The First Pencil?
This Week’s Hints to help you along: The first plane designed for mass production. Used any of at least five engines. It was all the rage in Mexico! Pressed into
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“The Wright Aeroplane and its Fabled Performance”
Published on September 12, 2016 By Thomas Van Hare “A Parisian automobile paper recently published a letter from the Wright brothers to Capt. Ferber of the French army, in which
Continue reading“The Wright Aeroplane and its Fabled Performance”
Pushing the Boundaries
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Designed at war using captured Nazi jet engines. Paved the way to 30 years of design development. Delayed as the factory didn’t know
The Special Mission
Published on August 22, 2016 By Thomas Van Hare Lieutenant Anselme Léon Emile Marchal took off into the gathering evening skies of France. After a brisk turn around his airfield,
Quadraplanes Forever
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Four wings, the top and bottom ones nearly identical. A heavy night interceptor with a headlamp! A crew of four with two engines,
Ten of My Rules for Air Fighting
Published on August 15, 2016 By Thomas Van Hare During the Battle of Britain, in nearly every RAF operations hut, you would find a small poster on the wall entitled,
A Weird Triplane
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Yes, those are American insignia on the wings. Clearly inspired by the famed Fokker Dr.I Triplane. Fast and well-designed, setting speed records. Set
Nearly 100 Years Ago
This Week’s Hints to help you along: A two-seat trainer that was quite reliable. Once displayed huge swastikas on the wings. Le Rhone powered, licensed rotary engine manufacturing. Flew commercial,
The Great Air War by Stereoscope
Published on August 8, 2016 by Thomas Van Hare On the home front during the Great War, 100 years ago, 3D viewing of photographs was very popular, the most common
An Anti-Submarine Seaplane
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Patrol, reconnaissance and anti-submarine roles. Deployed late in the Great War in small numbers. Successfully attacked and nearly sank a submarine! Pioneered new
Pocket Jet!
This Week’s Hints to help you along: A sub-mach mystery aircraft with a short history. The ultimate “V-tailed Doctor Killer” perhaps? Seats two — a pilot and the “guy in
The Mystery of Immelmann’s Final Flight
Published on July 20, 2016 By Thomas Van Hare “It was 9 in the evening, when the rat-tat of aerial machine guns lured me out of my quarters, and I
Not a Salamander
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Form follows function and thus, it appears like a Salamander. The wings appear the same as on the Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis”. Never
The Javan Rhinoceros
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Played a key role in an early WWII battle bombing shipping. Despite its age, still the bomber with the highest performance. Once the
A Hydrofoil-Seaplane?
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Featured a boat propeller at the back to get up to speed. A flight propeller at front — only one prop could operate
A Quad-Rotor Tilt-Rotor
This Week’s Hints to help you along: A brilliant tilt-rotor design, yet from over 50 years ago. Yes, those are tandem wings, a rather unusual configuration. The stubbiest nose wheel
Bat Out of Hell
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Designed from one of the first flying wing plans that was for leisure flying. Later developed into a fighter aircraft with two cannons
A Valiant Fighter
This Week’s Hints to help you along: A dozen in service, only 3 to 5 at a time rose to face hundreds of the enemy. Battles raged for just a
Backwards Thinking
This Week’s Hints to help you along: The designer taught himself everything by trial and error in the mid-1900s. Innovative in every way and featuring tandem wings. This was the
USAFE’S Famed Flight Boots
Published on July 27, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare At the height of the Cold War, the US Air Force had dozens of fighter interceptor squadrons spread throughout Europe’s NATO
Spindles for Wings?
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Its wings are circular spindles that spin to create lift. A 1930s era experimental plane that didn’t work so well. A motorcycle engine
The Saqqara Bird
Published on May 7, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare In 1898, the famed “Egyptologists” of old uncovered the tomb of Pa-di-Imen at Saqqara, Egypt. As with every great discovery of
Twin-Boomed Terror
This Week’s Hints to help you along: A twin-tail, pusher plane meant for military service. Yes, those insignia are crosses, but whose? And when? Beautiful candy-stripe coloration on the twin-booms!
Defection to Israel!
Published on April 13, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare On Sunday, January 19, 1964, an Egyptian flight instructor based at Bilbeis AB in the Nile Delta, walked calmly to his
As Easy as Driving a Car!
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Streamlined and bearing the classic curves of the late 1930s. The exhaust pipe is a flyover in front of the windshield. Control systems
Surrender Flight to Ie Shima
Published on April 7, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare Most people, even most historians, would say that Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of World War II
Not a NASA Project
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Another wartime design, this one meant to press supersonic speeds. Flight tested as a glider successfully before the end of World War II.
The Black and White Marble
Published on April 1, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare On September 12, 1962, at Rice Stadium in Texas, President John F. Kennedy spoke these words: “We choose to go to
Not Quite a Flying Car
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Created in tough times by one of the world’s leading design firms. Flight tested extensively but never meant for production. A product of
Not Much More Than a Glider
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Set three world records between 1927 and 1930 — none for speed. Featured a 3-cylinder radial engine with just 18 hp. Seen in
The Cigarette Club
Published March 17, 2015 By Thomas C. Van Hare These days, it seems that the only connection between cigarettes and aviation are signs in aircraft lavatories reading, “NO SMOKING”. Smoke
Hawaii to New Jersey for $75
Published March 9, 2015 By Thomas Van Hare On March 7 and 8, 1949, former USAAF pilot Captain William P. “Bill” Odom flew a V-tailed Beech Bonanza that he named, “Waikiki
Roswell Revisited?
This Week’s Hints to help you along: In a secret hangar, this flying saucer languished due to budget limitations. It was not quite in Roswell, but nonetheless Roswellian in nature
The Right Stuff
Published February 18, 2015 by Thomas Van Hare Did you ever wonder where the term, “The Right Stuff” came from? Most people would say that it was a product of
The Flying Masterpiece
This Week’s Hints to help you along: The product of a well-mustached, wide-eyed French aviator. Just 200 kg, 9 meters long and 10 meters in wingspan. A 70 hp Gnome
The First Flying Saucer?
This Week’s Hints to help you along: What may be the world’s first flying saucer. Couldn’t compare to the popular Blériot planes. An innovative design from a designer who would
A Wildly Painted Bird
This Week’s Hints to help you along: Painted like a bird with feathers. One of the first aircraft designs to use winglets. Sometimes called the Firebird. One of the world’s
An Air Racer Turned Deadly
This Week’s Hints to help you along: An air racer that became a fighter plane. Scored 12 kills after it was withdrawn from service. Flew in active military service in
An End to the Age of Innocence
Published on August 5, 2014 by Thomas Van Hare One hundred years ago this week, the world descended into the conflict we know now as World War I. Soon to
A Competition Winner
This Week’s Hints to help you along: This aircraft won numerous competitions. An innovative design by one of the great engineers. A two-seat aircraft powered by a British engine. The