by Frederick Johnsen | Oct 18, 2023 | #Aircraft, 20231005, Aviation News, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots
The Sea Rover has been described as having good water handling traits, as well as decent flying characteristics, although its diminutive size limited its utility. Read...
by Frederick Johnsen | Sep 4, 2023 | #Aircraft, 20230907, Aviation News, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots, seaplanes
Underwing carriage of torpedoes, bombs, or depth charges made the Kawanishi H8K1 and H8K2 lethal sub and shipping hunters. But their debut as land bombers the night of March 4, 1942, proved inauspicious when cloud cover obscured the prized target of Honolulu. The...
by Frederick Johnsen | Aug 7, 2023 | #Aircraft, 20230810, Aviation News, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots
Sesquiplanes enjoyed a moment in the sun as designers grappled with the robust structural truss integrity of biplanes versus the lower drag of monoplanes. Sesquiplanes, effectively a “monoplane and a half,” as described by aviation historian Joseph Juptner, used...
by Frederick Johnsen | Jul 27, 2023 | 20230706, Aviation News, B-17, Commemorative Air Force, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots
Radio-controlled B-17s were first used to bomb Germany, but after World War II, the Air Force found several other uses for the drones, known as QB-17, including taking radioactive samples, water ditching tests, and testing antiaircraft missiles. Read...
by Frederick Johnsen | Jun 11, 2023 | #Aircraft, 20230608, Aviation News, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots
While chatting with the folks working on B-17 firebombers at the Mesa, Arizona, airport on a brisk winter day in 1980, someone said I needed to meet Max Biegert, the man responsible for getting the B-17F registered N17W out of a city park in Arkansas and returning it...
by Frederick Johnsen | Mar 27, 2023 | #Aircraft, 20230309, Aviation News, flying, General Aviation, Of Wings & Things, Opinion, Pilots
There’s a reason the Hamilton Metalplane reminds you of a Ford Trimotor. The original Ford 3-AT Trimotor, as well as the Hamilton aircraft, were worked on by a young aircraft designer named James McDonnell — yes, that James McDonnell. Read...
