At times on the floor of the ICAS convention hall, the buzz was intense, the press of people and handshakes was unrelenting. In the middle of all that, Canadian Air Force Major Steve Will (call-sign “Swill”) was smiling and taking it all in. He’s the boss, the team leader for the Snowbirds, and with the announcement of their 2004 schedule on Monday, and 63 shows, he knows where he’s going, and he and the team are excited about that. “This is our first trip ever to Key West, right at the start of May, and we’ll be performing over the beach. In fact, we go from Key West to the a show north of the Arctic Circle, in little more than 2 weeks!” He’s referring to the town or village of Nunavut, followed a few weeks later by a visit to

It took 10 gallons of dark gray paint, 5 1/2 gallons of light gray paint and 3 gallons of silicon paint to give one F-117A Nighthawk an F/A-22 Raptor-style makeover. Lt. Col. Kevin Sullivan, the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group’s Detachment 1 commander, asked the 49th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron corrosion flight airmen to paint the detachment’s F-117 gray to evaluate whether it could have a substantial role in daytime combat operations. "The chief of staff wants to have a 24-hour stealth presence over future battlefields," said Lt. Col. Buck Rogers, Det. 1 operations officer. "We know our current black paint scheme wouldn't be a good color for daytime operations." With the project complete, the jet will participate in upcoming tests as part of a program cal

One of the most popular museums of the Smithsonian Institution celebrated its expansion with a preview day honoring military aviation veterans. Military aviators from conflicts as far back as World War II were invited to the "Salute to Military Aviation Veterans" Dec. 9, at the National Air and Space Museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The center is located in Chantilly Va., less than 30 miles from the museum's flagship building in Washington. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers (above), addressed event attendees. "For a century, America's aviation veterans have bravely explored and expanded the limits of air power," Myers said. "They made America an air power -- the most innovative and respected in the world today."