DK Ultimate

AIRCRAFT

^.t-.*

PHll.I

Jlllil

Ultimate AIRCRAT

FOR THE COMMITTED AIRCRAFT ENTHUSIAST AND

THE CURIOUS AIR TRAVELER ALIKE, ULTIMATE

AIRCRAR

IS

AN INVALUABLE VISUAL REFERENCE

SOURCE, PACKED WITH A WEALTH OF FASCINATING

INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF

WHO GAVE

AIRCRAFT AND THE PIONEERS

HUMANKIND WINGS.
The human conquest of the
skies

is

a story

of unparalleled

achievement. Ultimate
Aircraft charts every key step
in

the absorbing progression

from the

first fragile

and

experimental gliders to the

high-powered supersonic

jets

an

high-capacity airliners of today's

multibillion-dollar industry.

GALLERY OF THE WORLD'S MOST

FAMOUS AIRCRAFT
In an incredibly diverse collection of specially

commissioned large-format photographs, significant

aircraft are

capability

depicted

in

pinpoint detail, with performance

and unique engineering features highlighted.

The Ford Tri-motor, Boeing B-17G, Lockheed SR-71A,

BAe

The

Boeing 747, and Lockheed

Harrier GR.5,

Fighter are
clear,

trace the

among

F-n7

Stealth

the extraordinary machines profiled.

chronological arrangement makes

development of

civil

and

it

easy to

military aircraft through

the ages, and archive photographs and historic prints bring

vividly to life the

enduring romance of

air travel.

AVIATION INNOVATORS

An

extensive biographical section

profiles the

major designers,

engineers, and pilots

who changed

the face of transportation around

the worid and helped shape history.

From the Wright brothers

Yeager, each

is

to

Chuck

profiled in detail,

making Ultimate

Aircraft a definitive

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$24.'

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ultimate

AIRCRAFT

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GRUMMAN
BEARCAT

F8F

Ultimate

AIRCRAFT

Dorling Kiiulcrslcy Book

Dorling

Kindersley

LONDON, NEW YORK, SYDNEY, DELHI,

PARIS, MUNICH, and JOHANNESBURG
Project Art Editor Jamie

GRUMMAN

F7F

TIGERCAT

Hanson

David Tombesi-Walton
Wills, Gary Werner
Assistant Designer Nigel Morris

Project Editor

US

Editors

Chuck

DTP Designer Jason Little

Production Elizabeth Cherry, Silvia La Greca

CONTENTS

Anna Grapes
Photographer Gary Ombler

Picture Researcher

Managing Art Editor Nigel Duffield

Managing Editor Jonathan Metcalf

PART ONE

Senior

THE HISTORY OF

Additional editorial assistance

Reg Grant, Frank

at
Published

in the

AIRCRAFT 6-17

Ritter

Grant Laing Partnership

United States by Dorhng Kindersley Publishing,

95 Madison Avenue,
First

New

New

Inc.,

PART

York 10016

10 9 7 5 3

TWO

GALLERY OF
AIRCRAFT 18-141

American Edition, 2000

2 4 6

Copyright

York,

2000 Dorling Kindersley Limited

2000 Philip Jarrett

Text copyright

The author has

asserted his moral right to

^/890-/9/3

be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved

under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

part of this publication

in

may

No

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or

otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Published

in

Glider Pioneers 22

Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.

First

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Powered Airplanes 24

The Wright Brothers 26

Jarrett, Philip.

Ultimate aircraft
p.

THE EARLY YEARS 20-37

Philip Jarrett.

French Pioneers 28

cm.

Blriot XI

Includes index.

Monoplane 30

ISBN 0-7894-5961-2
1.

Airplanes-History.

TL670.3

.J37

2.

Airplanes-Pictorial works.

I.

Early Designs 32

Title.

2000

The Farman Line 34

629.133'34'09-dc21

00-025755
Color reproduction by
Printed and

bound by
see

L.

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Company

our complete catalog at

www.dk.com

Weird

&c

Wonderful 36

Italy

Ltd.,

China

I9I4-/9I#

WAR IN THE AIR

World War

38-51

Fighters 40

Bristol F.2B Fighter 42

The Fokker Line 44

FokkerD.VII 46

The Sopwith Line 48

World War Bombers 50

I

I9/9-/938

j^fctf^

THE GOLDEN ERA

THE JET AGE DAWNS

52-77

98-119

Airships 54

The

Piston-Engined Airliners
Jets &: Turboprops

First Airlinkrs 56

The Trailblazers 58

Jet Fighters

Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Moior 60

Thi Schneider Troi'hv 62

&

Tin

02

Bombers

I.(hkheedSR-71A

108

B()iiN(. I.iNi

Boeing B-52C.

The Junkers Line 66

Boeing 747-400

VTOL

114

Aircra!

M< K

l<

()

04

1970-2000

106

Flying Boats &: Skapi axes 64

Larce Intervcar Airliners 68

100

THE NEW TECI INOLOGY

120-141
1

Helicopters
I

Warplane Evolution 70

BAe Harrier GR.5 116

Metal Monoplanes 72

Concorde 118

Bell

11

AH-IS CohRA 124

Wide-Bodied Airliners 126

The Airbus Line 128

Lockheed Electra 74

General Aviation

The Record Breakers 76

Fighters &: Bombers

j>0
1

32

MIG-2IF-13 134

/939-IW5

MiiiiARV Suppt)RT Aircraft

Lockheed

BACK ro WAR 78-97

F-

"A 138

iME FLrRIRE OF FLIGH

140

The New Warplanes 80

The Supermarine Line 82

Bahi

PART THRLI

Mk V

84

OF Britain Airc ram

86

Supermarine Spitfire

AVI Al

ION

INNOVATORS

Heavy Bombers 88

142-165

Messerschmitt Bf 109E 90
BoEiNC.

Glossary

B-17G 92

Late- WWII Fighters 94

The

First Jets

96

166

Index 170
W

\\

I)

l)K

\(.()M

136

ACKNOWl ED(.MENTS

76

s^

PART ONE

The History
OF Aircraft
Up

to the time of the

controlled flight,

December

powered, sustained, and

first

made by

on

the Wright brothers

17,

1903, the evolution of the airplane

was extremely

slow. Since then, progress has been

phenomenal, and aviation has affected the human

race like

no other technology.

numerous other

conflicts

aeronautical science and

civil

Two

world wars and

have hastened advances

its

allied disciplines,

in

and

aviation has shrunk the globe. This chapter

highlights significant events in this exciting story.

ORY OF AIRCRAFT

he
he

,^:

sticcess

HISTORY o/' AIRCRAFT

of aviation in the twentieth century has

an achievement

flight

is.

The

first

made

easy to forget

it

powered airplanes were

remarkable

the end product of almost

The rapid development of

years of courageous experimentation.

how

100

aircraft since that time

has been the result of numerous triumphs of invention and applied science.
The human

desire to fly like

the birds can be traced back

to the earliest days of recorded

The legends of ancient

history.

peoples often contain colorful

accounts of

flights,

most famously

perhaps

Greek

in the

myth of Daedalus and

Icarus,

who

in

wax

escape imprisonment on the

island of Crete - with tragic

Fantasy flight

consequences for Icarus,

who plummeted

to his

Probably the

"Aerial Steam Carriage"

flying over exotic regions

to

human

flight

first

was

person to give serious thought

the great artist

and

modern

of the world were widely

Leonardo da Vinci (I452-I5I9), whose manuscripts,

published

tragically

in the early

1840s despite the

fact that

a full-size version of the

aircraft
built.

was never even

covered wooden wings, a

tricycle undercarriage,

and

patented
in

an

it

and

effort to

set

form what we would

airline to operate

worldwide

and passengers.

Stringfellow,

Henson

built

The following year he

up the Aerial Transit Company

and

who

model with a
it

slowly descending powered glides.

and

1849 he

really

time, however,

it

Pilatre

stirred

Cayley into action

he

made

at the

was beneath

air for the first

when

aeronaut

a tethered ascent in a Montgolfier balloon

French court

at Versailles

on October

15,

1783. With the Marquis d'Arlandes, de Rozier

made

the

first

untethered balloon flight the

following month. For

many

years after, aeronauts

in balloons

had no control over

their flight.

The

first

or steerable, balloon

powered

the direction of

flight in a dirigible,

was made by Frenchman

Henri Giffard on September 24, 1852. This

line

of

development eventually led to the airships produced

by the German Count Zeppelin from 1900 onward.
Heavier-than-air aviation traces
to the early nineteenth century,

its

when

origins
Sir

free

machine

and towed

back

George

Cayley, a baronet from Yorkshire, England, took

fly in a

built

with

a ten-

flights,

was

the

heavier-than-air aircraft. In

another machine,

in

which

his

coachman made an unpiloted gliding flight

across a dale on Cayley's Brompton estate. The
coachman then tendered his notice to his employer,
saying: "I was hired to drive, and not to fly."
reluctant

a balloon. Frangois

first

built a full-size triplane

made both

person to

1853 Cayley

took to the

de Rozier became the

in

year-old boy

first

When humans

20-ft (6-m)

achieved only

reportedly of "several yards." This boy

Balloons and gliders

an

call

Helped by

devised light steam engines,

tested a

a flapper propulsion system. In this

machines - mostly ornithopters (flapping- wing

now

services.

and descriptions and drawings of human-powered

an enclosed nacelle for the

pilot

remarkable design for an

"Aerial Steam Carriage."

Henson's experiments

devices), but also including a type of helicopter.

Aerial

lacemaker William Samuel

again,

monoplane with twin

pusher propellers, fabric-

contain copious observations on bird- and batflight

flying

Henson's design was

hidden from public view for centuries,

On

science of aerodynamics.

In 1842, English

wingspan during 1844-47, but

scientist

(1.6

Navigation, in which he laid the foundations of the

John

death after flying too close to the sun.

ft

published a three-part paper, entitled

Engravings of English
inventor W.S. Henson's

first

m) long.
By 1809 he had built a full-sized glider which was
successfully flown uncrewed, and in 1809-10 he

Henson developed
to

1804 he made the

flight. In

proper model airplane, a glider 5

son

his

used wings of

embedded

feathers

up the study of

THh HISTORY

Ol

Vulnerable vessel
Although Henri Gitt.irJs coal
diriBiblc balloon" of

envelope containing
lifting

manage only 6 mph (9. ft km/h) on its l-hp ste^

engine, and was vulnerable even tf)
Nonetheless, it was the first airship to make
a powered and controlled flight

flight

French naval officer Felix

de

Croix

la

the

hiiilt

first

airplane able to sustain

A monoplane

air.

li.

France, and

in

dii

Temple

powered

itself in

a series of

the

with swept-forward

biplane and

wings, a retractable undercarriage, and

took off briefly after

downhill run

monoplane

gliders until his death, as

a hot-air engine driving a tractor propeller,

it

IHS2 shMrrJth

lightcr-than-air vessel could be stccred.^it could

gas

Experiments with heavier-than-air

also took place

r^

^.tj-fiUed

Streamlined

in

the result of a crash, in 1896.

Photographs of lilienthal soaring

1(S'"4.

over spectators' heads were widely published, and

Stham machinfs

he sold several examples of

The last two decades of the nineteenth century

saw a flurry of experiments with ambitious steampowered airplanes. In Russia in 1884 Aleksandr
Fedorovich Mozhaiskii's large monoplane, powered

glider, the

by two steam engines, with a mechanic at the helm,

was launched down a ramp but crashed after a

Pilcher,

Ader
890 when he tested his batmonoplane powered by a 20-hp

No.

1 1

his

most successful

of 1894, to fellow experimenters.

By the 1890s the gasoline engine had emerged

as an alternative to the steam engine. In

1899

LilienthaPs greatest disciple. Englishman Percy

was preparing

to

fit

a gasoline

newly completed triplane when he was

motor

to a

killed in a

Samuel Pierpont

short hop. French electrical engineer C^lement

gliding accident. In 1901,

came

the eminent American astronomer, flew a quarter-

to the fore in

winged E<)k\
steam engine,

at .-Vrmainvilliers.

and unpractical,

it

Although ungainly

did leave the ground for about

size

model powered by

a gasoline engine - the first

gas-powered airplane to
a full-size

l.angley,

fly.

Muscle power

Langley completed

machine two years

later.

Powered by

This modern reproduction

a
is

165

ft

(50 m), but

it

lacked an adequate control

system. In England, expatriate American inventor

Hiram .Maxim spent nearly 20,000 building

an enormous multiplane "test rig" powered by
a pair of ingenious 180-hp steam engines. The
machine underwent its main trial in July 1894,
but the inadequately controlled apparatus was
Sir

damaged and

had decided to take an alternative approach,

hang

they launched themselves into the

among

air.

Foremost

it

it

suffered structural failure

into the water.

based on Leonardo da

Vinci's designs of the late

149()s for an ornithoptcr,

or flapping-wing aircraft.

The fabric wing covering

was arranged as a series of
flaps that closed a^.iinst

Thf Wright

stuff

after the

the netting upper surface

second of Langley's

spectacular failures, the world's

sustained,

which

was the German engineer Otto

who, starting in 1891, built and flew

these

Lilienthal,

gliders in

but on both occasions

and plunged

Only nine days

further tests were abandoned.

Meanwhile, another group of brave pioneers

starting with small, primitive

was twice launched by

catapult from a houseboat on the Potomac River,
Washington, D.C^., in October and December 190,3,
remarkable radial engine,

and controlled

flights

obscurity, in a remote part of

first

powered,

took place

North

in

on the downstrokc to
form

let

C^arolina.

a lifting surface, hut

opened on the iWfUoke to

the air passtfrough.

im

lORY OF AIRCRAFT

nSTORIC IMAGE
Without doubt the most

famous photograph

in

aviation history, this

image captures the

Wright brothers'
\ycr as
air

it

first

takes to the

on the world's

first

powered, sustained, and

controlled flight, at Kitty

Hawk, North
at

Carolina,

10.35 a.m. on

December

17, 1903.

Orville Wright

was

the controls. Three

flights

at

MP"?

more

were made that

day, the brothers taking

turns to

fly their

creation.

Spurred into action by the news of Lilienthal's

death

in

1896, two brothers, Wilbur and Orville

Wright,

who

work both

of earlier

flight

from Les Baraques,

Northfail

Dover

Meadow

near

on

Castle, England,

July 25, 1909, formed the

subject of all

manner of

souvenirs, including this

jigsaw puzzle. Bleriot

won

a 1,000 prize

the Daily Mail,

and

his

No. XI monoplane became

a best seller,

production

remaining

until

1914.

in

it.

would be

many

details

Although they stated

stolen.

null

and void

if

the

customer, the public failures of eminent scientists

from 1899, embarked on

such as Ader and Langley, and the pretentious

an unprecedented

claims

of trials and experiments.

made by charlatans and speculators, had

made governments wary. Selling the Flyers proved

As well

even harder than creating them.

series

as flight-testing

own

gliders, they

and devised the

(side-to-side

three-axis

movement),

and down), and

means of applying a helical twist to the wings "wing warping" - for lateral (roll) control.
Having tested the system in a series of gliders
from 1900 to 1902, they then designed and built a
powered airplane, also designing and building its
12-hp gasoline engine, which drove twin pusher

Flying frenzy
Meanwhile
experiments

there

had been a reawakening of

flight

Europe. Stirred into frenzied action

in

by news and pictures of the Wright

gliders, several

French pioneers, including Captain Ferdinand

Robert Esnault-Pelterie, and Gabriel Voisin,

a forward elevator for pitch (up

Ferber,

began experimenting with crude copies. In Germany

propellers. Their efforts

were rewarded

at Kitty

Karl Jatho had begun making tentative flights

1903;

some

in

Denmark Jacob Ellehammer

in

achieved

success with monoplanes, biplanes,

and then

1906-08; and

Alliott

triplanes during

in

England

^-i

Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903,

when the Flyer made four flights from level ground
wind of 20-27 mph (32-43 km/h), the fourth
ft (260 m) in 59 seconds. The
machine's airspeed was about 30 mph (48 km/h).
Over the next two years the Wright brothers
perfected the design, and their Flyer III of 1905
into a

was

the world's

first

practical

powered

capable of long, fully controlled

10

that any contract

were

contemporaries and then,

and best covering 852

from

selling

airplane failed to perform as required by the

control system, with a

near Calais, France, to

about

pioneers and of their

first effective

making cross-Channel

set

potential as a military scouting

its

in case their ideas

tests,

Louis Bleriot's epoch-

stopped flying and

machine, but were loathe to reveal too

conducted windtunnel

Flying puzzle

now

realized

bicycle business in

their

yaw

Wrights

They

ran a

Dayton, Ohio, studied

the

rudder to control

Instead of revealing their creation to the world, the

flights.

airplane,

Antoinette monoplanes designed

by Leon Levavasseur competed

successfully in

many

early flying

meetings. This version of the

Antoinette IV of 1908-09 has
ailerons; others

had wing warping.

Sprung outrigger
balancing wheel

THE HISTORY

trials at

Fort Meyer, Washington,

his passenger, Lt. T.E. Sclfridge,

D.C

was

Iragically,

on

killed

September I" when the airplane crashed following

a structural failure. In 1909, however, a replacement

machine was

become

to pass the

the world's

US

Signal (-orps trials

.Another significant event, late

the appearance of the

and

military airplane.

first

was

19()S,

in

of the Cjnome rotary

first

engines, developed by the Seguin brothers in

France. These remarkable engines, in which the

cylinders and propeller revolved around the

stationary crankshaft

and were therefore

away with

cooling, doing

the

water-filled radiator, played a

end of World

aviation's early days, through to the

War

and even beyond.

Thus was heralded

than-air flight

in

Franklin

Cody

momentous

flight.

Paris-domiciled Brazilian airship pioneer Alberto

Santos-Dumont made the

powered

Europe

flight in

cumbersome

tail-first

first officially

biplane.

October, covered only 197

flight

1906

in

ft

flight,

really

began to

the Voisin brothers

stir in

ft

on 23

the

in that

flight across the English

Channel

in his

US was now

mph

won

the

(69.8 km/h),

set to lose its lead in the new-

technology to mainland Europe.

(220 m).
StKAI)'^ I'KOCRESS

1908. In France

were developing

of heavier-

others: Louis Bleriot's

speed contest at Reims, at 4.3.38

(60 m), but another

on November 12 covered 722

Things

all

dawn

major events

Although the American Glenn Curtiss

recognized

in his \4his, a

The

Two

No. XI monoplane, and the first

airplane meeting in history, the Reims aviation
week in France, which took place in August.
on July 25

(born Covvdery) were slowly

working toward powered

the true

1909.

year stand out above

Verdon Roe and expatriate American Samuel

self-

added burden of a
prominent part in

In the period

a box-kite

between 1910 and 1914 aviation

Aircraft artwork

biplane displaying the influence of both the Wrights

technology progressed steadily. Three principal

People flocked

and the boxkite invented by Lawrence Hargrave

configurations - the pusher and tractor biplane

thousands to the popular

and the tractor monoplane - became established.

