The Aviationist Blog

Trump cancels visit to US cemetery in France because of bad weather. On Saturday Nov. 10, 2018, President Trump was scheduled to travel to Belleau Wood, 55 miles northeast of Paris, as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Belleau Wood is where the US troops had their breakthrough […]

A Look Back at the F-35Bs deployed to the Middle East on the 243rd Birthday of the USMC. Today is the 243rd Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. The Marines were born on November 10, 1775 as an elite maritime-capable combat force by the Second Continental Congress with the decree: “That two battalions of […]

Tom Cruise May Be Learning to Take the Stick in Hornet, Hints at Plot from Video. Unconfirmed rumors have been circulating about Tom Cruise learning to fly a Navy jet, possibly a two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet or a T-45 Goshawk, for the filming of “Top Gun: Maverick“. More than one Hollywood and social media source […]

Interesting video shows PC-9M advanced training and close air support turboprops at work. Something you don’t see every day. The Slovenian Air Force Pilatus PC-9M Swift, also called Hudournik in Slovenia, is a single engine tandem-seat turboprop Light Attack Aircraft. Stationed in Cerklje ob Krki Airbase, about 80 km to the east of Ljubljana and belonging […]

The Eurofighter fleet has passed the 500,000 flying hours mark, an achievement celebrated by applying special markings to four jets of the four partner nations. The fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft has passed the 500K flying hours milestone, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH confirmed today. “Passing the 500,000 flying hours milestone underscores the fact that today Eurofighter […]

Polish Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrums back in the air. On Nov. 5, 2018, at 2:36PM, MiG-29UBM ’28’ of the Polish Air Force took off for a mission which marked the end the suspension of the Polish Fulcrum operations. The operations of the jets were suspended due to the crash on Jul. 6. 2018, that turned […]

Russia’s Newest Fifth Generation Fighter Dances Behind An-12 In Unique Photo-Op. Great video of Russia’s latest Sukhoi Su-57 fighters emerged early this week from what appears to be a media flight somewhere over Russia. Most of the video is shot from the back of an Antonov An-12 turboprop. As is common practice in aerial photo […]

Amazing color scheme for this IX(B) Sqn “Tonka” at RAF Marham. With the arrival of the first F-35B Lightning 5th generation aircraft, the Royal Air Force prepares to retire one of its most important and famous types: the Tornado GR4. The last aircraft will be retired from active service next year. In order to celebrate […]

Another “ordinary day” of Cold War over the Black Sea. A U.S. EP-3E Aries aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian SU-27 on Nov. 5, 2018. According to the U.S. Navy 6th Fleet, “this interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 conducting a high speed […]

A drone with a significant resemblance to the Northrop Grumman X-47B has been unveiled at China’s biggest airshow. A new drone model with stealth features has been unveiled at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) booth at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition and Airshow China, in Zhuhai. Initially hidden under a tarp, […]

A Russian Navy Tu-142 Bear-F long-range maritime patrol reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft made a “surprise visit” to the USS Mount Whitney, off the Norwegian coast. Sailors aboard the Blue Ridge-class command ship of the U.S. Navy USS Mount Whitney had gathered for a group photo on deck, when a Tupolev TU-142, RF-34063 / 56 […]

An unusual incident occurred to an F-16I Sufa at Ramon air base. An Israeli Air Force F-16I Sufa belonging to the 119 Squadron, also known as “The Bat” Squadron, was damaged at Ramon air base, Israel, on Oct. 31. According to the reports, the aircraft was taxiing after landing when the pilot lost braking action: […]

Take a look at the “Evil Eyes” MV-22 Osprey for VMM-163 at MCAS Miramar. Finished just in time for Halloween. The photographs you can find in this post were taken on Oct. 31, 2018 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. They show an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft belonging to the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron […]

Iconic Film Score Composer Will Work with Original Soundtrack Composer. His haunting soundtracks gave “Blackhawk Down”, “Gladiator”, “Dunkirk” and even “The Dark Knight” a musical texture that added drama and suspense to the films. Now master soundtrack composer, Academy and Grammy award-winner Hans Zimmer has been tipped as a contributor to the “Top Gun: Maverick” […]

The “Bone” at the Midland International Air & Space Port since May 1 was flown from Midland to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma today. On Three Engines. The B-1B Lancer that performed an emergency landing last May, was tranferred to Tinker AFB on Oct. 26, 2018. The heavy bomber was on a training mission on […]

Official Investigation Pending. Internet Buzzing with Speculation About Cause. A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber made an emergency landing on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018 at the Colorado Springs Airport following an unspecified inflight incident. A number of local photographers have posted photos of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac at the joint use […]

The incident occurred during a test conducted by soldiers from the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate. At around 1 PM LT, a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, belonging to the 437th airlift wing based at Joint Base Charleston dropped a Humvee over a neighborhood in Harnett County on Oct. 24, 2018. No one […]

Recently released photographs show flyable Raptors departing Tyndall to Langley AFB after Hurricane ravaged the key airbase in Florida on Oct. 10, 2018. Tyndall Air Force Base was heavily damaged earlier this month after the Category 4 storm tore through the base. As Hurricane Michael approached the base, mission capable F-22s assigned to the 325th […]

Beware, graphic footage ahead. The clip below was filmed aboard USS Enterprise off the U.S. East Coast on Nov. 8, 1998 when an EA-6B Prowler, BuNo. 163885/’AC-503′ of VAQ-130, US Navy, based at Whidbey Island, Washington, collided with an S-3B Viking, BuNo. 159733 of VS-22, US Navy. As the tragic footage shows, the Viking was […]

Let’s Have A Look At The Presidential Plane’s Anti-Missile Countermeasures. “Air Force One” is the radio callsign for any Air Force aircraft with POTUS (President of the US) aboard. During the years the term has been used to refer to the two VC-25As, heavily-modified Boeing 747-200s (serial numbers 82-8000 and 92-9000) that have carried the […]