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Governor Mike Pence gets his campaign airplane delivered today. Top shelf. It was almost complete in the following picture: Pence plane

Governor Mike Pence gets his campaign airplane delivered today. Top shelf. It was almost complete in the following picture:

The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is getting ready for a voyage to the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean. The goal of the deployment is to check the combat capabilities of the ship and its strike group, including Russia's state-of-the-art KA-52K Katran helicopters. The cruiser's deck-based aircraft will join the Syrian campaign from October 2016 to January 2017. The air group's tasks The deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov amounts to a planned inspection of Russian arms, Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal Otechestva (Arsenal of the Fatherland) magazine, told RBTH. "Sending the Admiral to Syria is a test of the...

Top searchers at the Dutch company leading the underwater hunt for Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 say they believe the plane may have glided down rather than dived in the final moments, meaning they have been scouring the wrong patch of ocean for two years. Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew onboard en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Searchers led by engineering group Fugro (FUGRc.AS) have been combing an area roughly the size of Greece for two years. That search, over 120,000 square kilometers of the southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia, is expected to...

MOSCOW --- The prototype of the newest Mi-28NM (M stands for upgraded, Modernizirovanny) combat helicopter has been delivered to the Lyubertsy-based flight-test center of the Moscow Helicopter Plant named after M. Mil (a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters holding), according to open sources. Hence, the flight trials of the rotor-wing aircraft will likely take place in the Moscow Region. The Rostov Helicopter Plant (Rostvertol, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters holding) produced the demonstrator in 2015. Mi-28NM is known to be equipped with new above rotor-based N025 radar and advanced rotor blades to increase the helicopter’s maximum flight speed. The chin-mounted weapon...

If you fly, you will have heard by now that The Pilots' Bill of Rights 2 has been signed into law. This is the result of the DOT refusing to rule on the proposal for close to five years. In short, it will allow anyone who has held a third class medical since 2007 be able to fly any airplane up to 6,000 pounds, single or twin, VFR or IFR, under 10,000 feet without another current medical certificate. The law becomes effective July 17, 2017. My prediction is that the FAA will never allow it to take effect, esp. with...

The Cessna 208B, operated by Joy Air General Air, was carrying two crew members and eight invited guests, mostly government workers and local journalists, according to local media. ... The seaplane took off from Jinshan in suburban Shanghai and was bound for the Zhoushan islands, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) to the south. The route is designed for tourists and sightseers who want to escape to the islands from sprawling Shanghai. Local journalists were invited to tour the seaplane before its takeoff, and some of them boarded the aircraft for the subsequent flight along with local officials. Wednesday's flight appeared...

On the night of July 15, elements of the Turkish military rose up against Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and very nearly succeeded in killing or capturing their controversial leader. A few military units remained steadfastly loyal to the embattled president. Among them — the 1st Main Jet Base in Eskisehir in northwestern Turkey. The base’s F-4E Terminator 2020 fighters flew to Erdogan’s aid during the direst hours of the daylong attempted coup. But the aged fighters were no match for the much newer F-16s that the rebels had commandeered. Turkish air force squadrons led the ultimately failed coup. Apparently following many months of...

U.S. airline regulators are banning all flights between the U.S. and airports in Turkey as the country fought to overcome a military coup attempt that left at least 161 people dead and scores more wounded Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration ban includes commercial and private planes operating into or out of Turkey, as well as flights to the U.S. by non-U.S. carriers via third countries. (SNIP) Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Ankara issued a statement Saturday warning that U.S. government officials have been told not to use the airport in Istanbul and that U.S. citizens in the country should seek...

A terminally ill former World War Two Spitfire engineer's 'last wish' to be reunited with the iconic plane was granted after top brass saw him looking forlornly through a fence at one from his wheelchair. Ken Farlow, 95, was an electrical engineer during the war, carrying out vital work to keep Spitfires and Hurricanes in the air in Syria and Palestine. But after being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, the father-of-three asked daughter Helen if he 'could see a Spitfire - one last time'. Helen, 52, took him to Gloucestershire Airport where the vintage planes were being maintained by the...