The most popular types were Farman biplanes and

aviation venues of the

Australia. Using modified Voisin biplanes,

if

somewhat precarious

Henry

make
flights. The

Farman and Leon Delagrange began

creditable

in

to

monoplane

families also appeared. Fhen, in

and September 1908, Wilbur Wright gave a

of demonstration flights in France that

Europeans
Orville,

realize

how

far

frame of

the

ahead the Wrights were.

meanwhile, was

undertaking military

wood

Aerodrome

with a covering of fabric.

Among

The

had beautifully streamlined monocoque fuselages

of molded plywood. One Deperdussin machine

made

attained a world record speed of 126.6

mph

and

flying boats

pioneered by Cilenn Curtiss

were

in the

US ami

pr)\iiniry ot

1910.

two

mainliiu- railway stations

it

visitors

.iccessiblr.

but

could also take the

underground railway
advertised

19F3.

Practical seaplanes

at

C.r.ihame White

most notable exceptions to this rule were the

Deperdussin racing monoplanes of 1912-13, which

in

of the

London
Hendmi.

the

entrepreneur Claude

the

(203.8 km/h)

was

established by pilot and

For their structure, most airplanes used a

August
series

made

monoplanes, both of which were widely

Bleriot

exported and copied.

forebears of the successful Antoinette and RIeriot

One

pioneer era.
greatest

in their

in this

(as

period

poster) to (loldcrs Circcn

ind then coiitiiue by hus.

the Short brothers in Britain. Between

1910 and 1912 the

ships, both at

first

takeotfs from

anchor and under way, were

accomplished. 1 he Schneider Trophy seaplane

contest

As

was

initiated at

flights

Monaco

in

1913.

carrying small cargoes and air mail

m^n

began to explore the peaceful potential of the

airplane, the major

powers started to look into

11

War

greetings

Its

military uses,

experimenting with gun-carrying

Designed by

Fit.

and

artist

and bomb-dropping,

Royal Flying Corps

Cdr. Roderic Hill, this

reconnaissance. Airplanes were

Christmas card from the

by the

Western Front shows the

Tripolitania,

Squadron. The nearest

the one flown by

is

Albert Ball, Britain's

recognized

first

air hero.

Italians,

the major

first

used

in

warfare

during a war against the Turks

in

Africa, in 1911-12.

North

When World War

Nieuport 17 scouts of 60

aircraft

as well as aerial

pilot

broke out

in

August 1914

European powers were equipped with

assorted airplane types,

many

unsuited to operation in the

field.

On November 21, three Avro 504s of

the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) flew

^X.

from Belfort to bomb the Zeppelin works

at
C/fffV/A

Friedrichshafen, and on January 19, 1915,

the

first

AUTOCIPO

Zeppelin raid on the English mainland

was launched, bombs being dropped on

of East Anglia. By the time the

peak

raids reached their

in

German

the coast
airship

'^sse^y

1916, the defensive

airplanes were gaining the upper hand.

The

decisive antiairship

tracer

weapons were

and incendiary or explosive

ammunition, introduced

in

mid-1916.

Wartime innovations
"^"'.TBSRBBISP^-

The

first

that also

bombsight appeared

saw

machine-gun interrupter

machine gun to be

gear. This

fired directly

first

in

allowed a

forward through

Germany and

fitted to the

company's Eindecker single-seat scout monoplanes,

it

caused serious Allied losses until effective pusher

scouts such as the Airco

Combative Camel
One

of World

greatest fighters

Sopwith

War
was

I's

the

Camel, which

F.l

claimed more enemy

aircraft

than any other

Allied fighter. Tricky to fly

because of the forward

concenti-ation of weight

and the torque of

rotary engine,

was extremely
in the

its

D.H.2 and Royal

observation and
reconnaissance, reversal of
the pilot's
in front,

and observer's positions, placing the

pilot

enabled the observer to put up a better

defense against fighters, using a movable gun or

guns mounted on a ring encircling the rear cockpit.

Bombers grew

Aircraft

war

steadily in size through the

became

Factory F.E.8, and Nieuport biplanes with guns

and night-time

mounted on

development of nightfighter operations. The Gotha

their

upper wing center sections,

started to restore the balance. For artillery

raids

routine, speeding the

G.V, one of Germany's greatest long-range bombers,

could carry six 110-lb (50-kg) bombs

England

in

on

in raids

1917. By the war's end the

RAF

(Royal

Air Force) was operating the Fiandley Page O/400,

which could carry up to 2,000

lb

(900 kg) of bombs,

and Germany had developed a range of giant aircraft

such as the four-engined Staaken R.VI, which had a

maximum bomb

load of 4,400 lb (2,000 kg).

it

pilot.

German fighter at the war's end was

Mercedes- or BMW-engined Fokker D.VII.

The

agile

hands of an

experienced

ft

successful

the arc of a revolving propeller. Developed by

Fokker engineers

fi

1915, the year

in

the introduction of the

the

Britain

best

had the Sopwith Camel, powered by

Clerget, Le

engine,

Rhone, or

Gnome Monosoupape

and the Royal Aircraft Factory

France had the Fiispano-Suiza-engined

The

RNAS

rotary

S.E.5a.

SPAD

S.XIII.

used the Felixstowe F.2A twin-engined

flying boat effectively for antisubmarine patrols,

and the

first

true aircraft carrier,

FiMS Argus,

equipped with Sopwith Cuckoo torpedo bombers,

joined Britain's

12

Grand

Fleet in

October 1918.

THE HISTORY

of the helicopter: Spaniard Juan dc

la

C.icr\a\

Gentle giant
bomber late in
I, the Farman

development of the Autogiro. This machine had

Begun

a passive rotor that vvindmilled as the aircraft

World War

went along, but Cierva developed the articulated

rotorhead - allowing the individual blades to move

one of the most important

in

the vertical and horizontal planes - that

would

eventually enable a practical helicopter to be built.

as a

F.60 (loliath emerged as

early passenger transports.

Powered by Salmson nmecylinder radial engines,

carried eight passengers

pleasure for the wealthy. Small single- and twoseaters, such as the

Channel hopper

On

September

became the

18,

first

1928, this Cierva C.8L Autogiro

rotating-wing aircraft to

Enghsh Channel; the

Juan de

pilot

was

its

fly

across the

inventor, Spaniard

Cierva. This photograph

la

was taken

in

1926.

From war to peace

war ended

After the
air

in

1918, aircraft industries and

arms were allowed to run down. Nations went

on using World War

airplanes for military duties

and also converted them

to

fulfill

civilian roles. In

Farman Goliath bomber was turned into

an airliner. In Britain, the Vickers Vimy - used for
the first nonstop transatlantic flight and the first
France, the

England-Australia

flight in

1919 - evolved into the

Vimy Commercial, and the Handley Page bombers

began to metamorphose into a family of airliners.
Through the

de Havilland D.H.60 Moth,

and cabin biplanes and monoplanes

192()s, pioneering long-distance

and

route-surveying flights began to prepare air links

between the world's

cities,

were produced

Some

in all

for touring,

of the industrialized nations.

of their owners used them to

it

and

Private flying began to develop as a sport

the rear cabin

and four

it\

in

the front, with the raised

open cockpit for the crew

of

two

in

between.

make

impressive record-breaking long-distance flights

drew much attention in the media.

The Schneider Trophy contests - which ended
in 1931 when the trophy was won outright by
Britain - did much to encourage the development

that

of powerful engines and streamlined airframes. By

the late 1920s and early 1930s, metal increasingly

began to replace

wood

although these were

in

still

airframe structures,

largely fabric-covered.

During the 1930s the US resumed a leading

role in aviation.

The appearance of

the twin-

engined, ten-seat Boeing .Model 24" airliner

1933 heralded

a radical change.

An

Popular Moth
The de Havill.md D.H.60
.Moth family of light
aircraft

was popular

recreational flying

for

and

long-distance record
in

all-metal low-

wing monoplane with a retractable undercarriage,

the 247 was nearly twice as fast as its European

attempts

in

the interwar

years. Built in \'^1H, this

D.H.6()X was powered

by

a l()5-hp

Hermes

11

four-cylinder engine.

but air transportation

grew only slowly, remaining overwhelmingly the

preserve of the wealthy and powerful.

Most

airplanes in the postwar period

still

used the traditional wire-braced wood-and-fabric

structure,
steel

though Fokker's

airliners

had welded

tube fuselages and junkers' products were

all-metal, with corrugated skinning.

saw an important episode

in the

The decade

evolution

13

STORY OF AIRCRAFT

TH

counterparts. Close on

DC-2 and

heels

its

offspring, the

its

came

DST

the Douglas

(Douglas Sleeper

Transport), the daytime version of which, the

DC-3, was

become world famous.

to

1938 the

In

Boeing 307 Stratoliner appeared, the world's

pressurized airliner.
flying boats.

The US

first

also took the lead in

Although Short Brothers

in Britain

had developed the elegant Empire Class monoplanes,

the Americans produced such impressive machines
as the

Martin Clippers and the Boeing Model 314

Clipper, with

which Pan American began

services

across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in 1939.

Battle for the

skies

introducing all-metal bombers. Russia, with Tupolev's

German transport

Military aviation also changed in the 1930s. All-

One

metal monoplanes began to appear, such as Boeing's

of the world's greatest

Dewoitine's D.500

transport aircraft, the

P-26 and,

Junkers Ju 52/3m trimotor

1936 Soviet designer Nikolai Polikarpov's

first

appeared

Built in large
it

in

1932.

numbers,

served as a commercial

transport and also with

the Luftwaffe

as a paratroop transport.

continued

in

commercial service well

after

World War

rare color

shows
at

service in the Spanish Civil War.

first single-seat,

II.

This

photograph

It

was

series. In

in

England,

in the late

One

of

its

Spain was Willy Messerschmitt's even

more advanced Bf 109, which had a stressed-skin

monocoque fuselage. Britain's Hawker Hurricane
still made extensive use of wood and fabric, but the
Supermarine

Spitfire,

which entered

RAF

service in

1938, was all-metal and proved to have great

development potential. Britain was also slow

Martin B-10 and Boeing B-17 were

radio, electrical generator circuits to operate

equipment, and hydraulic systems. In the 1940

Battle of Britain, the

RAF's Hurricanes and

part of a co-ordinated defensive system based

the

"Chain

Home"

Direction-finding

became

lighter

and were

crews no longer relied

their eyesight to find targets.

Britain's four-engined

loop antenna

on

radar stations. In the course of

fitted to aircraft; nightfighter

heavy bombers - the Avro

Handley Page Halifax, and Short Stirling

took the war to Germany. They were joined by

Lancaster,
'-

the US's Boeing B-17

and Consolidated B-24 day

Thick-section,

all-

metal wing

14

Spitfires

denied the Luftwaffe control of the skies, forming

the war, radar systems

in

in the lead.

The fighters deployed by the combatants in

World War II (1939-45) had reflector gunsights,
armor protection, air-to-air and air-to-ground

on
,

1930s.

saw

the world's

a Lufthansa aircraft

Croydon Airport,

1-16

low-wing cantilever monoplane

fighter with a retractable undercarriage.

opponents

and other

military air arms, often

Many

in France,

ANT-6 and SB series, Germany with its Heinkel

He 111 and Dornier Do 17, and the US with the

Hh MIS

()Rt

Mass production
The USSR\ llvushm 11-2/10
Sluiirmovik armored uroiind-

.ittack

and anri-tank

War

oi World

11

aircraft

holds the

record tor bein^ produced

111

larger

numbers than an\

other single airplane t\pe

111

history. At least 40,4*^2 ot

these aircraft were proiiuced.

bombers. Boeing's B-29 Superfortress, which

dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki

in

1945, was the

first

production aircraft

to have remotely controlled defensive

armament.

Probably the war's most versatile aircraft was

RAF's de Havilland

the

.\lostjuito.

it

high-speed bomber, but proved equally effective

the fighter, nightfighter, photoreconnaissance,

ground-attack

roles.

Outstanding

Germany's Focke-Wulf

Fw

in

and

fighters included

and Republic Thunderbolt.

in the Pacific,

Early Sikorsky
163 Komet, used to intercept Allied bombers

May

from

1944. The RAF's dloster Meteor

intercepting
year,

VI

flying

bombs

began

August of the same

in

and the twin-engined Messerschmitt

Me

262

90, Russia's "lakovlev

In the bitterly

fought

US Navy fighters
F4U Corsair and
and USAAF (US Army Air

carrier-based

was deployed in December.

The first practical helicopters had begun to
appear in the late 1930s, and CJermany and the US
used some operationally during the war. The most
were the Junkers ju 52

such as the Clhance-Vought

prolific transport airplanes

Cirumman F6

and Douglas C-47, though the DC-4 and Lockheed

Hellcat,

Force) Lockheed P-38 Lightnings

P-40s,

came up

and Curtiss

against japan's .Mitsubishi

action

first

was

of the outsrandinp

was Igor Sikorsky's twopontoons during shipboard,

trials in

94

Its

5.

cylinder 185-hp

scvcn-

Warner

R-55()-l radial engine

gave

it

of 65

a cruising speed

mph

(105 km/h).

Constellation both served as military aircraft.

.-\6.\1

Reisen (Zero) and J2.\I Raiden fighters.

The

One

early practical helicopters

scat R-4, here fined with

1

and the US's North American Mustang

^'ak-9,

war

Me

began as a

jet-propelled airplane to go into

the rocket-powered Messerschmitt

Airliners takk off

The

return of peace after 1945

saw

the l)(;-4

and

and grow

Depicted here on the cover

into successful families. Britain initially

had to make do with modified bombers, the Avro

Lon^-span slotted
ailerons (Junkers

"double-wmg")

British first

Constellation adopt their intended roles as airliners,

York and Lancastrian,

until

ready. Although flying boats

new

civil

designs were

had given valuable

service in the war, the widespread building of

airfields

during the conflict rendered them obsolete.

Coming up
and

fast,

jet airliners:

however, were the

first

turboprop

of a contemporary

manufacturer's brochure,

thede Havill..nJD.H.106
Ciomet was the world's
first

turbojet commercuil

airliner.

It

operations

started regit'
in

Ma\

'

Britain's

Vickers Viscount and

de Havilland Comet
respectively.
first

flew

in

The (!omet
July 1949

and entered service in

1952. In 1955 the USSR
flew the Tupolev Tu-104,
a derivative of the Tu-

!<>

bomber, and France the

smaller Sud-Aviation
Caravelle. While the

turboprop enioyed only

a brief spell

on center

15

ORY OF AIRCRAFT
Stage, the jet airliner

soon consigned

its

In the

piston-

engined forebears to the past. Unfortunately for

promising

Britain, after a

start,

major structural

problems caused the Comet to lose

Boeing 707, which entered service

its

in

1960s reconnaissance, previously assigned to

job of a dedicated design with the advent of the

lead to the

1958.

Lockheed U-2.
a

new

Its

successor, the SR-71,

concept, being the

enter service with the

Two

Supersonic warriors
became preeminent

Jet aircraft also

the

US and

the

USSR

initiated

USAF,

Mach

in

embodied

3 airplane to

1966.

innovations introduced into service use

in

(variable-geometry) aircraft and vertical take-off

and landing (VTOL). Variable geometry

an arms race that

was subsequently incorporated in designs

on both sides of the Iron Curtain,

bred a wide and constantly improving range of

fighters

first

the second half of the 1960s were the swing-wing

in military

Cold War confrontation between

aviation, as the

bombers, became the

special variants of fighters or

and bombers. The problems posed by

supersonic flight were overcome and swept-

wing

The

fighters appeared.

between swept-wing

first

combats

occurred during the

jets

Paired

In the 1950s, while the

"Century

US developed

series" fighters, including the

engines

its

North
Nacelle for piston

American F-lOO Super Sabre, Lockheed F-104

Starfighter, and Convair F-106 Delta Dart, the

USSR produced

jet

underwing pod

Korean War (1950-53), when North American

F-86 Sabres met Soviet-built MiG-15s.

engine driving

pusher propeller

MiG-17, the MiG-19, and the

outstanding MiG-21, of which 12,000 were built.
Britain had its Hawker Fiunter, Gloster Javelin,
and English Electric Lightning, while in France
the

Dassault produced

its

Super Mystere. Their

1960s successors included the Dassault

^70^

Mirage and McDonnell F-4

i
Phantom II; both were built in large numbers.
Bombers progressed from the huge Convair B-36,
eventually powered by six piston engines and four
Biggest bomber

When

jets,

Convair's massive

through the Boeing B-47 to the

Stratofortress

B-36 strategic bomber

first

entered service with the

Parallel

USAF

which

(United States Air

Force) in 1947
Pratt

it

had

six

& Whitney R-4360

piston engines. These were

augmented

in later

J47

jets.

With

bomber

is

the biggest

ever to have

served in the USAF.

bomber

to

fielded the twin-jet

turboprop Tu-95, and the

The

B-52

Fiustler, the

service, in

in the

1959.

USSR,

Tupolev Tu-16, the fourfour-jet

Myasishchyev 3M.

was first
Korean War, when types such

great potential of helicopters

realized during the

the Bell

go into

development took place

eight-jet

47 proved invaluable

as

for casualty evacuation.

Helicopters were soon being used for tasks such as

its

230-ft fZQ-m) wingspan,

the B-36

supersonic

models

by four podded General

Electric

and the Convair B-58

firefighting, police

work, and cropspraying. They

found a role as gunships, with helicopters

such as the US Bell AH-IS Cobra and Soviet Mil
later also

Mi-24 "Hind" providing formidable opposition

tanks and other armored vehicles.

to

THE HISTORY OF
including the Cicncral

Dynamics

F-1

added to improve
takeoff and landing

1,

Panavia Tornado,

Althoii.

1968, and thc^irst

exceed

and Tupolev Tu-160 bombers, and the

Tupoli

outstanding (irumman F-14 Tomcat carrier

troubkii exist

fighter.

the world's

production aircraft

first

to have look-down,

its

^'

"

t(

-'.L-

w.is iu\iT

The Tomcat was

based multirole

scan,

Deer

aircraft H) flyjin

-27,

the Rockwell B-1

capability

ior\i t

supersonic CftfRpon

Siikhoi Sii-24,

MiG-23 and

Troubi

Retractahle canard
surfaces

ri-.i

shoot-down

and track-whilc-

radar enabling

it

to track over
-I

and launch Phoenix

20

targets

six

most threatening. The long struggle to devise

practical
British
later

VTOL

aircraft

missiles against the

culminated

Aerospace Harrier ground-attack

.-W'-HB.

the civil side, conventional airliners such as

the de Havilland

aircraft,

developed as the .McDonnell Douglas

On

in the brilliant

D.H.121 Trident, Vickers VCIO,

in 1969 by the mighty

and Boeing 727 were joined

Airbus .^320, appearing

advanced "glass" cockpit. Boeing's

first

fly-by-wire

design, the 777, entered service in 1995. Ultralarge

400-seat Boeing "^4", as well as by the supersonic

airliners, seating

Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144.

planned for early

In addition, the

1980s,

in the late

introduced digital fly-by-wire controls and the

more than 500 passengers,

in

are

the twenty-first century.

advent of the high-bypass turbofan engine, which

offered greater

power and

efficiency, led to the

Cutting edge
World War

appearance of smaller "widebodies" such as the

Private flying has burgeoned since

Lockheed TriStar and McDonnell Douglas DC- 10.

with a great variety of light aircraft coming on the

In

December 1970 Europe's Airbus

Industrie

was

market, as well as corporate

prefer to

fly

when

they

II,

executives

jets for

who

want rather than when

airline timetables dictate.

