With panache, the British press coined the term Fokker Scourge to characterize the era when the Eindeckers were the only warplanes fitted with a synchronizer to enable the fighter’s machine gun to fire through the propeller arc. This revolutionized air-to-air combat.
Of Wings & Things
The Monocoupe’s Overshadowed Sibling
The Monoprep was designed by Donald Luscombe as a side-by-side trainer, offering student pilots a forgiving ride.
The Evolution of Greenhouse Liberators
With a crew of 10 — and that number cycling through the system from 1941-1945 — plus thousands more Americans building and maintaining B-24s, the Liberator touched more families in this country than any other aircraft of the war. Chances are, if your family has been in the U.S. four generations or so, you have an ancestor whose path crossed with the B-24 during World War II.
Waco UPF-7s dusted too
When insect pests threatened Oregon forests as early as 1945, another duster type, the Waco UPF-7, made the scene. If we think of the UPF-7 today as a vintage sport and training biplane dating back to 1937, its use as an agricultural aircraft comes as a surprise to many.
Boeing Model 81 trainer traded engines
In the late 1920s before the sobering effects of the Great Depression, aircraft and engine manufacturers tweaked and dabbled as they pursued the Next Big Thing.
Radical Japanese fighter overcome by events
The Kyushu Shinden first tested its wings on Aug. 3, 1945. Two more quick test sorties, said to have been made on Aug. 6 and 9, the dates when atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were the last flights for the Shinden. Six days later Japan surrendered, ending the war and the need for the Shinden.
Dauntless: From Northrop concept to Douglas production
The BT-1 might have been an anecdotal footnote in aviation history, but the modified XBT-2 showed promise. Now part of the Douglas portfolio for the Navy, the XBT-2 was redesignated the Douglas SBD-1.
Celebrating 100 years of Fairchild Aircraft
Led by Sherman Mills Fairchild, who enjoyed both wealth and talent, Fairchild fast became a reliable part of American aviation industry.
Me 262 jet pointed to the future as it slipped into the past
The shark-like predator look of the Messerschmitt Me 262, coupled with its capabilities as a combat jet aircraft in World War II, ensure this warplane will be forever fascinating.