The Aviationist Blog

Up close and personal with the Polish Competition Flying Legend: the PZL-104. A couple of weeks ago, we did an air-to-air photoshoot with two PZL-104 Wilga 35A aircraft – a legendary Polish utility aircraft that [...]

The post Air-to-Air With The Polish PZL-104 Wilga Short Take Off And Landing Utility Aircraft appeared first on The Aviationist.

Davis-Monthan Airshow in 2012, was the only time the public ever got a close look at the most expensive aircraft in history: the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser 747. This weekend, Saturday, November 6 and Sunday [...]

The post The Only Time the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed 747 Ever Came to an Airshow appeared first on The Aviationist.

Last week, Rome hosted the G20 summit. And here are some of the most interesting visitors to Rome Fiumicino airport. As already reported in detail, the presence of many Heads of State, Prime Ministers and [...]

The post Let’s Have A Look At The State Flights That Visited Rome For The G20 Summit appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Russian movie “Sky” is based on the shootdown of the Russian Air Force Su-24 over Syria in 2015 and the pilot killed after successfully ejecting from the Fencer with the weapon system officer. Almost [...]

The post Upcoming Russian Movie Recalls The Story Of The RuAF Su-24 Shot Down In Syria And The Death Of Its Pilot appeared first on The Aviationist.

The giant “Sky Dew” aerostat carries sensors that can identify incoming long-range missiles and aircraft. On Nov. 3, 2021, the Israeli Air Force announced it is about to deploy its balloon-mounted radar system with advanced [...]

The post Israel Prepares To Launch Giant Missile And Aircraft Detection Blimp Dubbed “Sky Dew” appeared first on The Aviationist.

16 A-10 Warthogs took part in a Mission Generation Exercise and staged a nice “Elephant Walk”. “Elephant Walk” events are becoming increasingly frequent at air bases in the U.S. and all around the world to [...]

The post Every A-10 Thunderbolt II Of The Maryland ANG Took Part In An ‘Elephant Walk’ At Warfield ANGB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The F-35A bound to the recently reactivated 495th FS Valkyries has flown with the new markings and the “LN” tail code for the first time. The first F-35A Lightning II sporting the markings of the [...]

The post First F-35A Destined To The 495th Fighter Squadron At RAF Lakenheath Spotted During Test Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

We interviewed Chinese military aviation expert Andreas Rupprecht to learn more about the progress of the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) Naval Aviation. Last week we reported about the the existence of two new stealth [...]

The post New Stealth Fighters, Aircraft Carriers And UCAVs: Dissecting The Real State Of China’s Naval Aviation appeared first on The Aviationist.

The one organized at Rivolto AB was much more than “just” a celebration of the Frecce Tricolori’s anniversary: unlike most of the Italian airshows it was also an opportunity to have a look at some [...]

The post Dissecting Frecce Tricolori’s 60th Anniversary Airshow And Its Pretty Interesting COMAO Demo appeared first on The Aviationist.

Taken from 300 feet above the flight path of the RAAF C-17 Globemaster III airlifter doing the Riverfire Festival practice run. Yesterday we posted some really amazing shots of the Royal Australian Air Force C-17 [...]

The post Behold This Awesome Video Of The C-17 Flying Low Over Brisbane Taken From Above Its Flight Path appeared first on The Aviationist.

RAAF C-17 maneuvering at low level over Brisbane is one of the highlights of the annual Brisbane Riverfire Festival. On Sept. 23, 2021, a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), [...]

The post Here Are Some Jaw Dropping Shots Of The RAAF C-17 Over Brisbane During The Riverfire Festival Rehearsals appeared first on The Aviationist.

Ostrava Show Brought Things Closer to Pre-COVID Normal. Last weekend (Sep. 17 – 19) we attended the NATO Days event in Ostrava. It seems that after a year of pandemic, the air show audience community [...]

The post NATO Days in Ostrava 2021: Things Getting Back to Normal? appeared first on The Aviationist.

A clip posted to TikTok shows a pretty weird shape on a trailer at the Helendale Radar Cross Section Facility. A pretty intriguing “object” was spotted in a video posted this morning on TikTok by [...]

The post Take A Look At This Mysterious Shape Spotted At Skunk Works’ Helendale Radar Cross Section Facility appeared first on The Aviationist.

Two Tu-160s have flown over the Baltic region. NATO, Finnish and Swedish fighters shadowed the Russian Blackjacks which were escorted by Su-35s. Two Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-160 Blackjacks carried out an 8-hour mission that brought [...]

The post Two Russian Tu-160 Bombers Escorted By Flankers Intercepted By Italian Typhoons, Danish F-16s Over The Baltic Sea appeared first on The Aviationist.

Two new clips show the F-117 Stealth Jets that deployed to Fresno last week in amazing detail. We have already written a series of reports about the “surprise” appearance of two F-117 Nighthawk aircraft that [...]

The post Enjoy These Two Stunning 4K Videos Of The F-117s Operating Out Of Fresno Last Week appeared first on The Aviationist.

The new suite was tested on the company’s flying testbed in conjunction with the APG-83 SABR AESA radar during Exercise Northern Lightning. Northrop Grumman recently announced that the new Next Generation Electronic Warfare (NGEW) system [...]

The post Let’s Talk About Next Generation Electronic Warfare Suite For The F-16 Recently Tested By Northrop Grumman appeared first on The Aviationist.

Following the F/A-18F Super Hornet and the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the unmanned MQ-25 tanker was now tested in conjunction with the F-35, moving at a fast pace towards the delivery of a fully mission-capable drone. [...]

The post MQ-25 Stingray Tests Move Forward With First F-35C Lightning II Air-To-Air Refueling appeared first on The Aviationist.

These are probably the first official photos of the (officially retired but still flying) F-117 since the type was retired some 13 years ago. The first photographs along with a press release about the F-117 [...]

The post The U.S. Air Force Has Just Released The First Official Photos Of The F-117 Deployment To Fresno appeared first on The Aviationist.

We visit MHD Rockland and ESG Aerosystems Inc. Training Platforms. I’ve lived in Florida for over twenty years. I’ve been from corner to corner, edge-to-edge. I once counted 168 alligators along the side of the [...]

The post Those Sharp Looking Red-tailed P-3C Orions You See Flying Around the Florida Skies appeared first on The Aviationist.

Check out this cool clip showing F-117s operations at Fresno Airport, California. No, the one you can find below is not a video filmed some time in the past, when the F-117 Nighthawks were still [...]

The post This Video Provides The Most Detailed View To The Officially Retired (But Still Flying) F-117s So Far appeared first on The Aviationist.