Military Heat

Over the skies of North Korea some of the most intense jet dogfights took place between USAF pilots and their F-86 Sabres and North Korean and Russian pilots flying the MiG-15 “Fagot”. This is the story of the first dogfight between the two rival aircraft. See pilot Bruce Hinton claim first blood for the F-86 Sabre. (Read more…)

Another great story from the History Channel’s TV series “Dogfights”. Using state of the art computer generated imagery, the series manages to give the viewer a better perspective of what it is like to partake in aerial combat. This is the story of Art Fiedler and his victories in a low level altitude dogfight. Watch P-51 Mustang pilot Art Fiedler tell his story as he battles German FW-190 down on the deck, where there is no room for error. (Read more…)

The History Channel brings viewers incredible WWII air combat stories in the series “Dogfights”. This is an excerpt from the series, showing the amazing story of Stanley W. “Swede” Vejtasa who, facing long odds, managed to outmaneuver, outsmart and defeat 3 A6M3 Zeros with a SBD Dauntless dive bomber. (Read more…)

On April 7, 1943, James Elms Swett, division flight leader in Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-221 became an ace on his first combat mission. He shot down 8 enemy aircraft and was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor. His amazing achievements and mastery of the Wildcat were recreated using computer graphics for the History Channel series “Dogfights”. James Swett tells the story of that amazing day, when he became ace in just 15 minutes, on his first ever combat mission.

(Read more…)

The American Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was the largest single engine fighter of World War II. Almost 15,000 Thunderbolts, also known as the Jug, were manufactured. Designed as a fighter, the P-47 Thunderbolt was highly effective at high altitudes were it maneuvered very well. The Thunderbolt proved itself in the ground attack role, and in honor of that, the A-10 Thunderbolt II was named after the legendary Jug. This is gun camera footage, showing the P-47 Thunderbolt in dogfights and ground attack runs. (Read more…)

After the end of WW II, and with the success of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima atomic bombings, USAF commanders believed the future of military aviation lay in long range, high altitude strategic bombers. In the 1950s one of the most impressive nuclear bombers was developed for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command: the North American XB-70 Valkyrie.

(Read more…)

The Nordenfelt gun was designed by Swedish engineer Helge Palmcrantz as a multiple barrel machine gun.
The machine gun had a maximum of twelve barrels and was manufactured for calibres up to 25 mm.

The mechanism which loaded and fired the gun was patented in 1873 and consisted of a lever moved backwards and forwards.

(Read more…)

Soon after World War II, one of the most amazing jet fighters was conceived for the US Air Force: the McDonell XF-85 Goblin, known as the “Flying Egg” because of its very small size ( only 4.5 meters in length ) and rotund appearance. The XF-85 Goblin was designed to be carried inside the bomb bays of giant strategic bombers and deployed in case of enemy attack. The giant Convair B-36 strategic bomber was to play the role of mothership for this little parasite aircraft. (Read more…)

In November 1963 the C-130 Hercules made history by setting a record for the largest and heaviest airplane landing on a Navy aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier was the USS Forrestal, a US Navy supercarrier named after former Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. The Forrestal was launched on December 11th, 1954, and was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers.
(Read more…)

On January 4, 1989, two US F-14 Tomcats downed two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger Es in an engagement that has come to be known as the Gulf of Sidra incident. This was the second Gulf of Sidra incident following the downing of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 Fitters in August 19, 1981.

(Read more…)

60 years ago, history recorded the first time when a man exceeded the speed of sound in controlled and level flight.

On October 14, 1947, US Air Force Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager smashed the sound barrier aided by the Bell X-1, the first of many X-planes to come.

(Read more…)