History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick Facts: SupercruiseDefinitionSustained supersonic flight without afterburnerFirst Operational FighterF-22 Raptor (2005)Supercruise SpeedMach 1.5+ (approx. 1,000 mph / 1,600 km/h)Engine2x Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100Thrust (each, dry)~26,000 lb (est.)Fuel...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick Facts InventionThe rocket-powered ejection seat Lives SavedOver 12,000 worldwide (all manufacturers combined) First Use (Combat)January 1945 — Luftwaffe pilot in a Heinkel He 162 Leading ManufacturerMartin-Baker (UK) — 7,700+ lives saved, seats in 93 air forces...
History & Legends, Military Aviation, News
Quick Facts AircraftYakovlev Yak-7B (Flugwerk reproduction, ZK-YKB) StatusOnly airworthy Yak-7B in the world First FlightMarch 26, 2026 — Omaka Aerodrome, Blenheim, NZ OwnerMike O’Rourke (New Zealand) Restored ByJEM Aviation, Blenheim (Jay McIntyre)...
Aviation World, History & Legends
He never built it. The notebooks where he sketched it weren’t even published until 1797 — nearly three centuries after his death. But the flying machines Leonardo da Vinci drew in the late 1400s show a mind that grasped the fundamental problem of aviation 400...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick Facts Date March 27, 1999 Aircraft Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk (serial 82-0806, callsign “Vega 31”) Pilot Lt. Col. Dale Zelko, USAF Weapon Isayev S-125 Neva/Pechora (NATO: SA-3 Goa) surface-to-air missile Fired By 3rd Battery, 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade,...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick Facts Aircraft Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird (tail number 61-7972) Record Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in 64 minutes 20 seconds Date March 6, 1990 (final operational flight) Distance 2,299 miles (3,701 km) Average Speed 2,145 mph (Mach 3.2+) Crew Lt. Col. Ed...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick Facts Unit 588th Night Bomber Regiment, Soviet Air Forces Nickname Nachthexen (“Night Witches”) — given by terrified German soldiers Aircraft Polikarpov Po-2 biplane (1920s design, wood and canvas) Personnel All-female — pilots, navigators, mechanics, commanders...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalityGerman 🇩🇪Aerial Victories80 (official record, WWI)Aircraft FlownAlbatros D.I–D.III, Fokker Dr.I TriplaneWarsWorld War IBorn / Died2 May 1892 – 21 Apr 1918 (age 25)UnitJagdgeschwader 1 (Richthofen Circus) Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron)...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsFilmTop Gun (Paramount Pictures, 1986)DirectorTony ScottLead ActorTom Cruise as Lt. Pete “Maverick” MitchellAircraft FeaturedF-14A Tomcat (US Navy), MiG-28 (played by F-5E Tiger II)Box Office$356 million worldwide (1986 dollars)Navy Recruitment...
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