Sommaire pour January/February 2026 de Flight Journal

ONE FLEW INTO COMBAT with fabric-covered wings at barely more than highway speed, its crew exposed to wind, sea spray, and gunfire. The other slips through the sky unseen, faster than sound, armed with sensors and weapons its adversaries will never detect. From three-man crews navigating by stopwatch and instinct to a single pilot managing near-invisibility and exceptional maneuverability, air combat is ultimately a story of pilots adapting to their machines. Separated by more than 70 years of aeronautical progress, the Fairey Swordfish and the F-22 Raptor represent two extremes of airpower, yet both achieved exactly what they were designed to do: decisively shape the battle. Former RAF combat pilot Clive Rowley details how the Fairey Swordfish—an aircraft that appeared antiquated even as it entered service during World War II—could…

The F-22A Raptor—to those that follow the contemporary military aviation world, it translates to the all-time best-ever dogfighting machine ever built so far, unmatched by anything manned in the world. And then add in the stealth factor—simply put, lethal, and glad it is on our side. Oddly, unlike other fighter aircraft in the U.S. inventory, the F-22A has never had an unofficial nickname that took root. It’s hard to believe the YF-22 first flew back in 1990 and the F-22A first flew in 1997, reaching Initial Operating Capability status in 2005 with some 195 examples having been produced (includes eight test aircraft). The early F-22As are Fiscal Year 1991 machines, procured 34 years ago at the time of writing. No other dogfighting foes, such as the Su-57 Felon, or other…

WHEN THE NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION NA-62, officially dubbed B-25, first flew in August of 1940, it was less than a roaring success. The UK and France had just chosen the smaller Douglas DB-7 Boston (A-20 Havoc) attack bomber over the North American design. However, in the years leading up to the war, NAA couldn’t know that the airplane they urged the U.S. Army Air Corps to adopt would become a legend among the Allies and a curse to the Axis. Nor could they even begin to imagine the incredibly wide range of roles it would play on history’s aerial stage. In fact, the most memorable image of the B-25 was also the first. Even today, virtually anyone can readily identify the grainy photo of the B-25 in its most unexpected…

SEEMINGLY ALREADY OBSOLESCENT when the first one landed on an aircraft carrier, the Swordfish, or “Stringbag” as it was affectionately known, was incredibly versatile and achieved some spectacular successes during the war, outlasting some of the air-craft intended to replace it and defying all expectations. Despite looking like an aircraft that should not have seen service during WW II, amazingly this ugly duckling biplane was responsible for sinking a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft during the war. Swordfish design and development The Fairey Aviation Company’s design for the Swordfish began as a private venture to replace the earlier Fairey IIIF biplane aircraft. The British Air Ministry, which was responsible for supplying aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), issued a requirement for a carrier aircraft…

THE FALL OF GERMANY came at an unexpected rate with thousands of troops and facilities falling to the Allies in a matter of days. We seldom see those local surrenders from any but the Allies’ view. The surrender of JG.1 and the capture of its jet-powered He 162s, however, are documented. The development of the Volksjäger (People’s Fighter), the formation of an operational unit and its almost overnight capture and dissolution are presented here to give a better understanding of what the end of a war looks like to the vanquished. Reorganizing the chaos By the middle of 1944, the situation in Germany had become extremely serious and was getting increasingly worse by the day. Hitler put the blame squarely on the performance of the Luftwaffe for failing to not…

IN SEPTEMBER 1939, while Europe was erupting for the second time in two generations, America slowly prepared for war. That month, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama applied to the Civil Aeronautics Administration to participate in the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPT). Thereby, black males tentatively became eligible for government flight training—a revolutionary development in American aviation. In early 1940, CAA representatives arrived to supervise admissions tests. The Institute’s high academic standards were validated when every applicant passed the CPT entry test, reportedly an unmatched record in the South. That fall, the budding Tuskegee airmen were heartened when President Franklin Roosevelt confirmed that Negroes would be trained as Army pilots. Tuskegee’s first preflight class convened in July 1941: 12 cadets under Capt. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., a West Pointer like his…

WITH ITS FIXED-PITCH AIRSCREW, fixed undercarriage and unflapped wings with automatic leading-edge slats, the Swordfish was virtually a one-control aircraft, discounting the movements of the rudder pedals and control column which in any aircraft are pushed around quite without conscious thought. What’s more, the Swordfish felt so safe that the only real personal risk involved in flying this machine seemed to be incurred in climbing up to or out of its pulpit-like cockpit. However, the Swordfish did possess one or two rather strange controls, including a means of increasing the droop of the ailerons so they would provide something in the way of mildly flap-like characteristics. I don’t remember this control ever being used on our ordinary flights. Also, and unlike any other aircraft at the time, the Swordfish’s fore…

PERHAPS THE MOST DISTINCTIVE WW II fighter, Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning combined innovative design with excellent performance. Designed by Hal Hibbard and Kelly Johnson, the P-38 featured a clean, twin-boom layout built around two supercharged Allison engines. It also featured a tricycle landing gear and nose-mounted armament of four .50-caliber machine guns and a 20mm cannon. First flown in January 1939, the prototype demonstrated exceptional speed, but it was soon destroyed in a landing accident. Nevertheless, its promise was obvious, and the Army Air Corps issued a contract. Following further development problems, the P-38 entered service with the D model—the first U.S. production aircraft capable of attaining 400mph in level flight. With its high diving speed, the P-38 was among the first planes to encounter buffeting and compressibility. A few early losses…

NEVER MIND THAT CURTISS-WRIGHT convinced Uncle Sam to continue to buy obsolescent fighters after the need had passed. The P-40 was available in adequate numbers when the need was greatest, not only for the Army Air Forces but for most of our WW II Allies as well. Dating from the late 1930s, the P-40 evolved from the radial-engine P-36, and both types got airborne during the Sunday surprise at Pearl Harbor. In all its iterations, the P-40 served many masters, but it never had as much public appeal as with a mercenary air force sent to China and Burma in late 1941. The American Volunteer Group engaged the Japanese Air Force in Asian skies for six months and provided one of the few bright spots amid a litany of Axis success.…