For the first time since a deadly crash caused the F-15 fleet to be grounded nationwide earlier this month Japan F-15 fighter jets began flying again on Okinawa last Wednesday. This is according to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

The decision to resume flight operations on the island was made after a survey of the F-15 fleet discovered no aircraft structural problems that might have caused the crash that killed a veteran pilot who was on a July 5 training flight out of Naha Air Base, said Maj. Minoru Takara, chief spokesman of Naha Air Base in Okinawa.

“We resumed the flight beginning today after conducting elaborate security precautions to ensure safety in both the aircraft and mental and physical aspect of the pilots,” Takara said.

The grounding affected about 200 aircraft in Japan and Okinawa was the last prefecture to bring the F-15s back online.

Flight operations on mainland Japan had resumed last week.

Source: Stars and Stripes

Transformers movie poster (2007)

Aside from helicopters, other aircraft have been featured and continue to be featured in Hollywood films. Usually, warplanes star in action films to bring more oomph to the films. But these bad boys don’t come cheap because they cost thousands of dollars to “act.” Some go for solely CGI instead. Still, these thousand-dollar aircraft bring in more audiences so no loss but more gain for the producers.

Director Michael Bay on set of Transformers at Holloman Air Force Base

One movie that incorporated both real aircraft and CGI is the blockbuster film Transformers. Other than land vehicles, this film used aircraft like an F-22 Raptor for the character Starscream. Starscream is one of the enemy Decepticons which originally transforms into an F-15 Eagle based on the cartoon movie The Transformers: The Movie which was released on August 8, 1986.

Real airmen as extras on the set of Transformers at Holloman Air Force Base

Other aircraft used were F-117 Nighthawks, CV-22 Osprey, A-10 Thunderbolt II, C-17 Globemaster III, MH-53 Pave Low, HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant, AC-130 Gunship, C-130 Hercules, MQ-1 Predator, and Air Force One. Looks like these bad boys aren’t just cutout for war but also for “acting”, too,  so move aside Herbie.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen movie poster (2009)

Most of us thought that prominent fighter aircraft used in first Transformers film were mind-blowing but our whole heads got blown off when we saw the sequel Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Starring again was the C-17 Globemaster III, and new planes like the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 Blackbird was used for the character Jetfire. This character was depicted as a VF-1S Super Valkyrie, as an F-14 Tomcat, and as a Sukhoi SU-27 In earlier toy models.

On set of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen at Smithsonian Air and Space museum

Part of the SR-71 Blackbird on set of the sequel

Autobots logo on the tail fin of Michael Bay's private jet

Though not an aircraft, another bad boy… girl rather, was featured in the sequel. The USS John C. Stennis aircraft also starred in the film making it bigger and better.

The USS John C. Stennis carrier

On board the USS John C. Stennis carrier for Revenge of the Fallen

Actor Josh Duhamel as Capt. William Lenox

Aside from blowing our minds and/or heads off, Hollywood blockbusters keep us asking for more and with Transformers 3 being released on the 1^st of July next year, will it finally blow every bit of us away?

-af.mil                                                   - transformerslive.blogspot.com

-youtube.com                                   -transformers.moviechronicles.com

-wikipedia.org

Warplanes.com is giving away a wide selection of handcrafted model planes to our friends on Twittersphere to showcase one of the major reasons why we’re still the number one in the model plane industry – and that’s having modelers with the highest level of craftsmanship.

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This  contest will only run for 7 days from the starting date, that’s July 15th through 21st. All entries/tweets coming in after July 21, 2009 shall not be credited.

Selection of Winners:

7 winners of model planes and 10 consolation prize winners of discount coupons ($50 off on custom model‘s sale price) will be randomly selected at the end of the contest period and will then be contacted the following day. The lucky ones must supply Warplanes with his/her name, mailing address and telephone numbers. Prizes will be shipped upon receiving the said information.

Note:

Prizes such as model planes and discount coupons are not convertible to cash. We are doing this just for fun and to give everyone a chance to own a model airplane from Warplanes, but if less than 100 people joined the contest, we have the right to change the rules and give away a smaller prize or extend the time limit. So please help spread the word by retweeting! Thanks so much and good luck!:)

Air Force officials have announced plans to retire nearly 250 legacy fighters to fund a smaller and more capable force and redistribute people for higher priority missions. Retirement of approximately 250 aircrafts includes 112 F-15 Eagles, 134 F-16 Fighting Falcons and three A-10 Thunderbolt IIs. This does not include the five fighters previously scheduled for retirement in FY10.

“We have a strategic window of opportunity to do some important things with fighter aircraft restructuring,” said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. “By accepting some short-term risk, we can convert our inventory of legacy fighters and F-22 (Raptors) into a smaller, more flexible and lethal bridge to fifth-generation fighters like the F-35 (Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter). We’ll also add manpower to capabilities needed now for operations across the spectrum of conflict.”

The CAF restructuring plan, which will require appropriate environmental analyses, would enable Air Force officials to use reassignment and retraining programs to move approximately 4,000 manpower authorizations to emerging and priority missions such as manned and unmanned surveillance operations and nuclear deterrence operations.

This realignment would include the expansion of MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and MC-12 Liberty aircrews; the addition of a fourth active-duty B-52 Stratofortress squadron; and the expansion of Distributed Common Ground System and information processing, exploitation and dissemination capabilities for continued combatant commander support in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other adjustments.

Secretary Donley and General Schwartz have committed the Air Force to initiatives that will reinvigorate its nuclear enterprise and field 50 unmanned combat air patrols for ongoing operations by FY11.

“What we’re looking for is a force mix that meets the current mission requirements of combatant commanders while providing a capable force to meet tomorrow’s challenges,” Secretary Donley said.