I have always wanted to fly an aircraft so new that the sticky price tag was still on it; when that price tag is attached to an F-16, the experience is well worth the effort.
Read MoreFiring a Sidewinder
"All at once the growl is replaced by a ferocious barking. I feel as if I’m holding back an angry Rottweiler"
Read MoreTopGun Days
"Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work when you put a couple of $30 million Tomcats against a couple of $5 million Tigers."
Read MoreEagles Over Nevada - A Pirate Story
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Royal Air Force's participation at Exercise RED FLAG, hosted since 1975 by the US Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Read MoreSteve Long. On exchange with the US Marine Corps. (Part 2)
I was mindful that the locals might not be too friendly where we were about to land.
Read MoreRed In The Sand, 2004 - 2013
We had already been rocketed twice today. The first attack had been at 3 a.m. at Basra, the attack siren waking us out of bed to lie on the dusty floor.
Read MoreSTEVE LONG ON EXCHANGE WITH THE US MARINE CORPS. (PART 1)
I was alarmed and called on the radio - ‘Dude, are you getting shot at?’ ‘No’. ‘Well you’re flaring. Quit it!’
Read MorePatrolling the Cold War Skies
We had to be ready to roll up our sleeves and get into close quarter combat … affectionately referred to as ‘a knife fight in a telephone box’.
Read MoreMIKE BEECH: WHAT THE.....?
I tried moving flaps, nozzles, throttle: nothing made any difference. Then, in my peripheral hearing I heard the boss screaming, literally, 'Get out , Mike, get out'
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