Among the most distinctive from the eye-in-the-sky planes are the AWACS (airborne warning and control system) aircraft with their huge rotating rotodomes on top of the fuselage, housing the battlefield radar and IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) systems. Probably the most advanced of these planes are the land-based Boeing E-3 Sentry and the carrier-borne Grumman [...]

Planes that provide military and civilian operators with ‘eyes and ears in the sky’ range from multi-million dollar aircraft flying at Mach 3 almost 30km higher to ‘bug-eyed’ three-seaters built to fly at 70 knots at a few hundred metres.
The Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird is really a true specialist in a world of multi-purpose planes. Its [...]

Even though most nations do still have some specialized strategic heavy bombers, the enormous price of modern military aircraft has led to the development of a new type of military fighter jets known as the MRCA, or Multi-Role Combat Aircraft.
They’re compact military fighter jets ranging in size from the Anglo-French Jaguar, Panavia Tornado and French [...]

Conventional air force bombers have one thing in typical – they’re really large. One of one of the most well-known, the USAF’s Boeing 8-52 Stratofortress, is more than 49m lengthy, has a wingspan of just over 56m, and carries a weapons load of up to 22,680kg. Similar in shape and size is the Russian Tupolev [...]

In Operation Desert Storm, the campaign to liberate Kuwait from Saddam’s invasion force, the forty-two F-117A Nighthawk ‘Stealth Airforce Bombers’ from the US Air Force hit nearly 40% from the selected strategic targets – without losing a single aircraft. With great reason, the Saudis called them shabba, meaning ghosts.
The Gulf War was the initial time [...]

For safety, the planes are created to take much bigger forces than their fliers could ever stand. The manoeuvres performed by aerobatics pilots in light aircraft range from a maximum of about +4g to zero-g. Negative-g manoeuvres are seldom utilized, even though a few do involve forces of -I g. hurling a fighter plane for [...]

Stall turns, flick rolls, half-Cubans and Lomcevaks -simple everyday language towards the stunt pilots who hurl their tiny planes around the sky in manoeuvres that leave the crowds below (and sometimes the fliers themselves) gasping for breath.
When aerobatics (aerial acrobatics) first develop like a sport, nearly any aircraft was likely to be utilized. If it [...]

So you want to fly, but can’t afford the cost of getting a full Private Pilot’s Licence, let alone the price of your own light aircraft? Don’t despair. For a fraction of the cost you could still get yourself airborne – in a microlight plane.

Let’s clear up one common misunderstanding right at the start. [...]