I was able to attend the Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course "open day" that was not available to the general public.
Often held in Arizona at this time of year, pilots and crews converge for a few days of training before heading off to make the rounds of this year's Airshows across the country.
Saturday and Sunday were open to employees and media, so I took advantage in order to show you all the aircraft that have been flying around my house these past few days.
Enjoy!
As you enter the parking ramp, you notice that they have separated the historical and modern aircraft to each side. Being somewhat of a fan of history, I had no difficulty choosing to explore the older aircraft first.
P-38 Lightning "Thoughts of Midnite"
This is a P-38 Lighting used to great success by American forces in WW2. Before the P-51D modification, these aircraft were the primary long-range fighters. In that regards, they were more often seen in the Pacific theater as the travel ranges were much higher than in Europe.
Not especially good as a dogfighter due to a low rate of roll, they found better success in a fighter-bomber role.
I found an old picture of this exact aircraft pictured above. The original name was the "Putt-Putt Maru."
P-40 Warhawk
This aircraft is a P-40 Warhawk created by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Due to the nose art, I suspect this one was flown by the Royal Australian Air Force during WW2. P40's were the 3rd most manufactured design of Allied fighters in WW2.
The P-40's were good early war aircraft at low to medium altitudes. However, they had a lack of power at higher altitudes. To guard against this defect, they were sent to theaters where high altitude missions were not commonly encountered, such as the North Africa, Indonesia, and China.
It was blessed with a very strong frame and this allowed it to survive damage that would have crashed lesser aircraft. It is even known that a few pilots chose intentional mid-air ramming to take down enemy aircraft.
P-51 Mustangs
No other aircraft were as common as the P-51 during WW2, with more than 15,000 manufactured. Many different variations were created, ending in the best this design could handle in the P-51D.
The P-51D was armed with 6 .50 caliber Browning machine guns, three on each wing.
This aircraft was so good, it was still in active use by the Dominican Air Force until 1984. Even the American Air Force used these bad boys in the Korean war until they were replaced by the F-86F Sabre jet powered fighter.
F-86F Sabre
Speaking of the F-86F Sabre, here is the "Jolly Roger."
This aircraft was manufactured in 1952 and piloted by Captain Clifford Jolley during the Korean War. It was there that he scored seven air victories.
After it was retired from US service, it was sold to the Argentinian Air Force.
A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog"
This plane was designed around its 30mm gatling gun. Yes. They wanted that gun to fly so they had an aircraft built to carry it. Pretty badass!
The aircraft is designed to be a close air support aircraft, meaning its mission is to rain destruction down on targets - not to fight against other aircraft.
Since it is to fly near to enemy ground positions, it was created with durability and survival in mind. It has 1,200 pounds of titanium armor surrounding the cockpit, as well as multiple redundant systems. It was actually made to be able to fly missing one, engine, half its tail, one elevator, AND half a wing missing!
F-16 Fighting Falcon
Designed after the Vietnam war, it was primarily created to be an air superiority fighter aircraft. Since those times, it has evolved into a fighter jet that can perform multiple roles.
Still in use by the USA today, it can also be found in 25 other nations arsenals.
F-22 Raptor
Development of a replacement for the F-15 and F-16 aircraft started way back in 1981. After many changes and delays, it finally entered service in 2005.
It is a stealth air superiority fighter, and it is said that no other aircraft can match it in the skies.
It is already out of production, with a final number built standing at 187. It was beat out by the more versatile F-35.
F-35 Lightning II
This is the most recent aircraft to enter service in the US Air Force as the first squadron started operations in August of 2016.
It is a stealth multirole fighter, designed to perform air-to-ground or air-to-air missions. It is also the most expensive fighter plane in history with an expected average cost of $85 million per jet.
It looks very similar to the F-22 as both aircraft are from Lockheed-Martin.