Afterburner - The Aviation Magazine

19 March 2026

AVIATION HISTORY

20 March 1922 – USS Langley was recommissioned

On 20 March 1922, the United States Navy’s first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1), was officially recommissioned. USS Langley (CV-1) was the first aircraft carrier of the US Navy. The vessel had originally been commissioned in 1913 as the bulk [...]
MILITARY AVIATION

Arctic warfighting in focus – inside NATO’s exercise Cold Response 2026

Between 9 and 19 March 2026, approximately 32,500 soldiers from fourteen NATO countries took part in this year’s edition of the Norwegian-led Arctic military exercise Cold Response 2026. Since 2006, a series of NATO multidomain training operations, codenamed Cold Response, [...]
PHOTO OF THE WEEK

IAR 316B

IAR 316B (c/n 171, formerly “86” of Forțele Aeriene Române / the Romanian Air Force), exhibited at Muzeul Naţional al Aviaţiei Române (National Romanian Aviation Museum) in Bucharest, March 2012. In the early 1950s, the French aviation manufacturer Société nationale [...]
MILITARY AVIATION

Flygvapnet completes the first NATO Icelandic Air Policing mission

On 11 March 2026, the NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) announced that Flygvapnet (the Swedish Air Force) had completed its deployment to Keflavík Air Base in Iceland. During this assignment, the Swedish fighter jets successfully carried out their first NATO [...]
AVIATION HISTORY FRIDAY

13 March 1977 – first flight of Sikorsky S-76

On 13 March 1977, the prototype of the Sikorsky S-76 medium-size utility rotorcraft performed its first flight. The development of the S-76 helicopter began in the mid-1970s and, initially, the rotorcraft was known as the S-74. However, over time its [...]

From active duty to history – a short review of military aircraft retirements in 2025

FEATURED

14 January 2026

The year 2025 marked aviation history with several notable farewells to iconic military aircraft. These included both well-known workhorses from the Cold War era and relatively newer designs that proved ineffective in the modern combat [...]

First ever wingsuit foil soaring flight with altitude gain

DREAMERS AND DOERS

26 November 2025

In its press release published on 19 November 2025, the Red Bull company announced that Austrian wingsuit pioneer Peter Salzmann had once again pushed the boundaries of what is possible in human flight. This time, [...]

FEATURED