Folks who were looking skyward in the Charleston, S.C., area last week got treated to a phenomenal sight as the smoke from flares released by a C-17 flying over the Atlantic formed into a “smoke angel.” Air Force officials say the sight is created by the vortex from the airlifter’s engines. C-17s from Charleston AFB, S.C., were flying a local training exercise on May 16.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.