A true story… Things are not always what they appear.

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its  planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were… A  certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the  back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB… Continue reading A true story… Things are not always what they appear.

Drone pilots… watch this video to see how they work

Look at this video. These controllers are in Nevada and are each flying a  drone thousands of miles away in the combat zone in Iraq and  Afghanistan . Their left hand is on the throttle controlling the drone’s engine.  Note all the buttons which perform various tasks without removing the hand from the throttle.  The… Continue reading Drone pilots… watch this video to see how they work

Flying around Christmastime can be Dangerous

This must be the ultimate Christmas yard decoration… The site is near the Oak Creek Bridge on St. Michael’s Road [MD 33]. The folks who own the property always have eye-catching displays celebrating various ‘holidays’ through the year… this year they have certainly outdone themselves!  

My Third Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

December 1953, Taegu Air Route Traffic Control Center, on the hill by the Children’s School in downtown Taegu, Korea. The war, I mean the ‘Police Action‘, has been over since last June. Both sides are still at the ready and wary of each other. About the same as it is now in 2011 (58 years… Continue reading My Third Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

My First Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

F-84s at Bergstrom Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin, Texas, November 1952, a Strategic Air Command base with a complement of straight wing F-84, fighter bombers with nuclear capability. The high degree of professionalism and militarism of SAC was evident throughout. Even though the war was on, Korean Police Action I mean, the mood was one… Continue reading My First Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

Margaret Sanders, ATCO – An example to follow

When I first embarked on our project to collect information about women in air traffic control in general and then about the first women air traffic controllers in the US, I did not think about a fact of life that is the other inevitable thing besides taxes… Many of those first pioneering ladies have flown… Continue reading Margaret Sanders, ATCO – An example to follow

There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky…

We have all seen pictures of witty sentences painted on aircraft fuselages or bombs and rockets but more often than not, we quickly forget them and when we too could insert a witty remark, they prove impossible to dig up from our memories. Krisztian, one of our contributors, has now provided a nice collection of… Continue reading There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky…

Boeing wins $35 billion tanker contract

It looks like the longest running and possibly most controversial procurement process in US Air Force history has finally come to an end with Boeing being awarded the $35 billion contract to build the USAF’s next generation airborne refueling platform. Boeing is basing this on the 767 and the contract has given the 767 line… Continue reading Boeing wins $35 billion tanker contract