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Robert Winks, 357th Fighter Group Ace achieved what most did not. Flying his P51D Mustang âTrusty Rustyâ, he shot down a German Me262 jet. Nearing the end of the war, Germany produced a technical marvel, the first jet to enter combat. A beautiful airplane, it was capable of speeds over 100mph faster than its prop driven opponents. Needless to say,…
This pre-war SBD-1 wears the markings of the commander of VSB-1, a U.S. Marine Corps squadron based at Quantico, Virginia, in early 1941. VMB-1 (later VMSB-132) was the second unit to receive the SBD after VMB-2. By the end of the war in the Pacific, the venerable Dauntless dive-bomber was…
The series of mountain trials, completed on 5 October 1944, would undoubtedly have contributed much to helicopter development under other circumstances. Oberst Kraitmeyer had been delighted with the results achieved, enthusiastically recommending a final series of evaluation trials before adoption of the Drache as a general-purpose transport for the mountain…
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting name âFishbedâ) is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed âbalalaikaâ, from the aircraftâs planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or oĆĂłwek (English: pencil) by Polish pilots due to the shape…
HH/MH-60G PAVE HAWK The increased speed, range, and carrying capacity of the Black Hawk meant that it quickly found a number of uses in the special operations community. The MH-60G Pave Hawk was designed to deliver and extract Special Forces behind enemy lines, while the similar HH-60G was developed as…
Supermarine Spitfire Probably the most successful British fighter of World War II; placed in front-line service throughout the war. At least 22,759 Spitfire and Spitfire variants (photo-reconnaissance aircraft and naval fighters) were built between March 1936 and March 1949 in 54 major marks (not counting variants in engine fit and…
In response to Specification F.18137, design of the Hawker Typhoon was initiated by Sydney Camm in 1937. The Specification required a Rolls-Royce Vulture or Napier Sabre engine, so two prototypes were built initially, that with the Vulture known as the Hawker Tornado. The Sabre-engined version, designated Hawker Typhoon, also encountered…
Arguably, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 evolved into wartime Germanyâs most effective fighter, offering the Luftwaffe…
Douglas A-20 Havoc Douglas Aircraft developed the Model 7B twin-engine light attack bomber in the…
Final Encounter (Spitfire v Messerchmitt) by Michael Turner. Wing Commander J E Johnnie Johnson, Spitfire…
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