US Navy amphibious assault ship sails into Hawaii with flight deck loaded up with World War II warbirds

<ul class="summary-list"><li>For the better part of a century, US pilots have fought to control the sky over battlefields all around the world.</li><li>Fighter aircraft have always been at the leading edge of those battles, and the US has fielded some of the most advanced fighters ever built.</li></ul><p>The surest way to secure the skies over a battlefield is with fighter aircraft, and nobody knows that better than the <keyword id="6404246" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="us-air-force">US Air Force</keyword>.</p><p>Though America's aerial-warfare beginnings were humble, the Air Force now has the world's best fighters.</p><p>With over 100 years of service, Air Force fighter jets have met every challenge they've faced and are constantly evolving in order to control the skies.</p><h2><keyword id="10261221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="spad-xiii">SPAD XIII</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="SPAD XIII fighter plane" height="1197" width="1800" msid="79182104" hostid="261"></div><p>World War I was the first combat experience for American pilots, who were then part of the Aeronautical Division of the US Signal Corps.</p><p>When the US entered the war in 1917, it was "almost totally unprepared in aeronautical experience, equipment, and personnel," according to a post-war <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Unification_of_the_War_and_Navy_Departme.html?id=-DdqugEACAAJ" target="_top">report</a>.</p><p>With no experience or fighter aircraft of its own, the US had to purchase British- and French-made fighters. The most well-known was the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/spad-xiii-smith-iv/nasm_A19200001000" target="_top">SPAD XIII</a>.</p><p>The SPAD XIII was a French biplane armed with two Vickers machine guns that used <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwi-fighter-planes-fired-through-propeller-without-hitting-it-2019-5" target="_top">an interrupter gear to fire</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwi-fighter-planes-fired-through-propeller-without-hitting-it-2019-5" target="_top"> through the propeller</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwi-fighter-planes-fired-through-propeller-without-hitting-it-2019-5" target="_top">s</a>. It could carry four 25-pound bombs and had a top speed of about 135 mph.</p><p>With over 8,000 built, the SPAD XIII was one of the most-produced fighters of the war and was the US's primary fighter. The two most successful US aces of the war, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker and 2nd Lt. Frank Luke, scored most of their kills with SPAD XIIIs.</p><h2><keyword id="10261219" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="p-38">P-38</keyword> Lightning and <keyword id="9746590" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="p-51">P-51</keyword> Mustang</h2><div type="image" title="P-38 Lightning fighter plane WWII" height="1048" width="1398" msid="79182105" hostid="261"></div><p>By the time of World War II, US pilots, then part of the US Army Air Corps, were much better prepared.</p><p>US manufacturers had developed dozens of fighter designs. One was the <a href="https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/p-38.html" target="_top">P-38 Lightning</a>, which was introduced in 1941 and was one of the fastest in the world, with a top speed over 400 mph. It was also used extensively for reconnaissance and obtained 90% of the aerial film recorded over Europe.</p><p>A P-38 was the first US fighter flown by an American to shoot down a German aircraft, and its success over Europe earned it the nickname "the fork-tailed devil" among Germans, referring to its distinctive twin-tail design.</p><p>The P-38 truly distinguished itself in the Pacific, however, claiming more Japanese aircraft than any other fighter. The two best US aces of the war, Maj. Richard Bong and Maj. Thomas McGuire, scored all of their victories with P-38s in the Pacific.</p><div type="image" title="Air Force P-51 Mustang Spangdahlem Germany" height="848" width="1400" msid="79182107" hostid="261"></div><p>But the <a href="https://www.boeing.com/history/products/p-51-mustang.page" target="_top">P-51 Mustang</a> is perhaps the best-known American fighter of World War II. Introduced in 1942, it carried six M2 Browning .50-caliber machine guns in its wings. Racks under the wings could carry 10 rockets or up to 1,000 pounds of bombs.</p><p>The Mustang could reach 425 mph and 40,000 feet, and was the US's primary fighter in Europe, though it also served as a fighter-bomber.</p><p>P-51s are <a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000593917/" target="_top">believed</a> to have shot down 4,950 enemy aircraft. They were so successful and so numerous (over 15,000 built) that British planes were able to resume daylight bombing raids on Germany in 1944 with P-51s escorting them the whole way.</p><p>A Senate committee called it "the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence," and Hermann Göring, who commanded Germany's air force, reportedly <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fighter_Aces/xDouDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=0pv=0" target="_top">said</a> after the war that "when I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."</p><p>The P-51 was the main US fighter until the <keyword id="10261220" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="f-86">F-86</keyword> Sabre arrived in 1949, but it continued to serve in the Korean War.</p><h2>F-86 Sabre</h2><div type="image" title="f 86 sabre korean war" height="794" width="1457" msid="79182108" hostid="261"></div><p>The Sabre wasn't the Air Force's first jet fighter, but none of its predecessors could handle the Soviet-made MiG-15 when the Korean War started in 1950.</p><p>As a result, the Sabre was rushed to the front line. Armed with six .50-caliber machine guns and 16 rockets, the Sabre's top speed was 650 mph and its service ceiling was over 45,000 feet.</p><p>Its excellent maneuverability, combined with the fact that most US pilots were hardened World War II veterans, enabled the Sabre to wreak havoc on North Korean, Chinese, and Soviet pilots.</p><p>Sabres shot down hundreds of MiGs. One post-war <a href="https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/files/2008_RAND_Pacific_View_Air_Combat_Briefing.pdf" target="_top">study</a> put the loss ratio at almost 2:1. All but one of the American aces of the Korean War flew F-86s.</p><h2><keyword id="1611350" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="F-4">F-4</keyword> Phantom II</h2><div type="image" title="F 4 phantom camo" height="1611" width="2496" msid="79182109" hostid="261"></div><p>In 1960, the US Navy adopted a new jet, the <a href="https://www.boeing.com/history/products/f-4-phantom-ii.page" target="_top">F-4 Phantom II</a>. Unlike its predecessors, the Phantom was designed as a fighter-bomber, allowing the Navy to field one model for multiple missions.</p><p>The Air Force adopted the F-4C variant in 1963. It was a twin-seat fighter-bomber capable of carrying up to 15,983 pounds of ordnance. It usually carried eight air-to-air missiles and eight 750-pound bombs.</p><p>The Phantom II was equipped with afterburners that made its top speed 1,485 mph, though it usually cruised at 590 mph. Its service ceiling was 56,100 feet.</p><p>It was the Vietnam War's defining jet. Air Force F-4Cs, with their speed and advanced radar, shot down 78% of the MiGs downed by the Air Force during the war. Only 33 of the 445 Phantoms the Air Force lost during the war were downed in aerial combat.</p><h2><keyword id="1590501" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="F-15">F-15</keyword> Eagle and <keyword id="59059" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="F-16">F-16</keyword> Fighting Falcon</h2><div type="image" title="F-16 Falcons for close air support, F-15E Strike Eagles for bombing missions and F-15 Eagle Fighters for combat air patrol" height="1231" width="2000" msid="79182110" hostid="261"></div><p>With the lessons of Vietnam, the Air Force was determined to keep the advantage in fighter technology. The future of aerial warfare required fast, cost-effective fighters that could dominate the skies while striking ground targets.</p><p>The result was the <a href="https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104501/f-15-eagle/" target="_top">F-15 Eagle</a> and the <a href="https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/" target="_top">F-16 Fighting Falcon</a>. The F-15 was adopted in 1976 and the F-16 in 1978.</p><p>The F-15 was originally designed to carry eight air-to-air missiles, but <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a22355833/boeing-new-f-15x/" target="_top">later models</a> could carry up to two dozen. It also has a 20 mm rotary cannon, and some variants can carry 23,000 pounds of ordnance.</p><p>The F-16, designed as a lightweight fighter, has a 20 mm rotary cannon and can carry eight missiles and up to 8,000 pounds of bombs.</p><p>Both are capable of speeds over 1,500 mph and can fly as high as 65,000 feet.</p><p>The F-15 has one of the best <a href="https://warisboring.com/has-anyone-ever-shot-down-an-f-15-in-air-combat/" target="_top">reputations</a> among fighter jets. Boeing claims it has never been shot down by enemy aircraft, giving it a remarkable kill ratio of 104:0. (Israel's air force is mostly responsible for that tally.) The F-16 is also <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-f-16-fighting-falcon-old-fighter-jet-keeps-killing-73676" target="_top">highly regarded</a>.</p><p>Though they were designed and built in the Cold War, the F-15 and F-16 remain the backbone of the Air Force's fighter fleet.</p><h2>F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II</h2><div type="image" title="F-35 and F-22" height="3280" width="4928" msid="79182111" hostid="261"></div><p>As the Cold War ended, a new type of fighter was being created with an emphasis on speed, maneuverability, and a new characteristic — stealth. They were built with new angled designs, radar-absorbent material, and new electronics that made it harder for radar to spot.</p><p>The first, the <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/f22a-raptor/" target="_top">F-22 Raptor</a>, was adopted in 2005. Its internal weapons bays can hold up to eight air-to-air missiles or two 1,000-pound bombs. Four external hardpoints allow it to carry more missiles or more than 9,000 pounds of ordnance. It also has a 20 mm rotary cannon.</p><p>The second, the <a href="https://www.f35.com/about" target="_top">F-35 Lightning II</a>, was adopted in 2016. It carries a <a href="https://www.f35.com/about/carrytheload/weaponry" target="_top">similar </a><a href="https://www.f35.com/about/carrytheload/weaponry" target="_top">payload</a>.</p><p>Neither have faced enemy fighters head-to-head, but they have had <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/unbeatable-f-35-keeps-winning-war-game-after-war-game-168452" target="_top">promising results</a> in numerous simulations. They've also bombed ISIS targets in Syria.</p><p>The US relies on F-22s and F-35s to check rivals around the world, and they've been deployed to important US bases in Japan, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.</p>

