How is a U.S. Air Force Weapons School candidate chosen? What kind of person winds up on the career path placing them at Nellis Air Force Base for six months?
U.S. Air Force Weapons School: The Challenge
August 25, 2014
Flying the F-5 Tiger II (Part 5)
The F-5 was the enabler of this amazing flying club. It was a link between the pure era of fighting machines to the modern age of digital combat. The plane View More ›
The Knife Fight – Dogfighting in an F-16 (Part 1)
August 20, 2014
Jet pilots never plan to get in a dogfight—it is more survivable and cheaper (think gas) to pick the enemy off well outside of visual range—but as Paco alludes to, View More ›
Flying the F-5 Tiger II (Part 4)
An in-house BFM sortie between two seasoned pilots would consist of a short brief, a quick candy bar and a walk from the Ready Room 20 to 30 minutes before View More ›
U.S. Air Force Weapons School (Part 3)
August 18, 2014
Over the course of five and a half months, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School makes its students the very best mission commanders in their particular disciplines, and ultimately they View More ›
To Suppress and Destroy: A History of the Wild Weasel (Part 3)
August 17, 2014
As the F-4G retired from service in 1996, a new aircraft stepped in: the Block 50/52 configuration of the Lockheed-Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon, commonly referred to as the Viper. The delineation View More ›
To Suppress and Destroy: A History of the Wild Weasel (Part 2)
August 16, 2014
The new Republic F-105F Thunderchiefs and their crews faced a significant challenge, as over 100 North Vietnamese SAM sites were operational by August of 1966. By that time the Weasels View More ›
U.S. Air Force Weapons School (Part 2)
August 15, 2014
The U.S. Air Force Weapons School traces its origins back to the Aircraft Gunnery School, which was established at what was then Las Vegas Air Force Base in 1949. The initial cadre View More ›
Flying the F-5 Tiger II (Part 3)
An F-5 against an F/A-18 is not a fair fight. The Hornet has a spectacular radar with extremely capable ACM modes. At “Fight’s On,” a pilot has just to flick on View More ›
Flying the F-5 Tiger II (Part 2)
August 13, 2014
As a reservist who flew no more than 120 hours per year, .8 at a time, the F-5 was a dream. It is inexpensive to operate, therefore plentiful, and painfully View More ›