A New Air Force Bomber Is Introduced, And An Old Bomber Flies Again

There were some major developments in military aviation over the course of the past year, with the USAF introducing its first new long-range bomber in decades. But the year also saw the second airworthy B-29 fly again for the first time in Kansas. Those were just two of the major stories in military aviation for 2016 reported by Aero-News.

January

Army Will Not Authorize Burial Of Female WWII Pilot In Arlington 
From 2002 until sometime last year, Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) had been eligible for interment in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

F-35 Ejection Seat Weight Restrictions Extended 
Pilots weighing under 136 pounds will be restricted from flying the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter through 2018, according to the U.S. Air Force.

KC-46A Makes First Tanker Refueling Flight 
Boeing and U.S. Air Force aircrews successfully completed the KC-46A tanker’s first refueling flight in the skies above Washington state.

Hurricane Hunters Gather Forecast Data On Record-Breaking Blizzard
The Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew a different kind of mission from Keesler Air Force Base Jan. 22 to gather data on the blizzard that hit the Eastern Seaboard.

Airbus Helicopters Deal With Poland On Shaky Ground
Poland's defense minister said that the county's $3 billion deal with Airbus Helicopters is "very likely" to be scrapped following national elections last October.

Russia Grounds MiG-31 Fleet 
Russia grounded its entire fleet of MiG-31 interceptor airplanes following an accident that resulted in the loss of one of the airplanes in Siberia.

February

Boeing Gets Air Force One Contract
The Pentagon announced that Boeing has been granted a contract to build a new fleet of Air Force One airplanes based on its new 747-8 platform.

US Navy Awards $2.5 Billion Contract For 20 More P-8A Poseidon Aircraft 
Boeing will further equip the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with maritime patrol capabilities, building 20 more P-8A Poseidon aircraft following a $2.5 billion U.S. Navy order announced yesterday.

P-51C Mustang 'Tuskegee Airmen' Sustains Damage In Gear-Up Landing 
The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Red Tail Squadron, America’s tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, confirms that Wednesday morning, February 3, their P-51C Mustang Tuskegee Airmen was involved in a gear-up landing at Dallas Executive Airport (DEA).

Beechcraft Signs T-6C Contract For U.K. Military Flying Training System 
A contract has been signed between Affinity Flying Training Services and Beechcraft Defense Company under which Beechcraft will provide 10 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II military training aircraft to the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) program.

CAP Launches 75th Anniversary Celebration 
Civil Air Patrol members convened this evening after the organization’s a annual Legislative Day to launch CAP’s 75th anniversary celebration.

Navy's UAV Could Be A Tanker 
While there was much speculation about the ultimate role for the Navy's unmanned X-47B aircraft that demonstrated the ability of an unmanned aircraft to launch and trap from an aircraft carrier, its ultimate mission may be far less sexy than attack aircraft or intelligence gathering.

March

Air Force Reveals B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber 
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James revealed the first rendering of the Long Range Strike Bomber, designated the B-21, at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium Feb. 26 in Orlando, FL, and announced the Air Force will be taking suggestions from Airmen to help decide the name of the bomber.

DARPA Selects Aurora To Build VTOL X-Plane Technology Demonstrator
Aurora Flight Sciences has announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded the company the prime contract for Phase 2 of the Agency’s Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program.

F-16 Down In Afghanistan 
An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing went down during takeoff March 29 at about 8:30 p.m. local time near Bagram Airfield, according to an Air Force news release.

Air Force Faces Shortage Of Fighter Pilots
The U.S. Air Force is about 500 pilots below what it considers a minimum number of fighter pilots, a number that is expected to grow to about 800 by 2020, according to Air Force officials.

U.S. Senate Considers Restoration Of F-35 Funding, Restart Of F-22 Production
U.S. Air Force officials testifying before the Senate Armed Service Airland subcommittee said they would like to restore $700 million cut from the F-35 procurement program, and committee members said it might be prudent to restart production of the F-22.

April

B-29 Doc Runs Engines For The First Time In 2016 
After a long, cold Kansas winter, the team restoring the B-29 'Doc' rolled the iconic bomber out of a hangar and started her engines for the first time this year on Saturday, and the team says they are anticipating a first flight soon.

