RSSAir Force

Astronaut Lt Gen Thomas Stafford dies, age 93

| March 20, 2024 | 11 Comments
Astronaut Lt Gen Thomas Stafford dies, age 93

For those who grew up idolizing the trailblazers of the space race, the name Thomas Stafford will be familiar. He was part of NASA Astronaut Group 2. Also in Group 2 were several other well known astronauts of the Gemini and Apollo Era (and beyond). Along with Stafford, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim […]

Continue Reading

Thursday updates

| March 7, 2024 | 32 Comments
Thursday updates

Remember Jack Texeira? He was the Air Force computer tech who illicitly accessed, copied, and posted thousands of pages of classified information online. At least in chain-of-command terms, his arrest may have caused record fallout – not only was pretty much his entire chain of command relieved, even his unit was removed from the mission […]

Continue Reading

Ospreys back in action

| March 4, 2024 | 6 Comments
Ospreys back in action

We all know the V-22 Osprey – the hybrid helicopter tilt-rotor airplane mix which has taken over local airlift for the Marines and some of the Air Force.  Not sure which air machine I have done more articles on, the V-22 or the F-35, but it has to be fairly close. Services may be heaving […]

Continue Reading

National Museum of the USAF hit by tornado

| March 1, 2024 | 24 Comments
National Museum of the USAF hit by tornado

On Wednesday, the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio was hit by a suspected tornado, right in a restoration hangar. For those of us who love vintage aviation, the photos are heartbreaking. The Warzone has the scoop and all the photos. Among the aircraft you can see laying damaged are […]

Continue Reading

Valor Friday

| March 1, 2024 | 36 Comments
Valor Friday

Having been to the USS Midway Museum, I’ve seen the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog landed on her deck by South Vietnamese Air Force Major Buang-Ly. Major Buang stole the plane, loaded his wife and five children into the nominally 4-seat observation airplane, and flew out to sea. He did so because it was April 1975 […]

Continue Reading

Valor Friday

| February 9, 2024 | 5 Comments
Valor Friday

In any air force, in any war, there is always a special cadre of “aces.” An ace is a pilot (almost always a fighter pilot) who has scored at least five kills, that is to say a pilot that’s shot down five enemy aircraft. Within the category of aces, there are several sub-categories. During World […]

Continue Reading

Retired Airmen invited to return to active duty

| February 8, 2024 | 82 Comments
Retired Airmen invited to return to active duty

The Air Force is leveraging a solution it hopes will help it fill its manpower needs. They are looking to fill up to 1,000 enlisted and mid-career commissioned positions. Should they apply and get accepted, they could look at four to six months before they are back on active service. They will serve no more […]

Continue Reading

Valor Friday

| January 26, 2024 | 7 Comments
Valor Friday

I was recently reading an article about the much admired A-1 Skyraider. The single-engine light bomber and attack aircraft was designed and first flown during World War II. Coming too late to see service during that war, the aircraft is emblematic of the rapid advancements made in aviation during the period. A Skyraider is capable […]

Continue Reading