Vought F4U Corsair, a history, as told by military expert Christian D. Orr: In response to the multiple 19FortyFive articles I’ve written about the best fighter planes of WWII, several of my readers have admonished me to the effect of “But what about the Corsair!?!” Hey, fair enough; after all, I’ve already written about the A-7 Corsair II, so why…

“The Army goal is to allow the helicopter, which was first produced in the early 1960s, to serve all the way into the 2060s” The Army plans to fly its Vietnam-era workhorse CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter for 100 years by continuously upgrading the platform through a series of ongoing technological adjustments designed to improve lift, weight, avionics…

On the night of June 30, 2007, a platoon of US Army soldiers from the 77th Armor Regiment were ambushed by dozens of insurgents on the outskirts of Ramadi, Iraq. An intense firefight ensued, and soon there were casualties on both sides. When the Americans started to run low on ammunition, they called for reinforcements.…

There’s so much to love about the F-15 Eagle, unless you’re the enemy – then there’s nothing likable about it. Only a few years after taking its maiden flight, armies across the world recognized the potential military applications that this new flying machine can be used for. Consequently, the airplane has been at the forefront of…

Rumours persist that a classified strike variant of the YF-23 was developed to fulfil a role similar to that of the F-111 During the late 1970s, a new generation of Soviet fighters and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) prompted the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to find a replacement for the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. For this reason…

The Supermarine Spitfire became one of the most iconic aircraft of all time, but faced stiff competition from a Polish alternative during the 1930s. Here’s What You Need to Remember: Britain’s Directorate of Technical Development considered Poland’s PZL P.24 monoplane to replace the Hawker Fury before deciding to stay with the indigenous Spitfire. The Supermarine Spitfire fighter was…

In war and peace, Boeing did it right with the CH-47. There is no replacement for my Chinook – the only replacement is more CH-47s. Almost half of the 6,000 plus total hours I’ve flown in my career took place in the legendary Boeing heavy-lift Chinook. During my second tour in Vietnam, I spent around…

The A-12 is the often forgotten forerunner to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is one of the most famous and iconic military aircraft ever made. This Mach 3 + capable spy plane quickly became something that the Soviet Union could not live with, with them never able to intercept a Blackbird when they were on a…

Willy Messerschmitt’s Me-262 was not quite the game changer it might have been if produced earlier and in greater numbers, but after its 1944 debut, air combat would never be the same. On the morning of Aug. 27, 1939, a new era dawned when Ernst Heinkel telephoned Ernst Udet and told the just-awakened chief of…

The CH-47 Chinook is the most capable, efficient, and dynamic heavy lift helicopter in the industry today. The terms heavy lift helicopter and CH-47 Chinook go hand in hand. There is no doubt that the Chinook is widely recognized for its heavy lift helicopter capabilities. Among all heavy lift helicopters, the performance and availability of the CH-47…