Free Republic

Is this the Art of the Deal coming into play, or a stand against gouging by defense contractors? Despite insisting on the latest in luxury as a private citizen, Donald Trump seems to be saying no to a new fleet of presidential aircraft. He tweeted earlier today that the contract for replacing Air Force One should be canceled due to spiraling costs: Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016 Over the past few months,...

Sweden has built some fascinating aircraft over the years, but the SAAB 37 Viggen has to be one of the most interesting. The jet was unique—its delta-canard configuration was cutting-edge, and its ability to operate in austere conditions made it quite independent compared to most other western fighters of the era. The Saab's unique engine choice not only resulted in its stout appearance, and also gave it unique performance characteristics—especially when it came to short field operations. In the early 1960s while turbojets still filled the sky SAAB designers pursued a turbofan engine for their new multi-role fighter-attack-reconnaissance-interceptor. The type...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announces that the Security Cabinet has approved the purchase of 17 additional F-35 fighter jets; in total, the acquisition will reportedly bring the number of planes in the Israeli Air Force to 50.

In the Middle East (CNN)Getting dressed for a combat mission in a U2 "Dragonlady" reconnaissance plane looks almost like the preparations for a space flight, the pilot in a yellow compression suit wearing a massive white helmet. The suits need to be cooled the entire time, otherwise the pilots would die of heat exhaustion in a matter of minutes, but they are necessary to protect the crew members as they fly surveillance missions over Iraq and Syria at more than 70,000 feet scoping out ISIS targets. The US Air Force gave CNN rare access to U2 crews flying out of...

On Saturday, 41 unruly and aggressive passengers were removed from a plane as it prepared to take off for a flight from Belgium to Spain. According to ABCNews.com, Brussels Airlines Flight SN3771 was preparing to take off from Brussels Airport en route to Alicante, Spain, when many of the passengers—including several reportedly intoxicated people—began causing disruptions for crew members. The captain of the flight reportedly told the 136 passengers onboard that misbehaving would result in them being removed from the plane, but the rowdy crowd who were all part of the same group did not listen. While taxiing along the...

The world's shortest international flight of just eight minutes took off on Wednesday, bringing travelers across the border from Switzerland to Germany on an Austrian airline. The Austrian People’s Air Group started up its new flight connection from St. Gallen-Altenrhein, Switzerland to Friedrichshafen over Lake Constance at 6:30am on Wednesday. Travelling just 20 kilometres, the journey is over in what may feel like a blink of an eye, or eight minutes to be exact. The airline will travel the route each way twice a day. A one-way ticket between the two stops costs €40. Alternatively, travelers could also drive the...

DENVER -- Thousands saw a plane circling the Denver metro area late Wednesday morning, questioning where it may have come from and what it may be doing. Officials at a host of federal organizations had few answers. Denver7 began tracking a flight named IRON99 as it traversed from California over the pacific. It traveled over the Rocky Mountains and eventually over the Denver metro area. Its arrival over the Denver metro is what prompted questions from a host of locals who saw it circling, questioning what it might have been doing. Visually, the plane circled in a racetrack-style oval shape...

Boeing will shift more than 2,400 jobs out of its Huntington Beach facility over the next four years, the aerospace giant announced Tuesday, slicing in half the number of workers at the sprawling campus. A nationwide streamlining of operations at the company’s Defense, Space & Security division will result in the transfer of 300 Huntington Beach jobs to its Seal Beach facility and 1,600 positions to its plants in Long Beach and El Segundo. Another 500 jobs will move to St. Louis. And an additional 400 will move to Huntsville, Ala., from Huntington Beach and other facilities around the country.

Hillary Clinton’s former presidential campaign jet is now being used to shuttle the University of Dayton basketball team around.Miami Valley’s Morning News host and Dayton Flyers announcer Larry Hansgen tweeted a picture of Clinton’s former jet being used to fly the Dayton basketball team to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Monday afternoon.

A plane from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign touched down in Tuscaloosa yesterday but the visit didn't have anything to do with politics. The Dayton Flyers basketball team traveled to Alabama Monday on a plane used by Clinton during her failed presidential campaign. The Boeing 737-800 with the words "Stronger Together" and "hillaryclinton.com" on the side was leased by the University of Dayton which said it was not aware until the aircraft landed it was a branded Clinton plane. The university told the Dayton Daily News its charter service has used planes of professional sports teams before but it's the first...

These firefighters must be so happy to have a President they can trust.

Firefighters at LaGuardia Airport gave Donald Trump's plane a two-hose "water salute" as it departed for Washington, D.C. Thursday morning - a gesture typically reserved for the President, not the President-elect.

The water conditions were perfect — “beautiful, clear, green” — when Sean Smyrichinsky went diving last month off the north coast of British Columbia. The 45-year-old Canadian had joined two friends for a three-week fishing expedition. Setting off on his own one day, Smyrichinsky went searching for sea cucumbers that their small crew could harvest the following day. Using a DPV, or a diver propulsion vehicle, Smyrichinsky plunged 25 to 30 feet down into the bay. Ahead of him, a mysterious object emerged. “And I thought, what a cool rock formation,” he said. “It’s perfectly round.” As he approached the...

President-Elect Donald Trump flew out of New York City’s LaGuardia Airport Thursday morning aboard his private jet Trump Force One. As the plane taxied for takeoff firefighters paid their respects to Trump with a traditional water cannon salute. Nearby, a group of firefighters and officials enthusiastically waved to Trump as the plane rolled by them.

Awesome cinematography of this shiny newly restored B-29 with only a few hours flight time under its belt. The imagery is great, the sound is kinda rough.

Where’s Samuel L. Jackson when you need him? Because, we can put up with a lot of things, but a snake dangling overhead while we’re on a plane is not one of them. That’s the situation passengers on an Aeromexico flight from Torreon to Mexico City found themselves in on Sunday. Just take a look at this video. It is positively terrifying! Aeromexico said the flight made a quick landing and animal control took the stowaway reptile into custody. “The procedures carried out for this flight are currently being evaluated to determine how the animal entered the cabin, and measures...

Passengers on an Aeromexico plane discovered a terrifying sight near the overhead bins over the weekend: a dangling snake. The flight, which was scheduled to land in Mexico City on Sunday, made a quick landing and animal control took the stowaway reptile into custody. The snake can be seen in video posted by Twitter user @Inda_medina: La vibora voladora…ja ja ja. Una experiencia única en el Vuelo Torreón-México, vuelo 231 de Aeroméxico. Eso si…Prioridad en aterrizaje. pic.twitter.com/qwDk6Wtszw — Indalecio Medina (@Inda_medina) November 6, 2016 “The procedures carried out for this flight are currently being evaluated to determine how the animal...

I know we're all wired into the 'best election ever' but here's a little slice of cool news and views regarding the B-29, Doc. Video at link.

During the exercises, scheduled for between 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., the public may see low-flying NORAD-controlled fighter jets near civilian aircraft, the agency said. The fighter pilots will be practicing intercept and identification procedures with the civilians, who are helping with the training. “In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace-restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft,” the agency said.

A new examination of skeletal remains found on a remote Pacific island three years after the trailblazing pilot went missing suggest she died as a castaway — not in a plane crash, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery reported.