Flight Journal 06/2012

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) continues to be a good news, bad news saga. Just when the program appears to be overcoming scheduling delays and technical glitches, the Obama administration says it will purchase 179 fewer aircraft than once planned during the years immediately ahead. The Pentagon will seek 13 fewer airframes in its fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, 29 JSFs instead of 42. In 2013, 2015 and 2016, the Pentagon will buy 29, 44 and 61 Lightning IIs respectively, a sharp drop from a once-planned 62, 81 and 108. Stretching out the schedule at the mile-long, windowless plant in Fort Worth where F-35s are manufactured will allow the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy more time for developmental, testing and correction of deficiencies before planes become operational. Vice Adm. David "DJ" Venlet, the JSF's military program manager—and a former F-14 Tomcat back seater with a Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 aerial victory in his logbook—said in January that the longstanding policy of pursuing development and operations side-by-side is not working. The planned total production for U.S. forces is unchanged at 2,443 aircraft.

download

Electric Flight 07/2012

Traditionally, coaxial helis have been limited to flying in very calm conditions, limiting them to indoor flying or outdoors only on the most peaceful days. The other issue is that after mastering its basic flight envelope, you could get bored quickly. Well, neither of these is an issue with the new Extreme Flyers X350 high-performance dual-rotor helicopter with its anti-wind tail control system. In the box you'll find everything needed to fly with the exception of 4 AA batteries for the standard-size 5-channel transmitter. All of the contents are well protected in an egg-carton-styled tray, and with the handle built into the box, the whole thing doubles as a carrying case to keep things safe during transport. The durable heli is completely assembled and test flown at the factory, so once the 11.1V LiPo battery is topped off with the included charger, you're ready to go. Well-detailed included manuals will walk even the absolute beginner through all the steps required to get the X350 safely airborne, and even some basic maneuvering exercises are covered. If you ever need to make adjustments, the screwdriver is even supplied.

download

Flight Journal 04/2012

IN GLANCING OVER THIS ISSUE one thought crossed my mind, "Almost every single word deals with men in airplanes putting themselves in harm's way all for the good of the rest of us." Whether it's the heroic actions of fighter pilots who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, individual bomber crew members who saw every battle from a different perspective, yet shared in a common destiny, or members of our Border Patrol and Customs Service who fight battles on our borders on a daily basis, we're talking about men and women to whom we owe a debt we can't possibly pay. Medal of Honor recipients often are surprised to find themselves being awarded our nation's highest honor. Almost to a man they utter the same words, "I was just doing my job as I saw it." However, one of the precepts of the award is that the individual went far and above and beyond " ... just doing a job." Some have put themselves in situations they were unlikely to survive, strictly to save the lives of others. Barrett Tillman, who has detailed the actions of Medal of Honor recipients in his book Above and Beyond: The Aviation Medals of Honor, focuses on a small slice of those who have demonstrated MoH-worthy actions, WW II fighter pilots in his article, "Medal of Honor Fighters." At the same time, he goes back to the beginning of aviation and outlines the actions of the 27 fighter pilots who were judged worthy of the award since the beginning.

download

WWII Aces

Is there a more iconic figure in history, folklore and/or legend than the fighter ace? It could be argued that the Old West gunfighters fall into that category. Or knights of yore. But, they somehow don't "feel" the same. It's difficult to identify with historical characters like cowboys and knights because they are just that: historical. They belong to a time long past. Not so the fighter ace. They still walk amongst us. They are flesh and bone and, even though most are aging, we can revisit their world courtesy of film and audio. And thus, we can more easily identify with them. Gunfighters and knights have been so fictionalized, we no longer see ourselves in their shoes/boots/armor. But, at some point in their flying career, every single pilot who is granted a license has fighter pilot fantasies. When we started putting this issue together, there was an awful temptation to stick with the tried-and-true: the Dick Bongs, Pappy Boyingtons, etc. They are superstars in the aviation publishing game: big names always sell magazines. But we didn't want to go the "me too" route. There were too many aces who were wildly overshadowed by those whose names we now know well, yet the difference may be only a few victories one way or the other. So, we decided to tell stories that haven't been told a million times and introduce our readers to pilots they may not know.

download