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D-DAY INVASION: JUNE 2024

1930'S FIGHTER FLIES AGAIN: APRIL 2024

The Legend of Maj. Paul "Pappy" Gunn

Their Finest Hour

Butcher Bird Hellcat & Corsair: A test pilot recalls

Stinson’s Big-Guy L-Bird

Stalin’s Flying Hammer

LATEST

Stinson SR5A Reliant – Harry Ballance’s pursuit of perfection

Harry Ballance Jr. has no memory of his father’s Stinson SR5A or any of the Stinsons his father owned. Born in 1939, he was too young to comprehend the beauty or significance of the Reliant series of elegant, high-wing commercial/private aircraft made in Wayne, Michigan between 1933 and 1941. With 10 principal civilian models, four […]

Feared Fighter – WW I German Albatros D.Va

The Vintage Aviator Ltd. (TVAL), in Wellington, New Zealand, has reproduced one of the most significant fighters from the Great War. This time the focus was on an iconic German aircraft, the Albatros D.Va, which was the machine of choice and the last in a long line of single-seat fighters. Many of the highest scoring […]

The Spoils of War – One generation’s junk is another generation’s treasure

If, in 1945, some farsighted investor had suggested purchasing and hoarding war surplus aircraft as a guaranteed way to make your fortune, you would have considered him a crackpot of the first order. Now, advance yourself to the 21st century: next to gold bullion (1945 price: $35/ounce), you might have been wise indeed to collect, […]

Covert Lightning – The A-Model F-35

The now combat-tested F-35A has become ubiquitous around the world, and the aircraft can be found residing as the top dog of choice within the various air forces. Born in controversy as are almost all new programs, the F-35 continues to be manufactured at a high rate, aside from some Covid delays. The cost was […]

The Red Gremlin – Limited Edition, Hand-Painted B-17 Nose Art

Warbird Aviation Art is proud to offer this most unique limited edition of just 25 pieces of aircraft aluminum each signed by retired Air Force Brigadier General Paul Tibbets and featuring ‘the RED GREMLIN’ nose-art of his B-17E hand-painted by artist Ron Kaplan. Gen. Tibbets’ personally approved the accuracy of Kaplan’s replication. Each piece arrives […]

Bristol Bulldog’s First Takeoff

Ed Storo of Netarts, Oregon, spent 20 years building an as-close-to-original replica of a Bristol Bulldog. Storo’s replica wears the colors of Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 19 Squadron. Storo lifted the British fighter into the air for the first time on June 28, 2022, from Tillamook Municipal Airport near his home. “The first flight […]

Untold Story: How the USAF Won the Korean War but Couldn’t Tell Anyone

Not even the most aggressive aerial bombing in history was winning the Korean War, until one heroic Air Force mission did the impossible—ended the war—and violated every rule command leadership had created. Author Thomas McKelvey Cleaver reveals the secrets behind this daring mission. Between June 27, 1950, when the first U.S. interdiction bombing mission of […]

Web Foot Bomber – Martin’s P6M: SeaMaster or Sea Monster?

As the sun had touched the horizon, the four-man crew of the huge flying-boat started their four J-75 turbojets. Engines whining at idle, they cast off from the buoy and water-taxied out of the lagoon. Turning into the ocean breeze, the throttles were pushed forward into full afterburner and the 80-ton behemoth accelerated with a […]

The Death Rattlers – Flying and Fighting with VMF-323

Marine Fighting Squadron 323 (VMF-323) was commissioned on August 1, 1943, and was quickly brought up to combat-ready status under the leadership of young Maj. George Axtell Jr. Instilling great discipline and aggressive fighter tactics, the men of VMF-323 certainly earned their squadron’s nickname as the “Death Rattlers.” At the controls of the F4U and […]

Peter Teichman pulls in close to the cameraship
in his Mustang, painted as “Jumpin’ Jacques.” Teichman’s Mustang, his first acquisition for the
North Weald, England-based Hangar 11 Collection,
is unique as it is one of only a few Mustangs with
combat history. It still carries the field repairs from battle scars she received while flying with the 332nd Fighter Group. (Photo by John Dibbs/facebook.com/theplanepicture)

South Pacific Warrior: A rare combat Mustang

“We’d fly over the target, level, and the target would go under the wing. We’d be slowing down, and slowing down, pull up, and just do a wing over. Slightly beyond the target, pull over, and then come straight down. We had a gun sight, but [we’d] just line the target up on the seam […]

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