A short history of US fighter aircraft — from biplanes to stealth jets

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13725469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jack-sweeney" source="Orion">Jack Sweeney</keyword> said he has begun tracking four of <keyword id="11922280" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-cruise" source="Orion">Tom Cruise</keyword>'s private aircrafts.</li><li>The teen is reporting the travel habits of numerous celebrities, including Jay-Z and <keyword id="11930593" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taylor-swift" source="Orion">Taylor Swift</keyword>.</li></ul><p>The teen known for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-jet-tracking-teen-russian-oligarch-jets-twitter-account-2022-2">tracking Elon Musk's jet</a> has expanded his reach to include Hollywood stars.</p><p>Jack Sweeney, 19, <a href="https://twitter.com/JxckSweeney/status/1533983617440956419">said</a> on Monday via Twitter that he had begun tracking four of Tom Cruise's private jets under his Twitter account <a href="https://twitter.com/CelebJets">@CelebJets.</a> The account has nearly 28,000 followers and also appears to track the travel patterns of several other celebrities, including Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, and <keyword id="6357837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kim-kardashian" source="Orion">Kim Kardashian</keyword>.</p><p>Sweeney told Insider he created the account in October, but has been gradually adding new celebrities, primarily based on requests. </p><p>A spokesperson for Cruise did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>Cruise has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-top-gun-maverick-set-memorial-day-box-office-record-2022-5">made headlines</a> in recent weeks with his smash hit "Top Gun: Maverick." But, his character isn't the only one with an affinity for jets.</p><p>The actor is known to have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewstibbe/2012/04/16/tom-cruise-goes-top-gun-with-new-p-51-mustang/?sh=5c07d63486fb">spent millions</a> on buying private aircrafts, including a $4 million World War II-era P-51 Mustang single-seater fighter plane and a $20 million Gulfstream. Sweeney said he has been able to identify Cruise's P-51, Gulfstream, HondaJet, and a Challenger 300. </p><p>Sweeney uses bots to scrape publicly available air-traffic data. He told Insider he identifies patterns between the aircraft's travel history and the celebrity.</p><p>"A lot of them are known already or there's pictures or articles of the celebrity exiting the aircraft somewhere, but no one seems to be tracking besides me," Sweeney said.</p><p>Cruise has held a pilot's license since 1994 and often flies his own private jets, according to Forbes. The actor is <a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-cruise-best-stunts-all-time-ranked-2022-5">known for doing his own stunts</a> in his movies.</p><p>Cruise also appears to enjoy flights as a passenger as well. His Gulfstream 4 is tricked out with a jacuzzi and screening room, Forbes has reported. The actor <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/tom-cruises-dark-twisted-journey-to-scientologys-top-gun">reportedly</a> has a private hangar where he stores the aircrafts.</p><p>The actor is one of many people that Sweeney has begun tracking. Last month, he announced on Twitter that he had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-jet-tracking-teen-claims-discovered-mark-zuckerberg-plane-2022-5#:~:text=Jack%20Sweeney%2C%20the%20teen%20known,on%20his%20personal%20Twitter%20account.&amp;text=Well%20jackpot%20%40ZuccJet%20should%20be,found%20Mark%20Zuckerberg's%20jet%20N68885.">uncovered</a> the whereabouts of Mark Zuckerberg's <keyword id="12324783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="private-jet" source="Orion">private jet</keyword>. Sweeney had previously tracked the Facebook founder's travel patterns, but was made aware that Zuckerberg had changed <keyword id="11896629" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="planes" source="Orion">planes</keyword> about a month after he began tracking the billionaire. Meta <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-meta-security-record-27-million-2021-2022-4">spent over $26 million</a> on its CEO's private security in 2021.</p><p>Earlier this year, Musk expressed concern over the account Sweeney created to track and report out his personal travel habits. In January, the Tesla CEO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-offered-5k-remove-jet-tracker-twitter-account-report-2022-1">offered</a> the teen $5,000 to take down the Twitter account, but Sweeney rejected the offer. </p><p>"I don't love the idea of being shot by a nutcase," Musk said in a private message to Sweeney, <a href="https://www.protocol.com/elon-musk-flight-tracker">Protocol reported.</a></p>

The teen who tracks Elon Musk's jet has begun monitoring private jets for celebrities like Tom Cruise and Kim Kardashian

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cf0168f11e20505bc3a47a2-1400/190528-f-eq149-0517.jpeg" border="0" alt="Air Force P-51 Mustang Spangdahlem Germany" data-mce-source="US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Preston Cherry" data-mce-caption="SCAT VII, a P-51 Mustang, at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, May 28, 2019. The aircraft was the last flown by late US Air Force Brig. Gen. Robin Olds in World War II." /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Preston Cherry</span></p><p class="caption">SCAT VII, a P-51 Mustang, at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, May 28, 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>A restored P-51 Mustang fighter flew alongside US Air Force F-16 fighters in Germany this week.</li><li>The Mustang was once flown by late Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, a triple-ace who shot down enemy planes in World War II and in Vietnam.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany - A restored P-51 Mustang, once flown by the late Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, iconic US Air Force fighter pilot, flew with 480th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcons during an event at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, May 28, 2019.</p><p>The event included aerial maneuvers by the P-51, formation flight training with F-16s and a presentation about Robin's accomplishments by his daughter, Christina Olds.</p><p>Robin was a triple-ace fighter pilot who had 16 kills by the end of his career. The P-51 that arrived to Spangdahlem, named SCAT VII, was Robin's seventh airplane which he flew in the last days of World War II. It was restored and is still flying around Europe in the same color scheme it had nearly 75 years ago.</p>

One of WWII's most iconic fighter planes just took to the sky once more alongside Air Force F-16 fighter jets

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/572a1a9991058427008c0a13-2048-580/25358177643_15ea130e05_k.jpg" alt="heritage flight mustang sabre lightning" data-mce-source="US Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr." data-mce-caption="A P-51D &amp;quotMustang&quot;, left, an F-86 &amp;quotSabre&quot; and a P-38 &amp;quotLightning&quot; taxi back to the flight line after a formation practice flight during the Heritage Flight Training Course at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Ariz., Mar 3, 2016." data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/airmanmagazine/25358177643/in/album-72157663941160663/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/airmanmagazine/25358177643/in/album-72157663941160663/">US Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.</a></span></p><p class="caption">A P-51D "Mustang", left, an F-86 "Sabre" and a P-38 "Lightning" taxi back to the flight line after a formation practice flight during the Heritage Flight Training Course at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Ariz., Mar 3, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>On March 5th, Airmen from all over the US converged on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for the <a href="http://airman.dodlive.mil/2016/04/formation-of-a-legacy/" target="_blank">20th annual </a><span><a href="http://airman.dodlive.mil/2016/04/formation-of-a-legacy/" target="_blank">Heritage Flight</a>, showcasing 70 years of US air superiority.</span></p><p><span>The P-38 Lightnings, P-40 Warhawks, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, that ruled the skies during World War II flew alongside the F-16s, F-22s, and the F-35 in this moving tribute to the US's military aviation.</span></p><p><span>"The best thing about being a part of Heritage Flight is the impact that is has on people when they see us at an airshow," said Dan Friedkin, the founder of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and demonstration pilot, Airman Magazine reports. </span></p><p><span>"The music, the sound of the airplanes, and the visuals, inspire great feelings. It makes people proud to be an American, proud of the US Air Force and happy to see others inspired."</span></p><p><span>See the highlights of the flights below:</span></p>