According to

income, the private owner can

now

his or her

possess

anything from a veteran airplane to a small

"homebuilt" assembled from

ultralight or

powered

of ultimate wealth

may

parasail.

a kit, or
1

be a supersonic business

In military aviation, the greatest

established to challenge Boeing's predominance in

the airliner market.

Its first

product, the A300B,

air in October 1972, and a second

widcbody twin, the A3 10, was on offer by the late
1970s, while Boeing was developing its 757/767

took to the

has been

made by

the

even an

he next symbol
jet.

impact recently

new technology

that reduces

Future shock
The Icxkhecd i-lt7A

an airplane's radar signature to an absolute

Ninhth

minimum. This

points

"stealth" technology

is

epitomized

by the Lockheed F-1 17A and Northrop B-2 bombers,

and by the

latest fighters,

such as the Lockheed

\^-r
t

developments
aviation.

incorporates
family.

The

was Boeing's
most
with over 4,000 sales. The

biggest success, however,

737 of 1968, which became

successful

jet

design,

the world's

Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor, which

USAF

service in 2005.

is

due to enter

to deflect

in milir

Its angul.ii

manv

v.^^.^..

devices

and deceive

enemy radar

.ind

sensors, rendi

infmred

mi;

it

limost inMs.Wc in
hostile jirspace.

ruddervaion
operate both as rudders
"^ifwelling

.ind cli-l.l!"'

PART

TWO

Gallery of
Aircraft
Throughout

aviation's history, certain companies,

aircraft types,

and achievements have marked the

path to the future. Although

something of a miracle
fly

in the early

faster, higher, farther,

scientists, designers,

flight

and

and

itself

seemed

days, the quest to

safer has challenged

pilots ever since,

hi

this

chapter \vc look at the aircraft that, for various

reasons, have played leading roles in the story, either

by representing the peak of achievement

respective classes, or by

iMT^

in

their

showing the way ahead.

The Early Years

THIS WAS THE PERIOD when conquest of the air started to
become
often

targets

frequently

left

those investors

reahty,

of

ahhough

ridicule.

Their

them desperate

who had

the early pioneers were

unsuccessful

efforts

for financial backing, since

already lost

money

to charlatans

and hare-brained inventors were slow to fund

Consequently,

many

others.

pioneers struggled on small incomes,

sustained by their convictions and devoted enthusiasm.

Musical wings
In Its exciting

years before

War

1,

pioneer

World

aviation

inspired

all

When

earnest experimenters did at last begin to

extended

flights,

the excitement

was extreme;

the early

meetings attracted thousands of spectators. Any aviator

and ephemera. This

cover design for a
piece of sheet music

Race winner
Typical of biplane

kinds of

popular entertainment

making an emergency descent

quickly surrounded by a

in a

swarm

remote

field

would be

of curious locals.

The

this period, as well as

famous

pilots.

designs

in this pericxl,

the US-designed 1910

first

great airplane and engine manufacturers emerged during

features a Bleriot XII

monoplane.

make

Curtiss pusher
fast for Its

won many

was

day and
prizes at

flying meetings.

21

THE EARLY YEARS

wo-m Glider Pioneers

The

Lilienthal's biplane

first heavier-than-air aircraft to fly

were hang gliders, quite similar to those

flown for sport today. The greatest pioneer
in this field was Otto Lilienthal, a German
engineer, who built his first glider in 1891
and went on to produce a dozen different
designs, both monoplanes and biplanes. He
had made more than 1,000 flights by the

Hinged

tail

plane

Otto Lilienthal
is

seen flying

he had built
gliders

had

built his large biplane in

from

it

his "Fliegeberg,"

in Lichterfelde, a Berlin

radial ribs of willow,

1895. Here he

an

artificial hill

suburb. His

and were covered

with English cotton shirting material.

time of his death in a flying accident in

1896. Those inspired by Lilienthal's example

included Orville and Wilbur Wright. The

Wright brothers' work in turn inspired

French pioneers in the early 1900s.
"Fences" attached tu
upper surface maintain
wing curvature

Pilcher's

Hawk

English pioneer Percy Pilcher built five gliders, the most successful
of which

was

the

Hawk.

In

1896-97 he made many

tow, using a line stretched from one low

his life in

September 1899 when the

hill

Hawk

flights

under
Pilot controls

to another. Pilcher lost

glider crashed

glider

due to a

by swinging

body from side

to side and fore
and aft
his

structural failure during a demonstration flight.

Hollow bamboo

leg

contains spiral spring to

Cambered wing can fold back

for easier ground handling

absorb impact of landing

N.
Wing
rigid

by

structure kept

struts

and wire

cross-bracing

Primitive front elevator

controls pitch of glider

Crude imitation
French pioneer Ferdinand Ferber
built this Wright-inspired glider in

1902. Unfortunately

it

was very

crudely constructed, and Ferber

had no comprehension of the

control system that the Wright

brothers had devised. As a result,

the glider's performance

However, Ferber's
a

22

new

was

poor.

efforts spurred

burst of activity in France.

I890-19I3 GLIDER PIONEERS

British Bat
Ttiiyi">ii\l hrjiini;

Hires

IVkv

developed

I'llchcr

Bat, in 1895,

Here he

lets

and

it

tested

float

this
it

in

ilienrha! inspired glider, the

Scotland with some success.

on the breeze

for the benefit of the

photographer, simply by holding the front ends of the

"hiselage" niembers. Pine and

bamboo were

used, and

o\er 100 bracing wires maintained the wing's c"ur>ature.

Single-surface
\

CiTcuUr

fin bisects

circular tail plane

American development
Octave Chanute and Augustus Herring created
this elegant biplane,
in the

which made many safe glides

in 1896-9". Chanute, a

Indiana sand dunes

railroad engineer, used a cross-bracing system

based on the bridge-builder's Pratt

truss,

basis of

which has formed the

most multiplane

bracing systems
ever since.

wing with

small number of ribs

THE EARLY YEARS

Powered Airplanes

First

is90'i9i3

Attempts at building powered, human-carrying

airplanes date back to the late 1800s,

when

Gasoline-powered cycle

the lack

Wings contain hundreds of

custom-made silk feathers

engine drives wingflajiping

of a suitable power plant posed an insurmountable

problem. Most experimenters sought the solution
in light steam engines, but these were relatively

mechanism

and required large

quantities of fuel and water. Such problems did not
deter a number of would-be aviators from spending
enormous sums of money on their endeavors.
inefficient for their weight,

Test frame for

ground

experiments only

Copying the birds

Edward

P.

Frost of Cambridgeshire, England, believed the

solution to flight lay in ornithopters, or flapping-wing

machines, that emulated birds. This

test rig, built in

1906,

had elaborate 20-ft (6-m) span wings made of hundreds

of

artificial feathers,

driven by a 3-hp

Ship of the air

Russian sea captain Aleksandr Mozhaiskii began building
his large

monoplane, powered by two English-designed and

steam engines,

-built

launched

down

Krasnoe Selo

at

in St. Petersburg in

ramp on

in

1876.

It

was

the military campsite

1884, but crashed after

^^^^^

a short hop.

Stiffening rib

of main icing

Cone-shaped

fuel tank

in front

of engine

Jacob Christian Ellehammer of Copenhagen

Denmark, made
(42

m) around
II

a tentative tethered flight of 138

a circular track in this

tr

Ellehamnui

semi-biplane on September 12, 1906.

It

wab

driven by an 18-hp three-cylinder motor, which

Ellehammer

24

built,

but had no control s\stem

^^.

BAT

gasoline engine.

POWERED AIRPLANES

1890-1913 FIRST
Steam-powered bat

France, distinguished electrical engineer Clement Ader

111

two steam-powered bat-winced aircraft. His hrst,

a brief hop )n October 9, 1890. The
Mcond, the Avion III {left), powered by two 20-hp steam
engines, was tested twice on a circular track at Satory on
v.(>mpleted

the

f^.ole,

()ct()ix-r

managed

12 and 14, IS^^. but failed to

flv.

lu-i) ii'ts

wings

in

of nuin<if)ljne

Undent

Aircraft carrier
'

Single-surfaced

On

wings based on

October 7 and December

8,

1903,

US astronomer

Samuel Pierpont Langley rwice attempted to launch

those of a hat

this

52-hp ".Aerodrome" by catapulting

both occasions
deposited

it

its

it

from

River.

On

suffered a structural failure

and

the roof of a houseboat on the

Potomac

pilot, C;..\l. .Manly, in the river.

Swept-forwjrd wings

Catapult launch

braced above and below

mechanism

Triangular

First off the

ground

tailplanc

This prophetic nioiioplane with

its

swept-forward wings and hot-

air

or steam engine was created

by French naval officer Felix du

Temple. Tested about 18"4. with

a sailor as

its

pilot,

briefly after a run

becoming the

it

took off

down

a ramp,

first full-size

powered

airplane to leave the ground.

Movable elevators
carried on booms
extending fore and aft
Two-bladed propellers
with fan-type blades

Ambitious biplane
American-born inventor Hiram .\laxim
gigantic test rig at

the IS^Os.

driving

built this

Baldwyns Park, Kent, Fngland,

in

Powered by two ISO-hp steam engines

I"' .-ft

(S.4-m) diameter propellers,

it

lifted

on July 31, 1894. However, it fouled

and broke the upper restraining rails and was badly
damaged. Its control system was inadequate.
from

Its rails

25

THE EARLY YEARS

The Wright Brothers

mo'im
By

devising a practical

control system and proving

it

powered
on gliders before building and
aircraft, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, were
able to make the world's first powered, sustained, and
controlled flights in December 1903. During the process of
development the brothers conducted wind-tunnel tests on
several different wing sections, designed and built their
own engines and propellers, and carried out all of their
testing their first

own

test flying.

Unfortunately, they continued to adhere

Unstable but responsive

to their original twin-pusher propeller layout while their

contemporaries progressed to more advanced designs.

In their

No. 3

glider of

1902 the Wrights mastered control.

movable rear rudder worked with wing warping to

counter the drag caused by the

Biplane elevators

facilitated

smooth banked

turns.

downwarped wingtip and

They made their machines

unstable to increase their response to the controls.

The Wright Type A of 1909 was

of

making repeated long

prominent
Lambert.

flights,

pilots, including

He

is

shown

a fully practical airplane capable

and was the choice of

Early conversion

several

French nobleman Comte Charles de

The Wright Model B {above) of 1911 did away with the

forward biplane elevator, favoring instead a monoplane

here at the Reims meeting in August 1909,

where he covered 72 miles (116 km)

in

under two hours.

elevator behind the twin rear rudders. In 1912 floats were

made

available to convert the aircraft into a seaplane, as

seen here.

The wing warping can be seen

Biplane front control

surfaces have variable

camber to enable
machine to rise
or descend

The Wrights' racing baby

Seen here at

Hendon Aerodrome, England,

as the Model R or

from 1910. Also known

seater

was designed

for use in speed

sat close beside the engine,

hold one of

26

the.

with

two control

Baby Wright racer dating

Roadster, this small single-

and altitude competitions. The

his left

levers.

is

arm around

pilot

the nearest strut to

Twin runners act as

landing skids

in action.

WRIGHT BROTHERS

1890-1913 THE

Company

Soaring success

hic^hlights
In

1899 Wrights

The brothers accomplish worlds

first powered, sustained, and

1903

1911 Orvillc Wright returned to

Devil Hill, North C^arolina, the

flight-test first glider

brothers' initial flights, to

fly a

site

new

with English pioneer Alec ()gil\

ie.

Kill

of the
glider

Many

controlled flight

successful soaring flights

1905 Wright

Flyer

III

is first

on October 24, with

airplane

45 seconds, he

1908 Wilbur demonstrates Wright

biplane

in

US Army

1909

were made; and

practical

a flight of

set a

9 minutes

new world record

that stood for a decade.

Europe

Signal Corps

accepts Wright Flyer for military

use Wright

Company formed

November

in

1912 Wilbur Wright

1915

Company

1948

On/ille

Outmoded

dies of typhoid

biplane

sold to a syndicate

When

Wright dies

It

appeared

Wright .Model

a distinctly

A 60-hp Wright

antiquated design.
engine

1914, the

in

was

enclosed fuselage had

in its

the traditional chain-and-shaft drive

The Wright stuff

to twin pusher propellers,

The famous 1903 Wright

brothers'

first

powered

only four

flights, all

1903.

best

Its

covering 852

ground

in

was
ft

rciaincd

Flyer, the

aircraft,

made

on December

control. This

1~,

at the

59 seconds.

It

through chains and shafts, and took

from

example was

tested

in

1915.

was powered

engine driving two pusher propellers

Narrow,

wooden monorail.

S-fi (2.4-nil

diameter

propellers revolve at ?i6

Unhlejched muslin bid

diagoiidlly on upper and

rpm

in

opposite directions to eliminate torque

lower surfaces of wings

Tail

boom

carries

rear rudder

Spruce interplane
strut with steel

wire bracing

Rear rudder operates

in concert

with wing

warping to effect
banked turns

\ Two braced
steel tubes carry

propeller shafts

\X'(Htden

it

Royal Aircraft Factory,

Farnborough, England,

the last one,

and

for lateral

(260 m) over the

by a 12-hp four-cylinder water-cooled

off

wing warping

wing comprises tuo

spruce spars and ash

ribs

THE EARLY YEARS

French Pioneers

-tB90'i9i3

In the early 1900s France

was

the scene of intense aviation

many

machines were
produced. A number of the manufacturers that arose at
this time built outstanding airplanes. The Deperdussin
activity, and a place where

flying

company, for example, became famous for its racers, while

the twin-boom Caudrons evolved into training machines.
As manufacturers gained experience and pilots developed
their skills, the records for speed, altitude, and endurance
were broken with incredible

regularity.

A
Ftibric-coi'ered, wire-braced

SHORT HOP

Before Wright's demonstration of a practical airplane in

>odcn girder fuselage

France

in

1908, even brief "hops" were acclaimed.

Brazilian Alberto
first

powered

known

as the \Abis.

was 21.2 seconds,

was achieved by
wing trailing edges

Lateral control

warping the

Santos-Dumont was credited with the

flights in

Europe

in this

traveling

720

Pilot protection
their enclosed fuselage,

Deperdussins were, for

their time, elegant, clean designs.

had

its

70-hp

Gnome

pilot

The 1911 Type C

rotary engine partly cowled,

reducing the spray of castor

oil inflicted

on the

by the "total loss" engine lubrication system.

Twin-boom biplane
This early machine, like

most of Rene Caudron's

output,

is

with twin
tail

a tractor biplane

booms

carrying a

plane on which twin fins

and rudders are mounted.

The powerplant would have

been either an Anzani radial
engine or a

Gnome

rotary.

Lower booms double

^as landing skids

Shapely Saulnier design

Between 1910 and 1914, Gabriel Borel
designed a series of monoplanes,
seaplanes, and flying boats.

monoplanes, such

as this

The

1912

model, despite their sleeker shape, displayed

a distinct Bleriot influence. This

Raymond
Bleriot.

28

Saulnier

worked

This aircraft has a

is

for both Borel

Gnome

because

and

rotary engine.

Lower booms
act as skids

it

(220 m),

ft

Double layer of fabric

along wing leading edge

With

box-kite biplane

However, the longest

stayed aloft
in

1906.

18

90-1913 FRENCH PIONEERS

Large spinner sirejnilines

Fore plane
S')(/r

aircraft nose

lurtam

elevator

The biplane brothers

This

<:.

1909 biplane was one

of a scries of bulky box kites

built

by (iabriel and Ciharlcs

Voism usmg mterplane "side

curtams"

for lateral stability.

Initially these

no ailerons
and the

machines had

for lateral control

pilot

had to make

cautious turns on the rudder

alone to avoid sideslips.

Wings wider

Powered by
this sleek

191

60-hp two-row

Gnome

rotary,

Deperdussin monoplane with

wooden monocoque

tuseiage

won

mph

roots

its

the race, pilot Maurice Prevost also set a

world speed record oi 126.6

at

than at

that year's Ciordon

Bennett race at Reims. France, on September 29.

wmnmg

tips

On
new

(203.8 km/h).

Early Caudron
This early version ot Rene Caudron's distinctive biplane
has the

Struts fitted in

socket castings

pilot's seat in the

radial engine

Fuel tank

is

set

lower wing, while the Anzani

between the innermost pairs of

In later versions the

struts.

engine was mounted on the front

of a nacelle, providing the pilot with

KX'iKiden

some

mterplane strut

protection.

THE EARLY YEARS

mo-m Bleriot XI Monoplane

On July

25, 1909, Louis Bleriot took off from

Les Baraques, near Calais, France, and flew

across the English Channel to Dover.

He

landed

near Dover Castle after 36yi minutes, winning the

1,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first

flight. His mount was a Bleriot XI
monoplane much like this one, equipped with flotation

cross-Channel

bags in the rear fuselage in case of ditching. With

front-mounted "tractor" engine,

\Wing covered
with Continentale
rubberized fabric

its

Bracing cables to/

tricycle undercarriage,

front spar

wings at the front, and the tail plane, elevators, and rudder
grouped at the rear, the Bleriot XI established the principal
configuration for monoplanes for generations to come.

Deeply arched,
thiii-sectioii

wing

The fuselage of the Bleriot XI monoplane was a simple wire-braced

wooden-box girder, enclosed with fabric at the front to afford the pilot
some

protection, but usually

left

open

at the rear. Strips of

bungee were stretched down the front undercarriage

Spoked wheels

30

free to

anding shocks, while the

tail

same function. The simple

wheel had a

stiff spiral

the

of-wind landings

popular and much-imitated design

in the early

1900s.

absorb

spring to perform

practicality of the Bleriot

swivel to allow for out

rubber

legs to

made

it

1890-1913 BLERIOT XI
(.'.hauvierf

MONOPLANE

Untmalfd wonden propeller

Jll.lilii-J J:r,\tl\

III

i-ni'inr

\i'itiH

rj)ik\h.tit

Jngle

like

all

gifen sharp dihedrji

ertiure lateral stabdity

early airplanes, the BIcriot

their fabric covering enclosing

main

ti>

had very thin wings,

wooden

ribs attached to

two

was maintained by numerous

spars. Their rigidity

bracing wires attached to a "cabane" of struts above the

cockpit and to points on the undercarriage. Likewise, the
wires for the wing-warping system for lateral control ran

over pulleys on the upper cabane and to a pylon beneath

the fuselage.

