Aviation News
At 102 years old, retired Captain Jim Kunkle received a tribute that few could imagine: a KC-135R Stratotanker adorned with the colours of his wartime P-38. Kunkle, a P-38 pilot from the 401st Fighter Squadron during World War II, was honoured by the Nebraska Air National Guard’s 155th Air Refueling Wing at the Central Coast AirFest last month. The newly painted KC-135 features black-and-white invasion stripes and nose art inspired by Kunkle’s P-38.
A MH-53 helicopter that was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Twelve (HM-12) has flown its final flight and retired at Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Florida.
Photo: U.S. Navy
Continue reading “DRAGON 437 retires”
A Spitfire IXT (G-LFIX) experienced engine failure on May 6, leading to a forced landing at Pitsford Airfield near Sywell, Northants. Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) published an incident report on Oct. 10 detailing the event. The aircraft carried one pilot and one passenger. Damage was sustained to the propeller and left wing, but both occupants were unharmed.
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Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Continue reading “AAIB report on Spitfire IXT, G-LFIX forced landing”
A C-47A Skytrain aircraft, known as “Francis L”, recently made a 3,500-mile journey from a museum in Alaska to the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, where it will undergo a full restoration. The aircraft, which participated in key World War II operations, including D-Day and Operation Market Garden, will be restored to its original condition and put on display.
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Raina Dale
Continue reading “‘Francis L’ arrives at the Museum of Aviation”
Retired Lt. Col. Jim Akin, a member of the first C-130 demonstration team known as the Four Horsemen, recently visited a C-130H Hercules aircraft at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. This visit brought back fond memories for Akin, who flew with the team from 1957 to 1960. Now 99 years old, Akin remarked, “It brought back memories, good memories and sad memories … It just taught me how much I miss it. That’s the finest aeroplane they ever put in the air in my opinion, the C-130.”
U.S. Air Force illustration by Tech. Sgt. Justin Norton
Continue reading “Four Horsemen pilot relives C-130 history at Peterson SFB”