Here's what 70 years of US air superiority looks like

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5abe3b29b9fd1426008b4658-1500/f-35.jpg" border="0" alt="F 35" data-mce-source="US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken" data-mce-caption="An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018." /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken</span></p><p class="caption">An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>In 2015 the F-35 lost repeatedly in mock dogfights with F-16s because it couldn't turn well enough, a test pilot wrote in an official report.</strong></li><li><strong>But new videos leaked from the US Air Force's F-35 demo or stunt flying team show the jet making head-spinning turns that older jets could never hit. </strong></li><li><strong>A former F-35 squadron commander told Business Insider that the jet has become an excellent dogfighter, and the new moves show it. </strong></li></ul><p>Early in its combat testing, a test pilot's <a href="https://medium.com/war-is-boring/read-for-yourself-the-f-35-s-damning-dogfighting-report-719a4e66f3eb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">damning report leaked to the press</a> and exposed the world's most expensive weapons system, the F-35, as a bad dogfighter that the F-16 routinely trounced in mock battles. </p><p>But new videos leaked from the US Air Force's F-35 demo or stunt flying team show the jet making head-spinning turns that older jets could never hit. </p><p>In 2015, the test pilot's write up of the jet's combat performance obliterated the idea of F-35 as a capable dogfighter due to a glaring flaw: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/damning-report-on-f-35s-dogfighting-problems-2015-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Weak </a><span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/damning-report-on-f-35s-dogfighting-problems-2015-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">maneuverability</a>.</span></p><p>"Overall, the most noticeable characteristic of the F-35A in a visual engagement was its lack of energy maneuverability," the pilot wrote. </p><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-vs-f-16-15-18-lost-beaten-flatley-comeback-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here's why the F-35 once lost to F-16s, and how it made a stunning comeback</a></em></p><p>"The F-35 was at a distinct energy disadvantage in a turning fight and operators would quickly learn it isn't an ideal regime... Though the aircraft has proven it is capable of high AOA [angle of attack] flight, it wasn't effective for killing or surviving attacks primarily due to a lack of energy maneuverability," he continued.</p><p>Furthermore, according to the pilot, there was basically nothing the F-35 could do to escape getting killed by the F-16's gun. Any move he tried to escape the F-35's cannon read as "predictable" and saw the pilot taking a loss.</p><p>But the F-35 program and its role in dogfights hadn't been as well figured out back then.</p><p>Since then, the F-35 has mopped up in simulated dogfights with a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-slaughters-competition-red-flag-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15-1 kill ratio</a>. According to retired Lt. Col. David Berke, who commanded a squadron of F-35s and flew an F-22 - the US's most agile, best dogfighter - the jet has undergone somewhat of a revolution. </p><h2>New moves, new rules</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/586c0984f10a9a24008b6585-1120/undefined" border="0" alt="F 35 v F 16" data-mce-source="Lockheed Martin" /><p class="source"><span>Lockheed Martin</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In the video, the F-35 pilot takes the plane inverted, hits a tight loop, and appears to pause in mid-air as he enters a flat spin that makes his hundred-million-dollar jet appear like a leaf floating down towards earth. (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsdJQSCHbqf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Really better to watch than read about it</a>.)</p><p>The flat spin move is often used by F-22 and Russian fighter pilots to show off the intense ability of their planes to sling the nose around in any direction they wish. </p><p><span>According to Berke, this F-35 stunt "demonstrates what the pilots and the people around the aircraft have always known: It's vastly superior to almost anything out there," in terms of agility. </span></p><p><span>Furthermore, according to Berke, an F-16 could not hit the move shown in the demo team's video. </span></p><p><strong>Read more:</strong><em> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-f-35-pilots-solve-fighters-biggest-problem-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A new generation of F-35 pilots are coming, and they'll solve the fighter's biggest problem</a></em></p><p><span>Berke and others close to the F-35 program have described to Business Insider a kind of breakthrough in the maneuvering of the F-35 throughout its development. </span></p><p><span>Berke said the video proves that the F-35 </span><span>is a "highly maneuverable, highly effective dogfighting platform," but even still, he wouldn't use that exact maneuver in a real dogfight. </span></p><p><span>The flat spin is "</span><span>not an effective dogfighting maneuver, and </span><span>in some cases, you would avoid doing that."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a734726af61d81f008b4a2f-889/david berke f-22.jpg" border="0" alt="David Berke F 22" data-mce-source="Courtesy of David Berke" data-mce-caption="David Berke in an F-22" /><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of David Berke</span></p><p class="caption">David Berke in an F-22</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"If me and you were dogfighting and we're 2 miles away, and I</span><span> had a wingman 5 miles away, you'd be super slow and predictable and easy for him to find," due to executing the move, said Berke. </span></p><p><span>But despite the F-35's impressive moves and ability to win dogfights, Berke said he'd stay on mission and try to score kills that take better advantage of the jet's stealth.</span></p><p><span><strong>Read more:</strong> <em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-russian-su-35-pilot-f-22-dogfight-2018-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian fighter pilot says he beat an F-22 in a mock dogfight and locked onto it, but the Pentagon threw cold water on the claims</a></em></span></p><p><span>"I want to avoid getting into a dogfight, but if I had to I'm going to be able to outmaneuver most other aircraft," he said.</span></p><p>After all, the F-35's makers never intended it as a straight World War II-era Red Baron killer, but a rethink of aerial combat as a whole. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-kim-jong-un-scariest-dictators-2016-1">North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is 35 - here's how he became one of the world's scariest dictators</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/nyjbDyJ4-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

The F-35 was once trounced by F-16s in dogfights, but it just proved it can out-turn older jets