All-mining tad

hrame crossmember linking

main undercarriage legs

The

tail

controls were operated through wires

leading from the cockpit and back along the fuselage.

plane tips act as

I

elevators

Spreader bar!

between wheel
axle hubs

Tricky to fly
While wing warping made the
Bleriot Xl's lateral control rather

sluggish, the lack of a fixed fin

made
Fuselage girder consists of

four longerons linked by

horizontal
struts

and

vertical

and wire-braced

it

sensitive directionally.

This example
instead of a

(right)
tail

has a skid

wheel and

normal elevator rather than the

all-moving

tail

plane tips that

were originally used.

Rudder with balance
Elevator horn to which

areas forward of

operating cables from

hinge line

cockpit are attached

Supporting pylon
for tad wheel

t levators at ends of,

tad plane piifU around

tail-plane spar

31

THE EARLY YEARS

mo-m Early Designs

From 1910

aviation developed rapidly in both Europe and

the US, as a growing

number of small companies

Many

a great assortment of designs.

originated

of these companies were

to disappear without a trace, but others, such as Avro, Blackburn,

and Handley Page in Great Britain, Curtiss and Martin in the

US, and Sikorsky in Russia were destined to grow into great
manufacturing enterprises employing thousands of people.
Initially, however, their founders often had to strive against
great difficulties before achieving recognition or success.
Like a bird

The

on the wing

elegant Taube ("Dove")

monoplane design -

seen here in a 191 1/12 version built by

Rumpler - was developed

but adopted by various

was so-named because

Edmund

Germany by Igo Etrich,

manufacturers. The aircraft

its

in

wing planform resembled

that of the bird. In this illustration, the Taube's

complex wing bracing system can be seen

clearly.

Successful Soviet

Blackburn on the beach

Russian Igor Sikorsky built the world's

first

successful

large airplanes. Starting with the Bolshoi Baltiskiy, or

Grand,

in

1913, he then built a series of

Mouromets

biplanes

Il'ya

powered by four 100-hp Argus

engines. This non-flying reproduction of one of the

latter types

32

was

built for

movie use

in the

1980s.

was powered by a 50-hp

monoplane a
top speed of 70 mph (113 km/h). Blackburn monoplanes were
often flown from the beach at Filey, Yorkshire. This picture shows
Robert Blackburn's Mercury

Gnome

II

of 1911

engine, which gave the 32-ft (9.75-m) span

Mercury

II

at that location attracting the locals'

admiring gazes.

18

90-1913 EARLY DESIGNS

Successful sportster
rom

1*^1 1,

produced

as this

many

the .Morane-liorel Saulnier

a series ot sporting

one

company

monoplanes, such

(right), that cnjoyeil

successes in races,

both as landplanes

and seaplanes.

They had no

fixed

i.iil

only elevators, which

pl.iiie,

made

the pitch contro

rather sensitive. 1 he wing-warping

t)n

these

mechanism

monoplanes was very

sluggish.

Magnificent flying machine

'

i'yiuti fur

warft

control wires
I

lu-

ot

Farmaii-inspircJ Bristol B)\ Kite

1910-11, produced by the

Leaf spring
between wheels

British

Spiral- lube radiators

for water cuoIihk

and Ciolomal Aeroplane Company

(later Bristol

I,

and was bought by the

Russian governments.

were

built,

Winning formula

met with great success,

British

and

total of ''S

50-hp Cinome rotary engine. This

made

tor the

the

Men

Machines,

on calm days.

still flies

in a line

movie

Those Mji;nificent

in Their

Hying

60-hp F.NV
first

of successful aircraft for

Avro company tounded by

Alliort

Verdon Roe.

It

was soon

followed by the company's .SOO,

and,
great

Pilot's steering
,

powered by

water-cooled engine, was the

powered by the ubiquitous

reproduction,

sharp two-seater, the Type E

{left),

later,

the 504, of which a

many were produced.

Deeply arc he J
wing section

wheel control

early

^Wing warping
for control in

'*

roll

Kingpost bracing
to wingtips

Tall tail skid ensures level

position

11)1

vriiiitul

The Yellow Peril

The

stylish,

yellow-varnished, crescent wings of

Frederick Handlcy Page's Type h

the

nickname "Yellow

Peril" (a

monoplane earned

name

the time to Ciold Flake cigarettes).

made doubly

eye-c.itching by

it

also applied at

The
its

aircraft

was

blue fuselage.

33

THE EARLY YEARS

The Farman Line

mo'im
^W^

The brothers Henry and Maurice Farman,

French-

LX^I

domiciled children of English parents, both created

A-l i

successful families of aircraft before setting

up

their

joint company in 1912. Henry began by buying a

Voisin box-kite biplane in 1907 and progressively modifying it
until he had a practical machine. By 1909 he was building his
own designs. His classic HF III biplane was copied worldwide.

Maurice began building his own machines in 1909, and evolved

the MF.7 and 11, which became standard military trainers.
Proven warhorse
Biplane to triplane

Appearing

November 1907 Henry Farman

In

modified his Voisin biplane into

triplane

form by adding a short-

span third upper surface.

in this
it

had

Ibis,

50-hp Antoinette engine

and was equipped with ailerons

for lateral control,

though

it

retained the Voisin's quaint sidecurtains between the wings.

Favored steed
The

classic

Farman

HF

pre-World
III

was

War

sold

Farman

biplane, the

its

many famous

Henry

around the world. Usually

powered by the 50-hp Gnome rotary engine,

choice of

pilots.

upper wing to increase

lift

summer

it

was

the

This one has extensions to

and reduce landing speeds.

of 1912, the

Henry Farman
either a

Gnome

served

or Le

Rhone 80-hp

throughout World

Known

form as the Farman

a

in the

HF.20 military three-seater was powered by

War

I,

rotary engine.

latterly

It

mainly as a

trainer.

1890-1913 THE

FARMAN LINE

Strjiiiht ifing

The

rather tlimsy-lookm^

Henry Farman Monoplane

an an);ular two-seater with

winn, appeared

hjhric-coi'ereJ,

It

U'ire-hrjcfJ. ivooden

a speed of

t.iil

1907

first

1909

Europe

The Maurice Karnian

Henry Farman makes

country

1909

HF

III

flight in

first

cross-

Europe

Maurice Farmans

first

with

pl.inc,

having only

it

lacked a fixed

fin

movable rudder and

and

elevator.

in

1912.

pusher biplane,

a water-cooled Renault engine

booms

it

and

that extended

forward to carry an elevator,

January Becomes France's

at that

time becoming a trademark feature of

largest aircraft factory

MF7

.\1K2 seaplane,

exaggerated wing-stagger, took

distinctive curved

Avions Henri et

Advent of the

Its

Monaco
had

Joint factory,

1936 Company

100-1 10 kni/h). Like some

design

Maurice Farman. opens

1912

part in the hydroairplane meeting at

biplane introduced

appears

1912

dl-hH mph

^Vh (lO-m) planklike

dnome rotary engine ^avc

II. Its

Staggered seaplane

6-mile (l-km) closed-circuit

1908

*^

hu. huc.hts

Henry Farman achieves the

flight in

other designs of the period,

gtrJer fiiseLige

Company

in

this familv of aircraft.

"Longhorn

"

nationalized, the

Precursor of the "Longhorn"

brothers retire

Seen here

in its

Michelin
Ir

developed form, the Maurice Farman Type (Joupe

first

flew

in

19 10, powered by a 5()-hp Renault engine.

introduced the forward elevator mounted on curved booms,

ind foreshadowed the appearance
1

in

1913 of the MF.7,

ubiquitous military trainer nicknamed the

Longht)rn,"

for

obvious reasons.

It

ongmalK

had equal-span upper and lower wings

uith side-curtams near their

tips.

WMmm
Air-supported ailerons
tahrtc-cuvered

Powered by

50-hp

Gnome

rotary engine, the

naiclle for pilot

Henry Farman 1/1 parasolwmged monoplane

and passenger
Extended-span

upper wing

appeared

in

mid- 1910. Easily visible

photograph are

its

hung down when

the

ailerons

the

which

machine was on the ground

hut were supported by the airflow

Sprung main undercarruige

in

"single acting' aileron*,

moved downward

onlv,

in flight.

The

manipulated via

cables from the pilot's control column.

THE EARLY YEARS

Weird

mo'im

&c

Wonderful

Strange and eccentric designs have

appeared throughout the course of
aviation's development, but during the
pioneer years they were evident in abundance.

Many

ambitious inventors,

full

of faith and

optimism but often having little knowledge of

aerodynamics and structures, built machines
incorporating their pet theories, hoping for
fame and fortune. Sadly, quite a number of their
ingenious machines had no real hope of success,
even if they did manage to get off the ground.
Gcis bcilloon

Assisted takeoff
In France in

1910

a Belgian

named Cesar

Prini-Berthaud engine driving a pusher propeller.

it

into the air he

sausage-shaped balloon envelope,

new form

his futile

in

contraption was

described as a "'biplan mixte."

was

augment dynamic
lift

added

which

generated by

aircraft's

Called Diapason - French for the tuning fork that

it

resembled -

in a

this aircraft

had

its

wings swept back

curve. Built by Louis Schreck and

intended to

built a

cumbersome short-span tandem biplane with a

four-wheel undercarriage, powered by a 50-hp
In a vain effort to help

Flying fork

wings

Gnome
fly in

rotary engine,

1911.

it

powered by

did actually

50-hp

wide

1890-191? WKIRD

8c

WONDERFUL

Humble beginning
InlrrfiLinf

No.

Built in 1909, the Brcnuct-Richct

was renamed

slruli link fraiil

sfKirs

only

BrcRuet No.

I,

and as such was the

this s<M)n -to- be -famous

the

power

of

company.
its

It

airplane

first

made

short

Iniilt

fli>;hts

SO hp Renault ennine until

i-r.islud at the

hy

under
it

1909 Reims meeting.

S^cflle carries

and cnninc

fill it

NO-HOPER
Wingnp
drandly called the Hercolitc Phenomenon, Victor Thuau's
crude monoplane of 1910 had short-span, sail-type wings and
a deeply arched tail plane. Installing a

and changing

pr)pellers

single

it

to

Jiij^tnci:

main

more powerful cngme

could not induce

stahilizix

wheels

irln,

at center

fly.

Engine mounted

Marine pioneer

in

nose of fuselage

Despite

Its

quaint appearance, Henri

Fabre's hydroairplane, later

named

Flydravion, was the world's

first

Ailerons at
lips of

aircraft to

make

powered takeoff

from water, on .March 28, 1910.

powered by

50-hp

upper

and middle
It

wings

was

Gnome Omega

rotary engine. Sadly, the design lacked

development potential.
Engine and
propeller
at

mounted

extreme rear

of aircraft

Armored astra
Spanning over 42

ft

Astra Triplane of 1911

Flenri

Oeutsch de

la

in

(13 m), the ungainly armor-plated

was

built

Meurthe.

under the sponsorship of

Its

four huge

mam

wheels were

centered on the leading edge of the lower wing, and

crew of two on

its

it

carried a

75-hp Renault engine. Only one was

built.

Concentric circular

wings connected

Iifin floats

at rear

hitel

hy vanes

tank at rear

of triangular-

girder fuselage

Flap or flop
The .Marquis

I'icar

du Breuil sponsored the construction

of three monoplanes with steel-tube wing leading edges

supporting loose fabric wings

set at

an acute angle.

.Although the machines had rudders and elevators, there

seems to have been no provision for

lateral control.

Flying

in

circles

Cilaude Ciivaudan built this curious machine,

with

its

tandem concentric -circle wings,

in

1911. Flach wing unit could pivot, the front

for control in pitch

and the rear

control. Unfortunately,

its

engmc could not persuade

(or directional

40- hp Vcrmorcl
it

t<> tl\.

.?.

1914-1918^

War
ALTHOUGH
saw

in

the Air

SOME ATTENTION had been given

to

its

military potential diirini; the early years.

World War

the airplane mature from a

machine

frail,

unreliable

a sturdy workhorse. Aerial reconnaissance,

liaison

into

bombing, and

provided valuable support to the armies on the

ground; and the need to either prevent these duties from

being carried out, or to protect the aircraft performing them,

A NEW

led to the

BEGINNING

War

This late-World

grew

development of the "scout," or

in size

fighter.

and complexity and took the war

Bombers

to the cities

poster encouraged

men to join Britain's

new Royal Air Force,
which came into
being on April

1918,

when

I,

and towns of the combatant nations. This,

in turn, led to

creation of national defense forces and nightfighters. At sea,

the operation of airplanes from ships

became

routine, while

the

Royal Flying Corps

and Royal Naval

the

fixing

submarine.

boat

became

In parallel

useful

weapon

against

the

with these dexelopments, structures,

Air Service were

combined.

the

German warbird
The Albatros DA' ot
1917/18 was one of
(lermany's foremost

World War

fighters,

and had elegant,

weapons, and equipment

steadiK' improved.

curvaceous

lines.

39

WAR

THE AIR

IN

World War

i9i4'im
World War

were known

saw fighter airplanes (or "scouts" as they

develop from relatively frail and

Fighters

at the time)

primitively-armed machines, intended primarily to protect

reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, into maneuverable

single-seaters.

that were

The

later

much more

machines could be deployed

in roles

aggressive than their established ones.

Crucially, the perfection of gun-synchronization devices

eventually enabled the fighters' guns to be fired through

the arc of the revolving propellers, the pilot simply having
to

aim

his aircraft at his

opponent and press the

trigger.

Pfalz fighter
The 1917

Pfalz D.III

was armed with twin Spandau

machine guns and powered by

Mount

160-hp Mercedes

watercooled engine. Top speed was 103

of aces

mph

inline

(165 km/h).

Along with the Sopwith Camel, the

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a of

1917-18 was the

of the war.

finest British fighter

Powered by

a Fiispano-

Suiza or Wolseley Viper inline engine,

it

had a Vickers gun on the fuselage

and a Lewis gun above the upper wing.

Top speed was 138 mph (222 km/h).

The German Fokker D.VII entered

and quickly proved

itself in

highly maneuverable,
1

85-hp

and

delightful to

BMW inline engine gave

of 124

mph

service in

combat, being

(200 km/h).

It

it

fly. Its

a top speed

was armed with

twin Spandau machine guns.

Gallic style
The elegant French Nieuport

fighters, represented here

the Nieuport 17 of 1916,

were small and

Le Rhone rotary engines.

mounted on

40

agile,

by

powered by

Lewis machine gun was often

the upper wing, firing

above the propeller

arc.

1918

sensitive,

1914-1918

WORLD WAR

FIGHTERS

Fast Frenchman
All-utunien

semt-monocoqiif

The Moranc Type

fusebf't'

90 mph
control,

of 1916,

known

as the Bullet because of

144 kni/h) top speed, h.id winj;-warpinn for

and elevators hut

n) tixed tail

plane. 1 here

wedges were

interrupter gear as yet, so steel

its

lateral

was no gun

fitted to the

hacks

of the propeller hiades to deflect any mistimed bullets.

jri;c

domed

ifiinncr over
l>ri,iH-lU-r

hith

Aggressive Albatros
I

he

mount

ot

many German aces, the Albatrj)s

moniKoque fuselage with

elegantly streamlined
installed

DV

180/200-hp Mercedes water-cooled engine.

an excellent combat

aircraft, but in a

had an

a neatly
It

was

prolonged dive could

break up, owing to faulty design of the smaller lower wing.

^'ing warping

provides Literal
control
Pilot's

cockpit bctivcen

fuel tank/engine and

\ hahric-covered

gunner's position

fuselage faired
to circular cross-

Movable ioiin Lewis

machine gun on spigot mounting
.

section

Potent pusher
Before gun synchronization, one

uay

ot

overcoming the forward-firing

gun problem was to have

engine and a gunner
pilot.

The Vickers

1^14-15 used

in

F.B.5

a pusher

front of the

Gunbus

of

this layout successfully,

although the drag of the extra

tail

bracing and struttery imposed heavy

pertormance penalties.

Hoops protect wingtips during

ground maneuvering, takeoff,
and landing

Popular mount

ine

French

tighter,

the Spad XIII of 1917-18 had a

2.^5-hp water-cK)lcd Hispano-Suiza engine and

was

armed with twin .30.Vin Vickers machine

guns. Nearly 8,500 were built,

equipping many Allied

si|ii.ulr(ins.

Long exhaust

pipes

alonx: fuseU\;e sides

Bungee-sprung wheels
with fabric covers
over wire spokes

Skids protect forward

to prevent aircraft

nosing over on landing

41

WAR

THE AIR

IN

m-m

Bristol F.2B Fighter

Designed by Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell

of the British and Colonial Aeroplane Co., the
flew, as the Bristol F,2A,

Bristol Fighter first

on September

9,

1916.

service with Britain's

1917

was flown

it

When

it first

entered

Royal Flying Corps

in

as a reconnaissance

airplane; but once the correct strategy for

formations of four or

was worked out

five

two-seat fighters

became

it

popular and

Long service history

By the end of October 1918
total of

1,754 Bristol Fighters

had been delivered, and 1,583

remained

in

RAF

Force) service.

(Royal Air

They served

well into the interwar years,

notably

Middle

in India

and the

The last Mk IVs

were withdrawn from
East.

service in

1931-32.

effective fighting machine.

Beast of burden
The F.2B
25-lb

(1

Mk

1-kg)

on racks under

The

RAF

could carry up to a dozen

Cooper high-explosive bombs

post- World

its

fuselage and lower wing.

War

Mk

IV flown by the

could carry four Cooper

bombs

two 112-lb (50-kg) bombs and

gun on the lower wing

or

camera

An

center-section.

aerial-reconnaissance camera, a radio, and

heating equipment could also be attached.

