Have you ever wondered how the Air Force gets fuel into planes in midair? I bet you thought the pilots did it all. They certainly play a big role, but the main person in this operation is a guy (or gal) laying on his stomach, looking out of a huge window in the bottom of the tanker plane, "flying" the fuel boom with a…

If you ever find yourself lost behind enemy lines with no hope of getting past the bad guys, over the lines, and to the safety of your own people, you're pretty well stuffed. For military pilots, this scenario is a distinct possibility. That's why the Air Force has crews of pararescue jumpers to fly into all sorts of…

The Thunderbirds are the U.S. Air Force's crack aerobatics team, so they have to practice a lot to get their routines down. Mistakes can lead to horrible crashes, or, as in the case of a Thunderbird pilot flying over Tucson, Ariz., thousands of dollars in damaged property.

What's going on in the Middle East and Central Asia? According to The Aviationist, that's the sort of question that comes to mind when you see a bunch of A-10 attack aircraft normally stationed in Arizona sitting on the tarmac at a Massachusetts air base.

Wildfire continues to rage across much of the west, and the military has responded by dispatching tanker planes to help battle the blazes. This video shows an Air National Guard crew dropping chemical fire retardant over one of Colorado's wildfires with a C-130 Hercules.

A tail rudder from the fastest airplane in the world could be yours — for a cool $1 million. The seller didn't say if it was a spare part, or if it was once part of a functioning SR-71 Blackbird, which is an important distinction given the cost.

The Italian Campaign of World War II happened to coincide with the last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Bad news for the 340th Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces, which happened to be based at Pompeii Airfield at the time of the eruption. Yeah. That Pompeii.

The U.S. Air Force's X-37b unmanned space shuttle landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California today following 220 days in orbit, touching down in darkness. Its mission? "Experimentation." Next one launches in spring.

Maj. John Baum, the No. 2 pilot with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, gives a "rock on" signal while refueling his F-16 Fighting Falcon after an air show at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. last month. Photo Credit: USAF

U.S. Navy sonar technician, Ronald Dejarnett captured the beauty and sheer power of a single U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor as it hit supersonic speeds over the Gulf of Alaska. [Gizmodo via US Navy]