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The only known World War II Navy pilot to shoot down both German and Japanese enemy aircraft died Aug. 10, according to the veteran’s family. Retired Navy Commander Dean “Diz” Laird died in Walnut Creek, California, with family by his side just weeks after embarking on his final flight, CNN reported. The 101-year-old former pilot was joined on a Dream Flights flight by another fighter pilot, Clarence “Bud” Anderson. --snip-- Laird’s storied career as a Navy aviator includes 5.75 confirmed planes shot down, according to his obituary on legacy.com. He was also the only Navy ace to down both German...

The Indian Air Force has advised its three women trainees, who are in line to become India’s first female fighter pilots, to put off motherhood for at least four years after they get commissioned into the IAF in June. IAF vice chief Air Marshal BS Dhanoa told HT on Thursday that an advisory to avoid pregnancy was issued to the women training at an IAF facility near Hyderabad so that their training schedule was not disrupted. The women are preparing to head for the last leg of their combat training in June, a watershed in the IAF’s 83-year history. “Undisturbed...

WATCH How This Gutsy ‘First’ Of A Kind Fighter Pilot Is Blowing Up Both ISIS Targets And Stereotypes Even as women in parts of the Arab world fight the prohibition against their driving a car on public roads... Even as women in parts of the Arab world fight the prohibition against their driving a car on public roads, one extraordinary Arab woman is driving an F-16 in the fight against Islamic State terrorism. Fox News confirms that 35-year-old Major Mariam Al Mansouri — the first female air force pilot from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — has taken part in...

Who wants to be a fighter pilot? If you asked the question 20 years ago, almost everyone would raise their hand, but today this is no longer the case. The state of the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) fighter force and the morale of its airmen and women have been in a steady spiral of decline since Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley and Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne resigned at the behest of then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2008. So, who wouldn’t want to be a fighter pilot? Apparently at least 900 people as judged by...

This from a Fighter Pilot chat group hosted by Tom Weeks about the memorial service held at the Air Force Academy honoring the recently deceased legendary fighter pilot, ace, leader Robin Olds:Read the article (with picture) at the source, you won't regret it.

Learning to fly is hard, learning to fly a military aircraft is even harder. And learning to fly a military aircraft at night is hardest of all. Because of the fact many combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan are flown after dark, more emphasis has been placed in recent years on training military student pilots to fly at night. As a result, every three weeks the men and women earning their wings at Vance Air Force Base do their flying after the sun goes down. The next night flying week at Vance is scheduled to begin Monday. During a recent...

There is no need for any more fighter pilots so current trainees have had their training programmes halted Twelve young Danes, who were due to be sent to the US to train as fighter pilots, have had their dreams taken away following a political decision. The ruling follows an agreement in parliament to reduce the number of operational F-16 fighter pilots from 48 to 30. Lars Skjoldan, a communication officer with Tactical Air Command, told Berlingske Tidende newspaper that the decision had not been taken lightly. ‘The Air Force really regrets the decision and realizes that the dreams of these...

BETHESDA, Md. – Quentin C. Aanenson, a fighter pilot whose wartime experiences helped millions of television viewers understand World War II, has died. A subject of Ken Burns' documentary "The War" and the producer of his own film a decade earlier, Aanenson died Sunday of cancer at his home in Bethesda, his son, Jerry said. He was 87. "He lived a magnificent life," Jerry Aanenson said. "He said if he had a chance to be 15 again, he wouldn't take it." The native of Luverne, Minn., flew 75 combat missions in Europe as a captain in P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. His...

A state-of-the-art, edge of your seat experience! Get in the cockpit with the world's best pilots to witness the most challenging flying of their careers... Follow a young American pilot as he makes his way through Red Flag - the world's most intense, simulated air war, training event - where U.S. and international pilots, ground crews, mechanics and rescue personnel are taken to the limits of their endurance. Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag delivers speeds of up to 800 miles per hour with thundering, roaring, screaming sound and stunning aerobatics that will blow you away! Filmed over the Nevada desert...

Gawker.com notices that the New York times never balked at calling McCain a "fighter pilot" until this year. Their full commentary is at this URL: http://gawker.com/5035890/times-retracts-12-years-of-calling-mccain-fighter-pilot An excerpt: "The Times published two amazing corrections this morning, starting with one stating that the newspaper had erroneously called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "fighter pilot" on Sunday and in "numerous other Times articles the past dozen years." Wow, a correction that spans more than a decade! When McCain was famously shot down over Vietnam, he was flying his usual plane, a small jet aircraft known as the A-4 Skyhawk, which the...

