Predator Spotted Over Minneapolis After Surveiling US Border With Canada

A number of soruces created a bit of a fuss when they notred that a CBP Predtor was operating over Minneapolis during recent riots and other unrest. Investigative journalist, Jason Paladino (@jason_paladino), was one of the first to provide substantive detail, but first tweeted that, "NOW: @CBP Predator Drone #CPB104 circling over Minneapolis at 20K feet. Took off from Grand Forks Air Force Base." CBP copped to it fairly quickly, once the matter received public attention, noting (on Friday) that, “Earlier today a U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations (AMO) unmanned aircraft system was preparing to provide live video to aid in situational awarenes

Break Open Your Piggy Banks... This Is An E-Ticket Ride There are few times in our life that we wanted to win the lottery more than we do right now... Jon Blanchette, the owner of the world’s only reamining airworthy MiG-17PF jet fighter, has put his one-of-a-kind aircraft up for sale. A former General Motors engineer and U.S. Navy officer, Blanchette rescued the single-engine, swept-wing jet fighter from a scrapyard in Poland in 1993. After years of painstaking restoration, Blanchette turned the retired legend into an airshow star that looks and flies as it did when it first took to the air six decades ago. Developed in the early 1950s, the MiG-17 became an important part of the Soviet Air Force. The PF variant of the MiG-17 were equipped wit

'Plan B' Will Allow For An Event At A New Location and Date

Cary Miller, the Chairman of the TBM Reunion and Salute to Veterans, has been dealing with some serious issues in trying to put together a much anticipated warbird event -- but has come up with a solution for this year. He notes that, "It is with great disappointment that due to the rigid Covid-19 restrictions imposed by Governor Pritzker and the State of Illinois, the 2020 TBM Avenger Reunion and Salute to Veterans will not be held in Peru this year. Our committee explored every possible avenue to hold this annual event in our city. Unfortunately the current state of the Illinois shutdown prevented us from planning and giving you the premier event you've come to expect. However - All is

B-52 Stratofortress Named After The Record-Setting B-26

When World War II ended in 1945, a Martin B-26 Marauder named Flak-Bait had flown 207 missions — more than any other U.S. plane in the conflict. But its achievement was lost to history until three Barksdale Air Force Base crew chiefs named a B-52 Stratofortress after the record-setting B-26. Flak-Bait lived up to its name during the war. It sustained hits on almost every mission, once having its hydraulics shot out, and twice losing its electrical system to German 88mm guns. On two other sorties, it returned home on only a single engine. By war’s end, the bomber endured more than 1,000 strikes. Not a single panel on it had gone unscathed. After the war, it was disassembled and shi