Category Archives: Fighter Pilot

Navy Identifies Fallen Pilot

The US Navy has identified the body of the pilot found after his T-34C went missing off the coast of Texas.  Lt. Bret Travis Miller was found in the Gulf following the disappearance of his aircraft.  Lt. John Joseph Houston remains missing, as does the aircraft.

At this point, there is still no information as to why the aircraft dropped off radar.  The T-34 does not have an ejection seat; pilots must bail out manually.  The Navy Times called both pilots instructors in the aircraft, which is used for primary training in the Navy.

Communities Vie for, Oppose Hosting F-35

When it was first constructed, Luke Air Force Base was well outside of the small town that would eventually become bustling Phoenix, Arizona.  Now Luke suffers from a severe case of encroachment, with occupied houses literally right off the end of the runway.  That encroachment, reflected at many bases across the country, has led to noise complaints and community actions that have impacted the flight operations at major military bases.

Now the Tucson community, just south of Luke, is one among several that is weighing the pros and cons of trying to become host to a major F-35 training base.  Tucson hosts Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the current location of A-10 training.  The good part of the F-35: Such a training base would likely be a boon to the local economy.  The problem: Read more

US Fighter Shoots Down Friendly

Over at War is Boring, David Axe, a civilian war correspondent, notes the unique history of a particular F-15E Strike Eagle.  The fighter has a star and a Sidewinder stamped on its side, indicating two very unique air-to-air kills.

The star is from a kill in Operation Desert Storm.  Nearly 20 years ago, that aircraft dropped a bomb on an airborne helicopter in Iraq.

The Sidewinder is from an unofficially reported shootdown of a friendly Reaper UAV just last month.  According to Aviation Week (sometimes called “Aviation Leak” Read more

The Fighter Pilot Diet: Bad is Good

One of the oxymorons of fighter pilot flying is that sometimes being unhealthy is actually an advantage.  For example, a person with constricted blood vessels and/or higher blood pressure (characteristics of someone who is a smoker or has a poor diet) often have a better tolerance to Gs.  (That’s not to say that an unhealthy lifestyle is good; just that it might be an advantage in very specific situations.)

The Associated Press recently publicized a report that fatty foods are also helpful Read more

Missing F-16 Pilot Presumed Dead

Capt. Nicholas Giglio, an F-16 pilot from Shaw Air Force Base, is presumed dead after his aircraft collided with another F-16 off the South Carolina Coast.  Based on testimony from the other pilot, Capt. Lee Bryant, who was able to land at Charleston AFB, and the fact that the automated beacon initiated by ejection never came on, the Air Force has concluded that Capt. Giglio did not survive the initial impact.

The Air Force has transitioned from rescue to recovery.

According to the Wing Commander, the 32-year-old Capt Giglio Read more

F-16s Collide, Pilot Missing

Updated: Information and photos of the pilots are available from a local news source.

The Air Force announced that two F-16CJs from Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, had collided over the Atlantic Coast during night training on Thursday.

One, piloted by Capt. Lee Bryant, managed to land at Charleston AFB.  The other, piloted by Captain Nicholas Giglio, is unaccounted for, and Giglio is reported missing.

Coast Guard vessels conducting rescue operations found debris believed to be from the second aircraft.  Regrettably, the absence of an emergency beacon–which normally transmits automatically after an ejection–increases the likelihood that Giglio went down with his aircraft.

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