Alpha Jets fly above the Arcachon Basin in western France. Founded in 1995, the Operational Transitional School at Cazaux has welcomed young fighter pilots from the French Air Force for over 18 years. Since 2005, it has also opened its doors to international pilots from Belgium and Germany. Having recently received their wings, these pilots take final advanced courses in air combat before being posted to their flight squadrons.
Pilots with China's People's Liberation Army Air Force eighth formation stand at attention during training for the National Day parade in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2009. China's Air Force is the world's third-largest, consisting of about 400,000 personnel.
French military pilot Renaud Ecalle of the French air acrobatics team flies at the military base of Cambrai, France, on Aug. 11, 2009. He is preparing for the upcoming World Championships in England.
Crates are dropped from planes during a graduation ceremony at Hatzerim Air Base, outside Beer Sheva, in southern Israel, on June 23, 2009.
Former Navy and Air National Guard pilot Byron Wright sits in a F-16 SimuSphere HD flight simulator at Link Simulation and Training in Arlington, Texas, on June 2, 2009. This simulator uses new video technology that greatly enhances the visual elements as well as offering a 180-degree field of view for the pilot.
Jets sit on the runway at the Operational Transitional School at Cazaux, France.
A teacher watches students use a Diamond 42 flight simulation training device during their classes at the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
The British Royal Air Force Red Arrows aerobatic team perform during a training flight on March 22 at an airbase on Crete. An RAF pilot escaped with just a dislocated shoulder after a midair crash on March 23 with another member of his aerobatic team in Greece, officials said. The pilot from the Red Arrows team ejected before his Hawk jet crashed in a field at Kastelli air base on the island of Crete.
Explosions and a helicopter are seen during an Israeli air force graduation ceremony at Hatzerim Air Base, outside Beer Sheva, in southern Israel, on June 23, 2009.
Airman 1st Class Kyle Hughes inspects an F-16 Fighting Falcon on May 8 at Eielson Air Force Base, in Alaska. The 18th Aggressor Squadron pilots are simulating enemy aircraft during Northern Edge, a annual joint training exercise. Airman Hughes is a 354th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief. The exercise gives pilots a chance to train during a realistic representation of possible threats.
First Lt. Clyde Beattie, pilot of the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron OV-10 Bronco aircraft, signals his crew chief for an engine start during tactical air control training.
A trainer aircraft to exercise emergency landings is seen at the flight school of Russian airline Aeroflot.
Alpha jets maneuver above the Arcachon Basin in France. Alpha jets are light attack/advanced trainer aircraft made by Germany's Dornier and France's Dassault-Breguet.
A Diamond Twin Star aircraft appears at the Ulyanovsk Baratayeveka Airport, in Russia, where students of the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School have their training flights.
Federal authorities charged Kenneth W. Smith Jr. with conveying false and misleading information.
A man has been charged with making a hoax threat that led authorities to recall a plane in midair to the Philadelphia airport.
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