Work has kept me offline for about a month, but I'm back again for the moment anyway.

I took the day off yesterday and what a day it was. It was job interview day and I was on my way to Switzerland. I left the house at 7:00 am for the early morning flight from Manchester to Basel, Switzerland via Frankfort, Germany for a 3:00 pm interview. After a two hour meeting I was back on the plane back to Manchester again via Frankfort. By 10:30 pm, I was home. What a marathon!

Jeez what a trip. I spent 6 hours in the air just to do a 2 hour meeting. God, I hope this trip was worth it.

More later folks.
Ken

Code One Magazine published by LockheedMartin has got an article on the ground testing for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in preparations for first flights of the USAF F-35A version later in 2006. This is an exciting time for the JSF program. There were those who never would have thought that this day would come.

With that said, the other JSF variants still have a way to go. The USN F-35C carrier version is proceding, but the USMCs' F-35B seems to be having some problems with engines and weight.

You can read more about the F-35 program at AirToAirCombat.com.

Ken

Hi Folks,

My son and I were walking through the Trafford Centre in Manchester the other day and picked of a couple Corgi die cast models on sale at the model shop. I got a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and my son got a North American P-51D Mustang. Neat stuff. I forgot how much fun it could be to play with models.

The models were a bargain at only £7 each ($12 US). The British planes like the Spitfire and Mosquito all sold out and the store was trying to clear out the slow moving US stuff.
The list price wasn't cheap either at £15 to 24 ($27-43 US) each.

Ken

Hi Folks,

Topic for discussion today is the National Museum of Naval Aviation's Brewster Buffalo. Now a lot has been written about the lone surviving example of the Brewster Buffalo. It wasn't exactly a rip roaring success in USN service, but this example and many others like it took the Finnish Air Force from aerial victory to aerial victory time and time again.

The particular aircraft was the mount of Lieutenant Lauri Pekuri, one of Finland's greatest World War 2 aces. Take a look at the site and learn more about how men make the machine and not the other way around.

Ken

Welcome to the AirToAirCombat.Com Blog

Hi Folks,

I'd like to welcome you to the 3rd AirToAirCombat.Com blog!

Life has always conspired to keep me from updating my blog and having it die away on the vine. This time, I'm going to do my best to keep this updated with new comments or information at least once a week.

For those of you out there reading this, I hope that you'll help to keep me honest by posting your encouragement and comments.

Regards,
Ken