Tag Archives: Aircraft

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.

Unusual Aircraft Capabilities: The Zippo

Urban legends abound in the Air Force about doing unusual things in aircraft that the manufacturer (and the Air Force) never intended.  No, this doesn’t refer to things like rolling inverted in a tanker.  It’s like the ability to suck hard boiled eggs out of the sextant port in the C-135.  Seriously, who figured that out?

Another example is the zippo, a product of the F-111, a photo of which is below:

Photo credit Capt. Christy Stravolo

At some point, an F-111 aircrew member discovered Read more

US Air Force Aircraft Fires Phasers

In a scene right out of Star Trek (which is based on the Navy construct, by the way), a C-130 equipped with a laser recently engaged a vehicle on the ground with fascinating results.  The laser sparked and burned the hood of a parked car, and Boeing, the commercial contractor, said that it “killed” the vehicle.

The C-130 carried a belly-mounted turret from which it fired its Airborne Tactical Laser (ATL).  The ATL has been under development Read more

MAF Responds to Indonesian Earthquake

Missionary Aviation Fellowship, a Christian aviation and missions organization, has already begun to assist in the humanitarian crisis following the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Indonesia.  The MAF has had aircraft and a small team in the country since the tsunami in 2004, and has already been supporting local governments in response to the crisis.  Their assistance is in demand, with

the phone…ringing off the hook with requests from the Red Cross and others

The MAF has requested prayer support, and financial donations to support the humanitarian relief can be made through their website.

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