Benny Kirk
1,727 ARTICLES
Stealth Dorito: The A-12 Avenger II Stealth Jet Walked So the F-35C Could Run
11 Jul 2023, 03:20 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The sibling rivalry between the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy is, in many ways, similar to something you'd see on an old Nickelodeon sitcom; most of a certain age know which one. When one sibling gets a toy, the other one inevitably wails a...
Ryan FR-1 Fireball: The WWII U.S. Navy's Idea of a Hybrid Drivetrain
9 Jul 2023, 21:38 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Even in 2023, when people think of a hybrid, they immediately think of the Toyota Prius and probably not much else. But at its root, a hybrid drivetrain isn't bound to mundane Lithium-ion batteries and pitiful little gas engines they assist. I...
This Is Why the NASCAR Cup Series Should Race at Le Mans One Day
8 Jul 2023, 20:36 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Suppose you'd told the average LMP/GTE racing fan 30 years ago that a modified NASCAR Cup car would not only enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans race but even be faster than some of the European and Japanese heavyweights. In that case, they would�...
Allison T40: The Tale of an Engine So Unreliable, It Made the U.S. Military Rage-Quit
8 Jul 2023, 14:05 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Most of the time, an aeronautical engine is only somewhat interesting without the context of the aircraft it's mounted inside. There are a few exceptions, of course. We need not name-drop the Rolls-Royce Merlin or the Pratt & Whitney R-280...
The Chevy Kodiak Pickup Was All That's Awful About American Excess, Yet I Still Want One
4 Jul 2023, 13:41 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Happy Fourth of July, folks! On the day we celebrate all things "`Murica," I want to point your attention toward a vehicle that perhaps encompasses the essence of what the rest of the world can't stand about us Yanks. A truck so mass...
Honey, I Shrunk the 747: The Story of the Boeing 747SP
13 Jun 2023, 22:34 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / For upwards of four decades, the Boeing 747 was pound for pound the largest, most capable, and the most iconic wide-body, quad-engine airliner the world had ever seen. Though Airbus' A380 may have may have stolen the "Seven-Four's&qu...
It’s Time To Admit It, the Ingenuity Mars-Copter Is the Greatest Aircraft To Ever Fly
13 Jun 2023, 00:06 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Without the benefit of hindsight to guide their way, the Wright Flyer I managed to be a pretty rotten flying machine. It was indeed planet Earth's first heavier-than-air, human-crewed aircraft to fly, and therefore both the best and worst of t...
Piper PA-48 Enforcer: A World War II Icon Made a CAS King With an Engine Swap
11 Jun 2023, 19:42 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / If legends never die, then the North American P-51 Mustang is already immortal by all intents and purposes. But this doesn't mean Mustangs could maintain relevancy indefinitely in a military context. But that didn't stop an iconic name in...
Grumman KurbWatt: The Long Forgotten Electric Mail Truck That Almost Changed Everything
10 Jun 2023, 02:06 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Frigid in the wintertime, blistering in the summertime. Slow as molasses, with aerodynamics that makes a HUMVEE feel better about itself. A pain to drive on dry pavement and downright nightmarish in deep snow, even with chains. At the same time, th...
Delays With SpaceX's Starship Might Sandbag NASA's Planned Lunar Landing
8 Jun 2023, 22:58 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It was all great fun watching SpaceX's first orbital test flight of their flagship Starship spacecraft tumble out of the sky in a great fireball. But apart from meme-worthy screenshots of Elon Musk's prized stainless steel leviathan engul...
Boeing T7 Red Hawk: The USAF's New Advanced Trainer Jet Stuck in Development Purgatory
8 Jun 2023, 14:45 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / When the United States Air Force wants something badly enough, they get it immediately and without hesitation, right? Well, the short answer to that is no. Even the Pentagon can get fleeced on a deal every now and then, or at least get kept waiting...
The Mount Rushmore of Aviation Pioneers ("Without the Wright Brothers" Edition)
6 Jun 2023, 20:16 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / When most people think of aviation's pioneer days, they remember Wilbur and Orville Wright and pretty much nobody else. Can you imagine if the modern tech industry was like this? Or if the only relevant names over the last 40 years w...
How and Why Mitsubishi's Aircraft Division Failed Even Worse Than Its Auto Brand
5 Jun 2023, 03:11 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Watching Mitsubishi transform from a sporty, fun-oriented competitor to Toyota and Honda into little more than re-badged Renault-Nissan vehicles and dull crossover SUVs in North America was like watching a one-star crash test in slow motion. This w...
U.S. Dept. of Energy Wants To Use Bomb-Grade Uranium in Experiment, Sparks Outrage
2 Jun 2023, 18:12 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / America desperately needs to un-learn a few myths about nuclear energy we've come to learn from the Simpsons and the HBO adaptation of Chernobyl. But even so, a recent experiment proposal by two American nuclear energy research firms and the U...
IAIO Qaher-313: The Story of Iran's Dank Meme Stealth Fighter That Can't Fly
1 Jun 2023, 07:27 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's easy to get the wrong idea about Iran. But make no mistake. The IAIO Qaher 313 stealth fighter prototype represents everything wrong with modern Iran. This is the full story around Iran's lame-duck stealth fighter. But to understa...
Over-Budget, Over-Time, Totally Worth It: Why NASA’s "Ride-or-Die" With the SLS Rocket
1 Jun 2023, 04:01 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Fans of space travel can be fickle people. We should know, we're in that group. We tend to get very angry when space agencies fail to stick to a deadline or start to even slightly go over budget on something. Perhaps never before in the 21st h...
UAC: How Russia Frankensteined Its Aviation Sector into a Single Massive Company
28 May 2023, 02:03 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Much like Stalin decades before him, when Vladimir Putin wants something done, it usually gets done without question. Unless said desire has anything to do with Ukraine, that is. But generally, that's what happens when you invade your neighbor...
Want to Daily Drive Your Custom Mopar? Take This Influencer's Advice
27 May 2023, 04:39 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The last time we saw the up-and-coming muscle car influencer @john_hemi's modified 2016 Dodge Charger RT that he calls "Luna," we were carving corners in it along the back roads of suburban Long Island at speeds that'd make BMW ...
Ilyushin Il-20: What Happens When the Soviets Try To Build a Tank With Wings
24 May 2023, 07:12 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / When a Soviet-state-owned aerospace manufacturer is demanded by the Communist Party to build an aircraft, it gets done no matter how dumb the concept is in theory. This authoritarian approach to the military-industrial complex by the Soviet Union l...
I Rage-Quit Playing War Thunder and Tried World of Warplanes (PC): Here’s How It Went
24 May 2023, 02:03 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / So, you're finally sick and tired of War Thunder and Gaijin Entertainment's brazen contempt for their own player base? You've had it up to here with the endless grind, the extortionate price of premium aircraft, and premium account t...