Lt. Col. Steve Bowen at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, reached a milestone 3,000 flying hours in the F-16 Viper earlier this week. It took him 15.5 years. Bowen currently serves as commander of the 52nd Operational Support Squadron at Spangdahlem.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.