Table of contents for March/April 2026 in Flight Journal

SOME STORIES STAY WITH YOU not because they are flawless triumphs, but because they are exercises in stubborn resolve. Written by longtime “Flight Journal” contributor James Busha, as told to him by RAF Squadron Leader Martin Withers, “Operation Black Buck” is one of those stories. It is not a tale of perfect planning or elegant execution. Rather, it is a reminder that history is often shaped in moments when nothing goes right, when plans unravel one by one and people choose to press on anyway. The Black Buck mission came at exactly the wrong time. The Avro Vulcan was nearing retirement, its crews trained for a Cold War already fading into history. With outdated systems, an obsolete mission profile, and crews unpracticed in air-to-air refueling, conventional bombing, and long-range navigation…

THE STORIES OF DARING RAIDS flown against Japan in the Pacific and Germany in the European theater of operations would fill volumes. Many brave aviators never came home, and their fate remains a mystery. The night missions were fewer in number, however, and more hazardous because they added a very dangerous element—total darkness. The British and Germans were responsible for perfecting radar early on, and by the time the Marines had landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942, it was evident that they needed a specialized fighter to protect them from the nightly attacks by Japanese bombers. Unfortunately for the U.S., its state-of-the-art night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, was still more than a year from becoming operational. To solve this urgent situation, the Air Corps took some A-20 Havocs…

THE JAPANESE KNEW LONG BEFORE WW II that in order to destroy an enemy’s superior-numbered Navy, they had to develop a superior torpedo to help even the odds. Born out of the shortcomings of the Rising Sun’s own battle fleet was one of the most successful killing machines of the War—the Type 91 torpedo. Long (17 feet 4 inches) and thin (17 3⁄4 inches) and weighing in at over 1,800 pounds, this aerial torpedo was capable of being launched at slow speeds and high speeds, from low altitudes and high altitudes and in deep water or shallow water. With the addition of an anti-rolling controller (the placement of roll rudders on each side of the torpedo controlled by a gyroscopic main controller), the Type 91 was not only able to…

WHEN THE BIG THREE British-built “V-Force” bombers—the Vickers Valiant, Handley Page Victor and the Avro Vulcan—came on line during the early stages of the Cold War, they were all designed for one purpose—to drop a nuclear bomb on the Soviet Union’s doorstep. Thankfully, the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, NATO strategic nuclear deterrent was a huge success as the delta-winged Avro Vulcan acted as the tip of the spear and stood guard, ready to launch at a moment’s notice during the darkest of the Cold War days. But, as technology advanced and communist walls were torn down in Europe, the Vulcan’s role was replaced by nuclear-equipped Polaris submarines. The Vulcan had finally earned a well-deserved rest. Due to retire from RAF service in June of 1982, the…

IN LATE 1943, I was accepted into an elite fraternity of naval aviators as an original member of “Satan’s Playmates,” formed in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the time, I was just about the lowest form of life in the Navy hierarchy: an ensign; yet here I was, a freshman attending “Clobber College.” My mentor and professor was the legendary David McCampbell, CO of the Fighting 15 (VF-15). Dave McCampbell was a very fair and “understanding” CO. It was understood that if you screwed up, you had a fair chance of getting an ass-chewing! He was also eager to get the squadron in the best possible shape for combat in the Pacific. When I reported into Atlantic City, the air operations officer asked whether I wanted a look at what…

Although the U.S. recognized the need for a specialized night fighter before they entered WW II, it would take several years for the P-61 Black Widow to be designed, tested and produced. In the meantime, they had to come up with a stop-gap night fighter. They selected the Douglas A-20 Havoc and equipped it with radar and 20mm cannon. This conversion was known as the P-70. It never received an official name, but “Nighthawk” seemed to be used quite often to refer to the aircraft. At the time they decided to modify the A-20 for night fighting, it was an unpopular decision because the Havoc had proven to be a valuable asset during the War’s early months in all theaters, and there were very few that could be spared for…

September 29, 1943: pilot J/Lt. I.I. Mikailov anxiously scanned the Russian tundra below for familiar land-marks. He had just survived a battle with four JGS Bf 109s, but as the fuel gauge edged toward empty, it was obvious he was still going to lose his aircraft. Resigned to his fate, he bellied his P-40 into the soft turf, and the war was over for Curtiss Warhawk 42-10256. Mikailov was unscathed, but 10256 would sit for another 50 years before its badly brutalized remains would be rescued. P-40 42-10256 was a “K” model, which was a continuation of the P-40E line but with the more powerful Allison V-1710-73(F4R) engine installed. The bigger engine required more vertical tail authority, so the initial production batches used the short fuselage of the “E” models…

After World War II, the British Air Ministry saw the need for jet bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The most famous of the RAF’s V Bombers was the Avro Vulcan, a big, imposing delta-wing design combining the size of a whale with the elan of a manta ray. The Vulcan first flew in 1952 and was deployed four years later, just after the Vickers Valiant. Handley Page’s Victor completed the V trio, active from 1958. Avro had built the RAF’s premier Lancaster bomber of WW II, with some 7,300 produced. In contrast, 136 Vulcans were delivered through 1965, flown by nine operational squadrons. The Vulcan won global attention during the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas war. Staging from Ascension Island, Vulcans flew five sorties during the conflict, tanking from Victors to complete…

Cdr. Paul Buie’s USS Lexington (CV-16) pilots’ model fighter-pilot fashions; circa late 1943. All the “Airedales” wear the AN-H-15 tropical flying helmets with standard B-7 or Polaroid B-8 goggles, khaki shirts and trousers or the “suit/summer/flying” overalls, and most wear the yellow B-4 “Mae West” that was designed by civilian boater Andrew Toti and sold to the Navy in 1936. At least three are sporting web belts with a Model 1911 .45 Colt pistol and canteen. Although not visible, those belts probably held a double magazine pouch for the pistol, which gave it a total load-out of 21 rounds, and a knife. Footwear is regulation black shoes or Marine Corps “boondockers.”…

IN EARLY 1941, you had to be deaf, dumb and blindnot to notice that the war in Europe and Asia was about to drag the U.S. into the fray headfirst. At the time, I was a junior in college when I volunteered for the Navy. If I had waited a while longer, the draft would have volunteered me. So instead of slogging around in mud as a foot soldier, I chose naval aviation as my new home. After I graduated from flight training, I was selected to become a PBY pilot. That lasted a whole day. The class was filled, so they made me an instructor instead. For the next one and a half years, I taught new recruits the fine art of naval flying in Navy N3Ns, OS2U Kingfishers…

ON JANUARY 17, 1991, Attack Squadron 35, as part of Carrier Air Wing 17, was embarked aboard USS Saratoga (CV-60) in the Red Sea, having been underway since August 7, 1990, when the carrier departed Naval Station Mayport at the start of Operation Desert Shield. VA-35’s A-6E Intruders launched from the carrier at 1:10 a.m. and headed for key targets near Baghdad. Over the next 43 days and nights, the squadron would fly more than 400 combat sorties and deliver over 1.7 million pounds of ordnance, helping pave the way for the liberation of Kuwait. In January 2026, the men and families of the “RAYGUNS” of VA-35 gathered in Pensacola to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the opening night of Operation Desert Storm. The reunion festivities kicked off Friday night with…