The World’s Only Yak-7B Takes Flight at Wanaka

The World’s Only Yak-7B Takes Flight at Wanaka

This week at Warbirds Over Wanaka—New Zealand’s premier warbird airshow—the most historically significant Russian fighter aircraft ever to fly in the Southern Hemisphere will take to the sky. The world’s only airworthy Yakovlev Yak-7B is coming. Not the...
America’s Last Triple Ace Comes Home

America’s Last Triple Ace Comes Home

Quick Facts Who: Col. Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson (1922–2024) Record: 16¼ aerial victories — triple ace, 357th Fighter Group Aircraft: P-51 Mustang “Old Crow” Missions: 116 combat missions, never hit by enemy fire Ceremony: March 30, 2026,...
Soviet Night Witches: They Flew Without Parachutes

Soviet Night Witches: They Flew Without Parachutes

The engine dies. The plywood biplane goes silent, gliding through the black Ukrainian sky at 1,200 metres. Below, German searchlights sweep the darkness. Flak crews wait, listening. They hear nothing — just a faint whisper of wind through wire struts. Then the bombs...
Why They Call It the Viper

Why They Call It the Viper

Most aircraft are designed to fly straight and level by default. Take your hands off the controls and they glide on, stable, content, reassuring. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is not like most aircraft. Take your hands off the controls in an F-16 and it will try to kill...
The Enemy Pilot Who Escorted Us Home

The Enemy Pilot Who Escorted Us Home

Franz Stigler had one kill to go. One more aircraft, and he would earn the Knight’s Cross — the highest military honour the Luftwaffe could bestow. He had fought across North Africa and was now flying Bf 109s over Germany, defending the Reich from the waves of...
The Tail That Won MiG Alley

The Tail That Won MiG Alley

In the summer of 1951, American F-86A pilots over North Korea were dying. Not because the MiG-15 was faster. Not because the North Korean and Chinese pilots were better. They were dying because at around Mach 0.86 — the speed at which the Sabre’s tail control...