Aircraft
The Twins of USAAFÂ Bombing
B-17 Flying Fortress On 28 July 1935 the Model 299 flew for the first time: just over three weeks later it was flown non-stop to Wright Field, Ohio, to be handed over for official test and evaluation. The 2,100-mile (3 380-km) flight had been made at an average speed of 252 mph (406 km/h), a most impressive performance which augured…
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B-57G Night Hawk
The Martin B-57 Canberra was a twin jet engine tactical bomber that has equipped the United States Air Force from the mid of 1950s. Its robust aerodynamic design and its great reliability made it ideal for the role of tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. It was equipped with two Wright…
Fighters over the Pacific I
The Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters of Air Group 15 were refuelling on the carrier USS Essex when the alert sounded, sending the deck crews scattering and the pilots racing for their aircraft. It was 24 October 1944, and the Essex was one of seventeen American aircraft carriers forming the backbone…
Fighters over the Pacific II
It was during these early months of 1944 that the United States Navy started to bring the war home to the enemy with a vengeance, striking hard at the Japanese bases in the Pacific island chain. At the end of January, Task Force 58, composed of six heavy and six…
Gotha G. IV And G. V Biplane Bombers
Potentially a major, advance in air warfare, the Gotha bomber was Germany’s major weapon in her attempt to subdue England’s civilian population in World War I. From it arose the misguided belief that terror bombing could win wars. The first Hague Peace Conference in 1899 had banned the dropping of…
Flying wings
The flowering of innovation in the development of German secret weapons during the war years was especially pronounced in the field of revolutionary aeronautics. Britain was consumed with finding responses to the German onslaught, but the German High Command became fanatical about the domination of the Western world. The engineers…
Unmanned Aircraft (UMA) Maritime Applications
The scene on the deck of the USS George Bush looked quite normal. The date was 11 July 2013. Crews were in their positions awaiting the arrival of the next aircraft in the circuit to land. From the media coverage the whine of the engine on finals could be heard.…