie Top Gun debuted in theaters in 1986, and features Cruise and his co-stars attending the US Navy’s TOPGUN school –…
The Titanium Used to Construct the SR-71 Blackbird Came from the Soviet Union
Aviation technology rapidly advanced during the 20th century, but as the aircraft advanced, so too did the machines and technology designed to detect them. In…
Close Air-to-Air Combat Made MiG Alley One of the Deadliest Places of the Korean War
For many US Air Force pilots, one of the most deadly places to battle the enemy during the Korean War was MiG Alley. The site…
Lockheed AC-130: The Gunship That Provided Much-Needed Support in Vietnam
The Lockheed AC-130 is a special operations gunship that can trace its history back to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Over its nearly 60 years of…
A-12 Spy Plane: Why Lockheed’s CIA Spy Plane Only Flew 29 Missions
The Lockheed A-12 spy plane was developed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for service during Project Oxcart. While it had the potential for a…
Grumman F-14 Tomcat: The Versatile Fighter Made For Top Gun Pilots
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is one of the most iconic aircraft to ever be operated by the US Navy, with it serving as the primary…
Wild Weasels Undertake the US Air Force’s Most Dangerous Missions
There is nothing we love more than a good motto! The unofficial slogan for the US Air Force’s Wild Weasel crew is “YGBSM” – an…
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 ‘Sturmböcke’ Was Designed to Take On the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
In the early stages of World War II, aerial combat over Europe was dominated by two particular aircraft: the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Supermarine Spitfire.…
Weird Military Aircraft: de Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle
Many unusual military vehicles have been developed throughout history, yet there are few as strange as the de Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle. Designed to be piloted…
MD-160: The Aircraft-Ship Hybrid Known as the ‘Caspian Sea Monster’
There have been some really unusual military vehicles built over the course of history, but none have amazed us more than the Lun-class MD-160. A…
Bell P-39 Airacobra: World War II’s Most Controversial Low-Altitude Fighter
A substantial portion of combat during World War II occurred in the skies as countries developed their aerospace technology. That included the United States, which…
Avro Arrow: The Groundbreaking Jet Interceptor Canada Will Never Forget
The Avro Arrow is the subject of a frustrating and tragic story about a world-class aircraft that was simply too ambitious for the nation that…