John McCain will be the third Fighter Jock and second Naval Aviator to occupy the WH in the last 28 years.

Military Strength: For the second time in a month, America's front-line air superiority fighter has been taken out of service. The aging of our air fleet suggests we are spending much too little, not a little too much, on defense.Last Wednesday, the Air Force grounded more than 450 — more than 60% — of the F-15 Eagles it has deployed worldwide. The action followed the discovery of cracks found near the canopy of two F-15s among the 30 deployed at the Kadena Air Base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa. In May, Gen. Ronald Keys, head of the Air Combat...

Just an awe inspiring story! By Alex Quade CNN WICHITA, Kansas (CNN) -- Air Force Maj. Nicole Malachowski says she always has wanted to fly -- and fly fast. She got her private pilot's certificate before she got her driver's license, and she's been soaring ever since. When Congress changed the rules in the early 1990s, allowing women to fly combat missions, her future was sealed. Now at 31, Malachowski is the newest member of the Air Force's Thunderbird demonstration squadron -- the first woman on any U.S. military high performance jet team. "People talk about glass ceilings or breaking...

Besby Frank Holmes, a decorated combat ace who helped kill the Japanese admiral who planned and coordinated the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Sunday at Marin General Hospital. He was 88. --snip-- Mr. Holmes was an avid flier and career officer, but the high point in his career came in 1943 when he was a 25-year-old pilot flying P-38 Lightnings from an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal. The Army and Marines were battling the Japanese for control of the South Pacific. U.S. forces intercepted a message indicating that Adm. Isoruko Yamamoto would be flying to Bougainville island for an...

Response to "Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers" to air 8 p.m. EST on March 9, 2005. Dan Rather and Mary Mapes are still embracing the veracity of content of their 60 Minutes fraudulent memos aired on September 8, 2004. They need to re-read the Report of the Independent Review Panel “Concerning President Bush’s Air National Guard Service” by Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi. For a fair perspective of President Bush’s Air National Guard (ANG) Service, suggest reading “Bush and I were lieutenants” by Col. William Campenni (retired), my article: Bush and Uncommon Valor and "Bush's Air National Guard Years"...

CHANTILLY, Va. -- Capt. John Stratton discusses his role in the new IMAX film "Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag." He served as the star of the film. The movie chronicles his experience as he participates in his first Red Flag exercise. The film made its premier Dec. 2 at the National Air and Space Museum here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. James Varhegyi) by Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez Air Force Print News 12/3/2004 - CHANTILLY, Va. -- Civilians and Airmen alike can get breathtaking insight into parts of the Air Force they may not have seen...

Military officials are investigating an incident during which an Air National Guard fighter pilot fired 20 mm rounds over South Jersey last night. The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Officials, in announcing a news conference for this afternoon, said only that the discharge of an undetermined number rounds occurred in the airspace for the Warren Grove target range in the Pine Barrens. But residents of Little Egg Harbor Township in Ocean County said investigators had converged on the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School and that it apparently was related to the fighter jet incident. The military affairs...

Bush’s Honorable Air National Guard Service Commentary by: Col. John H. Wambough, Jr. USAF (Ret.) George Bush and I were fighter pilots. Lt. Bush flew F-102s in the Air National Guard (ANG) -- 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS); I flew F-105s in combat -- 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS). Both our flying assignments were inherently dangerous -- Lt. Bush's because of the high performance nature of the fighter interceptor aircraft he was flying, the training required to fly the F-102, and the high risks that come with all weather (night and day) intercept missions. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic National...

From: XXXXXXX To: OReilly@foxnews.com ; Hannity@foxnews.com Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 2:45 PM Subject: The pilot who taught G W Bush how to fly Received this link from a friend, please read this story:  http://www.hillnews.com/york/090904.aspx I have a high school classmate (Missouri, 1949) who taught Bush how to fly and the following is his e-mail to me last year.  He has been ill and was unable to attend the funeral of another classmate this year.  My prayers are with him and I am sure he would be sending this and more information if he was able. THUS, YOU HAVE TO...

A former combat fighter pilot explains how the Democrats' witch hunt against Bush's record in the military denigrates service in the National Guard. Bush could have been assigned anywhere, including combat, and it was common for supervisors to release pilots early if they had alternative careers or college education to pursue. George Bush and I were fighter pilots. Lt. Bush flew F - 102s in the Air National Guard (ANG) – 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS); I flew F-105s in combat - 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS). Both our flying assignments were inherently dangerous – Lt. Bush’s because of...