Remembering Victims of Lesser Known Wars

Since 1965, eight Marine Corps C-130s and 43 Marine aircrew members have been lost—some two dozen in the 1960s alone. The pain of loss is borne stalwartly by the families and friends of the departed, individuals like John Keene, a resident of Richmond, Virginia, whose cousin, Captain Robert Wallis, perished in a 1970 C-130 training mishap. Mr. Keene was subsequently taken with the idea of commissioning a memorial honoring all of the Marines who’d lost their lives in C-130 accidents. He envisioned a granite monument surrounding the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia’s Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, and got promptly about the daunting business of actualizing his notion ...

Mobilizing the Air Force’s Island of Misfit Toys

On 26 January 2023, Electra announced it had been selected by the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX innovation arm to develop a full-scale, pre-production, prototype electric Short Takeoff and Landing (eSTOL) aircraft. Funding for the project will be provided by a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) award that will secure up to $85-million of mixed private investment, government funding, and matching Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) monies.