Yeah, I caught that too. But I’m glad I still made the cut. If they had asked for prototypes in the first place, this list would have been ridiculously long.

Actually, the badly damaged airframe that you see in that photo, BuNo 122479, has been restored, and is the only remaining example of the Pirate. It now resides at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL (above).

Fourteen inches of rain out near Elroy today, most of it in span of just a few hours.

An interesting comparitive design study between the B-32 and the B-29. The Dominator was clearly an aircraft of the earlier generation, a safe bet go-to should the Superfortress fail. The B-29, on the other hand, was a plane of the future, pushing the limits of what was possible with piston-powered bombers. I am…

And, the last American to die in air combat, though it was three days after the end of the war.

The Vought F6U Pirate, the US Navy’s first operational purely jet-powered fighter. Constructed of thin aluminum sheets over balsa wood, the Pirate was woefully underpowered, with its orginal engine producing thrust equal to only 1/3 of the aircraft’s weight. Even after the addition of an afterburner, another first for…

Interesting. I hadn't heard that, but it certainly makes sense.

You're not completely wrong, as the Buffalo was a complete bust for the U.S. And yes, it is a rather unattractive airplane.

With 94 confirmed kills, Ilmari Juutilainen was the leading non-German ace of WWII. Many of his kills came in a Brewster Buffalo. The Buffalo gets a bum rap because it was completely outclassed by Japanese fighters in the Pacific, but in the right hands and the right situation, it was a capable little fighter.

Give ‘em hell.

I’d love to see video of that flyby. Because you can be certain that somebody on the Reagan was filming it.

So, we’re back to barrage balloons?

an official from the government told CNN that he believes it has a remote deflate capability.

Do not fear mistakes. There are none.

There is actually a whole lot of science behind cockpit interior colors, particularly the color surrounding the gauges. It’s all about visibility and eye strain and stress levels and all that. I believe you’ll find that color in most of the Russian aircraft of that era, and possibly even today’s aircraft.

The Air Force needs these upgraded F-16s to buy time to develop the replacement for the F-35. Or just time to restart F-22 production.

I can’t really think of a better way to spend the money, especially if you have more money than just about any other human on the planet. Hell, I’d buy all kinds of stuff like that just for fun. It’s the world’s most expensive Tonka truck. Good for him.

Flying low, lots of lead in the air, lucky shot. It happens.