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c6c83972628985e3066f6b5-955/screen shot 2019-02-19 at 53012 pm.png" border="0" alt="F-15X" data-mce-source="Boeing" data-mce-caption="Boeing's F-15X concept." /><p class="source"><span>Boeing</span></p><p class="caption">Boeing's F-15X concept.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>The US Air Force will reportedly ask for eight new Boeing F-15 fighter jets in its next budget request, and Republican senators are already worried this could mean bad things for the US's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.</strong></li><li><strong>Trump has long been skeptical of F-35s, and the Air Force is now looking to buy new F-15s that outperform the F-35 in some metrics to bolster their fleet.</strong></li><li><strong>Republican senators urged Trump to keep buying only F-35s, but there's some evidence that the F-15s could offer the US an edge in combat.</strong></li><li><strong>The Air Force Chief of Staff said not to think of the F-15s buy as a trade-off against F-35s, but a compliment to them.</strong></li></ul><p>The US Air Force will reportedly ask for eight new Boeing F-15 fighter jets in its next budget request, and Republican senators are already worried this could mean bad things for the US's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.</p><p>President Donald Trump has long come across as skeptical of the F-35 and its promises to fool enemy radar and revolutionize aerial combat.</p><p>Boeing has responded by offering up an improved crop of old-school dogfighter jets, and the Air Force is interested, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-19/air-force-wants-eight-upgraded-boeing-fighters-along-with-f-35s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg reported on Tuesday</a>.</p><p>Republican Sens. John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Susan Collins, Marco Rubio, and Lisa Murkowski sent a letter to Trump warning against buying new F-15s from Boeing, saying it risked US national security by taking away from F-35 buys.</p><p>Before even taking office, Trump tweeted that the "tremendous cost" of the F-35, the most expensive weapons program in history, had caused him to look at Boeing.</p><p>Now, Boeing has offered up an F-15X, or a 21st-century restart of the Cold War-era fighter jet. Boeing's F-15 was one of the fastest jets ever built and ruled the skies as the US's top air superiority fighter for decades until the F-22 came online.</p><p>Today, Boeing promises a new F-15 with better computers, avionics, and an incredible capacity for 12 air-to-air missiles. By contrast, the F-35 has a shorter range and can only carry a maximum of four air-to-air missiles in a stealth configuration.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35s-train-in-beast-mode-as-china-deploys-carrier-killer-missiles-2019-1">F-35s train in air-combat 'beast mode' in the Pacific after China deploys 'carrier-killer' missiles</a></em></p><p>But the senators, citing top US Air Force brass, said the US needs F-35s and can't risk buying older, less-survivable jets.</p><h2>F-35s or bust?</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5abe3b1b6610262a008b45bf-1500/f-35.jpg" border="0" alt="F 35" data-mce-source="US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken" data-mce-caption="An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018." /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken</span></p><p class="caption">An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"We are extremely concerned that, over the last few years, the DoD has underfunded the F-35 Program and relied on Congress to fund increases in production, sustainment, and modernization. In order to meet the overmatch and lethality goals laid out in the National Security Strategy, the DoD needs to make these investments in the F-35 to affordably deliver and operate this fifth-generation fighter fleet. The F-35 is the most affordable, lethal, and survivable air dominance fighter, and now is the time to double down on the program," <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-leads-letter-urging-president-fully-support-f-35-funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the senators wrote</a>.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-pentagon-chief-shanahan-hates-the-f-35-alternative-boeing-f-18-15-16-2019-1" data-analytics-position="2">Trump's new Pentagon chief reportedly hates the F-35 - here's what the US could have made instead</a></em></p><p>Essentially, the senators demanded Trump fully fund the F-35 to get Lockheed Martin, the jet's builder and Boeing's chief rival, to step up production to the full rate, at which point the F-35 could cost as little as $80 million apiece.</p><p>"New versions of old F-15s designed in the 1970s-1980s cannot survive against the newest Russian and Chinese fifth-generation fighter and surface to air missile threats, not to mention rapidly developing future threats," the lawmakers wrote.</p><p>Trump has been clear that the US needs to build up its military to counter near-peer threats like China and Russia rather than old foes like Middle Eastern insurgents, which the US military prefers to do with stealth aircraft.</p><p>As a non-stealth jet, the F-15 doesn't fit the current working hypothesis of how to best kick down Moscow or Beijing's door, but it may well serve a purpose in a great-power war.</p><h2>F-15s to the rescue?</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53a1b6306bb3f7551fccff9c-800/f-22-and-f-15-1.jpg" border="0" alt="F 22 and F 15" data-mce-source="US Air Force" /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force</span></p><p class="caption">The US flies F-15s and F-22s for air superiority, but only has 177 working F-22s compared to nearly 500 F-15s.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The senators cited a price of $100 million per new F-15, but that figure may well be off. <a href="http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26305/f-15x-will-come-in-two-variants-and-no-it-wont-cost-100m-per-copy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Drive reported</a> that the price of the F-15, which Boeing still produces for <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> customers, could drop to below any cost ever projected for the F-15.</p><p>Also, the senators seem out of touch with what <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/newsletters/2019/01/26/if-the-money-is-there-new-and-improved-f-15s-could-be-coming-soon-to-the-air-force/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein told Defense News</a> about the new F-15s.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-an-f-35-training-in-beast-mode-for-air-support-and-total-war-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch an F-35 up close training in 'beast mode' for air support and all out war</a></em></p><p>"They complement each other," he said of the two jets. "They each make each other better."</p><p>"An F-15 will never be an F-35. Never. But I need capacity," he continued.</p><p>Additionally, the new F-15s, with their tremendous capacity to carry bombs, may one day work as bomb trucks for the F-35, which can generate and transmit targeting data to other jets without ruining its stealth shape by opening up the bomb bays.</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Boeing stock price <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/BA-Quote">here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-el-chapo-joaquin-guzman-really-like-cartel-wives-2017-10">What El Chapo is really like, according to the wife of one his closest henchman</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/m2kCLxNU-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Senators are urging Trump to stick with F-35s as the US eyes buying new, souped-up F-15 fighter jets

