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2 weeks ago | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
New Netflix Doc on Thunderbirds Waves the Flag, and Lowers it to Half Staff for Fallen Team Members. The new docu-drama and hype film “Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds” from director Matt Wilcox dropped to Netflix subscribers on May 23, 2025.
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1 month ago | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
Upcoming Netflix Thunderbirds Documentary Could Be Journalistic and Gritty. You likely remember last year’s “Blue Angels” feature documentary from director Paul Crowder. The film followed the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration team through off-season team selection and air show preparation. “Blue Angels” opened in movie theaters the weekend of May 17-19, 2024.
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1 month ago | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, will be home to a new Boeing F-15EX Eagle II unit. The announcement was made during a visit by the U.S. President to Selfridge ANGB today, April 29, 2025. The President told assembled media and dignitaries that, “Very soon we will replace the A-10 with 21 new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, the best in world”.
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Oct 16, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly |David Cenciotti
A EA-18G Growler Electronic Attack aircraft belonging to the Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130) “Zappers” carrying two crew members crashed near Washington’s Mount Rainier on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 3:23 p.m. local time. Neither crew member has been located. The aircraft wreckage was located in the mountainous region by search teams on Wednesday, October 16. “Aerial search crews located the wreckage at about 12:30 p.m.” the Navy said in a statement from spokesman Mike Welding.
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Jul 16, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
For $12k Shipped, A 60% Scale Model of Canada’s Legendary Interceptor is Up for Grabs. The legend of the Avro CF-105 Arrow advanced interceptor, its fascinating development and bizarre cancellation, is well known in aviation circles. But one more fascinating fact about the Avro Arrow is that the aircraft was the star in a 2010 theater musical production written by Canadian playwright Doug Warwick.
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Jul 12, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
Joe Engle’s Remarkable Career Bridged Gap Between Air and Space, Broke Records. Astronaut, X-15 test pilot and space shuttle pilot Joe Engle has died at home in Houston, Texas. He was 91. Engle passed peacefully surrounded by his family according to a NASA press release. Joe Engle is the final pilot to die of the 12 men who flew the X-15 rocket-powered, hypersonic test aircraft.
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Jul 2, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | David Cenciotti |Tom Demerly
Airband listeners heard an F-16 pilot report ‘a chunk taken out of its spine due to a too close breakaway incident’ during refueling operations with a KC-46. On June 27, 2024 an inflight refueling incident occurred between a new U.S. Air Force KC-46 Pegasus aerial tanker and an F-16 off the coast of Netherlands.
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Jul 2, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly |David Cenciotti
Whether the escalation of balloon activity is a precursor to additional military activity or the emergence of a new normal for surveillance, testing and propaganda operations remains to be seen. But the increasing reliance on lighter-than-air assets is a noteworthy trend. A bizarre campaign of harassment between North and South Korea has escalated in recent weeks as the two countries continue to send propaganda and garbage balloons across each other’s’ borders.
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Jun 19, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
Aviation Fans Still Raving About “Blue Angels”. Where is The Thunderbird’s Film? This summer’s film showcasing a season of preparation for the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team, “Blue Angels”, debuted in 227 theaters across the U.S. last month on the weekend of May 17-19, 2024. The film earned a broadly positive reception and stronger than average ticket and streaming sales for a documentary in its first month.
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Jun 5, 2024 | 
theaviationist.com | Tom Demerly
Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams Make History on Way to Dock with ISS. For the first time ever, a manned Boeing Starliner spacecraft has achieved operational test orbit with two astronauts on board. Retired U.S. Navy Captain, Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and spacecraft pilot Sunita “Sunny” Williams launched from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1052 EDT (1452 UTC) on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