Gen. Hyten Announces AF Space Enterprise Vision 
Gen. John Hyten, the commander of Air Force Space Command, announced the command's Space Enterprise Vision April 12 at Peterson Air Force Base. The SEV is the result of an AFSPC-commissioned study that looked at how to make the nation's national security space enterprise more resilient.

Aurora Successfully Flies Subscale X-Plane Aircraft 
A subscale vehicle demonstrator (SVD) of the Aurora Flight Sciences' "LightningStrike" Vertical Take-off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL x-plane) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was successfully flown for the first time at a U.S. military facility.

Boeing KC-46 Program’s Second 767-2C Aircraft Completes First Flight 
With a successful first flight on April 25th, Boeing has added the fourth and final flight test aircraft to the KC-46 Pegasus fleet, a 767-2C.

May

Textron Has Success With A Hybrid Drone
Textron Systems Unmanned Systems, has announced the successful demonstration of the Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) enabled with Hybrid Quadrotor technology which allows the system to take-off and land vertically to significantly increase mission flexibility.

Sikorsky Conducts Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) Air Vehicle PDR 
Lockheed Martin has announced the successful execution of the Combat Rescue Helicopter Program (CRH) Air Vehicle Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This important review signals that the CRH program is proceeding with detailed design activities for the HH-60W Air Vehicle and Logistics system.

Commander Of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Relieved 
The commander of a Marine Corps aviation unit has been relieved of command for the second time this year.

B-29 Doc Moves Under Its Own Power 
For the first time since 1956, the nearly-restored B-29 known as Doc moved under its own power. The restoration crew performed the first of many low-speed taxi tests on May 11, 2016 as the final preparations are underway before first flight.

Bill To Allow WASPs To Be Buried In Arlington Cemetery Clears Congress
The full Congress has passed the Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration (WASP AIR) Act and sent it on to President Obama for his signature.

Lockheed Martin Will Build T-50A At South Carolina Facility
As the U.S. Air Force works toward replacing the T-38 Talon as its primary jet trainer, Lockheed Martin's Greenville, SC facility is prepping to build the T-50A, which the company will offer as the replacement for the T-38.

June

Boeing And USAF Adjust KC-46 Tanker Schedule
The U.S. Air Force is moving its formal production decision on the KC-46 tanker program - known as Milestone C - from June 2016 to August 2016 to allow additional time to implement the solution to a refueling boom loads issue identified during flight testing earlier this year, according to Boeing.

Thunderbirds, Blue Angels Lose Aircraft On The Same Day
A Blue Angels F/A-18 has gone down during a practice session in Smyrna, TN resulting in the fatal injury of the pilot of the aircraft. The accident occurred on the same day that an Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 went down in Colorado.

Lockheed T-50A Takes Flight
The initial flight test of the Lockheed Martin T-50A configured aircraft has been completed. The T-50A is the company’s aircraft offering in the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Pilot Training competition.

San Francisco Elected Official Seeks To Ban Blue Angels Over The City 
The tragic accident which occurred last Thursday which resulted in the fatal injury of a Blue Angels pilot has one city supervisor in San Francisco saying that the team should not fly over the city during Fleet Week in October.

Remote Piloting System For Helicopters Tested
A remote piloting system developed by Aurora Flight Sciences was recently tested by the company.

Thunderbirds To Resume Air Show Season This Weekend 
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are excited to announce the return to the 2016 demonstration schedule, beginning in Ocean City, MD.

US Navy Blue Angels Resume Airshow Schedule 
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will return to its 2016 demonstration schedule July 2-4 in Traverse City, MI, Commander, Naval Air Forces announced.

July

CH-53K King Stallion Achieves 27,000 Pound External Lift 
The CH-53K King Stallion being developed by Lockheed Martin has successfully completed an external lift of a 27,000 pound payload at Sikorsky's Development Flight Test Center in West Palm Beach, FL.

P-8A Poseidon Joins 4th Fleet
The P-8A Poseidon, one of the Navy's newest aircraft and the platform currently replacing the aging P-3C Orion, arrived at Cooperative Security Location (CSL) Comalapa, El Salvador.

First USAF F-35A Takes Overseas Flight To England 
The Air Combat Command F-35A Heritage Flight team accomplished America’s first transatlantic flight in an F-35A Lightning II, with refueling support from a KC-10 Extender, when it touched down here June 30.