9'/2-ft

(3-m) diameter propeller

down

to

is

geared

improve efficiency

Specification

^^
BB
(11.96 m)
Winqspan 39ft3
Lenqth 25ft10in(7.87 m)
|H
9
(2.97 m)
Height 9
Jap'
Loaded weight 2,848
(1,292
MKCi
^fc^ ^1..*
Top speed 123 mph (198 km/h)
^H
(255 m) per mm
Rate of climb 838
^H ll
Service ceiling 20,000
(6,096 m)
Armament Two
machine quns; ^H 1
Engine 275-hp Rolls-Rovce Falcon

III

water-cooled VI 2

in

,.-

ft

M^

in

lb

kq)

tt

ft

.303-in

up to twelve 25-lb (11 -kg) Cooper

bombs on underwing racks

Crew

42

^^

ailerons

on upper

and lower wings

1914-1918 BRISTOL F.2B FIGHTER

amttuti\l wtHidcn

Dial radiator with

Single streamlined

propeller with brass-

ad/iistahle lom-ers

"Rafwires" take

sheathed leading edge

to control cooling

landing loads

Double streamlined

Twii-ipjr fabric-

"Rafwires" take

covered uintden wing

firing load*

Streamlined

Wingtip hoops
guard against

sfiriice

inlerplane struts

damage during
landing and taxiing
between wheels

Refined fighter

Unsheltered cockpit
Triplex glass

.\U)st

examples ot the F.2B, which

Ihe cockpit of the F.2B looks sparse

windshield

incorporated some design refinements

by modern standards, but

over the original F.2A, were powered by

of a World

Padded
on cockpit rim

leather

various versions of the Rolls-Royce

pilot

high fur-lined
Airspeed indicator

and observer/gunner

is

typical

winter the
fur-

and thigh"fug boots" - or the

one-piece Sidcot flying suit - plus

were seated close together, allowing easy

in- flight

it

aircraft. In

lined leather flying coat

engme, although other engines were also

The

occupants would have worn a long

Falcon 12-cylmder-V water-cooled

used.

War

helmet, goggles, scarf, and gloves

communication.

as protection against the cold.

tgine- ret < >luti<

Murahle

counter

single

or twin .iOi-in

Lewis machine gun

Rudder has
ni.l.li

all-

'T itti.-

Long exhaust pipe

carries

fumes clear

of pilot and gunner

Wire-braced /

wooden

fuselage

frame, covered with

doped

fabric

Hungee- Sprung lailskid

on support pylon

Llevators

and

fins

are steel-framed

with spruce ribt

43

WAR

THE AIR

IN

The Fokker Line

/9/4-/9I8
/^-'ft

!^CA^n

^y^Ji!^
^^

1910, 20-YEAR-OLD Dutchman Anthony

Fokker built the first of his Spin ("Spider")
^'^

monoplanes, and just two years later he

formed the Fokker Aviation Company. During World
War I Fokker's products included such famous fighters
as the eindecker (monoplane) scouts, the Dr.l triplane,

and the D.VII, while the interwar years saw the

development of a series of successful airliners and
military aircraft. After a hiatus during World War II,
the company continued with production from 1945
until 1996, when it went bankrupt.

Laterally stable Spin

Anthony Fokker's Spin designs were

all

monoplanes with a sharp dihedral angle

wings for

lateral stability.

The

low-wing
to their

series of

two-

seat military trainers followed this format.

The

airplane pictured here

is

1913

variant of the M.I.

Fabric-covered
iviiifis

engine

on port

side

Engine cowling houses

Five-seat airliner

modern

radial engine in

this replica aircraft

Designed

in

passengers

and

1920, the

F.III

airliner

a welded-steel-tube fuselage,

and

had

The

customer for

type of engine fitted

five

in the earliest

this type

was Dutch

was chosen by

versions

open cockpit.

to endure the discomfort of an

the pilot
first

accommodated

had a cantilevered wooden wing

in its cabin. It

airline

KLM. The

the purchaser.

Lower portion of engine

exposed for cooling and
emission of lubricant

Military discharge
Following the

style set

by the Spin

series, the

M.III of 1913
Single I

was designed by a Mr. Palm under Fokker's instructions. It

had a slab-sided fuselage and a distinctive streamlined
rudder, but no fin. Powered by a 100-hp Mercedes or 70-hp
Renault engine - giving
It

it

a top speed of

60 mph (96 km/h) -

proved unsuitable for army use and production was halted.

Palm was

44

fired

when

his

next design, the M.IV, also

failed.

interplane
struts link

ivDig spars

Fairing covers

spreader bar

between wheels

1914-1918 THE FOKKER

MM

The shape of wings to come

Company
1912

hic.hlights
The

Fokker Aviation
Limited

IS

formed on Feb 22

to enter service in

triplane

goes into

and the
produaion

wing

flies,

1919 The V45. prototype of the F

makes its maiden flight in Oct

1936 The D

Anthony Fokker

1955

F27

1996

Fokker

Friendship
files

dies
first

fighter
Its

later

formed the basis of the

aircraft.

a rotary

ike the Dr.l. the

I). VIII

engine and a pair of fixed, forward-firing

machine guns above the engine.

Foreign
I

licenses to build Fokkers granted

1939

1.

had

1925 The forerunner of the F Vllb3m, the FVII-3m. flies on Sept 4

flies.

VX'ar

company's postwar transport

II.

XXI fighter

Fokker

last

World

welded-steel-tuhe fuselage and wcmhIcii

1915 The El eindecker scout appears

1917 The prototype Or

D.Vill, a sleek, parasol-winged

monoplane, was the

Company

Point

'n'

shoot

Fokkcr's

flown

F.III

ntfrrii/tler

gear allows gun to

fire,

between revolving propeller blades

on Dec 23

cmdcckcr of 1915/16,

based on the French Moranc-Saulnicr

for bankruptcy

designs, had an interrupter gear fitted

to

Horn-halanced
ailerons

its

pilot

on top

niachine-gun armament. The

merely aimed his aircraft at

an enemy fighter and pressed

H'lni; i>nly

the trigger. Allied casualties were heavy

until

countermeasures were taken.

Turboprop success
One
fillet

fin

area

of the most successful

F.27 Friendship

increases

Fokker based

his highly

rotary -cngined

maneuverable

1917 Dr.l

the

"DC-3 replacements,"

worlds

commercial transport. Flown

1955,

Red Baron's mount

was

it

was powered by

Fokkcr's

turboprop-powered

for the first time in

November
and had

a pair of Rolls-Royce Darts

a pressurized passenger cabin.

license bv Fairchild

bestselling

The

the

US

aircraft

was

as the F-27

built

under

and FH-IZ".

triplane fighter

on the Sopwith Triplane. .Armed with two

torward-finng machine guns,

it

gained

fame as the mount of aces such as

Barun Manfred von Richthofen
^ho claimed a record

80

victories.

First

the

flown

in

November

I98f>.

Fokker 100 shori-to-mcdium

range airliner carries 107

passengers

in its

standard

configuration, and

two

A
Tail

is

powered by

Roils Roycc Tay turbofans.

corporate and VIP version,

plane

hracinK strut

the Executive Jet 100,

was also
Range

available in an Fvtended

Biingeesprung
Vinif-tip skids

'revent

damage

durint( lanJinfi

tail

model with increased

skid

capacity.

Fokker "O.

fuel

shorter variant, the

vKas

launched

in

1^**?.

45

WAR

IN

THE AIR

m-m FoKKER
The D.VII prototype,

the V.II of 1917,

won

D.VII
a

German

competition for single-seat fighting scouts in January 1918,

and the design was soon put into production, reaching

operational units in April. By the autumn over 40 Jastas
(fighter squadrons) had received D.VIIs, and it gained a
reputation as the best German fighter of World War I. By the
time of the Armistice almost 4,000 D.VIIs had been ordered
from Fokker and other builders. It was the only aircraft
specified in the Armistice agreement among items of
military equipment to be handed over to the Allies,

The Fokker way

The

D.VII's fabric-covered fuselage used

the welded steel tube box-girder that

had become

common

The system of

in

struts

Fokker

aircraft.

between the two

wings eliminated the need for draginducing bracing wires.

Radtator mounted
in frniit of

engine

Choice of colors

One

of the

many

pilots to fly the

notable fighter

D.VII was

Hermann Goering, who

commanded Jagdgeschwader
Like many German fighter
pilots he

had

I.

his airplane

painted to his personal taste,

choosing the overall white finish

seen here. Although the D.VII
initially

had a 160-hp Mercedes

engine, later models were

equipped with a 185-hp

BMW.

Specification
Engine 185-hp
in-line

BMW

III

six-cylinder

water-cooled

Wingspan 29

ft

in

(8.9

m)

Length 23 ft (7 m)
Height 9 ft 2 in (2.75 m)
Loaded weight 1,870 lb (850 kg)
Top speed
16.6 mph (186.5 km/h)
1

Rate of climb 3,280 ft (1,000 m)

Ceiling 22,900 ft (6,980 m)

Armament Two

fixed forward-firing

Spandau macliine guns

Crew

46

in 2'A

Wire-spoked wheel
with fabric covers

1914-1918 FOKKER D.VM

Wooden

Twu-bladed lammjtfJ

cjniilever-slruclured

wing

iiiinJcn priipt'llcr

\
Most new

D.V'lls

"lozenpes," which from a distance merge to form an effective camouflage.

The

use of prmted fabric avoided the weight of pigmented paint ("dope"),

although protective coats of clear dope and matt lacquer were

still

applied.

Rudder iontrol

(Me emerging

were covered with linen printed with patterns of irregular

from fuselage
Spruttfi

wooden

tail'

tkid with steel shoe

WAR

IN

THE AIR

m-m The
Although
years, the

it

Sop with Line

existed for only eight

Sopwith Aviation

Company

produced a rich variety of aircraft types,

of which more than 18,000 were built by
the parent company and subcontractors. Founded by
Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith at Kingston-on-Thames,
England, in 1912, the company first attained prominence
when its Tabloid seaplane won the 1914 Schneider Trophy
contest. It went on to build some of the greatest airplanes
of World War I, including the Pup and Camel single-seat
fighters; and Sopwith aircraft were used by both the military
and naval air arms of the Allied forces.

Slow
The

start

first

Sopwith airplane,

hybrid appeared

in

this

July 1912.

with wings based on those of

two-seat Sopwith-Wright

Its

new

fuselage

Before being replaced with an 80-hp version,

Gnome

rotary engine gave

slow even

Fabric-covered twospar wire-braced

wooden wing

Water wings
The

first

successful British flying boat, the Bat Boat appeared in

1913. The wheel-equipped version seen here, powered by a 100-hp

engine,

won

aircraft

on July

500 Mortimer Singer

the

prize for

amphibious

8 of that year. Several other variants

were

built.

Fabric-covered,

unbalanced
rudder with

steel-

tube frame

Sprung wooden

tail

skid with metal shoe

In

1919 Sopwith produced the 360-hp Rolls-Royce Eagle-

engined Atlantic for an attempt at the Daily Mail's 10,000

prize for the first

Hawker and
St.

nonstop transatlantic

flight. Pilot

Johns, Newfoundland, on

May

to ditch. Both

left

18, 1919, but incorrect

operation of the radiator cooling louvers forced

48

Harry

navigator Lt. Cdr. K.K. Mackenzie-Grieve

men were

Hawker

successfully rescued.

in those days.

it

was paired

Wright-type pusher biplane.

a speed of 55

Only two were

its

mph

built.

70-hp
(88.5 km/h),

19I4-I918 THE SOPWITH

SmM U'lndihwUI iitUihcJ to rear

Company highlights

of X'ickers

1912

1914

?(M-/w nuuhine

nnn

Sopwith Aviation Company

founded
Tabloid seaplane wins Schneider

Trophy contest at

191S Prototype

Monaco

k Strutter appears

1916 Sopwith Pup nnakes

as does F

first flight,

Camel.

1917 Sopwith Cuckoo,

first

landplane

torpedo earner capable of

carrier operation, appears

1919 Harry Hawker attempts nonstop transatlantic flight

1920 Large

bill causes Sopwith to

company, he forms
H.G Hawker Engineering

tax

liquidate

Named

.iftiT

the unusual arrangement ot

intcrplane struts, the

compact two-scat
aircraft.

It

'

Strutter

was

its

fighter reconnaissance

Triple trouble

pioneered the concept that led

to the Bristol Fighter,

Allied aircraft to

go

and was the

into

first

combat with

synchronized forward-firing gun.

served as a shipboard fighter.

The Sopwith Triplane

It

also

of

\^\h

succeeded the Pup. but was used

operationally only by the

very agile

combat

single-seat fighter

allow

Its

RNAS

aircraft, this

was designed

to

pilot the best possible field

of view and ensure maiuuverabiiit\

WAR

IN

THE AIR

M-i9
When war

World War I Bombers

broke out

in

1914 most airplanes could carry only

small bombs, which were dropped over the side of the observer's
cockpit. Soon, however, purpose-designed

Two-spar wooden wing with

fabric covering

bombers appeared, with

on racks beneath the fuselage

and wings or housed within a special bay in the fuselage. These
were released by a mechanism operated by the pilot or bombaimer. Bombing raids on civilian populations and industrial targets
became an accepted practice.
^v
their deadly cargoes either carried

Four-hladed wooden propeller

with fabric-covered

tips

Day and night bomber

Introduced into service towards the end of 1916, the

AEG

G.IV

laciced the range

German
Nacelle for Mercedes engine

and Hfting power of the Gothas

mounted on lower wing

but was built in large numbers and served until the war's end,

performing day and night raids on Allied targets behind the

hnes.

It

carried an 880-lb (400-kg)

bomb

load.

Tail surfaces carried

on twin boom

extensions of engine nacelles

Large

Germany's Gotha bombers were widely used

for daylight raids

England
Italian triplane
In Italy,

Caproni produced

a range of

carried in a special streamlined

bombers, including the Ca 4

span Ca 42.

bomb

Up

to

series of

26 small bombs were

carrier attached to the

bottom wing.

on London and southern

the later

G.III seen here

triplanes, such as this 98-ft (30-m)

50

in

war

years.

The Gotha

had two 260-hp engines

driving pusher propellers, and introduced

a rear-fuselage tunnel enabling a defending

gunner to

fire

downward beneath

its tail.

horn-

balanced

rudder

1914-iyiS NXDKII) \XAR

Developed

late

(tiitincr

the war, the V'ickers

FB.2~ V'lmy three-seat bomber {below)

entered service with the

RAF

too

BO.MBIRS

position in front

of engine nacelle

late

for active participation in the conflict,

but became a standard postwar type.

It

spanned 68

ft

(20.7 m) and earned a

2.4-'6-lb (1,123-kR)

bomb

load.

Position for
front gunner/

bomh-aimer

Kciir gunner's position with

mounting

Shadow over

the Eastern Front

for single or twin Lewis machine guns

The Staakcn

R.III, built

by the Zeppclin-

VCcrke Staakcn, was one of Germany's most

successful R-plancs.

.Mercedes
1

^S

;-ft

I). Ill

Powered by

engines

in

six IftO-hp

tandem

pairs, this

i42.2-m)-span monster serscd on the

Kastern Front in 1916-17.

It

882-1, 764-lb (400-800-kg)

carried an

bomb

load.

51

The Golden Era

WORLD

WAR

HAD BOOSTF.D

airplane production to

Linsustainably high levels, and with

its

end

air forces

were downsized and orders canceled. Manufacturers found

that the militar\

market

for

could nor afford new aircraft, and the

custom-designed

airlines using crudely

civil

aircraft

was

tiny,

many

converted bombers. As the 1930s

approached, things slowly improved. Helped by pioneering

long-distance and survey flights, the larger airlines began

Long-server
Although

to stretch their networks across

Legend revived
This 193()s poster,

and record-breaking

flights

and between continents,

pushed the technology steadily

forward. This period saw radical developments

in

both

airhnc

KIM,

relates

military and

modern technology
to the legend of the

Flying

The
is

Dutchman.

metal

cixil

aircraft,

with the advent of sleek

monoplanes with enclosed crew and passenger

accommodation, retractable undercarriages, autopilots,

1936, and was

outbreak of World
II,

the Faircy

Swordfish torpedo

bomK-r served
valiantly with
Britain's Fleet Air

Ann throughout

aircraft depicted

Fokker KVIII.

all-

entered

obsolescent by the

War

advertising Dutch

It

service as early as

and devices

to

improve low-speed handling and

safety.

the entire conflict.

53

THE GOLDEN ERA

im-im Airships
Once Frenchman Henri Giffard had
airship in

flown

1852 and demonstrated that such

in his

steam-powered

a craft could be

controlled, the airship developed steadily. There are three basic types:

nonrigid, in which the envelope's shape

is

maintained by the pressure

of the gas and air ballonets therein; semi-rigid, which has a rigid keel

form and to support the loads; and

rigid, in which a framework gives the airship its shape. Although
airships are still with us, they have never regained the prominence
they attained in the early years of the 20th century.
to help maintain the envelope's

A
~1'

giant's tragic end

Fusiform" (tapering)

envelope reduces resistance

of vessel

in

forward

flight

Launched

airship conceived

French airship

the

Lebaudy

Patrie,

was buih

by Pierre and Paul Lebaudy

1906. Over 200
it

ft

(61

m)

containers plus

Of

its

to that

mph

1907 when carried

(45 km/h).

It

ft

37

was

It

mooring

at Lakehurst,

was

804

flights,

while approaching

May

speed of 28

63

largest

were ocean crossings.

out to sea by a stray wind.

Hull encloses

in

(245 m).

long,

had a 60-hp engine and

lost in

up

time, with a length of

This French semi-rigid airship,

6,

1937,

its

New Jersey,
when

it

flames. Although 35 crew

passengers died

lost

on

burst into

and

in the disaster,

62 were saved.

7 separate gas
1

LZ

1936, Zeppelin

in

129 Hindenburg was the

.-^

7 fuel tanks

Control gondola and

passenger section

Forward engine car on

each side with a 530-hp

Maybach engine
from which
framework and car are suspended

"Wide fabric belts carry cables

Second to none?
Developed and
in

built at

Farnborough, England,

1907 under Col. John Capper and

Army

Dirigible

No.

1,

(26 km/h).

Its

it

could

was

120-ft (36.6-m)

fly at

only 16

mph

performance was even worse

when "improved"

54

Cody,

Nulli Secundus,

Britain's first military airship.

long semi-rigid,

S.F.

in a

1908 reconstruction.

Small forward control

surfaces in

framework

beneath envelope

1919-1938 AIRSHIPS
Flight to disaster
In the

1920s a scheme for airship services linking the

various parts of the British Fmpire resulted

in

the

construction of two large rigid airships, one of

which was the government-built R 101. After

a troubled

development,

it

set

oH on

its

inaugural flight to India on October 4,

1930.
in

The next day

it

crashed

France, taking 48 hves.

Small,
tail

suept^

surfaces
I

large
in

fins

and

tail

planes

ne ^SS-hp

Jiesel engines in

cars suspended beneath hull

crucifDrm arrangement

Lost at sea

One

11

of America's last

two

Ck)odycar-Zeppe!in USS

large rigid airships, the

Mjcon

21, 1933, a few weeks after

Akriin,
It

had

was wrecked

a top speed of

carry four Curtiss

first

its sister

ship, L'SS

at sea. Built for the

84

mph

on April

flew

US Navy,

35 km/h) and could

Sparrowhawk

single-seat fighters,

which could be launched and retrieved while the

airship

was

in flight.

