The Aviationist Blog

The Aeronautica Militare has declared its F-35s operational. On Nov. 30, 2018, during the media day of TLP 18-4 currently underway at Amendola, in southeastern Italy (the first iteration of the course to integrate 4th [...]

Luftwaffe’s Airbus 340, called “Konrad Adenauer”, carrying the German delegation to the G20 summit, suffered technical problems about an hour into the 15-hour trip to Buenos Aires. Angela Merkel is currently travelling to the G20 [...]

RAF Marham F-35B Lightnings are taking part in their first operational exercise at RAF Lakenheath as they continue their progression to initial operating capability. U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles from the 48th Fighter Wing, [...]

An interesting Cold War episode worth 4 medals. During the 1980s, the U.S. flew regular SR-71 Blackbird aircraft reconnaissance missions in international waters over the Barents Sea and the Baltic Sea, the latter known as [...]

An interesting “close encounter” in the Black Sea was captured on video. During the filming of a documentary, UK’s Channel 5 captured interesting footage of a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer “buzzed” by Russian fighter [...]

Commonly known as Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN, the E-11A is a U.S. Air Force aircraft that provides unparalleled communications capabilities to coalition forces on the ground and aircraft in the air. “There is [...]

Moscow has blocked passage through the Kerch Strait, between Crimea and mainland Russia, after three Ukrainian navy ships made what the Russian authorities have called a violation of Russian territorial waters. Russia has stopped all [...]

More than 30 Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Dakota  will retrace their flights from Britain to the original D-Day Drop Zones in Normandy, France. Two thirds will be coming from North America. On Jun. 5 2019, [...]

Here are a couple of interesting clips showing what happened after the “Elephant Walk” of 35 F-35s that made the news a couple of days ago. 35x F-35A from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wing [...]

Three Times as Many Thumbs Down to “Wear My Medals on The Left” As Thumbs Up. On Nov. 6, 2018, the Australian War Memorial posted a music video on YouTube by the choral group, “Sisters in Arms” of the Australian military. Just like the well-intentioned viral Rebecca Black “Friday” video of 2011 that garnered a […]

It’s also the Second Crash for Reagan in One Month Following MH-60 Seahawk Crash Last Month. A two-seat U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet has crashed at sea while operating from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). The crash occurred at an unspecified location northeast of the Philippines on Monday, November 12, 2018. Reports indicate […]

Trump cancels visit to US cemetery in France because of bad weather. On Saturday Nov. 10, 2018, President Trump was scheduled to travel to Belleau Wood, 55 miles northeast of Paris, as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Belleau Wood is where the US troops had their breakthrough […]

A Look Back at the F-35Bs deployed to the Middle East on the 243rd Birthday of the USMC. Today is the 243rd Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. The Marines were born on November 10, 1775 as an elite maritime-capable combat force by the Second Continental Congress with the decree: “That two battalions of […]

Tom Cruise May Be Learning to Take the Stick in Hornet, Hints at Plot from Video. Unconfirmed rumors have been circulating about Tom Cruise learning to fly a Navy jet, possibly a two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet or a T-45 Goshawk, for the filming of “Top Gun: Maverick“. More than one Hollywood and social media source […]

Interesting video shows PC-9M advanced training and close air support turboprops at work. Something you don’t see every day. The Slovenian Air Force Pilatus PC-9M Swift, also called Hudournik in Slovenia, is a single engine tandem-seat turboprop Light Attack Aircraft. Stationed in Cerklje ob Krki Airbase, about 80 km to the east of Ljubljana and belonging […]

The Eurofighter fleet has passed the 500,000 flying hours mark, an achievement celebrated by applying special markings to four jets of the four partner nations. The fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft has passed the 500K flying hours milestone, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH confirmed today. “Passing the 500,000 flying hours milestone underscores the fact that today Eurofighter […]

Polish Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrums back in the air. On Nov. 5, 2018, at 2:36PM, MiG-29UBM ’28’ of the Polish Air Force took off for a mission which marked the end the suspension of the Polish Fulcrum operations. The operations of the jets were suspended due to the crash on Jul. 6. 2018, that turned […]

Russia’s Newest Fifth Generation Fighter Dances Behind An-12 In Unique Photo-Op. Great video of Russia’s latest Sukhoi Su-57 fighters emerged early this week from what appears to be a media flight somewhere over Russia. Most of the video is shot from the back of an Antonov An-12 turboprop. As is common practice in aerial photo […]

Amazing color scheme for this IX(B) Sqn “Tonka” at RAF Marham. With the arrival of the first F-35B Lightning 5th generation aircraft, the Royal Air Force prepares to retire one of its most important and famous types: the Tornado GR4. The last aircraft will be retired from active service next year. In order to celebrate […]

Another “ordinary day” of Cold War over the Black Sea. A U.S. EP-3E Aries aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian SU-27 on Nov. 5, 2018. According to the U.S. Navy 6th Fleet, “this interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 conducting a high speed […]