As I look back at the season past, there was one act that caused a major cashing of chips and completion of “honey do lists”. Earlier this year, the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) announced that their flight demonstration team, the Frecce Tricolori, would embark on a North American Tour.

Before we knew it, two small dots appeared on the horizon and the two F-16’s from 312 ‘Bonzo’ squadron approached and briefly disappeared behind us. The anticipation and excitement built up before more hand gestures indicated they were approaching our aircraft from the rear and before we knew it, two Vipers appeared from nowhere and positioned themselves beautifully on our wing. What a sight!

An aircraft is intricate. Like a human body, there are things that connect to doodads and thingies that are bolted on to whatchamacallits. It’s a life size jigsaw puzzle. As they say, Rome was not built in a day and those “how it is made” documentaries compress a marathon process into the time it takes to heat up a DiGiorno’s pizza. Building an airplane takes time and patience. 

I followed the trail he weaved through journalist's eyes in the plethora of yellowed documents and aged photos, piecing together a picture that connected the big events of his life. I am pleased and honored to introduce to you General William Bradford Rosson.

Anyone who does battle up here in these cloud cathedrals must possess this delicate spatial awareness in addition to the sharpened skills, cognitive depth, lightning-quick decision making and physical endurance that makes this elite breed of sky warriors so special.

That's what will always keep me coming back. Each trip and set of photos is unique; each is special. The only people in the world that got to see some of the Strike passes from that spot on that day were me and my parents.

Full Disc Aviation is proud to roll out our newest piece that will be part of a multi-part release. This year, we have been able to spend time working with some of the finest men and women the Air National Guard has to offer with the 131st Fighter Squadron of the 104th Fighter Wing.

I remember eagerly waiting to reach the chapter on the jet age. I failed to find anything fascinating about Jurassic aviation. When that movie with that pretty boy came out, I had no interest in watching it. Never have. Who cares? Who is Waldo Pepper anyway?

This show went off amazingly and Saturday provided one of the best weather days one could ask. Blue skies painted a stunning background for all the acts but there was one thing that elevated this show up to the next level - FLARES!

Another Sun 'N Fun has come and gone, and what a show it has been. We had a great year with multiple debuts to Sun 'N Fun as a whole.

After a five year hiatus, Joint Base Langley-Eustis held their Air Power Over Hampton Roads airshow.

It wasn’t the Fokkers, or the Sopwiths or any one aircraft that filled the lots. The spectators came for the Pauls, the Mikes, the Andrews and the Neils. The spectators came for every one of the performers and volunteers that put this show together and pulled it off without missing a beat.

…but still — the allure of both airshows and motor racing perch atop the same two pillars: noise and speed.

When pushed off the ridgeline, the fine sand made itself into a film and slowly cruised down the slope in a sheet until it ran out of steam, creating random patterns on the dunes.

Obviously, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Jason took to the skies before his first birthday. It was at the age of six that Jason first felt the thrill of flying as he took control of the family Skybolt. At the age of ten and seated in a Pitts S-2A, the young Flood was bitten by the aerobatic bug.

McConnell is home to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the static displays made this very apparent. An aligned group of KC-135, KC-10, and KC-46 tankers were lined up for the public to visit and learn more about.

Much to our pleasure, we were able to secure two Fokkers for the first night. The beautiful black and white striped Knights of the Sky Fokker Dr.I, and the Manfred von Richthofen's red paint-schemed Fokker Dr. I (equipped with a modern engine).

The Zero and Mustang put on a great tail-chase over the field, twisting and climbing into the deep blues before diving on each other and passing over us, maneuvering into the sunset. The sound of the two fighters blasting around was incredible…

The aircraft was towed into position and cameras positioned as the sun set. Once the natural lighting disappeared, the artificial lights were turned on and the Flying Lab came to life. With both engines turning, the Flying Lab light show began.

While this year’s show was remembered as a scorcher for being in the high 90’s temperature-wise, I also remember watching a scorching performance by Patrick McAlee of Extreme Flight. We had a chance to catch up and chat with Patrick to find out more about his experiences as an aerobatic pilot.