The wake vortices of the Antonov An-225 Myria are so powerful that 15 minutes must be allowed for the vortices to disappate before another aircraft can follow it on final approach or departure. As such, the aircraft is routed by operator Antonov Airlines preferentially to less-congested airports to avoid disrupting aircraft operations.

Source: Flightpath, Volume 2. "Special Operations: Antonov Airlines" by Thomas Withington, p34.

In the summer of 1967, the USAF was conducting a captive carry flight of the Lockheed D-21 reconnaissance drone over Nevada when a damaged attachment bolt in the B-52's pylon that held the D-21 sheared, resulting in the drone and its booster rocket dropping away. The automatic start sequence of the D-21 began and the booster rocket ignited, accelerating the D-21 away. Since the inertial navigation system hadn't been programmed, the D-21 flew unguided until it crashed in the Railroad Valley outside of Area 51.

A local rancher and his wife came upon the scene and took several pictures. Once the Air Force had arrived on scene, as much of the still top secret drone's wreckage was collected and spirited off back to Area 51. The USAF/CIA officer in charge of the clean up, Col. Frank Hartley, found out about the rancher's pictures and not wanting to intimidate the rancher into giving up the photos, he instead asked him if there was anything he wanted in exchange for the film. The rancher told Hartley he had a "hankering" for some cream pie. Hartley made some phone calls to Area 51 and soon a helicopter arrived with a fresh cream pie and Col. Hartley got the film in exchange.

Source: X-Plane Crashes: Exploring Experimental Rocket Plane, and Spycraft Incidents, Accidents, and Crash Sites by Peter W. Merlin and Tony Moore. Specialty Press, 2008, p99.

The nearest thing to a confrontation between two pure jets in World War II wasn't air combat- on 19 March 1945, four Arado Ar 234 bombers of KG 76 took off to attack targets around Brussels, Belgium. One of the Arados attacked the Melsbrock airfield and dropped a cluster bomb on a parked Gloster Meteor belonging to the RAF's No. 616 Squadron. Only minor damage resulted.

Source: International Air Power Review, Volume 24. "Air Combat: The Arado Ar 234, the short-lived combat career of the world's first true jet bomber" by Dr. Alfred Price, p116.

The first, direct, unrefuelled Atlantic crossing by a jet aircraft took place between RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland to Gander, Newfoundland on 21 February 1951 by an RAF English Electric Canberra on its way to Washington, DC, for flight demonstrations to USAF senior officers at Andrews AFB. The 1,785 nm flight was made in 4 hours, 40 minutes. A competition was being held to select a new interdiction bomber to replace the aging B-26 Invader.

The record-breaking flight effectively silenced critics of having a foreign design in the USAF inventory.

Source: Martin B-57 Canberra: The Complete Record by Robert Mikesh. Schiffer Publishing, 1995, p17.

Once the AC-47D gunship proved itself in preliminary trials in action over South Vietnam, the USAF pressed ahead to convert more C-47s into gunships. However, the 7.62mm minigun used on the AC-47D was just starting production and were in short supply. As an interim measure, it was decided to use as an interim gun the Browning M2 .30 caliber gun which were in storage at a warehouse at McClellan AFB in Sacramento. The firing solenoids for the guns were in very short supply, so for the M2-armed prototype AC-47, the solenoids from the B-24 "Strawberry Bitch" on display at the USAF Museum were borrowed. It's been said that that B-24 is still missing those solenoids.

Source: Gunships: The History of Spooky, Shadow, Stinger, and Spectre by Wayne Mutza. Specialty Press, 2009, p30.

The Northrop Gamma started out in 1933 as a private venture involving the latest advances in structural techniques that influenced later generations of aircraft. Later to be designated the A-17, the last military version to bear the name Gamma was the Gamma 5. Only three were built before Northrop switched over production the A-17.

The first Gamma 5 was sold with US government approval to Japan in October 1935. Shipped to Japan the following month, it was evaluated by both Mitsubishi and Nakajima on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Navy and designated the BXN1.