Blue Angels Announce New Solo Pilot 
U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, announced their selection of a prior Blue Angels pilot to serve as their new Blue Angel #6 Opposing Solo pilot.

Doc Makes His First Flight 
On Sunday morning of July 17, the part of our Aero-Verse commonly referred to as, ‘Warbirds,’ became larger, and if weight counts, a lot heavier! The B-29 known as ‘Doc’ took to the sky for the first time since 1956. Doc now joins with the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) B-29, FIFI, as a living and flying memorial to our heroes from World War II.

Aircraft That Led D-Day Invasion In The Process Of Restoration 
On June 6th of 1944, over thousands of aircraft, ships, and Allied troops made their way over the beach in Normandy France in the D-Day invasion. Early that morning, at 12:44, the first airplane crossed the shoreline to drop paratroopers behind enemy lines. That airplane was a C47, piloted by Lt. Col. John M. Donalson, dubbed 'That's All, Brother'.

August

KC-46 Completes Required Flight Tests 
The KC-46 Pegasus program completed all flight tests required for the Milestone C production decision by offloading 1,500 pounds of fuel to an A-10 Thunderbolt II.

AF Declares The F-35A ‘Combat Ready’ 
The F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation fighter aircraft was declared ‘combat ready’ by Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the commander of Air Combat Command, Aug 2.

B-29 Doc Update: Rock-Solid Performance, Planning For More Flight Testing 
It’s been three weeks since B-29 Doc flew for the first time after a 16 year restoration project and the Doc restoration crew is working to plan the historic warbird’s second flight.

Connecticut Lawmakers Urge Navy To Keep Marine One Work In The State 
In a letter sent to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) and Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT-4) called on the Navy to suspend any possible plans to shift maintenance of the Marine One Presidential helicopter fleet from Stratford, Connecticut to a Navy facility in Florida.

September

A-10 Pilots Grounded By USAF After Stadium Fly-By 
The U.S. Air Force has grounded four A-10C Thunderbolt pilots after they made a low pass over Bank of America Stadium Monday.

Civil Air Patrol Reaches Flight Milestone
Civil Air Patrol surpassed 100,000 flying hours across its fleet of planes for the 2016 fiscal year late Tuesday — more than a 7 percent increase over the previous year.

Thunderbirds Accident Investigation At Three Months And Counting 
Air Force Officials were still working to determine what when wrong when a Thunderbirds F-16 went down during graduation exercises at the Air Force Academy in June.

WASP Pilot Finally At Rest At Arlington National Cemetery 
After a year of work by her family and an act of Congress sponsored by Arizona Republican Representative Martha McSally, the cremains of WASP pilot Elaine Harmon have finally been placed at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Boeing T-X Sees The Light 
Boeing and its partner Saab AB will use their two production T-X aircraft, revealed Tuesday September 13th, to show the U.S. Air Force the performance, affordability, and maintainability advantages of their approach.

Pilot Error Cited In Blue Angels Fatal Accident 
The Navy completed a Manual of the Judge Advocate General (JAGMAN) investigation Sept. 14, into the cause of the June 02, 2016 crash of Blue Angel #6 in Smyrna, TN.

New Long-Range Bomber Officially Named 'Raider' 
The Air Force’s new long-range strike bomber has officially been named the B-21 Raider.

U-2 Down In California 
The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that a U-2 "Dragon Lady" went down shortly after takeoff near the Sutter Buttes mountain range. Two pilots were onboard and ejected from the aircraft.

Connecticut Legislature Approves Agreement With Lockheed Martin 
The Connecticut legislature has overwhelmingly approved legislation offering incentives to Lockheed Martin to keep production of the Sikorski CH-53K helicopter, and Sikorsky's worldwide headquarters, in the state.

October

Doc Flies Again! Restored B-29 Makes Second Flight
The B-29 known as Doc successfully completed its second flight since being restored to airworthy status. Doc’s second flight lasted approximately 52 minutes at an altitude of four to five thousand feet on a flight pattern east of Wichita, KS.

