When the United States Army Air Forces wanted an operational jet fighter of their own, the War Department's wish was Kelly Johnson's command. They sure wished upon this shooting star. The Lockheed P-80 was the first jet fighter used operationally by the USAAF. The aircraft was designed and built by Lockheed in [...]
Technology and budget made building the JetStar a challenge. In the 1950s, aeronautical engineer Kelly Johnson designed the Lockheed JetStar. The design was originally produced for the US Air Force, but it was eventually used for business. Four Pratt & Whitney JT12A6 turbojets powered the aircraft with a swept wing and cruciform tail. Inflatable rubber deicing [...]
Experimenting--it's a perfectly normal phase in every aircraft's life. Some just never quite grow out of it. If ugly ducklings could fly (they can't until 12 weeks of age, by the way), they might be called Stipa-Caproni. At least if they were Italian ducks. What's a little more certain is for many, this aircraft is [...]
Between aisles of herringbone suits and wool neckties sat the ERCO Ercoupe. The small, twin-tail metal plane with a bubble canopy caught everyone’s eye. The 1945 Manhattan department store advertisement read, “Macy’s the world’s largest store, within a matter of days, will bring you America’s first certified spinproof plane!” The World’s Safest Plane Ercoupe took [...]
The Airbus A310 was derived from the A300, the first twin-engine, wide-body airliner. But this derivative of the Airbus A300 introduced some significant changes to commercial air travel. Design and Production The Airbus A310 is just one of the planes to have come from the original Airbus A300B. This aircraft was shorter than the other [...]
Based on the Waco 9, the Waco 10 was designed to make something that was already good, bigger. Both had three seats and a single engine, but a larger wing area, bigger cockpit, and additional features made this model even more popular that the last. Design and Development Just like the Waco 9, the Waco [...]
In a world of fabric-and-wood, be metal. Hugo Junkers (1859-1935)©MP/Leemage The Junkers F.13 was one of the most advanced aircraft of its time. Developed in Germany at the end of WWI, this advanced cantilever-wing monoplane was the first ever all-metal transport aircraft. It was also Junker's first commercial aircraft--not too shabby considering they would go [...]
I’ve written about the Battle of Britain before where I mentioned that 500 of the Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots were from other countries, including Ireland. Many of those pilots flew Supermarine Spitfires, and one particular Irish pilot was very well known for his Spitfire flying abilities. They called him Spitfire Paddy. The Supermarine Spitfire [...]
It’s a boat! It’s a plane! It’s an… amphibious aircraft! The Beriev Be-200, manufactured by Irkut Corporation, was designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company. The intention was to design an aircraft that served multiple purposes, such as fighting fires, acting in search and rescue efforts, serving as passenger transportation, and more. Design and Development The [...]
The Grumman X-29 is not your typical plane. Its unconventional design is like none other, and its testing and development was meant to experiment with a few different aircraft technologies. Developed by Grumman, two were produced and flown by NASA and the U.S. Air Force. Other than the forward sweeping wings, this plane featured canard [...]
