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  • Flying Tiger Shot Down in 1943 Finally Returns Home
    by Mike Killian on December 26, 2025 at 20:19

    After more than 80 years, a P-40 fighter pilot shot down in China in 1943 has finally returned home to South Carolina. It wasn’t the first time 1st Lt. Morton Sher was shot down. At 22 years old he was escorting bombers for breakfast, and flying other hazardous combat missions for dinner in the China-Burma The post Flying Tiger Shot Down in 1943 Finally Returns Home appeared first on Avgeekery.

  • No MELs, No Delays: How Santa’s Sleigh Keeps Flying Year After Magical Year
    by Dave Hartland on December 25, 2025 at 01:43

    Is Santa’s Sleigh the Most Reliable Airframe Ever Built? Spoiler: Yes. Yes, it is. And it’s not even close.  Every 24th of December, without fail, Santa launches the most ambitious overnight operation in aviation history. No test flights. No press conferences. No NOTAMs lighting up ForeFlight. Just wheels up, world covered, mission complete. And perhaps The post No MELs, No Delays: How Santa’s Sleigh Keeps Flying Year After Magical Year appeared first on Avgeekery.

  • Coulson Aviation 767 Set to Join Fleet as Wildfire Airtanker Fleets Face a Reckoning
    by Dave Hartland on December 25, 2025 at 00:38

    Coulson Aviation 767 is set to reshape Very Large Airtanker (VLAT) operations as legacy firefighting aircraft near retirement. If you have followed aerial firefighting over the past few years, you already know the uncomfortable truth. The fleet of very large airtankers that agencies have relied on for decades is aging out fast. With the recent The post Coulson Aviation 767 Set to Join Fleet as Wildfire Airtanker Fleets Face a Reckoning appeared first on Avgeekery.

  • John Wayne Airport “Fly Friendly” Program Proves Airports Can Be Good Neighbors
    by Dave Hartland on December 24, 2025 at 16:00

    The John Wayne Airport Fly Friendly Program helps reduce general aviation jet noise at John Wayne Airport (SNA) through voluntary actions, smart flying, and annual awards. Flying in and out of SNA has always come with extra responsibility. The airport sits right in the middle of densely populated neighborhoods in Orange County, California, which means The post John Wayne Airport “Fly Friendly” Program Proves Airports Can Be Good Neighbors appeared first on Avgeekery.

  • Santa Got a Checkride Again This Year
    by Jeff Gilmore on December 24, 2025 at 09:12

    “You better watch out.  You better not cry.” His experimental craft and isolated North Pole location didn’t prevent Santa from getting a no-notice check. Santa had a big job to do last night.  He has to do what is seemingly impossible. That is to deliver Christmas gifts to millions of toys to good little boys The post Santa Got a Checkride Again This Year appeared first on Avgeekery.