For three days in March the sky was filled with Military and Civilian aircraft. Also on the list of performers were the United States Army Golden Knights and the Red Bull Skydiving Team.  There were spectators from across Arizona and many from across the country that were here to see the show. The event kicked off on Friday for base personnel ... Read More

On February 18, 2011, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar hosted a ceremony with all Osprey squadrons located at the base to mark a milestone in the history of the MV-22 – 100,000 hours of mishap free flight. The MV-22 Osprey is currently replacing the 50+ year old CH-46 Sea Knight (aka Frog). The Osprey is as revolutionary as the helicopter was in the 1940’s.  With its tilt rotor design it ... Read More

In celebration of the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CoNA) and coinciding with the CoNA events at Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego, CA) on February 11th and 12th, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar opened its flight line to the media to celebrate this historic event. On Friday at 8am, 20 media personnel were given unprecedented access to MCAS Miramar flight line. We were escorted to Base Operations and there ... Read More

Whoever wrote those song lyrics "it never rains in southern California" had it wrong (trivia answer below)... I fought rain for the first hour and a half of a three hour drive from San Diego CA to Yuma, AZ.  Why was I there?  I'd heard that the Marines' Weapons and Tactics Instructor's course (WTI for short) offered some great photo opportunities of Marine aviation units, including an exciting helicopter ... Read More

Flight Training the Coast Guard Way For its’ core missions, the Coast Guard operates five types of airframes: the EADS/Eurocopter MH-65B/C Dolphin and Sikorsky HH-60J/T Jayhawk helicopters, plus the FalconJet HU-25A/B/C/D Guardian, the new EADS/CASA HC-144A Ocean Sentry, and the Lockheed Martin C-130 H and J model Hercules.  The C-130 community flight trains at Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS) Clearwater, Florida.  Training on the other four aircraft types is performed ... Read More

I first met Lt. Colonel William R. Duncan at the dedication of “Lady Ace 09” in April 2010. He was one of several commanding officers, both past and present, of HMM-165 that attended the event. It was at this dedication I learned that Lt. Col. Duncan had not only been the second commanding officer of HMM-165 but was also the first Landing Signal Officer in the Marine Corps. Born and ... Read More