The Air Force has admiited that pilot error caused a US Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 aircraft to crash shortly after takeoff at an airshow Sept. 14 at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The pilot ejected just before the aircraft hit the ground. According to the accident investigation board report released Jan. 21, the pilot misinterpreted the altitude required to complete the "Split S" maneuver. He made his calculation with an incorrect airfield altitude. The pilot incorrectly climbed to 1,670 feet above ground level instead of 2,500 feet before initiating the pull down to the Split S maneuver. When he realized something was wrong, the pilot used maximum back stick pressure and rolled slightly left to ensure the aircraft would hit away from the crowd should he have to eject

An American Hero Is Honored

The Doolite Raiders name is synonymous with American heroism. This band of brave World War II pilots flew missions few would even dare attempt. This weekend we lost another hero.Retired Air Force Col. Travis Hoover (standing second from the left), a pilot who flew one of the bombers in the famous 1942 raid on Japan led by Jimmy Doolittle, passed away Saturday night. He was 86. Doolittle, then a lieutenant colonel, organized and trained a volunteer force for the raid on Japan in April 1942, just four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II.Hoover, born in New Mexico, had entered military service with the National Guard in California in 1938, later becoming a cadet in what was then the Army

Twin Otters Still Grounded   

Forty-five training gliders and other aircraft grounded because of safety concerns have been cleared to fly, the US Air Force Academy announced Tuesday. However, three UV-18 Twin Otter planes used by the cadet parachute program remain grounded for a "few more days," Tech Sgt. Dean Miller said. The institution's aircraft fleet which consists of motorized and non-motorized gliders, T-41s, Cessna 150s and Twin Otters, were grounded on Jan. 9 after officials discovered irregularities in maintenance records involving Doss Aviation of Colorado Springs. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which also conducts some flight training for the US Air Force Academy, was not a sunject of the investigation. Safety concerns were hei