Posts by author

Bill Walton

479 posts

Bill Walton is a life-long aviation enthusiast and expert in aircraft recognition. As a teenager Bill helped his engineer father build an award-winning T-18 homebuilt airplane in their Wisconsin basement. Bill is a freelance writer, an avid sailor, engineer, announcer, husband, father, uncle, mentor, coach, and Navy veteran. Bill lives north of Houston TX with his wife and son under the approach path to KDWH runway 17R, which means they get to look up at a lot of airplanes. A very good thing.

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6 min

That Time They Buried an A-7E SLUF at Sea

Carrier aviation is rife with stories about perilously anomalous events. Cold cat shots. Cross deck pendants parting. Busted tailhooks. Sliding around on slick flight decks coming far too close to…

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5 min

Happy Veterans Day- Thank You Veterans and Families!

Happy Veterans Day! From the grunts to the wing wipers, boomers and gas passers, brown shoes and black shoes; wearers of desert boots, jungle boots, LPCs, boondockers, jump boots, flight…

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4 min

The US-3A Viking COD: The Uncommonest COD Was Actually a Compromise

Fleet Tactical Support Squadron FIVE ZERO (VRC-50) Foo Dogs flew a variety of aircraft between their establishment in 1966 and their disestablishment in 1994. They were redesignated as a Fleet…

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3 min

Ranger 12: Naval Aviation is a Risky Business- Especially at Night

The Douglas A3D Skywarrior was the largest and heaviest aircraft to regularly operate from US Navy aircraft carriers. They were not restricted to the Forrestal-class “supercarriers” either. They operated from…

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2 min

Blog

Watch See and Hear What It’s Like to Fly a Spitfire Warbird

It’s no secret we love EAA AirVenture. So much to do and see and hear! The recording of incredible video footage and eye-watering pictures happens all day long, but sometimes…

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3 min

PSA Flight 182: VFR on a Beautiful Morning Spelled Disaster

At 0834 local time on 25 September 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) Flight 182 departed Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX) bound for Lindbergh Field (now San Diego International Airport- KSAN).…

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5 min

The XB-51: Martin’s Movie Star Bomber Smashed The Bomber Mold

With their innovative XA-45 attack aircraft, Martin was building on the success of their B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Conceived in 1945 as Martin’s answer to a US Army Air Force…

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4 min

The Mercator: A Cold War Spy Plane Many Never Even Knew Existed

Martin’s P4M Mercator maritime reconnaissance aircraft was built as a potential replacement for the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer but lost out to the Lockheed P2V Neptune for the role. Development of…

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2 min

Watch Military Jets Making Freedom Noises in Pacific Skies

This recently shot high-definition footage features US military aircraft operating from Anderson Air Force Base (AFB) on Guam in the Marianas during Valiant Shield joint training exercises. The footage is…

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1 min

Powered Flight During the 1970s Was More Than Just Awesome

The film “Flying Machines- Powered Flight in the 1970s” was produced for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the days when the airlines were booming and research and…

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2 min

Military

BREAKING: USAF T-6A Trainer Down in San Antonio- Crew Safe

On Tuesday 18 September at approximately 1600 local time a United States Air Force Beechcraft T-6A Texan II turbine-powered trainer crashed in a field in the vicinity of Rolling Oaks…

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5 min

The Helldiver: Haste Made a Waste of This World War II Dive Bomber

The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber was one of the aircraft that won World War II. But like every aircraft in service during the late 1930s, improved replacements were on…