Luke Diaz-Staff Writer

Luke Diaz

Staff Writer

August, 2024
Luke Diaz is a freelance military aviation writer and former American Naval Flight Officer with prior service on the USN E-2 Hawkeye AEW platform.
US Navy, Military, Naval Aviation
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About Luke Diaz

Luke Diaz is a freelance military writer with experience with active duty experience in the US Navy as well as defense and industrial engineering. He is a former Naval Flight Officer who performed tactical air control on the carrier-based E-2 Hawkeye.

What is your favourite aircraft and why?

The Curtis P-40 Warhawk remains the most iconic warbird to me and my favorite plane design. I still find the story of the American Volunteers who flew it with the Flying Tigers in China during WWII to be one of the most inspiring stories in the annals of military and aviation history.

Why do you love aviation?

We live in a world full of flying machines that do wonderful and amazing things for us all. It's truly impossible, for me at least, to ever get bored with learning about the history and evolution of aircraft that form the fantastic world of flying as we know it today.

What is your industry focus?

My educational background and military experience give me unique insight into the defense side of aerospace, with a regional specialization in the Asia-Pacific sphere.

Latest

The US Air Force Is Quietly Shrinking Below 5,000 Aircraft For The 1st Time In Its History
The US Air Force Is Quietly Shrinking Below 5,000 Aircraft For The 1st Time In Its History

Analyzing the numbers behind the USAF's fleet modernization strategy.

V-22-Osprey
Why The V-22 Osprey Can Only Transition Between Helicopter & Airplane Flight Within A Carefully Controlled Speed Range

How pilots fly the unique tiltrotor in all phases of flight.

u2-spy-plane
The U-2 Spy Plane From 1956 Still Flies Missions That Many Advanced Reconnaissance Satellites Cannot Fully Perform

The Cold War icon serves on after seven decades.

GCAP-Fighter
Why The GCAP Fighter Gives This Country Something The F-35 Never Could

The plane that will take Japan to the next level of air power.

An American Airlines Boeing 737 displaying the retro livery of Air Cal Airlines on final approach at the Miami International Airport
Faulty American Airlines Plane Allegedly Leaves Passengers “Stranded” In St. Croix For 2 Days

One of the affected flyers has chronicled their travel nightmare on an idyllic isle.

17
Military-Transport
How The A400M's Propeller Design Creates A Noise Signature No Other Military Transport Has

The hidden benefits of Airbus' unique engines on the mighty Atlas.

3
assengers wait in the boarding area for a United Airlines flight at Chicago O'Hare International Airport
No Other Choice: United Airlines Drops 11 Routes From Chicago O’Hare Due To FAA Flight Caps

Federal limits on daily flight at ORD are here to stay.

5
US-Air-Force plane flying
The US Air Force Retired Its Only Theater-Wide Ground Radar Jet Before Its Replacement Was Ready

Why the USAF abandoned its premier 'eye in the sky.'

3
Security checkpoint area at FLL Fort Lauderdale International Airport during DHS shutdown
Ditching TSA Agents: 3 Major US Airports Opt In To New Private Screening Model
TSA

The first airfields to pull out of TSA have been announced.

35
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 Custom Thumbnail
'Foreign Object Damage': NTSB & Ryanair Clash Over Cause Of Boeing 737 Window Blowout

The head of the NTSB has shut down speculation from Ryanair's Group CEO.

3
Keep-Flying
Here's Why Boeing Needs Every C-17 Globemaster To Keep Flying Until 2075

How new tech and predictive software is future-proofing the fleet.

Boeing 737 MAX 8 of GOL Linhas Aéreas taxiing to take off
2 Defective Boeing 737 MAX 8s To Be Scrapped After Barely 6 Months In Service

The curious case of two brand new twinjets being parted out.

69
A10 Warthog Nose Custom Thumbnail
How The Fairchild Republic A-10 Warthog’s Titanium Bathtub Protects Pilots From Ground-Level Ballistics

The story behind America's flying tank buster.

Every-6th-Generation
The Hidden Engineering Problem Facing Every 6th-Generation Fighter Program

The dilemma facing defense industrial design house around the world.

3
 Boeing 737 Max 7 departs from King County International Airport, also known as Boeing Field
Boeing 737 MAX 7 And 10 Certification 'Closer Than Ever,' FAA Says

The FAA's top brass weigh in on Boeing's progress.

14
how-many-f-15s-are-in-service-with-the-us-air-force-in-2026
The US Air Force Is Scrapping 119 F-15E Strike Eagles While Saudi Arabia Pays $5 Billion For Upgraded Versions Of The Same Jet

The technical nuances behind a massive upgrade to the Kingdom's fighter fleet.

1
SR-71-Ground-Crews
What SR-71 Ground Crews Had To Do After Every Landing That Took Hours To Complete

The high price of flying America's fastest jet.

3
Tiltrotor
The US Navy Retired A 10,000-Lb Cargo Workhorse For A Tiltrotor That Carries 4,000 Lbs Less

How the Osprey is evolving naval aviation.

20
Unfinished Boeing 777X airframes in storage
Boeing Will Shift Engineers To 1st All-New Jet In 2 Decades After MAX 10 & 777-9 Certify

Kelly Ortberg reveals major plans ahead of Farnborough Airshow showcase.

11
Andersen-AFB
The US Air Force Is Pouring 20 Acres Of Concrete At Guam's Andersen AFB But Refuses To Build Shelters

How America is investing in air power over the Pacific.

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