February 12, 1935,

&- :.,

Suffering a structural failure on

Mjcon came down

#4
proved very effective

Representing the acme of Zeppelin design, and benefiting

from the company's unmatched airship experience before

and during World War

Seprcmbcr 18, 1928.

in

It

Graf Zeppelin first flew on

was over 776 ft (236 m) long, had

I,

the

volume of 3,708,040 cu
79.5

sea.

mph

March 1940

it

ft

(105,000 cu m), and could

128 km/h). By the time

it

was broken up

had become the most famous and most

successful airship ever built, having

made 590

flights.

from duralumin girders

Airship advertising

Goodyear produced

Superstar of the skies

fly at

open

Wire-braced and fabric -covered

hull built

in

familiar
the

now

for the
in

US Navy

a series of nonrigid airships,

an antisubmarine role during

NX'orld \Xar

II.

which
.More

are the company's smaller public-relations airships, such as

Coliimhu IV of ]^~A, with illuminated advertising on

their sides.

THE GOLDEN ERA

m-ms The First Airliners

WHEN COMMERCIAL

AIR transportation began to get off

ground after World War I, many of the aircraft used
were hastily converted military bomber and

Auxiliary fuel tanks

beneath upper wing

the

reconnaissance machines. In some cases the

intrepid passengers needed to be quite
hardy to endure the discomfort of basic
seating, minimal facilities, and exposure
to considerable cold. Airlines soon
realized that better conditions

would

have to be provided if they were to

attract fare-paying customers in any
numbers - even if the pilots were still
expected to

sit in

Bomber no longer
The Breguet l4Tbis of 1921 was

open cockpits.

a fairly basic conversion of the

company's

reconnaissance/day-bomber biplane. The fuselage was deepened to incorporate a

two-seat cabin with
pilot's

windows

This cabin unfortunately obstructed the

in its sides.

forward view during landing.

A 300-hp

Renault engine was commonly used.

Channel hopper
The

Bleriot 165

appeared

in

1926. The aircraft was

powered by

a pair of

Gnome Rhone

Baggage compartment

Wide-track undercarriage provides

stability

when landing and

in

nose, in front of cockpit

taxiing

420-hp

Jupiter air-

cooled radial engines, could

attain speed of

12

mph

(180 km/h), and carried 15-16

passengers. There were only

two examples

saw

built

and both

service with the French

airline Air

Union, operating on

its

Paris-London route.

Conversion of a classic
Vickers produced the

combining the
Eagle-engined

Vimy Commercial

flying surfaces of

its

{left)

by

Rolls-Royce

Vimy bomber with a new ovalwhich had a monocoque front

section fuselage,

section incorporating a 10-passenger cabin. First

flown

in

April 1919,

speed of 84

mph

it

had a

stately cruising

(135 km/h).

Horn-balanced rudder
<"

New
At the smaller end of the

scale

use for flying eye

were conversions of military two-seat

reconnaissance aircraft, adapted to carry two passengers. This

N.I was a development of the
pilot's cockpit.

J II

Used on Frankfurt-Berlin

services in 1920,

serve with Lufthansa in 1926.

56

German AEG

two-seater, with a cabin in front of the

It

had

it

survived to

200-hp Benz engine.

>

1919-1938 THE FIRST AIRLINERS

Two
open

Bow

passenjters carru'd in

how

pilot's

PASSENGERS

lOikpil, with

Ihc Handlcy Pa^c O/l

coikpit behind

II)

bow

the

freight

of

1920 was a converted O/400 bomber

by llandk-y Pane Transport

<>ptratc-d

cockpit and three

in a

td.

cabin

it

in

earned two passenger*

the rear fuselage, plus

Two ?h()-hp Kolls-Koyce Kagle engines

maximum speed of 97.S mph S7 kin/h).

a hold amidships.

gave these beasts a

Another version, the C)/10, carried 12 passenger*.

Hiplane
fill

tail

.Hid tu

III

plane with central

iiiiti-r

rudder

Sporty model

A more

racy design than most

was

the Bleriot

with a Salmson radial engine,

first

flown

1^20.

Its

four passengers were

monocoque
provided

in

Spad

? ?

December

accommodated in a woodm
windows usually being

fuselage, three circular

the cabin.

behind

sited

in

this

Two

side-by-side

open cockpits wen-

cabin for the pilot and a

fifth

passenger.

Room

for nine inside

flown

First

in

1922, de Havilland's l).H.34

accommodated nine passengers

inside

its

seated in wicker chairs

plywood-covered fuselage. Powered by

450-hp Napier Lion water-cooled engine,

105

mph

London's

Ooydon

Airport to

Engine-cooling water

of

on center
upper wing

section

passengers in

forward compartment

m^

-^
*iiifc

2^i^^

cruised at

(170 km/h) and was used on services from

radiator

Two

it

fW?5

l.e

Bourget, Paris.

Aderons on upper and lower

wings, linked by pushroJ

THE GOLDEN ERA

m-ms The Trailblazers

As SOON AS

World War

ended, a number of intrepid

prepared to attempt long-distance intercontinental

flights to win large money prizes. These were the first of

pilots

many

interwar flights that opened up the commercial air

routes linking the world's major

like

cities.

Many

of the pilots,

Charles Lindbergh and Alcock and Brown, became

household names, as did some of their

aircraft.

Fabric-covered, wire-

braced wooden biplane

Surveying Africa

wing structure
In this Short Singapore

flying boat,

powered by two 650-hp

Rolls-Royce Condor water-cooled engines.

made

23,000-mile (37,000-km) survey

Sir

flight

Alan

Cobham

around Africa

on behalf of Imperial Airways during 1927-28. He reported

on more than 50 possible seaplane bases in and around Africa,

making some 90

takeoffs and landings in

330 hours of

flying.

Skid to prevent aircraft

nosing over on landing

Radiators on front of engine

nacelles for water-cooled engines

Australian success
In

December 1919 Australian brothers

Capt. Ross Smith and Lt. Keith Smith,

with two crew members, completed

the

first flight

from Britain to

Australia in this Vickers

bomber

Vimy

[above). Flying 11,294 miles

;18,183 km) in 135 hours, 55

minutes, they

won knighthoods and

10,000 from the Australian government

On

April 6, 1924, four

US

Air Service Douglas World

Cruisers set off from Seattle, Washington, to attempt

the first around-the-world flight. Lt. Lowell

Smith and

New

Lt. Erik

Orleans respectively, completed the 27,553-mile

(44,340-km)

The

H.

Nelson, piloting Chicago and

trip

later, on September 28.

was 371 hours, 11 minutes.

175 days

total flying time

One-piece wooden wing has two

main box spars, plywood ribs,
and plywood covering

1919-1938 THE TRAILBLAZERS

.

Air-cooled 223-hp WV(x''f

\f>'hirlwinJ

From New York to

<

ninecylmdfr rjjul

W/M^'s hititse fuel

contammn
(573

Unki

^1 Kjllnrts

liters)

The first solo nonstop flight across the North Atlantic was
made by American Laptam C'harles Lindbergh in his Ryan
NYP monoplane Sf)irit nf Si. Louis during May 2(>-21,
1*^2"'.
indhcrgh took off from long Island, New York,
1

and landed

at l.e

(5,810 km)

in

speed was

Paris

tngirtf

Bourget, Pans, after flying 3.610 miles

33 hours, 39 minutes. His average flying

10''. 5

mph

(173 km/h).

hdain fuel tjnks in forward

fuselage

11.127

conuin 298 gallom

Cabin for passengers

and

liters)

Metal floats

crew, in front of

pilot's

fitted for

open cockpit

Australia flight

Nonstop transatlantic
Pilot

flyers

Capt. John Alcock and navigator

Brown made

the

first

Lt.

Arthur Whittcn

nonstop transatlantic

flight

on June

Vimy bomber. The flight,

for which both were knighted, took the men from St. John's,
Newfoundland, to a bog in Clifden, County Galway,
Ireland, m 16 hours, 2" minutes. The achievement
14/15, 1919, in this modified \'ickcrs

also

won them 10,000 from

the Daily Mail.

Air suRvtiLLANCfc
Between June M) and October

Cobham made

the

first

1926, Alan

1,

England-to-Australia and

return flight, as a survey for Imperial Airways, in

this

de Havilland D.H.50J biplane powered by a

385-hp

radial engine. Previously he

same machine on

survey flight to the (ape of

Huge

had flown the

16,000-mile l25,~00-km)

dood Hope.

.Africa.

fuel tank in

fuselage beneath

wing center section

,

Wright j-SC Whirlwind

Metal cowling

radial engine

panels around nose

Two-bladed
ad/ustable-pitch
,

metal propeller

All around the world

Hying

lokker K\'llb-^m

named Southern

airliner

Cross, .Australian

Charles Kingsford Smith

true transpacific flight,

made

from

to Brisbane, Australia, in 1928,

first air

crossing of the

same

year.

He

the

first

C alifornia

and the

Tasman Sea

later

then flew the aircrah

from Sydney to London

in

m hours

made

the seccmd east-

vest transatlantic flight,

from Ireland to

in l'*29.

12 days and

.Newfoundland, on June 24-25, 1930.

and flew across the US to complete

80,000-mile (129,000-kml around-the-

world

flight, for

which he was knighted.

59

THE GOLDEN ERA

Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor

/9I9-/938
Originated from

design conceived by

American

Stout in the

Bill

:t-

K.

1920s, the Ford Tri-Motor combined

the Dutch-designed Fokker Tri-motor's size
and shape with the all-metal, corrugated-skin
construction developed by Hugo Junkers in
Germany. The result was an exceptionally
rugged and reliable workhorse, built on an
assembly line and offering three-engine safety.
The 3-AT prototype of 1925 was followed in
1926 by the first production model, the 4-AT.
In 1928 the most famous model appeared, the
larger and more powerful 5-AT, which was

produced

number of

in a

variants.
Refined model
This period photograph depicts 5-AT-B Tri-Motor

Specification

9685, which was built

Engines Three 220-hp Wright

in

NC-

1929 and served with Pan

American Airways, carrying passengers and

mail.

J-5 radials

Wingspan 77
Length 49

ft

Height 12

ft

10

ft

10

in

in

The two underwing engines

(23.7 m)

(15.2

rings to

m)

enhance cooling and improve

weight 13,000

lb

(5,897 kg)

Cruising speed
Ceiling

18,500

122
ft

mph

(196 l<m/h)

Versatile

Goose

(5,639 m)

Passengers 15

The Tri-Motor's

Crew

belies'its capabilities, since

unofficial

nickname, "Tin Goose,"

it

has been rolled, looped,

and even flown upsidedown. Between the

and the

60

their

aerodynamics, and the main wheels have fenders.

(3.65 m)

Typical tal<eoff

are fitted with cowling

last

first

of the family, flown in mid- 1933,

and they flew with more than

Tri-Motors were

built,

100

with wheels,

airlines, fitted

3-AT
200

floats,

or

skis.

TRI-MOTOR

1919-1938 FORD 5-AT-B

Tuit-btjJe tnetal propeller, pitch

jj/usuhle

Ijiiimiii.iuliUlAllliilliiiiiuUillULiJi,,'

ttn

gmuud

Nfiinei itriithraieJ

imly

III ifiiif!

I. ttn

itruclure

Jin fi lixhl in

ifinK leading eJne

13

i'.ll

Sme-iylinJer jir-cixdeJ
Wright

J- V

rjdul engine

Mtiin wheel leg has telescopic

shack

strut

and rubber

discs

to absorb landing shocks

Wheels

fitted

with

hydraulic brakes

made

it

aircraft

inherently stable. Designed to Hy well on

could maintain

level flight

engine failure on takeoff,

when

the drag of the

dead engine's wmdmilling propeller

could result

in a fatal crash.

two engines,

the

on one. The only danger was

THE GOLDEN ERA

The Schneider Trophy

im-im

Introduced in 1912 by Jacques Schneider, son of the

owner of the Schneider armaments works at Le Creusot,
France, the Schneider Trophy contests were designed
to encourage seaplane development. In the interwar

became keenly fought events

years they

for

which

the world's foremost manufacturers and designers

vied to produce airplanes and engines capable of

ever greater performance.

was

finally

contest had

won

By the time the trophy

outright by Britain, in 1931, the

become

a matter of intense national prestige

Britain triumphs
R.J. Mitchell's sleek

for Britain

Supermarine S.6B

finally

won

the trophy outright

by achieving the country's third successive victory

wring the utmost from the

at Calshot,

was used to
Rolls-Royce "R" racing engine that powered

Southampton, on September 13, 1931.

fuel "cocktail"

The winning speed was 340.08 mph (547.297 km/h).

Cabane

struts

carry bracing

wires to wings

Open, unfaired
cockpit

Tabloid wins
Britain's first victory

was

at

Monaco

in

1914,

when Howard

Pixton took this Sopwith Tabloid seaplane around the 28-lap

course at an average speed of 86.78

mph

(139.66 km/h).

He

then flew two more laps to set a world seaplane speed record
of 86.6

mph

(139.39 km/h) over a 186-mile (300-km) course

Fabric-covered

wooden wing with

wire bracing

First

honors

The honor of winning the very

Schneider Trophy contest, at

first

Monaco
pilot

in

1913, went to French

Maurice Prevost,

flying this

Deperdussin seaplane powered by

a

160-hp 14-cylinder two-row

Gnome

rotary engine. His true

average speed over the course was

61

mph

(98 km/h), about a

seventh of the winning speed of

the final contest in 1931.

62

it.

I919-I938 THE SCHNEIDER

TROPHY

Bettered Supermarine
Britain's entry in the

1923 contest

Knghsh port of Clowes,

oii the

('.iiu'linx^ fasily

Isle

of VC'i^ht,

aircraft's

was

Supermarine Sea

525-hp Napier lion engine

157.17

mph

than

forebear's

its

this

u)n

t(M)k

it

(252.94 km/h), which was 12

new American

renutfjhle for

around the course

mph

winning speed the previous

to third place by the

Although the

III.

at

.lllli

L-

.rrrumg

ii'iH flitjt

(19 kni/h) faster

year,

was

it

relegated

Curtiss seaplanes.

struts

'^ "** *jV^

r

I^^^H

^M
-^

51
i^s
il
1

D^Hr

%
1^^

^^^B ^m

?^IhI r^
K^-^^H

^E^'

lift

priifu'llfr cicjr
i>f

sprjy

Flawed contenders
Powered by l.OOO-hp

M.52s entered by
'

Fiat

AS.3 engines, the three Macchi

Italy in the

1927 event

Venice were

at

forced to retire due to engine problems. As

compensation, a new world speed record of 300.94

(484.304 km/h) was

sc-t

bv an .\1.52

all

some small

mph

on October 22.

in \'enice

Fairings over engine

cylinder heads

Two-blade
Ailerons on upper

fixed-pitch

and lower wings

metal propeller

Single faired l-strut

between wings

Wires and

Backed by funding from the US Navy,

R3C:-2,

1925

Clurtiss entered the

struts brace

powered by the superb 600-hp Curtiss V-14()0 engine.

Piloted by the charismatic Lt.

place at

in

232.57

mph

James

Doolittle,

it

sailed to

(374.2S km/h). Nc.\t day, Doolittle also

world speed record for floatplanes of 245.7

mph

floats

first

set

.i

(395.4 km/hi.

Italian finesse
In

1926

at

Hampton Roads,

Virginia, the Italians stole the

show

in their

.\1.39s

elegant .Macchi

with 800-hp Fiat AS.2

engines.

and third

They took the

places, the

first

winning

airplane averaging a speed of

46.496

Three layers of
lulipwood veneer

mph

(396.698 km/h).

ni.ikr

up monocoque fuselage

63

THE GOLDEN ERA

im-ms Flying
The great
had

Boats

&

Seaplanes

flying boats of the 1920s and 1930s

unmatched by any other

They were a manifestation of

a stately elegance

airplane type.

their time, the products of an age when only the

wealthy could afford to fly, and expected to do
so in a style comparable with that of a cruise
liner, though much faster. Even so, a long

was a leisurely affair,

and often requiring changes of
aircraft. The advantage of the flying boat was
that it could land on any clear expanse of water
and did not require constructions of expensive
runways in obscure locations.
intercontinental flight

flown

in stages

Engines by the dozen

Designed for transatlantic operation, the 157-ft (48-m) span Dornier
first

in

July

1929 but never entered

airline service.

The

The Do

undertook a transatlantic proving

flight

Do X

final version

powered by twelve 600-hp Curtiss Conqueror water-cooled engines,

here.

Twin-hulled amphibian

flew

during 1930-31.

Engines mounted back-to-back

on pylons over center of wing

The unconventional twin-hulled Savoia Marchetti S.55 flying

boat originated in 1924 as a torpedo bomber for Italy's
Regia Marina, but commercial versions were also
produced. Seen here

is

one of the 25 S.55Xs, powered

by two 750-hp Isotta-Fraschini engines, that made an

11,495-mile (18,499-km) mass-formation
to Chicago

and back

in

flight

from

was

as seen

Rome

1933, led by Air Marshal Italo Balbo.

Cockpit positioned

between pylons on

wing center-section

1919-1938 FLYIN(; BOATS

Sc

SI

Record-holding seaplane
flown

First

in

January 19VS, the I.atccotTc S2I could

carry 70 passengers
Its six

top speed oi 162

J jit-

t list- 1

services.

mph

(26)1

km/h), and

it

(5,771 -km) flight trom

Monaco

it

numlxr

set a

of seaplane records, including a nonstop ^,nS6

hnfSines in

landcm ahove
clear

on trans-Mcditcrrancan

860-hp Mispano-Suiza l2Ybrs engines gave

inili-

to Bra/il.

fell

of spray

Iwii dfiks in all-metal

lahin

hull; loninianJer's
in fniNt

if

iipfier

Airborne whale

Jeik

highly successful design, the all-metal Djirmcr

\
I

II

Wal ("Whale")

first

flew

in

Do

1922 and stayed

production until 1936, some 300 being

built.

There were several variants, both military and

civil;

seen here

powered by

is

\X'al

33, the

a pair of 69()-hp

Sponsons

last

rehnement,

B.MW

V'l

stabilize aircraft

engines.

an water

American mail
The

B<K-ing .Model

wingspan of 152

314

first

(46.33 m) and

ft

flew

in

June 19?S.

It

had

its

four 1,500/1,600-hp >Xright Cyclone

radial engines

of 188

mph

gave

it

a cruising speed

(303 km/h). Using 314s, Pan American Airways

inaugurated transatlantic mail and passenger services

Three of the 12
(

British

built

in

were operated by

1939.

