Cold War Era

Hey Geeks! Here you can read all Cold War Era stories published on The Aviation Geek Club site.

F-14 Pilot explains how he was able to land his Tomcat aboard USS Eisenhower after the radome came off during and ACM engagement, at a speed of 600 knots, at an altitude of 28,000 feet

F-14 Pilot explains how he was able to land his Tomcat aboard USS Eisenhower after the radome came off during and ACM engagement, at speed of 600 knots, at an altitude of 28,000 feet

‘We started an ACM engagement and as soon as I got a little G on the airplane, that [radar dome]… Read More

3 days ago

Here’s why the SR-71 inlets had to be labeled “L” and “R” and why the Blackbird had engine and afterburner fuel control cable pulleys

The SR-71 engineering was so cutting edge that even the tools to build the Blackbird needed to be designed from… Read More

3 days ago

US Navy A-4 pilot recalls when he had to eject after catastrophic turbine failure turned his Skyhawk into a Fireball while he was flying at 500 knots during a low-level mission

‘I had a catastrophic turbine failure that buzz sawed the back end of my plane and turned the plane into… Read More

5 days ago

AirLand Battle, the F-16 Vs the A-10, the Aborted A-16 and the story of why the Viper’s CAS Variant failed to replace the Warthog

Some armament folks said they could match the 30 mm cannon in the A-10 with pod-mounted cannon for the… Read More

6 days ago

FB-111 Pilot recalls when flying at Mach 1.2 at 200 feet during Red Flag exercise he blew out the windows and a door of a Winnebago type RV that got lost into a restricted area

‘My crew chief asked if I wanted him to paint a Winnebago sillouette on the fuselage to record my “kill,"’… Read More

7 days ago

SR-71 pilot Brian Shul, famous for his ground speed check story, passed away while giving speech about the Blackbird

SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul suddenly died in the night of May 20, 2023 in Reno, Nevada, at age 75,… Read More

1 week ago

SR-71 Pilot explains why the only SAM that had chance to hit the Blackbird was a Nuclear S-300 fired ahead of the Habu

‘One of the real highlights of flying above Mach 3 and above 80,000 feet is nobody is up there with… Read More

2 weeks ago

US Navy F-4 pilot recalls when his Phantom II radar screen went black because of the high speed of an SR-71 Blackbird he and his RIO tried to intercept while it was exiting Chinese airspace

‘I watched in amazement as the Vc circle [on the radar display] which told us the relative closing velocity of… Read More

2 weeks ago

The Fearsome Crusader scored its last MiG Kill against North Vietnamese MiG-17 pilot that chose to eject when he found his opponent was an F-8 instead of an F-4

Lt Jerry Tucker kill was disallowed on the grounds that it had been achieved without the use of any weapons,… Read More

2 weeks ago

Close Cousins: IAI Lavi versus F-16 Viper

Some experts feel that the performance of the IAI Lavi would be broadly comparable to today's F-16C/D Viper in most… Read More

2 weeks ago

SR-71 pilot explains why the F-15 radar couldn’t see the Blackbird during Eagle Bait sorties

‘One of the interesting discoveries from the Eagle Bait was that F-15s couldn’t even find us when everything was shut… Read More

2 weeks ago

The story of when US Navy F-14 Tomcat fired six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles against six different targets simultaneously: the six-on-six missile shot test

A new capability introduced by the AIM-54 was strictly linked to its radar: the AWG-9 had the unprecedented ability to… Read More

2 weeks ago

The story of the IAF Skyhawk pilot who shot down two Syrian MiG-17s flying an A-4 fitted with French-designed and Israeli-manufactured 30 mm DEFA Cannon

Dotan squeezed the trigger and fired long burst into the jet's right wing root. The wing was quickly ripped… Read More

3 weeks ago

F-4 WSO tells the story of when his pilot fell asleep during ferry flight of four Phantom IIs from Kadena AB to Clark AB and their F-4 drifted out of formation

What happens if a fighter jet pilot fell asleep while flying? More than half of airline and commercial pilots have… Read More

3 weeks ago

Habu Pilot reveals why the Blackbird had to refuel after takeoff (it’s not because the SR-71 leaked fuel)

No story on the SR-71 would be complete without an understanding and appreciation of just how valuable the KC-135Q model… Read More

3 weeks ago

USS Constellation Main Propulsion Assistant tells the story of the EA-6B Prowler pilot who turned in his wings after scary Carrier Flight Deck Landing in Rough Seas

The young EA-6B Prowler pilot was called to the pilot house to meet his CO, the Air Wing Commander, and… Read More

4 weeks ago

No, the F-15 never Attacked Death Star of Star Wars. But the mighty Eagle was the only US aircraft to destroy machine orbiting Earth. Here’s how.

In September 1985, an F-15 Eagle was even able to destroy a machine orbiting Earth. But no, it wasn’t the… Read More

4 weeks ago
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