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5abbb793657fae1a008b48ff-1240/f-35a lightning ii.jpg" border="0" alt="f 35a lightning ii" data-mce-source="US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken" data-mce-caption="An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018." /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken</span></p><p class="caption">F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>F-35s dogfighting against Cold War-era F-15 fighter jets still sometimes lose, according to a new report.</strong></li><li><strong>The F-35 has been plagued by reports that it can't dogfight for years, but experts say that's not really the purpose of the new jet.</strong></li><li><strong>Instead, F-35s stealth features mean they'll do most of their fighting unseen, and that something has gone wrong if they forfeit their stealth advantage by fighting up close.</strong></li><li><strong>But as F-35 software, tactics, and pilots develop, the jet may soon start to beat older planes designed specifically to kill anything that flies. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />The most expensive weapons system in history, the US's F-35 Lightning II, is still sometimes losing to the 1970s F-15 in dogfights during training scenarios in Japan.</p><p>US Air Force F-15 pilot <span>Capt. Brock McGehee, when <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/smr/kadena-air-base/2018/03/27/how-is-the-f-35-improving-its-dogfighting-skills-in-japan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked by Defense News</a> if the F-35s at Kadena Air Force base in Japan still sometimes lost to the Cold War-era fighters, said "I mean, sometimes."</span></p><p><span>The F-35 has long been plagued by reports of that it can't dogfight as well as older, much cheaper jets, despite being in development for nearly two decades and claiming to revolutionize air combat.</span></p><p><span>In 2015, <a href="https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-can-t-dogfight-cdb9d11a875" target="_blank" rel="noopener">War is Boring published a report</a> from a test pilot that said the F-35 couldn't turn or climb fast enough to keep up with older jets, and F-16s lugging heavy fuel tanks under wing still routinely trounced it.</span></p><p><span>But a lot has changed since 2015. The F-35 has had its software upgraded and the tactics refined. </span></p><h2><span>Why the Cold War jets can still pull a win out - for now</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/50f7626469beddf15e000002-900/f-15headon-1.jpg" border="0" alt="F-15" data-mce-source="Wikimedia Commons" /><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Retired US Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Berke previously told Business Insider that the older jets benefited from decades of development and training, whereby new pilots today have established best practices. As the F-35 is still in its early days, Berke said the best is yet to come.</span></p><p><span>In 2017, the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/f-35-slaughters-competition-red-flag-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">F-35 dominated older jets with a ratio of 15 kills to one death</a>.</span></p><p><span>"The biggest limitation for the F-35 is that pilots are not familiar with how to fly it. They try to fly the F-35 like their old airplane," Berke said.</span></p><p><span>But the pilots at Kadena dogfighting against F-15s may be a cut above, according to Berke, who said that because they have never flown a legacy jet before, they won't bring the bad habits with them, and will instead learn how to fly the F-35 like the unique plane it is. "They're going to be your best, most effective tacticians," Berke said.</span></p><h2><span>F-35s at a major disadvantage to any legacy jet in a dogfight</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5abba5022ebd799c1a8b4821-960/f-16-f-35.jpg" border="0" alt="F 16 F 35" data-mce-source="US Air Force" /><p class="source"><span>US Air Force</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"The F-35 cannot out dogfight a Typhoon (or a Su-35), never in a million years," Justin Bronk, a combat aircraft expert at the Royal United Services Institute, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-could-not-dogfight-typhoon-su-35-2016-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously told Business Insider</a>.</span></p><p><span>The reason why, according to Bronk and other experts on the F-35, is that the F-35 just isn't a dogfighter. The F-35's stealth design put heavy demands on the shape of the aircraft, which restricted it in some dimensions. As a result, it's not the most dynamic jet the US could have possibly built, but it doesn't have to be.</span></p><p><span>Instead, the F-35 relies on stealth. F-35s, employed correctly in battle, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/f35-dogfighting-knife-fight-telephone-booth-2016-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would score most of their kills with long range missiles fired from beyond visual range</a>. </span></p><p><span>"If you get into a dogfight with the F-35, somebody made a mistake. It's like having a knife fight in a telephone booth," civilian F-16 pilot Adam Alpert of the Vermont Air National Guard <a href="https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-civilian-pilot-test-drives-the-f-35/Content?oid=3755003" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in 2016 after training on F-35 simulators.</a></span></p><h2><span>A Top Gun pilot says dogfighting is dead anyway</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/598df7e0cb9701552c8b4874-1200/berke 2.jpg" border="0" alt="dave berke f-35" data-mce-source="Courtesy of Dave Berke" /><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Dave Berke</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Berke, an alumnus of the US Navy's famous Top Gun school, echoed Alpert's assessment, but warned that the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/f35-pilot-f-35-can-excel-dogfighting-2017-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">common perception of dogfighting was "way off,"</a> and something US jets haven't done in 40 years. Berke disagreed with Bronk's "never in a million years" assertion, but maintained that the dogfighting issue was basically irrelevant. </span></p><p><span>The bottom line is that in training, all jets lose "sometimes." That the F-35 can hold its own and beat a jet refined over four decades to excel exclusively at air-to-air combat - when the F-35 has been designed to fight, bomb, spy, and sneak - shows its tremendous range and potential.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-russia-is-so-involved-in-the-syrian-civil-war-2018-3">Why Russia is so involved in the Syrian Civil War</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/nh1YShZl-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

