Aircraft
Ta 152
The ultimate Fw 190 was given a completely new designation, the Ta 152, after its designer Kurt Tank. Although it only saw service in small numbers, its performance was superior to every other piston-engined fighter of the time. With MW-50 and GM-1 nitrous oxide boost it was capable of 472 mph at 41,000 ft and its service ceiling was over…
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Mikoyan MIG-23
MiG-23 MF/BN FLOGGER The Soviet-designed fighters were agile. In an engagement, the enemy’s first turn would be eye-watering—unless, that is, the model in question was a MiG-23. Then, there typically was no turn at all. The MiG-23 would simply tear away so fast that it seemed like a Ferrari leaving…
Zeros as Kamikazes
The Kamikazes represented just one facet of the extreme Japanese measures originated to present a last-ditch defence against the American onslaught, under the overall title of Tokku (Special Attack) and the latter term is the one used by them. As in all things, the western usage of the term Kamikaze…
Junkers Ju 87GÂ Kanonenvogel
With the G variant, the aging airframe of the Ju 87 found new life as an anti-tank aircraft. This was the final operational version of the Stuka, and was deployed on the Eastern Front. The reverse in German military fortunes after 1943 and the appearance of huge numbers of well-armoured…
Republic F-12 Rainbow
The F-12 Rainbow was a long-range, four-engine aircraft with an onboard capability for developing film; only one prototype was built and the model was one of only two recon-specific types developed during World War II (the other being the Hughes F-11). The F-12 was redesignated the XR-12 when the US…
UH-60 Blackhawk
Sikorsky entered its S-70 into the U. S. Army UTTAS competition and eventually won a contract to produce the Army’s new combat assault helicopter. In the midst of developing the new aircraft, on May 1, 1974, Sikorsky Aircraft became a division of the newly established United Technologies Corporation. Designed to…
Zveno Aircraft and Developments
The complete sequence of Zveno developments (not all were tried). In 1930 Vakhmistrov suggested that a cheap glider might be used as an aerial gunnery target, and he quickly perfected a way of carrying such a glider above the upper wing of an R-l reconnaissance aircraft and releasing it in…