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An F-35 fighter pilot says he would be confident flying the Joint Strike Fighter against any enemy in the world, including Russian and Chinese 5th Generation stealth fighters. An F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would be able to use its sensors, weapons and computer technology to destroy Russian and Chinese 5th-Generation Stealth fighters in a high-end combat fight, service officials said. “There is nothing that I have seen from maneuvering an F-35 in a tactical environment that leads me to assume that there is any other airplane I would rather be in. I feel completely comfortable and confident in taking that...

In case anyone is interested: 1 Airpower Classics - January -- Jaguar 2 Airpower Classics - February -- Predator 3 Airpower Classics - March -- B2 Spirit 4 Airpower Classics - April -- V22 Osprey 5 Airpower Classics - May -- C17 Globemaster III 6 Airpower Classics - June -- E8 Joint STARS 7 Airpower Classics - July -- F-35

Soaring into the skies above the green and pleasant land they so spectacularly fought to defend 76 years ago, they are the last of the few airworthy Spitfires left. Now an air-to-air photographer has completed an exhilarating project - getting up close and personal to the legendary fighter planes in order to capture them like never before. Using the skill and experience of former RAF pilot Tim Ellison, John Dibbs was able to fly to within 15ft of different Spitfire marks.

DENVER, Colorado – May 11, 2016 – Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. (AEAC), which is developing the high-tech, solar-electric “Sun Flyer” general aviation flight trainer, hosted a rollout event of its proof of concept (POC) Sun Flyer this morning at Centennial Airport.. The airplane unveiled publicly for the first time is a 2-seat POC prototype version of Sun Flyer. Performance data from the POC prototype airplane will be used to help finalize the design for the FAA-certified production version. The rollout featured a static display of the aircraft. George Bye, CEO and Founder of AEAC, said the rollout of the aircraft...

Boeing's 1933 247D Airliner is retiring to the Museum of Flight The 1933 Boeing 247D Airliner arrived at the Museum of Flight after its final flight, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The plane is the oldest flyable Boeing, all-metal airliner. The plane will be on display in front of the museum throughout the summer, before it is placed in the new Aviation Pavilion.

Although 3D printing is a relatively new technology within the military-industrial complex, it has impacted Israel’s aerospace developments in a great number of ways. Last year, the Israeli military had 3D printed their own drone components, and even started a consortium with the government to focus on 3D printing with titanium. Now, the Israeli Air Force’s Aerial Maintenance Unit (AMU) is utilizing 3D printing technology to help repair their aged and worn down fleet of F-15 fighter jets, which were acquired by the IAF in 1980, and have been used in various missions ever since. The F-15 aircraft has provided...

At first glance, you might think the Henschel Hs 129 was the perfect ground-attack airplane. Twin engines. A heavily-armored cockpit that protected the pilot from small-arms fire. The aircraft even eventually had the heaviest and most powerful forward-firing cannon ever fitted to a production military aircraft during World War II.

Exclusive footage obtained by Sky News reveals IS terrorists have the technical know-how to reactivate surface-to-air missiles. The former head of the RAF has said evidence uncovered by Sky News of Islamic State recommissioning surface-to-air missiles is of great concern and that passenger planes would be an easy target. Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon was responding to exclusive footage which revealed the extremists were able to produce homemade thermal batteries for heat-seeking missiles - a feat that has eluded terror groups until now. It raises the possibility of the militants being able to reactivate discarded stockpiles of older missiles,...

A controlled explosion in the luggage hold of an aircraft was successfully contained by a bomb-proof lining developed by an international team of scientists. The technology shows how a plane's luggage hold may be able to contain the force of an explosion if a device hidden in an item of luggage detonates. The Fly-Bag is made from multiple layers of fabrics and composites that have high strength and impact, and heat resistance. The fabrics include Aramid, a heat-resistant and strong synthetic fiber used in the aerospace industry, as well as in ballistic body armor.

In response to public outcry over aircraft noise above Los Altos and other Bay Area cities, the Federal Aviation Administration last week issued a plan to consider changes to flight traffic. The FAA in October began analyzing potential modifications to its aircraft paths, including offshore routes, higher-altitude travel and reduced nighttime operations. "I welcome this important first step the FAA has developed," said U.S. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, who worked alongside Reps. Sam Farr and Jackie Speier to engage the FAA. Eshoo said FAA leadership would follow up with community meetings through the representatives' offices to explain the plan to...