F-35s in Japan are still losing dogfights to F-15s sometimes - here's why

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Victor Westiner" title_caption="P-51 Mustang fighter planes parked at an Iwo Jima airfield in 1945." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f8a3eab8ea1f40f7d185-960/img_6874-2.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f8a3eab8ea1f40f7d185-1200-858/img_6874-2.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="IMG_6874.JPG" width="800" /></a><p class="source"><span>Victor Westiner</span></p><p class="caption">P-51 Mustang fighter planes parked at an Iwo Jima airfield in 1945.</p></div><p></p></div>Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, just over a million are alive today, according to the <a href="http://www.nationalww2museum.org/honor/wwii-veterans-statistics.html">National World War II Museum</a>. Each day, 555 of them die.</p>
<p>Business Insider recently spoke with two combat veterans who grew up in New York City and fought in the Pacific as teenagers near the war's end. Bob Mulcahy and Victor Westiner are easy to find; they meet twice a week for coffee with a handful of other aging veterans in the basement of their local <a href="http://www.legion.org/">American Legion</a> post in St. James, New York.</p>
<p>"It's mostly camaraderie," Mulcahy said of the twice-weekly meetings. "It's like a men's club. Most of them lost their wives."</p>
<p>They'll tell old war stories or banter over the latest sports news. "It's a good feeling," Mulcahy said.</p>
<h3>'For Me It Was Like Watching A John Wayne Movie'</h3>
<p>That's how Mulcahy describes the sights and sounds he witnessed for 59 days aboard the USS New Orleans off the coast of Okinawa, during the last major battle of World War II in spring 1945. </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Bob Mulcahy" title_caption="Bob Mulcahy at 17." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f496ecad04d202f7d188-960/img_6879-2.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f496ecad04d202f7d188-1200-1500/img_6879-2.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_6879.JPG" width="480" /></a><p class="source"><span>Bob Mulcahy</span></p><p class="caption">Bob Mulcahy at 17.</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Bob Mulcahy grew up in Queens and joined the U.S. Navy in October 1944 at 17. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, who joined a month after the Japanese launched a surprise aerial attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the event that brought the U.S. into World War II. </p>
<p>The USS New Orleans arrived off the coast of Okinawa in mid-April 1945, while the Marines were still fighting a bloody battle to wrest the island out of Japanese hands.</p>
<p>"Everything to me was like a moving picture, because the first day we got there that sky was all full of the smoke from the cannons going off and from the planes," Mulcahy recalled.</p>
<p>He normally served as a radar operator in the ship's combat information center (CIC), the "eyes and ears" of the ship. But whenever the ship came under attack, Mulcahy served on an elevated lookout deck where he watched for incoming kamikaze planes - aircraft flown by suicide Japanese pilots trying to intentionally crash into U.S. ships.</p>
<p>American planes formed a defensive ring around the ships to protect from kamikazes, who mostly targeted aircraft carriers but could occasionally go after heavy cruisers like Mulcahy's ship. They never hit the USS New Orleans, although one flew so close past Mulcahy's lookout tower that he could see the pilot in the cockpit. </p>
<p>Although the heavy cruiser was in the middle of the fray, it only suffered damage on one occasion, when the captain brought the ship closer than usual to bombard Japanese shore batteries.</p>
<p>"You can see the guys running up and down the beaches," Mulcahy recalled. </p>
<p>During the maneuver, a Japanese gun emplacement fired back and hit the rear deck of the ship, wounding at least one sailor with shrapnel, Mulcahy recalls.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Bob Mulcahy" title_caption="Here with his USS New Orleans crewmates, Bob Mulcahy is seated in the center of the bottom row." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f54669beddfa57f7d185-960/img_6899.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f54669beddfa57f7d185-1200-632/img_6899.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_6899.JPG" width="800" /></a><p class="source"><span>Bob Mulcahy</span></p><p class="caption">Here with his USS New Orleans crewmates, Bob Mulcahy is seated in the center of the bottom row.</p></div><p></p></div>Mulcahy's most memorable act of the war came when he received an order that was rare for a five-foot-seven, 121-pound, 17-year-old nicknamed "Chick" on account of his young age and small stature.</p>
<p>He was in the CIC mapping the progress of the front line as Marines advanced into Okinawa when a commander approached him. </p>
<p>"He says, 'Hey sailor how we doing today?'" Mulcahy recalled. "I say, 'I guess alright, sir.' He says, 'Okay come over here, I want to start firing at the beach.' Again, I'm 17 years old, just out of high school."</p>
<p>The commander communicated with the ship's crew members in charge of aiming and firing its massive naval guns, while Mulcahy relayed precise instructions from a spotter aircraft for adjusting their aim. Then he felt the whole ship shake as its nine biggest guns fired simultaneously at the coast.</p>
<p>"They make a lot of noise," he laughed.</p>
<p>Through his ongoing communication with the spotter plane, Mulcahy learned his ship was firing on a Japanese column moving along a road containing around 300 enemy troops and three tanks. His coordination with the plane ensured the column's destruction. </p>
