Air Age Store

COLUMNS

4 ‹ Editorial
82 ‹ Tailview


FEATURES

6 ‹ Hellcat versus Corsair
Grumman test pilot flies the competition
By Corky Meyer

18 ‹ Flying the FW 190
A legend gets checked out in the Butcher Bird
By Capt. Eric Brown

30 ‹ South Pacific Warrior
A rare combat Mustang
By Robert "Cricket" Renner

38 ‹ Me 262 Mach 1 Mystery
Did the Reich get there first?
By Walter Boyne

50 ‹ Lightning Ace!
P-38 legend Robin Olds
By Robin Olds via Christina Olds

58 ‹ Gunfighter of the Rising Sun
A Zero pilot’s own story
By Ron Werneth

66 ‹ The Best WW II Fighter
Which was number one?
By Corky Meyer


DEPARTMENTS
64 ‹ In Theater

46 ‹ Gallery
Supermarine Spitfire Learn More

FEATURES
The Last Combat
F-117s Over Baghdad
The Original “Old Crow”
Flying for “Devotion”
First Bridge

REGULARS
Editorial
Gallery: Fairchild 24
Tailview
Learn More

FEATURES
Ruthless Jug Jockey
Flying with the 317th Fighter Squadron
By Lt. George Novotny, USAAF (Ret.),
as told to and written by James P. Busha

Quick Draw McGraw
FM-2 Wildcat action in the battle of Leyte Gulf
by Capt. Joe D. McGraw, USN (Ret.),
as told to and written by James P. Busha

Marvelous Mustangs
Pilots of the 78th FG trade in their
P-47s for P-51s—and love them!
By Frank Oiler, First Lt. USAAC (Ret.),
as told to and written by James P. Busha

Bombing the Bombers
Me 262s take desperate measures
against the Allies
By J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek

Dark Blue
Royal Navy Corsairs—the first to
fly from carriers
By Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.)

Ruff Stuff
Memories of an early war
South Pacific fighter pilot
By Major Norbert C. Ruff USAF (Ret.),
as told to and written by James P. Busha

Ivans & Indians
Fighting the Allies with a Fw 190
By Norbert Hannig, Luftwaffe Lt. Colonel (Ret.),
as told to and written by James P. Busha

Early Channel Battles
Spitfires fend off Me 109s
By John Starkey

Samurai Survivor
Zero Ace Saburo Sakai
By Kelly Bell

REGULARS

Editorial
In Theater:
The Fighting 56th
By Stan Piet

In Theater:
A Pacific Kodak Moment
By Frederick A. Johnsen

Tailview Learn More

FEATURES
Risinger Raid
It seemed like a good idea
at the time
By Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd, USAF (Ret.)

Desert Comanches
P-40 combat over North Africa
By Col. Wayne E. “Fox” Rhynard, USAF (Ret.),
As told to and written by James P. Busha

Flying History into the Future
The new generation of warbird pilots, restorers & mechanics
By Jan Tegler

Bombing in the Beast
Ben Case and the SB2C Helldiver
By Robert F. Dorr

Annihilator 23's Six-Hour Fight
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior pilots
battle Afghan insurgents
By Jan Tegler

REGULARS

Editorial

Gallery: Timm N2T-1
Ed and Dustin Newberg keep one of the world’s first composite aircraft flying
By Jan Tegler

In Theater:
Alaskan Miracle Bird
By Robert F. Dorr

Tailview Learn More

FEATURES
Combat Veteran
Spitfire AB910 flew 143 wartime operations and has amazing stories to tell
By Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.)

Stinson SR5A Reliant
Harry Ballance’s pursuit of perfection
By Jan Tegler

Covert Lightning
The A-Model F-35
By Ted Carlson

Breitling Dials Up a Unique Formation
A Mustang, Mosquito, Corsair and Warhawk bring the Super AVI collection to life
By Jan Tegler

A Month Like No Other
The epic final days of Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille
By Robert Tate

REGULARS
Editorial

Gallery: Albatros D.Va
By Gene DeMarco

In Theater: The Spoils of War
By Stan Piet

Tailview Learn More

FEATURES
Test-flying
the Hellcat
A test pilot’s trials and tribulations
in Grumman’s WW II masterpiece
By Corky Meyer

Taming the
“Wooden Wonder”
Mike Spalding flies the Military Aviation
Museum’s DeHavilland DH-98 Mosquito
By Jan Tegler

Jug Ace
High-scoring P-47 Thunderbolt pilot
Lt. Col. Robert “Bob” S. Johnson
By Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.)

Riff Raff
The Hawker Sea Fury that forced
an astronaut back down to Earth
By Jan Tegler

Last Man Out
Miracle in the South China Sea
by Paul Novak

REGULARS

Editorial

In Theater: What they wore
By Robert F. Dorr and Charles E. DiSipio

Gallery: Me 163 Komet
By Heath Moffatt

Tailview
Sixteen Hours in “Old Crow”
By Jan Tegler
Learn More

FEATURES

High-Time Hog Driver
Inside the cockpit with Lt. Col. John Marks,
the Air Force’s most experienced A-10 pilot
By Jan Tegler

Aerial Refueling
with a Drone
In the cockpit with the first aircrew ever to
refuel in flight from an uncrewed tanker
By Jan Tegler

Nighthawk
Under cover of darkness, Britain’s Hawker
Hurricane hunts for prey
By Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.)

Dive-Bombing Mustangs
The forgotten A-36
By Walter Boyne

Electric Flight Takes Off
A bright future for cleaner, quieter,
next-gen power
By Tom Atwood

REGULARS

Editorial

Gallery
Taylor Aerocar
By Dave Unwin

Tailview
An interview with
Jimmy Doolittle
By David Walsh



ON THE COVER: Flying in darkness, single-seat, non-radar-equipped Hawker Hurricanes fl ew with RAF Fighter Command night-fi ghter squadrons, their pilots attempting to intercept and destroy German bombers attacking targets in England in in 1941. RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hurricane Mk IIC PZ865, fl own here by Group Captain Matt Peterson MBE. (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/ theplanepicture with eff ects by Betty Nero) Learn More