Benny Kirk
1,281 ARTICLES
Spotlight USA: This Hangar Built the A-10 and P-47, Now It's Full of Airworthy Warbirds
5 Dec 2021, 09:24 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The problem with most aviation museums has nothing to do with the quality of the exhibits, but something else altogether. You can't help but think that the vast majority of the aircraft on display in these facilities will never, and we mea...
Republic Thunderscreech: Part Prop-Jet Interceptor, Part Infernal Noise Machine
3 Dec 2021, 20:55 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Some amazing airplanes rolled off the factory floor at Republic Aviation's factory in Farmingdale, New York. Lots of their designs are well known and well celebrated. Like The mighty P-47 Thunderbolt, the rugged F-84 Thunderjet, or the awe-ins...
Project Tacit Blue: Stealth Demonstrator, or Pontiac Aztek of the Sky?
3 Dec 2021, 17:27 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Military aircraft are a little bit like sports cars. Form follows function to make something utterly striking, regardless of whether beauty has any tactically relevant advantage. But form must follow function in the armed forces too, even if that m...
Up Close and Personal With a Mint-Condition P-51D Mustang Named Jacquline
2 Dec 2021, 15:14 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / No American military aircraft ever made has a mythos and a cultural impact anything like the North American P-51 Mustang. Say what you will about whether it's the legitimate best single-engined fighter of the war or not. But when most "no...
This is a Suit Bomber Pilots in World War II Actually Flew Wearing
1 Dec 2021, 22:06 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / More amazing exhibits are on display at the American AirPower Museum in Farmingdale, New York, than most people could get through in only a few hours. Better still, many of the two dozen or so aircraft on display in the main hangar are airworthy an...
Is a Wrapped Tesla Model 3 the New Ultimate Flex for Gen-Z Car Buyers?
1 Dec 2021, 17:23 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Tesla Model 3 is a car that's transcended the industry and become something much more than just another EV. These days, the Model 3 is a cultural icon. But what is the strapping young Model 3 buyer to do modification-wise if so much of ...
1950s Dodge M37 Was the U.S. Army's Idea of a Custom Truck
1 Dec 2021, 14:52 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Not every military 4x4 starts off in life as a machine of war and winds up on the streets of civilian America. Sometimes, it's the other way around. Look no further than this spectacularly well-preserved 1950s Dodge M37 utility truck seen ...
This Awesome War Exhibit is Part Albatross Sea-Plane, Part B-17 Bomber
28 Nov 2021, 21:50 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Name any famous World War Two movie made after the mid-40s, and you can probably point out a shot of the inside a vintage military aircraft at some point or another. Especially in the years since these planes have stopped serving, these scenes ...
Up-Close and Personal With the Two Most Famous Engines of World War II
28 Nov 2021, 16:52 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Military aircraft museums are some of the coolest places a petrolhead can go and visit. But every iconic warplane has an equally memorable engine that powers it. Visitors to the American Air Power Museum at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York...
A-10 Warthog Sits Guarding the Factory It Was Born In. 30mm Gun Hidden Behind Cover
28 Nov 2021, 15:55 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an airplane that refuses to die even if the U.S. military struggles to replace it. Even so, not every example ever built is still flying over an active warzone strafing with its VW Beetle-sized GAU-8 A...
Modified '70s Volkswagen Thing Fits Right In at Flight Worthy Warbird Museum
28 Nov 2021, 15:46 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's pretty typical to find a few Army vehicles scattered around any given military aviation museum. The National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, has at least a dozen of these. That's a given, as it's the largest museum of its kind...
Ace Combat 7 Modder Swaps Fighters for Giant Cargo Planes in Hilarious Cut Scene Dogfight
27 Nov 2021, 01:55 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's always a thrill to discover something we didn't expect to enjoy, and what comes next, another Ace Combat 7 modding, perfectly fits the description. Because your tastes line up so exquisitely with some of our own, here's...
Snapchat Clown Back at It, Uses Duct Tape and Firecrackers to Free Truck Wheel From Boot
24 Nov 2021, 21:10 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / You all seem to really enjoy laughing at Snapchat clowns doing all manner of mayhem to their cars, judging by the view count the last time we showed you one replacing his Chevy truck's tire with duct tape and pool noodles. In what we can only ...
2021 Mitsubishi Mirage: Will Bigger Wheels and Tires Make It Less Lame?
23 Nov 2021, 09:05 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / There's a long and drawn-out story behind why I, as an alleged "expert" in the auto industry, wound up owning a brand-new 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage ES hatchback. Anyone who legitimately thinks I'm an expert on anything is bound to ...
War Thunder: Grizzled Veteran Shoes Pro-Gamer Trick Most of Us Never Knew
23 Nov 2021, 00:44 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / War Thunder is the kind of game where a not-so-small majority of the player base is brand new to the game. So, there ought to be a handful of battle-tested veterans that show the new guard a thing or two about how to get genuinely skilled at the di...
Ace Combat 7 Online: MiG-21bis Battles F-22 Raptor, Result May Surprise You
23 Nov 2021, 00:02 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / In real life, any conflict between the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis and the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor has dire ramifications outside of being a cool what-if plane vs. plane scenario. So, probably best to keep the David vs. Goliath match the world o...
'69 Charger Hellcat Swap Is a Time Warp We Want to Live In
22 Nov 2021, 17:43 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The younger muscle car-oriented among all of us probably remember when David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of Roadkill resurrected a classic Dodge Charger. They then fitted it with a 707-horsepower Hellcat HEMI engine, one of the very first restomod...
’70s Mazda 929 Gets RX-8 Engine, Becomes Anti-LS Swapped Muscle Car
22 Nov 2021, 15:46 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Engine swaps generally connotate a smaller engine being replaced by a bigger one. But what if instead of a larger engine, you wanted one that was altogether different? One that worked in a manner fundamentally not the same as the motor that was onc...
Looking Back at a Time When Kenosha, Wisconsin, Was a Mo-Town Satellite City
20 Nov 2021, 03:47 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / This will not be another re-telling of the current Kenosha-related events most Americans (and many worldwide) are already well aware of. But, what some of us more petrolhead-inclined may find to be a fascinating aspect of the events, and the result...
Jet Powered Go-Kart Will Have Your Health Insurance Facepalming
19 Nov 2021, 20:47 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It may not be a Thursday by the time you wind up reading this, but anyone who legitimately says throwbacks are reserved for one day a week is a killjoy. That's why we're taking a deep dive back to 2016 when one particularly insane jet-pow...