A stripped, unpainted F-15A took eight time-to-climb world records in seventeen days in 1975, shutting its engines down near the top of the atmosphere.
Fishbed, Flanker, Fulcrum: How NATO Reporting Names Work
The first letter gives the role, the syllable count gives the engine, and none of it is chosen by NATO. How Soviet and Russian aircraft got their Western names.
Henschel Hs 132: The Jet Whose Pilot Flew Lying Down
Germany built a jet dive bomber whose pilot lay on his stomach. It was four weeks from its first flight when the Red Army reached the factory.
Molotov’s Bomber: The 1942 Pe-8 Flight to Washington
In May 1942 Stalin refused Allied offers of transport and sent his Foreign Minister across occupied Europe and the Atlantic in a Petlyakov Pe-8 heavy bomber.
Arms Broker Jailed 16 Years Over Libya and Sudan Jet Deals
David Greenhalgh brokered ex-Soviet fighter aircraft and missiles into Sudan, South Sudan and Libya on forged paperwork. Southwark Crown Court gave him sixteen years.
Heart ES-36: JSX Backs a 36-Seat Hybrid-Electric Airliner
Heart has replaced the ES-30 with a bigger, simpler ES-36 and JSX has put deposits on 50, with rights to 50 more. Same weight, same batteries, half again the range.
Rafale Flies With AI: Dassault Tests Two Cockpit Algorithms
Two sovereign AI systems have flown aboard the Rafale, one from Dassault and one with Thales. Dassault will not say what either of them does.
KF-21 Boramae: South Korea Delivers Its First Production Fighter
The first serial-production KF-21 flew from Sacheon to Yecheon on 22 September, escorted by three earlier generations of Korean-built jets.
FAA Modernisation: Duffy Asks Congress for $30 Billion More
The Brand New ATC System was funded at $12.5 billion. Sean Duffy now wants $42.5 billion, and phase one is already $3.5 billion over what Congress appropriated.
Mi-8 Over Braniewo: 42 Seconds Inside Polish Airspace
A Russian Mi-8 out of Kaliningrad crossed 300 metres into Poland and stayed 42 seconds. Warsaw scrambled fighters and published the timings to the second.
Turkish Airlines Signs for 150 Boeing 737 MAX After Engine Fight
100 firm 737-8s and options on 50 more, signed in New York with Erdogan present. The airframe was never the hold-up; the engines were.
Nellis A-10 Departure: The Warthog Leaves Fighter Town USA
Seventy airmen saluted as the last A-10 assigned to Nellis climbed away over Las Vegas. The base that wrote the close air support playbook no longer has the aircraft.
Canada’s First F-35 Flies: The Milestone Nobody Announced
AR-1 flew from Fort Worth in full RCAF markings on 23 September. Lockheed said nothing, the RCAF said nothing, and Ottawa said nothing at all.
Berlin Brandenburg Drone Shutdown: 28 Sightings and Counting
A drone over the northern runway shut Germany’s capital airport for 45 minutes. BER has now logged 28 drones in six months, against eight in all of 2025.
RAF Hawk T2 Crash at Valley: Both Pilots Eject, Fleet Paused
A Hawk T2 went down near Pencarnisiog minutes after taking off from RAF Valley. Both crew ejected. By Wednesday evening the RAF had paused the whole Hawk fleet.
Pilot Retirement Age by Country: China Stops at 63, Japan at 67
There is no single retirement age for airline pilots. ICAO sets 65 for international flying only, and national limits run from 63 in China to no limit at all in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Miss Demeanour Crashes: ATAC Hawker Hunter Lost Off California
For sixteen years she was the most photographed privately owned jet in Britain. On 22 September the former Miss Demeanour went into the Pacific off Morro Bay.