Luke Days, 2016
In 1941, Luke Field opened with the mission of training the finest fighter pilots in the world. Now called the “Home of the Fighter Pilot”, Luke continues to instill upon the next generation of Air Force Airman the required...
Category: U.S. Air Force
Red Flag 16-2 Stresses Coalition Partnership
Red Flag is the United States Air Force’s premier training exercise conducted inside the Nevada Test and Training Range in the Nevada desert. The NTTR has the largest air and ground space anywhere in the free world to conduct...
2016 TICO Warbird Air Show
Story by Ken Kula As part of a group of aviation photographers in the 1980s, we used to have a saying that if it’s TICO, it must be Spring! After all, that top-notch warbird air show occurred at the...
Tampa Bay AirFest, 2016
Photos by Bob Finch, story by Bob Finch with Ken Kula The year 2016 marks three quarters of a century after the United States began its buildup of armed forces, when its’ leaders saw that the country would most...
PCA’s Shortcut To The World From Pease
The fixed base operator at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (identifier KPSM) displays an interesting phrase on the side of their fuel trucks… observing that Pease is a “shortcut to the world”. Port City Air (PCA) is the...
A Tradition Of Training, The 2016 Heritage Flight Conference
Creating a Heritage: In 1997, during the 50th anniversary of the USAF celebrations, a most unique formation took to the skies. That formation included the latest aircraft in the USAF arsenal wing tip to wing tip with vintage warbirds....
104th Fighter Wing – Red Flag 16-1
The 104th Fighter Wing (104th FW) of the Massachusetts Air National Guard is located at Barnes Air National Guard Base (ANGB), at Westfield Barnes Regional Airport, Westfield MA. It currently operates a single fighter squadron of F-15C/D Eagles with...
Red Flag 16-1 Is “In the Books”
In 1975, the United States Air Force established an elite combat training exercise for all of its warfighters. Its purpose was to teach advanced tactics to maximize lethality, combat readiness, and survivability, and to ensure that the air crews...
Luke pilot flies 500th hour in F-35
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Arizona – Lt. Col. Matthew Hayden, 56th Fighter Wing chief of safety and pilot attached to the 61st Fighter Squadron, made history as the first Thunderbolt to achieve 500 flight hours in an F-35 Lightning...
My 2015 Air Show Finale Weekend
The distance “as the crow flies” between NAS Pensacola and Moody AFB is just 280 miles. What a coincidence that this pair of military air bases would host the final large events of the 2015 North American air show...
PhanCon 2015
Written by Ken Kula Frank Ertl travelled to Tucson Arizona during mid-October to partake in the festivities of the 2015 edition of PhanCon. Just what is a PhanCon? Well, according to the organization’s web site, “PhanCon is an annual...
The first two Norwegian F-35s arrived today at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz
Image credit: Lockheed Martin The first two Norwegian F-35s arrived today at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. Shortly after, a Norwegian pilot flew the F-35 Lightning II for the first time today, in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian air...