<p>"After we destroyed them completely, the pilot said, 'Job well done, there's nothing left of that place.' So I said to myself, 'Well, I did my part in the war, rather than just being a lookout.'" </p>
<p>"I think anybody that enlisted during that war time are all heroes, because nobody knew what was coming when they joined up," Mulcahy reflected. "My brother joined up and for four years was in Florida. I was in ten weeks and I was on my way to Okinawa at that time. So you don't know where you're going to go."</p>
<p>Nowadays, Mulcahy is the commander of the American Legion Sherwood Brothers Post 1152. "Every day I get a notice one of my shipmates has passed away, almost every day," he said. "It's pretty sad, with the statistics and all."</p>
<h3>'Not Everybody Came Back'</h3>
<p>Victor Westiner repaired damaged P-51 Mustang fighter planes at an Iwo Jima airfield. The fighters flew missions to the Japanese mainland that sometimes lasted up to 16 hours.</p>
<p>The 90-year-old Westiner grew up in Brooklyn and was drafted into the military in January 1943, shortly after his 19th birthday. Since he had learned aircraft maintenance at a technical school, Westiner was placed in the U.S. Army Air Corps and became an aircraft mechanic in a P-51 fighter aircraft unit.</p>
<p>He landed on Iwo Jima in late March, 1945, after the Marines had captured an airfield from the Japanese for the mechanics to operate on. "The beach was a mess. It was filled with holes and debris and wrecks" - and bodies, Westiner recalled.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Victor Westiner" title_caption="Victor Westiner with one of the P-51 Mustang fighter planes he helped maintain and repair." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f69b6bb3f7eb48f7d18b-960/img_6875-1.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f69b6bb3f7eb48f7d18b-1200-924/img_6875-1.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_6875.JPG" width="800" /></a><p class="source"><span>Victor Westiner</span></p><p class="caption">Victor Westiner with one of the P-51 Mustang fighter planes he helped maintain and repair.</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>The P-51s typically provided protective escorts for American B-29 Superfortress bombers on their way to Japan, but Westiner also helped equip the fighter planes with new rockets, which they commonly fired at Japanese railroad tunnels.</p>
<p>"Of course, not everybody came back," he said. Other fighters returned to base with damage that Westiner and his fellow mechanics fixed by riveting metal patches over the holes.</p>
<p>He and his comrades lived in two-person tents, commonly known in the military as "pup tents." </p>
<p>Westiner experienced two Japanese air raids, but they were ineffectual and had little impact on the base. "One was very, very poor for them because we had some pretty good antiaircraft guns all over the island," Westiner said. "The army came in with a bunch of these anti-aircraft and they hit one or two and of course they crashed in an area that we knew about."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Victor Westiner" title_caption="Victor Westiner on Iwo Jima in 1945." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f71beab8ea5b31f7d187-960/img_6876-1.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f71beab8ea5b31f7d187-1200-2000/img_6876-1.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_6876.JPG" width="480" /></a><p class="source"><span>Victor Westiner</span></p><p class="caption">Victor Westiner on Iwo Jima in 1945.</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Nevertheless, he recalled some casualties on the American side from rare air raids.</p>
<p>"We had a couple of guys killed. They had these little anti-personnel bombs. It's a small bomb and the shrapnel, believe it or not, was old nails, razor blades, all kinds of junk in a shell that would blow up and spread out."</p>
<p>On other occasions, Japanese bombers approached close to the airfield but never attacked, although it was enough to send Westiner and his comrades running for cover in foxholes after the alarms sounded. "Of course, they kept everybody awake," he recalled.</p>
<p>But those losses were nothing compared to those inflicted on the last remnants of Japanese troops hiding out in caves beneath the island.</p>
<p>An army unit was assigned to blow up the caves to prevent Japanese holdouts from launching guerrilla attacks on the airfield.</p>
<p>The Americans made the few survivors they found strip down at a safe distance before taking them prisoner. "They had grenades and tried to blow themselves up," Westiner said.</p>
<p>Westiner recalls seeing only two Japanese stragglers surrender, after they were forced out of the caves from heat and dehydration. </p>
<p>"I don't think they had hardly any prisoners at all. The Army guys had captured these two who had come out of a cave and they were a short distance from where we were, and they were taking them away," Westiner remembered.</p>
<p>During the war, Westiner felt lucky to be able to pursue his interest in aircraft while serving his country, "even though it was not in a very nice area," he laughed. He was less interested in the intricacies of the war. "I didn't really care either way at that age ... probably some at the time, but I really don't remember."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Corey Adwar" title_caption="Victor Westiner, left, and Bob Mulcahy at their American Legion post in St. James, New York." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f9816bb3f77b4cf7d186-960/img_6886.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f4f9816bb3f77b4cf7d186-1200-1334/img_6886.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_6886.JPG" width="800" /></a><p class="source"><span>Corey Adwar</span></p><p class="caption">Victor Westiner, left, and Bob Mulcahy at their American Legion post in St. James, New York.</p></div><p></p></div></p>

