AVIATION NATION 2025
Story and photos by Shawn Byers Nellis Air Force Base held their 2025 airshow, “Aviation Nation” on April 5th and 6th. This was my first airshow of the season, a “fly and drive” birthday present to myself. Although I...
Category: U.S. Air Force
Dwindling Numbers, Part 2: More Older U. S. Military Aircraft Types Are Being Replaced
U. S. Navy E-6B Mercury design has been operational for 36 years. Story and photos by Ken Kula, except for photos attributed to other companies or DOD employees. Some of the U. S. military’s aircraft are approaching or have...
Retired Military Jets – Do You Remember These?
A-7E Corsair II Photos by Ken Kula Here’s an assortment of photos depicting many retired military jet-powered aircraft, while they were active with their respective air arms. Unless noted, these photos are of U. S. military aircraft. How many...
The Last Ten Standing
Had Michael Buffer been the Master of Ceremonies on September 26 at Travis Air Force Base, I imagine he would have introduced the guest of honor like this. Hailing from Long Beach, California, at age forty-five, and weighing in...
Naval Air Station Oceana Airshow 2024
Story and photos by Shawn Byers September is synonymous with a planned trip to Virginia Beach and the annual airshow at Naval Air Station Oceana. Being an annual airshow is just one reason why Oceana is one of my...
NT-43A RAT 55
The Boeing T-43 is a retired modified Boeing 737-200 that was used by the United States Air Force for training navigators, known as USAF combat systems officers, from 1973 to 2010. A third aircraft 73-1115, was also transferred to...
The Rochester International Airshow 2024
Story by Shawn Byers, photos by Shawn Byers, Scott Zeno and Alice Leong Typically, the Rochester Airshow is a bi-annual event. I attended my first show there in 2023, finally fulfilling the invite from my friend and show organizer,...
FORMATION JET TEAMS OF AIRVENTURE 2024
Story and photos by Scott Jankowski In another AirVenture first, 2024 featured appearances by 4 formation jet teams, the United States Navy Blue Angels, The United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the Italian Aerobatic Team the Freece Tricolori, and the...
355th EMS CDDAR
MSgt Michael C. Alstrin retirement print. CDDAR, or Crash, Damaged, or Disabled Aircraft Recovery, is a critical program in military and civilian aviation designed to handle aircraft involved in accidents or incidents. Its primary purpose is to safely remove...
Modern Military Aircraft Present at the 2024 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
Story by Scott Jankowski, photos by Scott Jankowski and John Freedman Every Year the U.S. Military plays a vital and important role in AirVenture and 2024 was no different. AirVenture featured static displays and airshow support from all 5...
The F-15EX Eagle II, the 4th+ Generation Fighter the USAF Needs
Story and photos by Mike Colaner No other Raptor compares to the ultimate Apex Predator, the Eagle. The same holds for the F-15EX Eagle II. Boeing has manufactured an aircraft that exposes the US Air Force’s need for a...
Pacific Airshow Project with the Aviation PhotoCrew
Story and photos by David Campion In October 2023, I decided to tick off a bucket list item and sign up for an air-to-air project with the Aviation Photo Crew after the chance to photograph aerial refueling during Pitch...