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Launches Unmanned Aircraft 
A Vector Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been launched on command from the Marlin MK2 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) during a cross-domain command and control event hosted by the U.S. Navy. In addition to Marlin and Vector Hawk, the Submaran, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed by Ocean Aero, provided surface reconnaissance and surveillance.

Navy Receives Approval For Triton UAS Production
The Department of the Navy announced the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) recently received milestone C approval.

Remains Of Fighter Pilot Hero Return Home After 10 Years 
Nearly 10 years after he was killed in combat operations in Iraq, U.S. forces brought home the remains of F-16 pilot Maj. Troy Gilbert, who died saving the lives of U.S. service members and coalition allies.

King Stallion Passes Initial Operational Testing 
The CH-53K King Stallion successfully completed initial operational testing by the U.S. Marine Corps to verify the key capabilities of the heavy lift helicopter.

November

Navy’s First Operational MQ-4C Triton Squadron 
The Navy stood up its first unmanned-only aviation squadron in late October, as the MQ-4C Triton community establishes its first operational squadron.

First Two USAF Enlisted Pilots Complete Solo Flights 
Two Air Force master sergeants became the first enlisted Airmen in six decades to complete solo flights during Initial Flight Training at the 1st Flying Training Squadron Nov. 3.

Tyndall AFB Team Develops Solution To F-22 Weapons System Issue
A re-occurring weapon's system issue with an F-22 required a small team of Airmen to collectively work together recently to develop an innovative solution.

Boeing To Consolidate Defense And Space Sites 
Boeing is taking steps to operate its Defense, Space & Security business more efficiently through facilities consolidations and work movements that will increase employment in Los Angeles County, St. Louis, and Huntsville, AL.

Trump Presidency Could Mean Big Gains For The USAF
With the election just more than a week behind us, some experts say the U.S. Air Force may be a big winner when it comes to government spending.

December

P-51C Mustang 'Tuskegee Airmen' Has Successful Test Flight
Along with AirCorps Aviation, specialists in the restoration, maintenance, and rebuilding of vintage WWII aircraft, the CAF Redtail Squadron has announced the successful return to flight of the Squadron’s P-51C Mustang Tuskegee Airmen.

President-Elect Trump Says New Air Force One Is Too Expensive
President-elect Donald Trump dealt a blow to Boeing, saying that the planned order of two Boeing 747s to replace the aging Air Force One aircraft is too expensive and should be cancelled.

Air Force Releases Candidate Installations For Next F-35A Bases
Air Force officials announced five installations as candidate bases for the next two Air National Guard F-35A locations.

President-Elect Trump Aims His Twitter Account At The JSF 
Another military aviation program has drawn fire from President-elect Donald Trump. This time, he has taken to Twitter to criticize the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and government spending in general.

F-16CM Thunderbird Accident Investigation Report Released 
A throttle trigger malfunction and inadvertent throttle rotation resulted in an F-16CM being destroyed upon impacting the ground south of Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, June 2, 2016, according to an Accident Investigation Board report. The Thunderbird pilot ejected and sustained a minor injury.

Hornets, Growlers Grounded Following Whidbey Island Incident
The U.S. Navy grounded all of its F/A-18E/F Hornets and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft over the weekend following an incident involving a Growler at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Boeing T-X Completes First Flight 
The first flight of the T-X Aircraft being developed by Boeing and Saab flew for the first time. The airplane is being offered in the competition to replace the aging T-38 as the primary training aircraft for the USAF.

Complete Remains Of Pilot Shot Down In 2006 Buried At Arlington 
Long rows of white marble headstones line the landscape of Arlington National Cemetery, each memorializing a fallen U.S. military member with a unique story of service to the nation.  Nestled within Section 60 of the sprawling cemetery lies a marker for Air Force Maj. Troy Gilbert, an American Airman whose story and long journey home to his final resting place is an unusual one – and one which for nearly a decade lacked an ending since most of Gilbert’s remains had been missing and unrecovered somewhere in Iraq until this October.

First Production Conforming Scorpion Jet Completes Successful First Flight 
The first production conforming Scorpion jet has been flown for the first time by Textron AirLand. This program milestone closely follows the recent successful weapons capability exercise on the prototype Scorpion completed in early October. The Scorpion jet is a new direction for tactical aircraft designed to excel in roles ranging from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to close air support and armed reconnaissance.

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