Defence giant BAE Systems to buy a stake in Britain's Reaction Engines, which is developing revolutionary SABRE engines for ultra-fast aircraft How an aircraft fitted with the SABRE engines might look ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hypersonic air travel and cut-price satellite launches will move a step closer when BAE Systems buys a stake in a UK company developing engines able to power aircraft at 2,500mph and into space. The FTSE 100 group is set to purchase 20pc of Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines for £20.6m, in a deal that will see the defence giant’s expertise applied to research on the privately-held company’s engine, which combines...

For all aviation and model hobbyists on FR, this is fascinating. This is a two hour video of the world's largest HO scale model Airport assembled at Miniature Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. Miniatur Wunderland computer control room It is completely computer controlled where Aircraft of various kinds take off, land, taxi around, park on the tarmac, maneuver into and out of hangers, have emergencies such as engine fires to be met by emergency vehicles, and even have a Space Shuttle landing or a humorously over-sized bumble bee take off (around 18 minutes into the video). The longest video of the...

KOTA KINABALU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The police in the Malaysian state of Sabah have received a report claiming that an aircraft wreckage with the Malaysian flag painted on it was found on a southern Philippines island. The report was made by a man who said the wreckage with human remains inside was spotted by his nephew, from the southern Philippine island of Tawi Tawi, at Ubian Island in southern Phillippines several days ago. State Commissioner Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said the man made the report at the Sandakan police station on Saturday (Oct 10). "This matter is being investigated,"...

For years, all the aviation world knew about Boeing’s secret stealth project from the 1960s was limited to a name and a single mysterious photo. It seemed like a relic out of time, possessing many stealthy design features that wouldn’t exist until decades later, and even then, only in highly classified black projects.

Due to military activities, the TCAS and ADS-B surveillance may be unreliable in the airspace over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and extending approximately 200 nautical miles offshore, from 1 a.m. EDT (0500z) Sept. 2 until midnight EDT (0459z) on Oct. 1. Pilots are advised that the traffic alert and TCAS may fail to establish tracks on nearby aircraft and may fail to receive traffic alerts (TA) or resolution advisories (RA). Operators should be aware that tracks may first appear within close proximity to their aircraft, and may immediately go into TA/RA status. Pilots are advised to...

Call it the Three Presidents Crew. In a historic game of naval musical chairs, sailors from San Diego’s aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will serve on three different flattops over the next six months. The Navy is saving $41 million by doing a massive, complicated crew swap involving 9,000 sailors and the carriers George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt, in addition to the Reagan. At the end, the U.S. Navy will have a new face in Asia, and an American aircraft carrier will enter a mid-life nuclear overhaul that was at one time uncertain. Also, San Diego will have a new hull...

Airbus has won a patent for a hypersonic passenger plane, but Concorde’s hydrogen-powered successor is unlikely to leave the drawing board any time soon. The proposed aeroplane would cut the journey time from Paris to Tokyo from 12 to under three hours. The idea, first published in 2011, is to use three different kinds of engine power to jump above the atmosphere while still using regular runways for takeoff. It has now won approval from the US Patent Office. The concept comes as commercial space companies such as Virgin Galactic pursue plans for low-level space flights. Airbus’s proposed plane has...

Two airplanes flying near one of the nation's busiest airports each came within 100 feet of a drone on Friday, according to audio from each flight's radio calls. The first, JetBlue Flight 1843, reported spotting a drone at 2:24 p.m. while approaching John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In the audio recording, the cockpit says that the drone passed just below the planes nose when the jet was flying at an altitude of about 800 to 900 feet. Then at about 5 p.m., Delta Flight 407 -- which had 154 people on board -- was...

A private jet owned by a North Texas company has been impounded for the past 2 1/2 weeks and its passengers and crew detained by the Congolese government in central Africa, where officials say it was used to smuggle gold from rebel territories in the nation's eastern provinces. The plane was leased by Southlake Aviation, based in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth, to a subsidiary of CAMAC International, The Dallas Morning News reported in its Sunday editions. CAMAC company is owned by Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born Houston oil tycoon an appointee of President Barack Obama to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy...