The first F-35 JSF delivered.

The Department of Defense’s first U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter delivered to its new home at Eglin Air Force Base. Its pilot, Lt. Col. Eric Smith of the 58th Fighter Squadron, is the first Air Force qualified JSF pilot. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joely Santiago)

American Warplane Crashes in Libya as Ground Fighting Continues - NYTimes.com

Super duper sonic.

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A fun story originally printed in Aviation Weekly (Mar 2010):

I met an SR-71 pilot a few years ago. (SR-71 was the USAAF advanced ‘stealth’ reconnaissance aircraft known as the Blackbird). He told me this story from his first flight with a new co-pilot: An SR-71 and crew were flying over Southern California when a bug smasher came on the airwaves in a dorky voice: Cessna 152: Ground Control, What’s my airspeed? Ground Control: 100 at FL 100. A few moments later a cocky voice came on: Mooney M20: Ground Control, What’s MY airspeed? Ground Control: 240 at FL 240. By this time the SR pilot was seething, but since communications were the duty of his new co-pilot, he remained silent. A few moments of radio silence passed, and in the calmest voice imaginable the co-pilot keyed in: SR-71: Ground Control, What’s our airspeed? Ground Control: 1875 at FL 800. There were no more speed checks called in that afternoon, and the pilot knew that he had a cool partner in the back seat.

Akira. Illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo.

Bell X-5 shows off it’s super-secret “Ghost Wings.”