The third Gamma 5 was shipped (again with US government approval) to the Imperial Japanese Navy and designated by the IJN as the BXN2. It was then turned over to Nakajima for further evaluation and is believe to have influenced the design of the Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber.

Source: Aerospace Modeler Magazine, No. 7/Summer 2007. "The Northrop Military Gamma Family: Part 1" by Geoff Hays, p36.

The Air Force Space Command was formed in September 1982 initially responsible for space monitoring and space-related activities connected with the defense of the United States and Canada. In 1993 the ICBM force passed from the Air Combat Command to the Space Command and since then AFSPC has been responsible for the ICBM nuclear deterrent force, the early warning of ballistic missile launches, the launch and operation of military satellites (including the GPS constellation) and worldwide space surveillance.

But the only manned aircraft assigned to the Air Force Space Command are approximately 26 Bell UH-1Ns assigned to three Flights to fly launch crews to ICBM missile silos and transport security teams to ICBM sites. The three Flights are based at three Air Force bases of the 20th Air Force, the operating AF for the ICBM force- Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (tail code "FE"), Minot AFB, North Dakota ("MT"), and Malmstrom AFB, Montana ("MT"). A fourth Flight of UH-1s is based at Vandenberg AFB ("HV") to support missile and space launch activities.

Source: US Air Force: The New Century by Bob Archer. Midland Publishing, 2000, p29.

In terms of revenue, the current helicopter industry leader is Eurocopter with over $6 billion in revenue in 2008. The number two spot is surprising given their past labor and financial problems- Sikorsky with over $5 billion in revenue. The remaining three spots in descending order based on revenue for 2008:

#3: AgustaWestland (previously the #2 leader until passed by Sikorsky in 2006)- over $4 billion.

#4: Boeing - over $3 billion in revenue.

#5: Bell Helicopter - just under $3 billion.

Since 2003 all of the above companies have experienced a growth in revenue. The companies' rankings in 2003 in descending order were Eurocopter, AgustaWestland, Boeing, Sikorsky, and Bell.

Source: Aviation Week and Space Technology, May 4, 2009. "Worst to First" by Joseph Anselmo, p49.

One of the more unusual operators of the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor was the Federal Aviation Administration. From June to December of 1970, the USAF loaned an F-102 to the FAA who operated it with the registration number N300. It was assigned to provide data that would be used to develop takeoff airworthiness standards for the planned American SST as well as US certification of the Concorde. Equipped with a tail skid to limit takeoff rotation to angles and runway lengths more appropriate to the supersonic transports, N300 was flown by FAA pilot Robert LeSuer from Edwards AFB.

The data collected by N300 would be used to define the operating rules for Concorde operations in the United States. Upon completion of its program, the aircraft was retired to Davis-Monthan AFB's boneyard.

Source: Warpaint Series No. 64: Convair F-102 Delta Dagger by Terry Panopalis. Warpaint Books, p39.

The first generation of UAVs had their start with Leigh Dugmore Denny, a Hollywood actor with Paramount Studios. Denny had a passion for radio-controlled aircraft and even opened a hobby shop on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1934 he founded Denny Industries to build RC model planes and quickly realized that there would be military potential for his models. The following year he founded Radioplane Company and would later secure a large contract to build aerial targets during the Second World War.

In 1952 Radioplane was acquired by Northrop and became the Radioplane Division and by the 1960s, it would be renamed the Ventura Division of Northrop, still engaged in the manufacture of UAV aircraft. In 1968, the year after Denny passed away, the Ventura Division delivered the first MQM-74/BQM-74 Chukar to the US Navy. By the time of Operation Iraqi Freedom, over 5000 Chukar UAVs had been built. Some were even used in Desert Storm as well as Iraqi Freedom to lay chaff corridors for inbound strike aircraft.

Source: Attack of the Drones: A History of Unmanned Aerial Combat by Bill Yenne. Zenith Press, 2004, p15-31.