In one of the many reports on the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Washington Post recounts the story of two F-16 pilots from the 121st Fighter Squadron of the Washington, DC, Air National Guard, who were some of the first to respond to the attack. As also reported at MSNBC.com,
the F-16 jets they were rushing to get airborne were largely Read more
Much of the fighter pilot lexicon is not suitable for the ears of Mom or the kids. When translated, this is one of those terms.
YGBSM is short for “You Gotta Be Sh-tting Me,” which is obviously a term of shock, disbelief, or resignation at a realization of institutional stupidity. Where did it come from, and why is it so popular in the fighter pilot community?
Lt Col Allen Lamb, USAF (ret.), wrote a first person account about being one of the Air Force’s (the world’s) first SAM-killers, otherwise known as “Wild Weasels:” Read more
A US Air Force article highlights the story of Major Josh Brown, a KC-135 pilot who has earned his 19th Air Medal:
Brown flew his final combat sortie for this deployment July 30, qualifying him to receive the 18th oak leaf cluster for his Air Medal.
The Air Medal is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievements while participating in aerial flight in support of operations…
In layman’s terms, Air Medals are handed out for one of two things: unique, heroic events…or for flying a certain Read more
A formation of Alabama Air National Guard F-16s landed at Oshkosh’s EAA AirVenture 2011 last week. Important safety tip: If you’re landing in front of a crowd at an airshow on a minimum-length runway, don’t land hot. Number 2 couldn’t quite get it stopped before the concrete ran out and ended up folding a nose gear in the mud.
Amateur video at YouTube.
Even the crowd was critiquing his landing.
As noted here before, US Air Force pilots are not always found in airplane cockpits.
A US Air Force article documents the experience of F-16 pilot Capt Sarah Eccles — currently an Air Liaison Officer, or ALO.
Eccles apparently volunteered for the ALO tour because it got her near her husband, a C-17 pilot stationed at a base nearby.
Eccles was recently covered in a separate article on female fighter pilots.
As previously noted, an F-16C crashed during a training mission out of Nellis AFB, NV. As a commenter previously mentioned, the Air Force later said it had “conclusive evidence” the pilot went down with the aircraft.
The pilot has been identified as Capt Eric Ziegler, Read more
Poland has reportedly agreed to a permanent US Air Force presence on its soil — a presence that would include US F-16s and C-130s.
According to the AirForceTimes, in 2013 an aviation detachment will reportedly be permanently assigned to Poland to provide support for US aircraft.
The US Air Force reported that an F-16C Fighting Falcon crashed during combat training exercises near Caliente, Nevada, on Tuesday evening. The pilot was reported “missing.”
Unfortunately, that often means the pilot was lost with the aircraft.
No names or further status have been released. The Nellis AFB video media release can be seen here.