June 6, 1944, soon after 1:00 a.m. . . . Across Normandy charge the C-47s of IX Troop Carrier Command and their fighting cargo, the paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. They have come to liberate the oppressed. Braving walls of clouds, German flak, and with just the moon to shine their path, the pilots toggle the green light over French fields and villages like Sainte-Mère-Église, a sign to the paratroopers—Go! With church bells ringing below and the prayers of the world behind them, the boys of the 101st and 82nd Divisions brush fear aside and jump into the night.
C-47 SQUADRON CO
BEN KENDIG
In 1941, at the age of 20, Ben Kendig entered flying school. By 1943, he was the Ops Officer for the 44th Squadron, 316th TCG. He flew paratroopers in the Operation Husky paradrop over Sicily and again on D-Day before becoming the Commanding Officer of the 44th Troop Carrier Squadron.
For Market Garden, General Gavin selected Kendig to be his pilot for the jump. After flying the major operations to date, Kendig wanted to try his hand at flying fighters so he became a P-38 recon pilot and Squadron Commander, a position he held until the end of the war.
For his combat flying, Kendig received the Distinguished Flying Cross, five Air Medals, nine unit citations, and perhaps his most impressive honor - reaching the lofty rank of Lt. Colonel at age 23!
Originally designed by General Dynamics the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a successful fly-by-wire multirole fighter purchased for the USAF to replace it's old Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighters whose extreme maintenance requirements and excessive loss rates in Vietnam had effectively rendered the aircraft obsolete.
The design of the F-16 Fighting Falcon is smaller, lighter and most importantly cheaper than it's main contempories, the F14 and F15 fighters, and therefore allows it to be fielded in grater numbers at less cost, an attractive option if the enemy is not itself fielding true state of the art fighters. The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is well liked by it's flight-crew who have nicknamed the aircraft the "Viper" after the imaginary fighter in the "Battlestar Galactica" film and series, the fighter has in fact proven so successful that it has been built under licence in no less than seven different countries.
Lockheed Martin F-16C Specifications:
Crew: Pilot only
Length: 49 ft 5 in (14.8 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.8 m)
Height: 16 ft (4.8 m)
Empty weight: 18,200 lb (8,270 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)
Engine: Single 23,770 lbf (105.7 kN) Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 or 28,600 lbf (128.9 kN) General Electric F110-GE-100 afterburning turbofan
Maximum speed: Mach 2+ (1,500 mph, 2,414 km/h)
Combat radius: 340 NM (295 mi, 550 km)
Service ceiling 50,000 ft (15,239 m)
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Armament:
Guns: Single 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan gatling gun
Rockets: 2¾ in (70 mm) CRV7
Air-to-air missiles: Twin AIM-7 Sparrow or Six AIM-9 Sidewinder or Six AIM-120 AMRAAM or Six Python-4
Air-to-ground missiles: Six AGM-45 Shrike or six AGM-65 Maverick or four AGM-88 HARM
Anti-ship missiles: Twin AGM
The F-117 Nighthawk was designed and built buy Lockheed's famous Skunk Works as a stealth fighter and ground attack aircraft for the USAF, it first flew in 1981, entering active service two years later for night-time missions only, the aircraft soon gained the nicknames "Frisbee" and "Wobblin' Goblin" with it's USAF pilots. The F-117 Nighthawk was the World's first ever true stealth aircraft, the aircraft's stealth technology and stealth design being given a higher priority than it's aerodynamics.
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is due to be withdrawn from active service with the USAF in mid 2008, it's role being taken over by the newer and higher performance, but less stealthy, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk Specifications:
Crew: Pilot only
Length: 69 ft 9 in (20.08 m)
Wingspan: 43 ft 4 in (13.20 m)
Height: 12 ft 9.5 in (3.78 m)
Empty weight: 29,500 lb (13,380 kg)
Loaded weight: 52,500 lb (23,800 kg)
Engines: Twin 10,600 lbf (48.0 kN) General Electric F404-F1D2 turbofans.
Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (617 mph, 993 km/h)
Cruise speed: Mach 0.92 (617 mph, 993 km/h)
Range: 930 NM[42] (1720 km)
Service ceiling 69,000 ft (20,000 m)
Armament:
Twin internal single hard-point weapons bays with a total weapons load of any two of the following:
BLU-109 low-level hardened penetrator laser-guided bomb
GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bomb
GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb
GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bomb
JDAM INS/GPS guided munitions
Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile
Raytheon AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missile
The Dassault Mirage F1 first flew in late 1966 and entered service with the French Air Force in 1973, it was designed by Dassault Aviation as a single seat fighter and attack air craft to replace both the Dassault Mirage III and the Mirage V fighters. A total of 720 Dassault Mirage F1 aircraft have been built and has served with the air forces of France, Iraq, Spain, Greece, South Africa, Jordan, Kuwait and Morocco. Over a third of the 720 Dassault Mirage F1 fighters produced served with the French Air Force and remained their primary interceptor until the introduction of the Dassault Mirage 2000.
Mirage F1 Specifications:
Crew: Pilot only
Length: 15.33 m (50 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Height: 4.49 m (14 ft 8 in)
Empty weight: 7,400 kg (16,000 lb)
Loaded weight: 11,130 kg (24,540 lb)
Maximum takeoff weight: 16,200 kg (35,700 lb)
Engine: Single SNECMA Atar 9K-50 afterburning turbojet
Maximum speed: Mach 2.3 (2,573 km/h, 1,600 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Combat radius: 425 km (229 nm, 265 mi)
Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 215 m/s (42,300 ft/min)
Armament:
Twin 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons with 150 rounds per gun
Eight Matra rocket pods each containing 18 SNEB 68 mm unguided-rockets
Missiles can be any of the following:
Four AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range infra-red heat-seeking air-to-air missiles
Four Matra R550 Magics short-range infra-red heat-seeking air-to-air missiles
Two Super 530F medium-range radar directed air-to-air missiles
Two AM-39 Exocet long-range radar directed anti-ship missiles
Two AS-30L medium-range air-to-ground laser guided homing missiles
Bomb:
14,000 lb (6,300 kg) of munitions or external fuel drop tanks carried on five external hardpoints
The RAF's FGR.2 Phantom (fighter/ground-attack/reconnaissance) is in fact a McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4M-35-MC, a modified export version of the F-4K already made by McDonnell Douglas for the Royal Navy where it was designated the Phantom FG-1 (fighter/ground attack), this was a F-4J re-engined with Rolls-Royce Spey engines for UK use.
The RAF's FGR.2 Phantoms were gradually replaced by the Panavia Tornado F3 from the late 1980's, the last RAF Phantoms were retired from operational duties in 1993. The RAF FGR.2 Phantom pictured bellow is XV424, this aircraft was flown across the Atlantic in Feb 69 and became operational with No 6 Squadron based at RAF Coningsby the same month. XV424 remained operational with the RAF until Jul 92, in Nov 92 XV424 was delivered by road to the RAF Museum in Hendon where she remains on display.
The Dassault Mirage F1 first flew in late 1966 and entered service with the French Air Force in 1973, it was designed by Dassault Aviation as a single seat fighter and attack air craft to replace both the Dassault Mirage III and the Mirage V fighters. A total of 720 Dassault Mirage F1 aircraft have been built and has served with the air forces of France, Iraq, Spain, Greece, South Africa, Jordan, Kuwait and Morocco. Over a third of the 720 Dassault Mirage F1 fighters produced served with the French Air Force and remained their primary interceptor until the introduction of the Dassault Mirage 2000.
Mirage F1 Specifications:
Crew: Pilot only
Length: 15.33 m (50 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Height: 4.49 m (14 ft 8 in)
Empty weight: 7,400 kg (16,000 lb)
Loaded weight: 11,130 kg (24,540 lb)
Maximum takeoff weight: 16,200 kg (35,700 lb)
Engine: Single SNECMA Atar 9K-50 afterburning turbojet
Maximum speed: Mach 2.3 (2,573 km/h, 1,600 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Combat radius: 425 km (229 nm, 265 mi)
Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 215 m/s (42,300 ft/min)
Armament:
Twin 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons with 150 rounds per gun
Eight Matra rocket pods each containing 18 SNEB 68 mm unguided-rockets
Missiles can be any of the following:
Four AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range infra-red heat-seeking air-to-air missiles
Four Matra R550 Magics short-range infra-red heat-seeking air-to-air missiles
Two Super 530F medium-range radar directed air-to-air missiles
Two AM-39 Exocet long-range radar directed anti-ship missiles
Two AS-30L medium-range air-to-ground laser guided homing missiles
Bomb:
14,000 lb (6,300 kg) of munitions or external fuel drop tanks carried on five external hardpoints
