Latest Articles
Australian International Air Show 2017
Air Power in Action was the theme of the 13th biennial Australian International Air Show and Aerospace & Defence Exposition held at Avalon Airport, Geelong, Victoria. Held as two concurrent events comprising an airshow and exposition, the air show is quite rightly marketed as the premier event of such ‘South of the Equator’. For the uninitiated, the show follows the feel of both Farnborough in the UK and Langkawi in Malaysia given the mix of civilian and military companies and aircraft that are represented. This year the show ran from February 28 through March 5 and, as the title suggests, [...]
Gazelle 50th Anniversary Commemorative Fly-in
On April 7, 1967, legendary French helicopter Test Pilot Jean Boulet took the Sud Aviation SA.340 on its maiden flight. To mark this important anniversary and celebrate the success of what we now know as the Gazelle, Threshold.aero organised a gathering of the type at the ‘home’ of Army Air Corps (AAC) aviation - Middle Wallop in Hampshire. When designed by French company Sud Aviation, the intention was for the Gazelle to replace the companies Alouette II – in fact, the prototype itself flew with a tail boom from an Alouette II. This did not last for long though as the [...]
US Air Force Air Education & Training Command
Life in the United States Air Force (USAF) begins with the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) with their mission to "recruit, train and educate Airmen to deliver air power for America". Often nicknamed ‘The First Command’, over 30,000 students – both domestic and international – train with the 19th Air Force and the many units falling under the command of AETC that include Air Force Recruiting, Air University, Technical Training, Flying Training, Air Force Guard and Air Force Reserve. In total 17 bases across the United States report to AETC, covering almost every aeroplane in the force’s inventory. On [...]
Exercise Red Flag 17-1
Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada one of those 'meccas' for military aviation and on a number of occasions each year and, if you are an aviator or an enthusiast, it is very much the place to be for Exercise Red Flag. Kevin Bell provides this report from Red Flag 17-1 between January 23 through February 10. Now in its 40th year, Red Flag is a high-intensity exercise conceptualised not long after the end of the Vietnam War. It is designed to simulate the first 10 days of conflict which exposes all military aviators to the realistic challenges [...]
Lightning Preservation Group Nightshoot
As the year slowly wakes from its wintery slumber, February means one thing for many holding out for the approaching airshow season - Lightnings! AeroResource’s Jamie Ewan was one of those making a return to the home of Lightning Preservation Group at Bruntingthorpe for a night with their home-grown interceptors. When Roland Beaumont took what would become the Lightning into the air for the first time back in 1954, little could he or the boffins behind it know that their efforts (and subsequent legacy) would still exist some six decades later. Yet unlike so many other aeroplanes of that time – [...]
XV(R) Squadron Photo Event
The gradual drawdown of the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 fleet hits a significant milestone in 2017, bringing an end to the Tornado fleet in Scotland, and an end to 23 years of a familiar sight around the Moray skies. March 31st will see the last RAF Tornado unit based at RAF Lossiemouth disbanding and thus ending the long association between Moray, Scotland, and the Tornado. February 22nd saw a chance for a select few Scottish enthusiasts to say their goodbyes during an afternoon hosted by XV(R) Squadron, from where Niall Paterson brings this article. XV Squadron History Formed on March 1st [...]
Centennial of Naval Aviation
Naval Air Station North Island holds the enviable position of being the birthplace of naval aviation. Situated in San Diego Bay, 100 years of heroes and history trace their beginnings to this very place. In [...]
The End of the Dominie
January 2011 will see the end of an aircraft that has been in RAF service since the 1960s and some of the oldest registered airframes in the UK Inventory. Mark Graham and Steve Smith paid [...]
RAF Broadwell
Steve Smith of Fighter Control and Runway Photography examines the history of a little known airbase located within 3,000 yards of RAF Brize Norton – the often forgotten RAF Broadwell. Many of the Fighter Control [...]
USS Ronald Reagan – CVW-14
Fighter Control’s Duncan Monk returned to his Naval roots, and flew out to visit the USS Ronald Reagan/CVW-14 currently deployed on Operations in the 5th Fleets area of responsibility. Named after the 40th President of [...]
50th Flying Training Squadron
Jason Grant takes a walk behind the scenes with the 50th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) at Columbus Air Force Base. The 50th FTS has been serving the United States since 1941 in various guises and [...]
NATO Tigermeet 2007
Fighter Control Forum member Tony Osborne attended this years Nato Tiger meet for Artic Tigers 2007. This was the first time a Tiger Meet had been hosted in Norway. Despite the goings on in the [...]
Royal International Air Tattoo 2007
Michael Freer reports from 2007's highly successful Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. Additional photography by Stuart Freer. "When I recommended 'Agile and Adaptable' as the operational theme for RIAT 2007, I felt confident [...]
USS Enterprise CVW-1
Compared to her Nimitz-class brothers and sisters the USS Enterprise is not exactly the newest ship off the block, but 45 years after its launch, she was again proving her worth in some of the [...]