Could we soon be saying goodbye to long-haul flights? One company has taken an important step in making this dream come true. Oxford's Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) announced it has received a €10,000 development contract with ESA, so it can work on its revolutionary Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE). This technology can work both in the Earth's atmosphere and in space - which is crucial to space planes. ( scroll down for video explanation of technology)

Lt. Col. Charles S. Kettles, an Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, will be awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony later this month for an act of heroism almost 50 years ago. At the time he was given the Distinguished Service Cross, but a dedicated amateur historian finally talked the Department of Defense into reviewing the matter. Following an act of Congress and a Presidential signature (required for Medal of Honor awards), Kettles will receive his new medal in a July 18 ceremony at the White House.

Senior service officials are now exploring “draft requirements” concepts – and evaluating the kind of avionics, engineering, weapons, armor and technical redundancy the aircraft would need, Air Force officials told Scout Warrior. As a result, the Air Force will be looking for the “optimal” type of close-air-support platform by weighing various considerations such as what the differences might be between existing aircraft and future developmental platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-EHwYOfY94 Hope the pilot has some extra underwear around.

United Technologies Corp. ’s jet-engine unit, Pratt & Whitney, received a $1.5 billion contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to build more engines for its F-35 combat jet program. The deal will cover 99 total engines as well as program management, engineering support, spare modules and spare parts. Pratt said Friday that this is the 10th contract with the government for its F135 propulsion systems, which power the fighter jets. Combined with previous awards for the latest batch of engines, the contract totals $1.95 billion, the company said. The new contract for Pratt comes as Lockheed Martin Corp. is...

Domestic aviation readiness across all four military services is at a detriment because of wavering budgets and a greater focus on overseas operations, military leaders testified Wednesday to Congress. “We are about at the tipping point,” Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Magnum, the deputy commanding general for Army Training and Doctrine Command, told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee.

It's no secret that we at War Is Boring are skeptics when it comes to the F-35 Lightning II. The new, radar-evading, "fifth-generation" warplane is years late, over-budget and  —  by virtue of its many, sometimes contradictory missions  —  represents a design compromise, meaning it's okay at lots of tasks but excels at none of them. Still, the U.S. military plans to replace nearly all of its current tactical jets with as many as 2,400 F-35s at a total program cost, including maintenance, of around $1 trillion.The U.S. Air Force, one of the F-35's main proponents, is understandably optimistic about...

Could Japan’s F-3 program end up being built on the back of the X-2 technology demonstrator? Japanese defense ministry photo In late June, the Japanese ministry of defense made its initial request for information on next-generation jet fighters from manufacturers, kickstarting the long process of replacing the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters with a new “F-3.” But as Tokyo looks to counter an increasingly sophisticated Chinese air and naval threat, none of the existing aircraft that are currently available for purchase seems likely to fit Japan’s needs. What Japan really wants is the American F-22. Legally barred...

HF-24 Marut is India’s first indigenous fighter. For the HAL and the IAF, July 1, 2016 is a throwback to April 1, 1967. On April 1, 1967, HAL had handed over India’s indigenously designed fighter, HF-24 Marut to the Dagger squadron of the IAF. It was a culmination of a dream dreamt in independent India by Jawaharlal Nehru, to attain self-reliance in the design and production of aircraft. The IAF was asked to provide the requirement for an indigenous fighter in the mid-1950s and the HAL was tasked for the project. In August 1956, Kurt Tank, a German aerospace scientist,...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the report, the Rostvertol plant, which is part of the Russian Helicopters company, delivered 14 Mi-26 heavy cargo helicopters in 2012-2014 and six of these helicopters in 2015, and the plant has foreign orders for upgraded Mi-26T2 helicopters in 2016-2018. "Mi-28NE attack helicopters and multirole Mi-35M helicopters are in constant demand on the internal and external markets: about 140 units were delivered in 2012-2014, and 28 helicopters were delivered in 2015. The expected volume of deliveries for 2016-2018 may amount to over 120 helicopters," the report, obtained by RIA Novosti, reads. The Mi-28NE is a...