We Spoke To 2 Veterans Who Served In World War II As Teenagers - And Here's What They Remember Most

<p class="float_right"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Sportclass.com" title_caption="Only one GP-5 was ever built for sport racing." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540f5f6c6bb3f73b15dc85ea-960/4317-sport-gp-5-pylon-2-1024x684.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540f5f6c6bb3f73b15dc85ea-1024-684/4317-sport-gp-5-pylon-2-1024x684.jpg" border="0" alt="Sport GP 5" /></a><p class="source"><span>Sportclass.com</span></p><p class="caption">Only one GP-5 was ever built for sport racing.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span>A veteran pilot died when he crashed during qualifying for the National Championship Air Races, official said on Tuesday in Reno, where 11 people were killed in 2011 when a World War Two-era planes slammed into the ground near the grandstand.</span></p>
<p>Retired Air Force fighter pilot Lee Behel, 64, was killed on Monday afternoon when his Osprey GP-5 "Sweet Dreams" racing plane crashed at Reno-Stead Airport, event officials said in a written statement. No other injuries were reported.</p>
<p>Behel was piloting to the only version of the aircraft ever built.</p>
<p>"Lee was a very talented pilot but, more importantly, an enthusiastic and compassionate friend and the entire Air Race family will miss him deeply," Mike Major, chairman of the Reno Air Racing Association, said in the statement.</p>
<p>"This is a difficult day for all of us and our thoughts and prayers are with Lee's family and friends," Major said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Screenshot via Vimeo" title_caption="Behel at the controls of a different aircraft." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540f5ff1eab8ea4a3a65a62b-960/screen shot 2014-09-09 at 4.01.09 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540f5ff1eab8ea4a3a65a62b-663-371/screen shot 2014-09-09 at 4.01.09 pm.png" border="0" alt="Lee Behel" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></a><p class="source"><span>Screenshot via Vimeo</span></p><p class="caption">Behel at the controls of a different aircraft.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The cause of the accident will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">Transportation</keyword> Safety Board, according to race officials.</span></p>
<p>Qualifying resumed on Tuesday morning ahead of the official opening of the event on Wednesday, which was expected to include a tribute to Behel.</p>
<p>In 2011, 74-year-old pilot Jimmy Leeward lost control of his vintage P-51 Mustang and crashed in front of the grandstand, killing himself and 10 spectators, raising questions over the safety of such events.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Gunna Dickson)</p>

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