BOAC

Overseas Airways Corporation

Steps in hull
Single tall fin

enabled

twercome
suction on takeoff

aircraft tn

an J rudder

Composite solution
Initially,

the fuel load required to span the .Atlantic ruled out a

The Short-.Mayo Ciomposite

useful payload.
lightly laden flying
aloft, the

seaplane then being released to continue the

The smaller

Passenger

ct)nsisted of a

boat that carried a heavily laden seaplane

craft,

named Mcrinry, made

numbcT

distance mail flights before the outbreak of NX'orld

accommodation

flight.

of long\X'ar II.

in hull

Seaplane carried

on

Upswept

strut system

rear hull allows

clearance during takeoff

iher plane Ntaia

Graceful survivor

carries Mcrcur>- to

The Vought-Sikorsky VS-44 {left) was powered by four 1,200-hp

Pratt & NX hitiiey Twin Wasp radial engines. Tluee were rdcrcd by
Aiucrik.aii

xjsort .'\irlines in

ssigned to the

''40 for transatlantic services, but

US Navy during World

sViovB^mmvrd postwar

civil

cruising height

opcratmns and

NXar

is

II.

Tlu-

example

preserved today.

h>

THE GOLDEN ERA

/9/9-I938
\wiiL'iNJ.-i--y

The Junkers Line

In 1910,

German Professor Hugo

Junkers

patented an aircraft with a large metal wing.

later developed a metal cantilever wing with

He

a corrugated duralumin skin,

which was applied

World War I combat aircraft designed by his

company. After the war Junkers produced a range of allmetal civil aircraft, from small two-seaters to large airliners
such as the G 38. Junkers' company was taken over by the
state in 1933 and he died two years later. In World War II
the Luftwaffe flew the Ju 87 Stuka and the Ju 88 bomber
to several

among

others. In ,1945 the

company

fell

into Soviet hands.

^
^B^^^L^

'^

^.^

^\

'^

CL

the

-^

Two-seat patroller

Front cockpit

Given the military designation

faired over

for offensive patrols

It first

gave

it

flew in

May

and

I,

J.

10 was intended

close air support of

1918.

Its

ground troops.

160-hp Mercedes

III

118

armed with one or

and a movable Parabellum gun

for the observer.

Three-blade, variablepitch metal propeller ^

Japan-bound Junior
Generously glazed

The Junkers A. 50 Junior all-metal light two-seater appeared in

1929. The one shown above, powered by an 85-hp Armstrong
Siddley Genet engine and with its front cockpit faired over,
was flown from Berlin to Tokyo in 1930 by Japanese pilot
Seiji Yoshihara, who averaged 600 miles (970 km) per day.

66

cockpit canopy

engine

mph (190 km/h), and it was

two fixed Maxim 08/15 machine guns

a top speed of

1^19-1938 THF JUNKERS LINE

Armored guardian
Designed for "contact patrols" with the infantry,

armor

plate to protect

two-man crew and

its

this large biplane

making

engine,

it

had

heavy

and slow-climbing. A water-cooled 23()-hp Ben/ B/ IV' engine gave it a

speed >f 97 mph (155 km/h). A total of 227 were built and delivered to
the Cierman air force, where the aircraft was designated J I.

Innovatory wing
Designed immediately after the 1918 Armistice, the
F 13

was

a four-seat

commercial transport with

(Kcupying an open cockpit.

it

was very advanced,

its

First

its

crew

flown on July 18, 1919,

all-metal

wing being based on

girder ot nine tubular duralumin spars braced together.

NX'hen production ceased in 1932,

322 had been

built.

Crew

Smooth operator
Lacking the distinctive Junkers corrugated

was

BMW

finish, the

a six-passenger, single-cngincd airliner with a

132E

radial engine, used

express seniccs from 1935.

was 21

mph

Its

Ju 160

cabin faired

into tup

of fuselage

1895 Junkers company founded

660-hp

1915

on Lufthansa's domestic

maximum

Company highlights
Tfie first Junkers airplane, the

iron-clad

speed

all-metal

monoplane, makes

(340 km/hi.

first flight

1919 Junkers Flugzeugwerke

formed

1919 Maiden

flight of F

13 single-

engined transport
hiuarJrctracting

on nontail wheel

main

hairing
retractable

1924

First flight

of

monoplane
1932

Popular and adaptable

Over 4,800 Junkers Ju 52/3m

23, the

first

three-engined all-metal

iindcriarrujii

Ju

in airline service

52/3m makes maiden

1933 Company taken over by

aircraft

were produced,

1945

flight

state

Soviet invaders seize Junkers

outiuiniluring any other European transport model.

Affectionately

known

as "Tante Ju" ("Auntie Ju"),

it

served as an airliner, freighter, troop carrier, bomber, glider

The Ju 86 served as both a medium bomber and an

The example seen here is a Ju 86K-13, built
under license by Saab in Sweden during 19^8-41; after
World VC'ar II it was modified as a 12-person transport,
powered by a pair of Bristol Pegasus radial engines.
airliner.

67

THE GOLDEN ERA

/9/9-/938
Commercial

Large Interwar Airliners

air travel

was an accepted form of transport

by the 1930s, and the principal aircraft manufacturers were

producing new airhners to serve the muhiphcity of routes internal, transcontinental, and intercontinental - that were
spreading across the globe. These large, multiengined

removed from the frail biplanes of only 20 years

were taking the colors of the major airlines to all of
the world's major cities, transporting their human cargoes in
heated cabins with stewards in attendance.
aircraft, far

earlier,

Sleeper biplane
First

flown

appeared

in

1933, the Curtiss Condor

in the

USA

just as

II

biplane

Boeing and Douglas were

introducing their sleek metal monoplanes. However,

have a retractable undercarriage and

full

for 12 passengers. Eastern Air Transport

High-wing layout

raises

but requires

Comfortable cruiser
Accommodating 22 passengers
cabins, the Fokker F.XXII

marred only by

its

Four 500-hp Pratt

radial engines gave

&
it

lines

Whitney Wasp TlDl

a cruising speed of

mph

KLM

took delivery of the

four

fixed undercarriage.

133.5

EXXils

in its

had smart

(215 km/h). Dutch airline

first

of three

1935.

Used only by

Britain's Imperial

Airways, the Handley Page H.P.42 had fouJ

Bristol Jupiter radial engines. Its Warren-girder

wires unnecessary. First flown in 1931,

(161 km/h).

it

24-passenger Eastern model flew routes

while a 38-passenger Western version operated

68

wing bracing made bracing'

cruised at a stately 100

in

in Africa

mph

and Asia,

Europe.

,<'^^"

tall

undercarriage

did

and American

Airways used the biplane to pioneer night sleeper

propellers well clear of ground,

it

accommodation

services.

1919-1938 l.ARCF INTFRWAR AIRIINKRS

French trimotor
Powered by three 575-hp Hispano-Suiza 9V
air-cooled radial engines, the French

Dewoitine

I).

v>2 had a h\ed undercarriage

despite being oi advanced all-metal

construction. First tlown in 1933,

eight passengers

it

and offered sleeper

carried

facilities.

user fjirmjii on

Elegance

mam undenamane

wood

in

The sleek de Havilland l).H.9l Albatross was

powered by four >2vhp de Havilland dipsy
Twelve water-cooled engines.

went against the trend

made

all-w(M>d structure

Its

for metal.

The

fuselage

was

of cedar ply with a thick balsa core.

Well-strejntlmeJ

engine cowlings

Flights of the
First

flown

in July

Condor

1937, the Focke-W'ulf

Fw

2()(

Condor had four B.MW 132 radial engines and

carried a total of 25-26 passengers in its two
cabins.

The Condor was capable of making

nonstop

flights

from Berlin to

New

^ork.

World War

1 he largest landplaiie built for Imperial Airways before

Armstrong Whitworth A.W.27 Fnsign

Initially the l.nsigns

had four

K5()

t(M)k

tt)

the air in

II,

the

Januan 19^8.

hp Armstrong Siddclcy

Figer IX(

radial

engines, but the aircraft proved underpowered and they were replaced b>

950-hp

NX'right

Cyclones. Farly

in

World \Xar

iinmunition, and other equipment !>

tin

II

few Fnsigns

Umisli fivrns

in

tle\^

r.iiui-

footl.

THE GOLDEN ERA

Warplane Evolution

im-ms

Nations began to re-equip their air forces in the late 1 920s and
1930s, after allowing them to run down in the aftermath of World

War

I.

Aircraft manufacturers produced a great assortment of

fighters

and bombers, some of them retaining

many

new

traditional features,

and weaponry.
monoplanes, although
these often retained the drafty open cockpits and some of the
but

introducing

structural techniques

Gradually, biplanes began to give

external

wing bracing of

way

to

their biplane predecessors.

Metal fuselage shaped
ii'ith

wooden formers and

Naval warrior

covered with fabric

The Boeing F4B-3 carrier-borne fighter entered

US Navy service in 1931. Powered by a 550-hp
Pratt & Whitney R-1340 air-cooled radial
Enclosed
cockpit

pilot's

engine,

it

had

maximum

speed of 188

mph

(302 km/h). F4B-3s were used on

carriers

up to 1938.

Impeccable styling

One

of the family of elegant

Hart two-seat

biplanes, the

powered by

Hawker miHtary

light

Rolls-Royce Kestrel. Entering

Force) service in 1930,
large

day bomber was

525-hp 12-cylinder water-cooled

it

was

RAF

(Royal Air

built in

numbers and flown by both

home and

overseas units.

New-found luxury
The

first

RAF bomber

to

power-operated enclosed gun

have a
turret,

the Boulton Paul Overstrand (right

entered service in 1936. Powered by

two 580-hp

Bristol

radial engines,

it

Pegasus air-cooled

had the luxury of an

Mid-upper
gunner has

enclosed cockpit for the pilot and

heating for the crew, but

its

fixed

one .303-in

undercarriage and biplane structure

cut top speed to 153

mph

Lewis gun

(246 km/h
Nonretractable

main undercarriage

Two-way power
The French Armee de

I'Air's first four-

engined bomber, the Farman F.22

service in 1936.

700-hp

It

Gnome Rhone

entered

radial engines in

push-pull pairs on either side of

70

was powered by four

its

nose.

WARPLANE EVOLUTION

1919-1938
Bulldog

British
Bristol

front-line
|9,?~.

hghter squadrons from 192^ to

Although

relatively slow, they

some "0 percent

upper inwv unly

comprised

torward-tiring

machine guns, the Bulldog had

490-hp

ot Britain's hghter defenses.

Armed with twin

X'lckers

Ailerons un

Bulldog single-scat tightcrs equipped

RAF

U)3-im

Bristol Jupiter air-cooled

radial engine

speed of

\%

~4

hich gave

it

a top

JSO km

iiiph

li

French muscle
flown

Hirst

in

June 1912, the Dewoitinc D.500 had a

liquid-

cooled 12-cylinder 69()-hp Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs engine

and was armed with two 7.7-mm Vickers machine guns.

successor, the I).501, entered French service in 1935,

was
Mjriitjlly

still

in

routed

turret houses

i()3-in

machine gun

J single

World War

use in the early years of

Its

and

II.

Turret innovation
The

.Martin B-10

was an

retractable undercarriage

assist

operation

bomber with

and enclosed crew positions, including

entered service with the

US bomber. First flown in 1932, it

US .Army in 1934. The ""5-hp NX'right

Cyclone engines gave

top speed of 213

the

Servo-tjh to

all-metal rwin-engincd

first

gun

turret fitted to a

mph

(343 km/h),

carrying four crew and 2.260 lb (1,025 kg) of bombs.

of rudder

Rearward- sliding
canopy over cockpit

dinner and

one

?0?-/

Lewis gun positioned

under rear fuselage

Italian

thoroughbred
Aerodynamic

First delivered to Italy's

Rcgia Acronautica
the Fiat

in

balance for

1934,

CR.32 was one

30

RA

220 mph

it

1916, CR.

Us

served

in

the Spanish Cavil War.

253 mph

km/h) on the power

(40''

840-hp
it

Mercury radial
was armed with four
Bristol

forward-firing machine guns.

In

(iladiator

Streamlined spats
orer

mam

wheels

first

193". Capable of

in

engine,

a speed of

V54 km/hi.

biplane fighter to serve with

entered service

if Its

12-cylinder water-cooled

engine gave

last

the R.AF. the Cjlostcr Ciladiator

fighters of the era. Its

Fiat

The

ailerons

of

the outstanding single-seat

590-hp

Hero of Malta

It

played

is

in

best

known

The

for the part

the \aliant defense of

.Malta during 1**4U-4I.

71

THE GOLDEN ERA

Metal Monoplanes

/9/9'/938

Most of the commercial

920s were
wooden biplanes and monoplanes, often with dragaircraft of the 1

Record breaker
The Northrop
very

inducing struts and bracing wires. In the 1930s,

first

Frank Hawks,

especially in the United States, a series of

Gamma

appeared

in

1932. The

one, seen here, was built for pilot

who

used

it

to set several records,

including a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to

smooth-skinned, all-metal monoplanes

New

of advanced design and exceptional

York

in 13

hours, 27 minutes

an average speed of 181

mph

in

/o^

June 1933,

(291 km/h).

performance emerged. Enclosed and

streamlined, these outstanding designs

soon began to replace

their

lumbering

forebears on the world's air routes.

Lightning services
The prototype of

the Heinkel

speed four-passenger airplane

December
set eight

1,

He 70G
first

high

flew on

1932, and the second aircraft

"Trousered",

mmretractahle

"Park bench" ailerons

iimiercarriage

above

speed records. Lufthansa used

number of He 70s from 1934 on its

appropriately named Blitz ("Lightning")
internal German services.

full-spar: flaps

Closely-cowled engine for

optimum streamlining

Destined to become the most famous piston-

Duralumin monocoque
fuselage contrasts with

wooden

elliptical

Versatile transport

engined airliner of

wing

all

DC-3 was
DC-1 and DC-2.

time, the Douglas

the ultimate development of the

Originally

Transport), the

December

known as the DST (Douglas Sleeper

DC-3 made its maiden flight on

first

17, 1935.

versatile,

The

aircraft

proved tough and

and became one of the

military transport aircraft in

production ended

in

Allies' principal

World War

IL

When

1947, Douglas had built

10,654 DC-3s and derivatives. The type was also

built in the

USSR and

Japan.

Hamilton Standard
fully feathering

propeller

72

Main gear semienclosed

when retracted

Wing/fuselage
fairing

iy>V-|V?8 Ml lAl
Tti'D-ifhir all-mctul

Uil

Clantileirr

MONOl'l.ANHS

wing

/>/.///<

iDierfd

l>\

sheet

ilitrjliimin

l-ixfj tail

wheel

French by design
The WiKuilt-IVnhoct 2SVT12. with three
3S()-hp dnomc Rhone Titan M.i|(>r radial
engines, was designed by Frenchman Michel

Inspiring
First

tlown

in

l^vi, the Btwing

24" was America's

first

miiltiengine transport.
retractable

mam

?^

l/

model

VC'ibault

Draji rings Liter

crewmen seated

Tw(i

replaced hy

and made

its

maiden

flight in

19^0.

side-hy-side in cockfit

longer cowlings

Model

low-wing

It

introduced a

undercarriage and

enclosed accommodation lor

its

hill\

crew

and 10 passengers.

In competition,

Douglas developed

its

DC-1.

Duralumin-

Outlawed

covered, all-metal
three- spar

airliner

wing

Conceived by Americans Vance Brccsc and Gerard Vultce

the eight-passenger Vultee

were

built, 12

Wright

going

V-IA

first

in 19.?1,

flew in 193.V Twenty-four

.American Airlines. The engine was a ""VS-hp

t)

A clone R-IS2() radial. The \'-I.Vs commercial service

on

curtailed by a I'S ban

single engined airliners,

bombers

their lives as makisiiitt

in

the Spanish

and
nil

several

was

ended

VC'ar.

Baggage hold
hairing for directum-

finding loop antenna

TATE
1

u)l\.>.vi

;;

;..(.

smaller

flew in July 19^7.

first

Model 10

14 passengers at a top speed of

enthusiast

Nonretractahle
tail

wheel

same
to

Howard Hughes Hew

year, the aircraft

Munich

<n his

Flcctra, the I.Kkhccd

Powered by two

shown

radial engines of

246 mph

^96 km/hi.

a .Model 14

In

Model 14 Super

Elcctra

900-1,200 hp. it carried

19^8 billionaire aviation

round the world

in lour

days. In that

here t<M>k British Prime .Minister Neville Chamberlain

mission to appease

derman

dictator Adolf Hitler.

7."J

THE GOLDEN ERA

Lockheed Electra

1919-1938

The fortunes of American

aircraft

manufacturer Lockheed

reached near-collapse in the Depression years of the early

1930s. The company pinned its hopes of recovery on a new
twin-engined monoplane with a retractable undercarriage.
Designed for fast, economical airline operation with two

crew and 10 passengers, this handsome and versatile

airplane was dubbed the Lockheed Model 10 Electra. It
first flew on February 23, 1934. Both Northwest Airlines
and Pan American had ordered it before its maiden flight,
and the former company put it into service the following
August. In all, 149 were built, serving around the world.

dihedral angle

Engine shoivn with

of wing gives

cowling removed

stability

The

shown here was the 37th

Model lOB, powered by a pair

Electra

originally a

R-975 Whirlwind nine-cylinder

form

it

was

delivered to

to be built.

on September 24, 1935. It then

went to Boston & Maine Airways, where it was
"
converted to a Model 10 A, with 450-hp Pratt t^

74

NC14959, but

is

in

Airways imported

five

Model lOA

It

was

originally

now NC5171N.

Electras

1937/38. They served on the London-Hamburg-

Copenhagen-Malmo-Stockholm Viking Mail

and also between London and Paris.

H
H
1

Cockpit seats pilot

and navigator
side-by-side

was

radial engines. In that

(Eastern Air Lines)

registered as

British

of 420-hp Wright

North American Aviation

Whitney Wasp Junior engines.

It

Mail runner

Soundproofed

and heated
passenger cabin

Service,

1919-1938

LOCKHEED ELECTRA

Electra powerplant

Specification
Engines Two 450-hp

Pratt

& Whitney

nine-cylinder engine, the Pratt 6c Whitney

diameter of 45%

vr ;nior atr-cooled radials

Wingspan 55 ft (16 76 m)

in

..

Length 38
Height 10

7 in (11.73

ft

ft

in

(3

.1

450 hp

Junior had

lb (271 kg).

.i

With

rpm. and driving Hamilton-

two-bladed metal propellers,

1

90 mph

(.^05. 77

it

gave

l2.74-m)

dtameter
propeller

km/h).

lb
'i.S-KjII,,,!

Top speed ?0b mph i331 km/hi

Service ceiling 2 1 ,650

at 2,?()()

the llectra a top speed at sea level ot

It.Sliter) oil tank

ft

Wasp

m) and weighed 596

m)

1,-123 kg

Rate of climb 1,140

1.16

St.ind.ird controllahle-pitch,

07 m;

Loaded weight 9.750

t.ikcotf rating of

fitted

(347 m)
ft

Spinner

Steel-luhf

(6,600 m)

over huh

engine hearer

Passengers 10

Crew

firewall bulkhead

between engine

and

Alloy advantage

free

and cantilever wings, making

from the drag-inducing

Mounting
for spinner

Built entirely of a light alloy, the Electra

fuselage

nacelle

struts

it

had

moncKoquc

light yet strong,

and

and bracing wires of many

Light alloy
outer wing
panels

of the earlier-generation airliners.

service,

As

aircraft like this entered

speed became more important than previously

airlines' fight for

in

bolted on

the

customers.

