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The Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers following an emergency landing and fire earlier this month, and none of the strategic aircraft will perform flyovers at this year’s college bowl games. A bomber experienced an in-flight malfunction on Dec. 10, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where it caught fire. The fire was extinguished and there were no injuries. The standdown is significant in that there are fewer than 20 stealth bombers in the entire fleet and the aircraft provides, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air...

========================================================================== A photograph appears to show a plane flying over Edwards Air Force base that's unlike any aircraft publicly acknowledged by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft appears similar to the RQ-180, a high-altitude spy drone. The RQ-180’s existence has never been confirmed by the U.S. Air Force. ======================================================================== The image (above) depicts a flying wing-shaped aircraft leaving a contrail in its wake. An observer reportedly took the photo while the aircraft was over the Military Operating Area at Edwards Air Force Base in California. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, the aircraft “was flying in a racetrack pattern...

Authorities are responding to a plane crash in the prison yard of a facility in Riverside County, according to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration. About 12:10 p.m., the Riverside County Sheriff's Department received reports of an "air emergency" along the 1900 block of 4th Street in Norco. Only the pilot was in the Northrop N9M when it crashed, the FAA said in an email to KTLA, citing local authorities. No injuries were reported on the ground, but the aircraft "sustained substantial damage," the FAA said. Aerial video from Sky5 showed charred ground where the plane appears to have...

What to you get when you go out looking for one of the daring (craziest) people on earth, give him a flying bat suit (a flying wing suit), a bunch of GoPro cameras and tell him to jump off a cliff? This video. Meet Jeb Corliss. Asked about the risk defying adventures, “I go out there expecting death”. That pretty much explains Jeb. For as long as he can remember, Jeb Corliss has dreamed of flying. One of his earliest memories came when he was 6 and sitting in the back of his aunt’s car watching birds jump from telephone...

An aircraft that resembles a four-point ninja star could go into supersonic mode by simply turning 90 degrees in midair. The unusual "flying wing" concept has won $100,000 in NASA funding to trying becoming a reality for future passenger jet travel. The supersonic, bidirectional flying wing idea comes from a team headed by Ge-Chen Zha, an aerospace engineer at Florida State University. He said the fuel-efficient aircraft could reach supersonic speeds without the thunderclap sound produced by a sonic boom — a major factor that previously limited where the supersonic Concorde passenger jet could fly over populated land masses.

X-48B Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft Makes First Flight The collaborative efforts of the Boeing Co. of Chicago, Ill., NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio culminated on the first flight of the X-48B Blended Wing Body research aircraft on July 20, 2007. The experienced flight research team kept a watchful eye as the 21-foot wingspan, 500-pound, remotely piloted test vehicle took off for the first time at 8:42 a.m. PDT and climbed to an altitude of 7,500 feet before landing 31 minutes later. "Friday's flight marked yet another aviation...

EDWARDS AFB - Think of it as the aviation equivalent of a hybrid car. That's the analogy used to describe a new aircraft shape preparing for flight test at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The X-48B is a prototype scale model of a blended wing body aircraft, one engineers believe could produce a more fuel-efficient transport-type aircraft. This unusually shaped aircraft design - described as a cross between a conventional aircraft and a flying wing - is believed to offer greater fuel efficiency by providing more lift and better aerodynamics. The aircraft is shaped as...

Saw a B2 Spirit while visiting Staten Island today.. It was a beautiful sight to see. Very quiet -- you wouldn't know it was over you until it was too late.. I've been waiting to see one for quite a while, and finally got a chance to. My son pointed out a plane to me, and I looked up expecting to see a passenger jet but instead saw the B2... :-)

6/14/2006 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- A new aircraft with the potential to get up to 30 percent better fuel mileage because of its unique flying-wing shape is being tested by the Air Force Research Laboratory and industry partners. The prototype blended wing body, or BWB, aircraft is a modified, triangular-shaped aircraft configuration with 20 control surfaces along its trailing edge. Researchers believe it will have greater fuel efficiency because more of the plane produces lift. More lift is gained because the wing centerbody, which on a BWB replaces the fuselage of a conventional airplane where the...

PALMDALE: Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed an upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber that allows the aircraft to deliver five times its previous capacity of independently targeted, “smart'' (GPS-guided) weapons. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the B-2, which remains the only long-range, large payload aircraft that can penetrate deep into protected airspace. Combined with superior airspace control provided by the F-22 Raptor and global mobility provided by tanker aircraft, the B-2 ensures an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world. The SBRA upgrade program enhances the B-2's ability to respond to current and...

Northrop Grumman Corp. will design a supersonic experimental aircraft that employs a wing that varies position for most efficient flight performance under a $10.3 million contract from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The oblique flying wing program aims to design and conduct the first-ever flight tests of a tailless, supersonic, variable sweep oblique flying wing... In an oblique wing aircraft, one wing of the aircraft is swept forward and the other backward in an asymetrical configuration, which varies with flight speed. The wing, also known as a "scissors wing," pivots over a center point, shifting angle as the...

EDWARDS AFB - After taking a year off, the Edwards Air Force Base Open House and Air Show returns with a bang - and a boom and a roar - on Oct. 22 and 23. The free event will feature seldom-seen aircraft in the air and on the ground as the base pulls out all the stops to showcase military and civilian aviation. "It's looking real good," said Edwards spokesman John Haire of the tentative show lineup, expected to feature more flying than in recent years. Making its aerial debut at Edwards will be the unmanned Predator, used in combat...

WASHINGTON - If the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall is aviation's Mecca, the pilgrimage now has a second site. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, named for its primary backer, opened adjacent to Dulles International Airport in December, providing a cavernous showcase for the Smithsonian's larger aircraft and space vehicles, as well as many others that couldn't find room in the traditional space. Unlike the Mall site with its sleek, boxy exterior, the new center across the river in nearby Virginia invokes the aviation history inside with its massive hangars and control tower observation deck. Whereas the...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

They are among the most recognizable aircraft in the world: U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, B-2 stealth bomber and F-117 stealth fighter. But in the beginning, few outside the cloistered world of their development knew of their existence. There were rumors of strange black shapes in the skies over Area 51 in Nevada's desert. But not even the families of those who designed, built and flew these top-secret machines knew what was really taking shape. Now, many of the tales of those "black world" airplanes can be told. Six pilots from those programs shared their stories recently at the Society of Experimental...