Off-duty pilots, FAA inspectors and now air traffic controllers: who may sit in an airliner’s cockpit jumpseat, and why the captain always has the final say.
What Happens to a Retired Airliner: Storage, Part-Out and Recycling
From desert storage to parting out and recycling: what happens to an airliner after its last flight, and why the engines are worth the most.
US Weapons Test Ranges: Where America Tests Its Secret Weapons
Nevada, White Sands, China Lake and Utah: the desert ranges where America tests its weapons, and why they are no longer big enough.
Agile Combat Employment Explained: Why Air Forces Scatter Their Jets
Agile Combat Employment spreads fighters across civil airports, small strips and roads. How ACE works, and why Sweden was doing it in the Cold War.
Operation Spiderweb: Ukraine’s Truck-Launched Drone Raid on Russian Bombers
On 1 June 2025 Ukraine launched 117 drones from trucks parked near Russian air bases. How Operation Spiderweb worked, and what it really destroyed.
Golden Hawks: Canada’s Gold Sabre Display Team Before the Snowbirds
From 1959 to 1964 the RCAF’s Golden Hawks flew gold Canadair Sabres in 317 shows. The story of Canada’s first great jet display team.
Rafale A: When France Walked Out of the Eurofighter in 1985
In 1985 France quit the five-nation fighter that became the Eurofighter. A year later the Rafale A flew to Mach 1.3 on its first flight.
Montana Super Range: Trump Announces a New Weapons Test Complex
Trump says the Pentagon will build a “super range” in Montana to test hypersonics, autonomous weapons and electronic warfare. No site, cost or timeline yet.
FAA Flight Deck Training Returns: Controllers Back in the Cockpit
The FAA is bringing back its Flight Deck Training program, letting air traffic controllers ride in the cockpit of airline, GA and military flights.
Saab GlobalEye: Sweden’s First S 106 Radar Jet Unveiled
Saab has presented the first GlobalEye for the Swedish Air Force. The S 106 fills the gap left when Sweden gave its radar planes to Ukraine.
Snowbirds Fly Their Last Tutor Home Show at Moose Jaw Today
The Snowbirds fly their final home closer in the CT-114 Tutor at 15 Wing Moose Jaw on 16 October, livestreamed from noon. The Grey Cup flypast follows on 15 November.
SWISS A340 HB-JMB Retired: First of the Last Four Goes to Twente
SWISS has retired A340-300 HB-JMB after 23 years and 110,000 flight hours. It flew to Twente to be dismantled. Three A340s remain.
ACF Fighter: France Goes It Alone on the Rafale’s Successor
France will build the Rafale’s successor, the ACF, as a national programme. Its air chief also warned of a fleet of just 184 combat jets.
Borisoglebsk Strike: Neptune Missiles Hit Six Russian Su-34s
Ukraine’s Navy says Neptune missiles destroyed six Su-34M bombers at Borisoglebsk. Satellite images show four burned out and two badly damaged.
How Hollywood Hid Lockheed’s Burbank Factory Under a Fake Suburb
After Pearl Harbor, the Army called in Hollywood to make Lockheed’s Burbank plant vanish from the air. Canvas houses, feather trees and laundry on the line covered a factory building P-38s, and Boeing built an even bigger fake town over its Seattle plant.
SR-71 Inlet Spike Explained: How the Blackbird Tamed Shock Waves at Mach 3
At Mach 3 the SR-71’s engines could not swallow supersonic air. A moving spike and a set of doors held a shock wave inside each inlet, and at cruise the inlet produced more thrust than the engine itself. How it worked, and what happened when it failed.
Concorde Go-Around at Heathrow: Why Even Concorde Had to Climb Away
A clip of a British Airways Concorde abandoning its landing at Heathrow is doing the rounds again. Go-arounds are routine, even for Concorde, but the delta-winged airliner did them in its own way.