theaviationist.com

kJlwg TIL the CIA tested the SR-71 radar signature by mounting it to a pole in the desert (Area 51). It was removed daily just before the Soviet satellite passed above. But since a shadow was created on the hot desert dirt - the temperature differential exposed the exact shape of the jet to the Soviets
XEyBR TIL that in 1983, after a mid-air collision, an F-15 pilot continued flying and made a successful emergency landing, only to find out after he landed that he lost the entire right wing in the collision.
JYkal TIL Vietnamese farmers after the war repurposed external fuel tanks jettisoned by American planes into river canoes, which have lasted for nearly 5 decades.