The Royal Air Force’s Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax are considered by many aviation historians to be among the most capable heavy bombers of the Second World War. However, neither were the RAF’s first four-engine bomber. Overshadowed by the Lancaster’s success was the ...
Federal prosecutors tied Dugan Ashley to the New Orleans terrorist through downloaded videos. AmmoLand’s source says the evidence shows no messages, meeting or personal connection—and raises questions about whether the published information would have worked.
On April 24, 1933, a legend was born when Grumman test pilot Paul Hovgard flew the prototype Grumman J2F “Duck,” designated XJF-1, on its first flight, taking off from the factory’s grass strip at Farmingdale, New York. The flight marked the debut of one of the most versatile amphibious...
The McDonnell F3H Demon was a single-seat, carrier-based jet fighter developed for the United States Navy in the 1950’s. This aircraft represents a critical but troubled chapter in American naval aviation: one that pushed the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation toward design philosophies that would ...
By 1940, both England and Germany realized that the Kriegsmarine’s U-Boats were the key to the Battle of the Atlantic. Eliminating the German submarine threat was Britain’s top priority. Expanding the U-Boat fleet was Germany’s greatest hope to bring the British to their knees. In those dar...
In the mid-1930s, Adolph Hitler cast his eye towards France and dreamed of revenge for the outcome of World War One. Standing in his way was the French Maginot Line, a collection of massive concrete strongpoints, casemates, armored turrets, and observation posts. Among the barbed wire, mine field...
The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was one of just three United States Navy aircraft carriers—along with USS Ranger (CV-4) and USS Enterprise (CV-6)—to survive the entirety of the Second World War. Although outdated by 1943, as the newer and more capable Essex-cla...
Military aircraft design of the Cold War era could be described as akin to physics, or, more specifically, to Newton’s Third Law of motion, which states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” From lessons learned in the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force determi...
At the National Museum of the United States Air Force, many visitors will see an unfamiliar aircraft at the entrance to the WWII gallery. The museum’s display of the gleaming silver fighter coded “86” on the fuselage, features a pilot boarding the plane in his pajamas, with an M1911 pistol ...