April 2026

'Military operation' Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion sure keeps the world busy, leading to unrest in the world. On the aviation side it led to lots of (unfortunate) updates for civil, military and Soviet aircraft, which are published in this online edition. Apart from that there are lots more positives to read as well!

Two articles this month: PZL I-22 Iryda and Verticon 2026. The first was provided by Raymond and Monika Dijkhuizen, about the final convulsion of the independent Polish aviation industry. The I-22 was a twin-engine jet trainer intended to succeed the successful TS-11 Iskra, and Raymond and Monika give us the history on this trainer jet.

The second article is about the yearly helicopter convention, previously known as HAI HELI-EXPO, Verticon. This year’s edition took place in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta (GA). Like before Lukas Hollnsteiner, was on the (heli)spot and produced a pictorial overview of what has dropped in there. Gert Jan Mentink provided the words to go along with it.

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The May 2026 edition will be available from Sunday 3 May and the deadline for photos is Tuesday 28 April.

With tensions rising in the Middle East due to Operation Epic Fury, the United States Air Force’s Global Strike Command (AFGSC) decided to deploy heavy bombers closer to the combat zone, but still in the safe confines of the United Kingdom. RAF Fairford is where B-52s and B-1Bs were sent too and Frank Noort was present at the fence to capture T-Bone 86-0107/WA Dragon Slayer, on 19 March 2026, in beautiful dusk conditions.