Compartment
for baggage

THE GOLDEN ERA

m-ms The Record Breakers

Canopy demisted by hot

The making and breaking

only helps to

sell

of world records not

airplanes, but also

promotes

air

from muffs around

ine exhaust

national self-esteem. In their efforts to put their

companies and nations to the fore in the interwar years,

designers worldwide battled to create machines that would
fly faster, higher, and farther than before, and in so doing
they pushed the technology ever onward. Presented here
are

some of

the record setters of those golden years.

Air pressure on plate

Landing

light

changes pitch of French

in

nose

Ratier propellers

High flyer
Wearing a primitive pressure
Lieutenant M.J.

Adam

set a

suit, Flight

world altitude

ft (16,440 m) in this Bristol Type 138A

monoplane on June 30, 1937. Its 500-hp engine had a double
supercharger system to help it maintain power at high altitude.

record of 53,937

Three large fuel

tanks in fuselage,

ahead of cockpit
Cockpit seats pilot and
navigator in tandem

SEAPLANE

The Macchi MC.72 was

Speeding around the world

Designed and
the 1934
Australia

designed for the

but engine problems and a eras

forced Italy to withdraw.

on

Comet was powered by two 230-hp

engines. Three Comets flew in the race,
and the one shown above, G-ACSS

its

pilot.

in

76

speed record
for seaplanes of

prize,

from Mildenhall to Melbourne

70 hours 54 minutes 18 seconds.

Warrant Officer

Agello, set a world

Grosvenor House, painted bright red

and flown by C.W.A. Scott and Tom

flying

Work

the racer continued,

however, and on October 23,

1934,

Radiator surfaces on
floats, wings,

and

fuselage

440.7

mph

931i

Schneider Trophy conte

built specifically for

MacRobertson England-torace, the de Havilland D.H.88

Campbell Black, won the speed

(709.2 km/h),

hich remains unbeaten today.

1919-1938 THE

RECORD BREAKERS

From England to Africa

In

February 1933, Squadron Leader O.R. (Jayford -

with Flight

iiutin.int (J.F. Nicholctts as navigator

and

ci|uippcd with an automatic pilot - set out to beat the

world nonstop distance record

long-range Monoplane. They

in

a custom-built Fairey

Hew from Cranwcll,

Fngland, to W'alvis Bay, South Africa, covering

more than 5,410 miles

(S,~l()

25 minutes, breaking the

km)

in 5"'

hours

rect)rd with a Cireat Circle

distance ot 5,309.2 miles (S,544.4 km).

Wing hji u linden sfKirs icilh

pyramid intvnul hracmg

Steel

Wooden uings
planked with spruce
laminations
.

Nonretractahle
tailu'heel

Going the distance

In

November 1938, two RAF Royal

i

.Air

Force) Vickcrs Wellcsley bombers, piloted

by Squadron Leader Kellett and Flight

Lieutenant Ccmbe, completed
flight

of 7,158 miles

(1

nonstop

1,524 km). .Achieved

by flying from Ismailia, F^gypt, to Darwin,

Australia, rhis world distance record

was

not broken until 1946.

hiiel

lank in

forward fuselage

Cockpit faired

inti

base of fin

FLYING ENGINE

Given
of

its

rotund fuselage tu match the diameter

massive Pratt &: >X'hitncy air-cooled

engine, the bi/arre .American

i.idial

dee Bee

Super Sportster racer was really an engme

with wings and was not easy to
built.

Senior, claimed the

record
hixed. spatted undercarriage also
carries

underwing bracing cables

fly.

Two were

One, powered by an 800-hp Wasp

<)n

nHilittlc

world landplane speed

September

3,

reached 296.3

1932,

mph

when Jimmy

(4"^3.8

km/h)

over a l*'-milc (3-kml course.

77

'^93fM^

War

Back to
WITH

rm OUTBRIAK

o\

World War

dcxclopnicnr di\cri;cd again.

siir\

i\cd in fronr-linc units, hut they

II,

rhc airplane's

InirialK' a

few biplanes

soon disappeared and

the developments of late- 1930s civil aviation were adapted

for

military

use.

Offensive and defensive weapons had

changed surprisingly

now came

heavily

little

during the interwar period, but

armed

fighters

and the widespread

adoption of cannons. High-speed bombers needed

power-operated turrets for

their

bomb

capacities grew.

their defensive

As

in the

efficient

weaponry, and

previous war, flying

Popular appeal

boats proved valuable for patrol and antisubmarine work.

Avro Lancaster

bombers
oii

on

setting

Rotund Republic

Ground

a mission

encourage the British

populace to "invest

the

attack, control of the air over the battlefield,

movement

Most

of troops by air

significant,

became important

II

poster.

and

P-4"'

Thunderbolt

fighters of the United

roles.

however, was the introduction of the

for victor)" in this

World War

Battling barrel

first

States

Army

opponents

jet-propelled fighters

and bombers.

for Axis

aerial forces.

Air

Force proved hardy

BACK TO WAR

New Warplanes

intm The
The mid-to-late 1930s

witnessed significant advances in~

warplane design. Biplanes gave way to fast, streamlined
monoplanes incorporating the latest structural and
technological developments, such as retractable
undercarriages, variable-pitch propellers, deicing
systems, gun turrets, and reflector gunsights. These

changes were inevitable; aircraft performance had

increased to the point where open cockpits were

becoming impracticable and the slipstream made

impossible for gunners to aim with any accuracy.

it

Looking to the future

Well-glazed cockpit provides

Twin
,

First

good all-around ricu\

fins jiid

flown

in

1932, Boeing's 522-hp P-26

was

single-seat fighter

rudders in

to come.

propellers' slipstream

this

a harbinger of things

Equipped with two machine guns,

monoplane had

skin fuselage

monocoque

and an unbraced

Two-year

stressed-

tail.

lifespan

Hailed as a great advance over

biplane forebears

when

it

its

entered

service in 1937, the Fairey Battle light

bomber proved to be seriously

underpowered and underarmed, and
was obsolescent by 1939.

Second time around

First

flown

in

in front-line service until

1934, the Dornier

Do

17

medium bomber

suffered

Do 17Z

version

protracted development problems, and the 1938

{above) had a

and

new forward

a top speed of

fuselage, better defensive

1940, and

No

its

hub

armament,

255 mph (410 km/h). A prototype proved

uncatchable by fighters at the International Military Aircraft

Competition

at

Zurich

in

1937.

Adjustable cooling louvers

in front

of cowling
^

Open

cockpit with

ivindshield replaced

canopy of earlier models

The

first

single-seat

fighter with retractable

undercarriage, the Soviet Union's

PolikarpovI-16

(left)

of 1933

a wooden
monocoque fuselage. Armed with
two wing-mounted 7.62-mm

had

a metal

wing and

machine guns, the 1-16 fought

in the

80

Spanish Civil War.

Pitot pressure

remained

crews suffered heavily.

spinner over

propellev

It

September

head for

recording airspeed

1939-1V4S

rut;

Freccia (meaning "arrow")

G.50

was

Slitn rear

Sljrruw, Jeep futeUge with

bomb bay beluw

top speed of 294

A ~4 RC

mph

?8 radial engine,

(473 km/h).

February 1937 and saw scr\ice

It first

in the

cuikpit

miJ-up(ter-f;iinncr's

had

it

Powered
a

flew in

Spanish Civil War.

The Handley Page H.P.52 Hampden (ahove),

hjik to

Two-blade

down

fixed-pitch

Closely cuu'leJ engine

Cockpit

faired to propeller spinner

allow pilot to see

set well

behind wing

trailing

wooden

edge

propeller
originally
fitted

Armed to
First

flown

in

a four-

crew medium bomber, lacked the power-operated gun

turrets of

its

Whitley and Wellington contemporaries,

but had superior speed and maneuverability.

Its

armament proved totally inadequate in

war, and it was grounded pending improvements.

defensive

the teeth

in

1938, the Dewoitinc D.520 could attain 332

mph

(534 km/h)

Radiator,

beneath

and featured a monocoque fuselage and monospar wing. Armed with one
engine-mounted 20-mm HS 404 cannon and four 7.5-mm M39 machine
guns

and

pmitinn

Italy's first all-

metal, retractahle-imdercarnage, single-seat fighter.

by an 8~0-hp Kiat

\XARriANtS

fuielajif hi Htm
,

Fiat's

Ni:\X

the wings,

it

joined France's

Armee de

cockpit

I'Air in 1940.

Fantastic fighter
The Hawker Hurricane entered

Long glazed canopy

,

enclosing crew positions

Horn-balanced
rudder

Force) service in
its first

In

prototype [above]

World War

RAF

(Royal Air

December 1937, two years

II it

made

its

maiden

after

flight.

destroyed more enemy aircraft

than any other Allied

fighter.

BACK TO WAR

The Supermarine Line

1939-iws
In 1913

:^[g^

Noel Pemberton

Billing founded an

almost eponymous company to build "boats

In total, there

that fly rather than airplanes that float,"

be equipped with a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine instead of

a

with the telegraphic address "Supermarine."

Three years later the company name was changed to

the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd., and in 1917
a young draftsman named Reginald Mitchell joined
the staff. Between the wars Supermarine produced a
variety of elegant marine aircraft, Schneider

Trophy

Griffon-engined Spitfire

racers,

and the

were 24 versions of

Spitfire.

The

Mk XII, and a five-bladed propeller was

Mk XIV onward. With the postwar F.Mk 22

(below) Supermarine introduced a cut-down rear fuselage

and

bubble canopy. Some had six-blade propellers.

Teardrop canopy
allows all-around view

followed by the Attacker, Swift, and

Scimitar

jet fighters after

World War

II.

Swift by name.
Represented here by the

Supermarine Swift was the

to enter

RAF

it

preproduction version, the

first British

swept-wing

(Royal Air Force) service, which

Powered by
engine,

first

it

jet fighter

did in 1954.

a 7,500-lb (3,400-kg) thrust Rolls-Royce

Avon

served in only small numbers owing to technical and

aerodynamic problems, despite the

raised the

F.4 prototype

having

world absolute airspeed record to 735.7

mph

(1,184.4 km/h) over Tripoli Harbor on September 25, 1953.

At the outbreak of World

War

I,

Billing built the

nine days by mating a

with some previously

installing

RB.9 scour

in

new fuselage
made wings, and

an old 50-hp

Gnome

engine.
I

On
first

but

82

August 12, 1914,

it

became the

Pemberton-Billing airplane to
it

failed to

win orders.

fly,

Fully

powered controls elmmate

lateral control

Mach numbers

problems at high

one to

Merlin was the

used from the

first Spitfires,

first

Swept wing with

thin,

high-speed airfoil section

19^9-1V4S IHK SUPERMARINE LINE

Air-sea rescuer

Company highlights

Pemberton-Billing registered as
d limited

company on June

Renamed Supermanne

1916

Works
1918

boat

1928

successful,

Arm

serving with Britain's Fleet Air

first

as

a catapult-launched fleet cooperation

Bntish flying-

the

fighter,

Supermanne
win

the Walrus

The amphibian proved very

N IB Baby

an

aircraft, as well as in

Sold to Vickers (Aviation) Ltd

1931

n,

Royal Australian Air Force requirements.

Aviation

Ltd

Produces

V on June 21,
was designed to meet

tlown as the Seagull

First
I

1914

role with the

racing seaplanes

air-sea rescue

RAF, saving many downed

War

aircrew during World

II.

their third consecutive

Schneider Trophy contest

1936

Spitfire

prototype

1938 Company

is

Reconnaissance machine

flies

taken over by

Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd

Supermanne

1957

line

is

The

last in a line

of elegant biplane

flying boats designed

halted

Stranraer

by Mitchell, the

was designed

for general

reconnaissance, entering service

with the
for the

RAF

Spanning 85

crew of

980-hp
1

in

1937.

It

also served

Royal Canadian Air Force.

ft

six,

Bristol

(26 m) and carrying a

it

was powered by two

Pegasus Xs, giving

^^-mph (22()-km/h)

it

cniisinf; speed.

Schneider Trophy winner

In

September 1927 the

RAF

entered a team in the

Schneider Trophy contest for the

designed the

S..5

first

time. .Mitchell

racing seaplane, with

90()-hp

its

Napier Lion VI 2 engine, as their mount. Both

first

and

second places were taken by S.5s, the winner being

}

Flight lieutenant S.N. Webster, averaging

ive-hLidcd prupclLi

He

(453. .5 km/h).

Griffim-pitircrcd

over 62 miles (100 km) of 283.66

also set a

mph

mph

281.6

new world speed

used on late-mark

record

(45^ km/h).

Spitfires

Pilot proi'ided

with

election seat

Wide-track undercarriage
gives better stability for
carrier landin^i

luiri tail

wheels

Dated by delays
Although

it

made

its

maiden

flight in

July

1947, the Attacker did not enter service

it

becoming dated. F^owever.

was

it

the

fighter to serve in first-line Fleet .Air

squadrons, and the

Ri)\ce

Nene

first

until

was already

August 1951, by which time

first |et

Arm

to use the R(lls

turboief engine.

Sose-mounted
prnbe on

pitol

Large "elephant-ear"/

prototypes onl\

air intakes for engine

located in rear fuselage

83

WAR

.ACK TO

imms SUPERMARINE
One

of the most readily distinguishable

was

ever built, the Spitfire

aircraft

the creation of

designer Reginald Mitchell.

The

first

incarnation

of this famous fighter appeared in 1938, but

was

Mk V

1941 that the

in

entered service for the

The

Mk V's

RAF

was

airframe

MkV

SPITFIRE

(featured here)

it

first

(Royal Air Force).

essentially

an improved

version of that used

for the

Mk

I/II,

one

important modification

Laminated wood
propeller blade

being the strengthening

Clipped wings

of the engine mounting

The

to take the Rolls-Royce

Squadron, RAF, had

Merlin 45, as well as

engine types.

maneuverability at low altitude. This enabled the aircraft to compete

on

Spitfire

Mk V,

represented above by a
its

member

of Poland's

better terms with the Luftwaffe's

new Focke-Wulf Fw 190

later

Spinner
covers

Wingtip faired off where

tip has been removed

propeller's

pitch-change

mechanism

Fabric patches over apertures fori

.SO-in

Engine 1,470-hp Rolls-Royce

Merlin liquid-cooled VI

Wingspan 32
Length 29
Height

ft

12ft 8

ft
1

in

(9.8

in (9.1

in

(3.9

m)

m)

m)

Weight 6,622 lb (3,004 kg)

Top speed 357 mph (575 km/h)
Rate of climb 3,250
per

mm

at

10,000

ft

ft

Service ceiling 36,500

Armament 2
Crew
pilot
1

84

(990 m)

(3,050 m)
ft (1

1,125 m)

cannons, 4 machine guns

315

detachable wingtips removed to improve

Browning machine guns

its

fighter.

19

9-1945

i;

I'

Propeller pitch changing

had three basic pitch

giving
lor

wmdihu-ld

early

settings,

I'

II K

MK

war

years, that of the Spitfire

was compact, and pilot c<jmfort

was not a prime consideration.

optimum performance
and high-speed
The blades were made

ot impregnated

A K N

like most tighter cockpits ot the

cruising,

flight.

Instrument-packed cockpit

Armured gUis

The dc Havilland or Rotol constant-speed

three-bladed propeller used on the Spitfire

The

heart of

its

instrument

panel was the standard

and

blind-flying panel

compressed laminated wood.

containing the six

essential instruments for

recording speed, attitude,

.lititude, vertical

ind turn

Each propeller^
blade IS removable

h.nf(ine

dun

Spinner streamlines nose

i^rip

and

speed,

slip.

instruments on right

trigger button

on

circular

of control column

pilots found the Spitfire Mk V exciting and delightful

was very sensitive on its elevators, and the .Merlin's
carburetor would flood after a brief period of negative "g,"

Although

to

Aerial mast

fly, it

causing the engine to

falter.

The

direct-injection engines of

the opposing Luftwaffe fighters, however, had

no such

problems, allowing
ill(
th
their
pilots to pull away.

'0

Metal numocoquc
rear-fuselage structure

Nonretrac table ,
tailu-heel

BACK TO WAR

Battle of Britain Aircraft

I93MW5

Between July and October 1940 the RAF (Royal Air Force)
denied Germany command of the air over the British Isles,
effectively preventing the invasion of Britain

from France. This

would have been impossible without a

and their effective deployment,
"Chain
Home" radar warning
Britain's
possible
by
made
system. By the end of October, 1,733 Luftwaffe aircraft had
been shot down, compared with the RAF's loss of 915. The
turning point came on September 15, when the Luftwaffe lost
80 to the RAF's 35; the invasion was canceled three days later.

great feat of air defense

steady supply of

good

fighters

Punished aggressor
The Junkers Ju 87 two-seat
sirens to

add terror to

prominent part

in the

its

dive bomber, equipped with

steep diving attacks, phiyed a

Bhtzkrieg war

in

mainland Europe

However, the "Stuka" proved easy prey for the RAF's

Hurricanes and

Spitfires, suffering

heavy

losses.

^^^
Defiant but vulnerable
The Boulton Paul Defiant relied for both attack
and defense on the four .303-in Browning
machine guns
Although

in

the turret behind

effective against

prey for fighters once the

to distinguish

it

its

bombers,

enemy

cockpit.

it

was easy

pilots learned

from the Hurricane.

Small, heavily framed

Horn-balanced

cockpit canopy

rudder

Wing has

single

Luftwaffe ace
Represented here by the
(left),

the Bf 109, in

Daimler-Benz

its

DB

later

Messerschmitt Bf 109G

Bf 109E form with a 1,150-hp

601 A engine and mixed

m:ichine-gun and cannon armament, was a worthy

opponent to the Hurricane and

Gondola

for rearward-firing

machine-gun position

Bombing at a
The Heinkel He

1 1 1

price

medium bomber, powered

DB 601A

by a pair of 1,100-hp Daimler-Benz

liquid-cooled engines, could carry a 4,410-lb

(2,000-kg)

bomb

load at a

247 mph (397 km/h).

Its

maximum

three

7.9-mm

machine guns did not ward off

86

speed of

MG

15

British fighters.

ni-,.'-

spar and stressed

Spitfire in

combat.

sL-tn

I939-I945 BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIRCRAFT

Powerful threat
I'owcrcd by a pair of !.20()-hp Junkers

Jumo

21

liquid-cooled

iiif;iiu-s,

the versatile Junkers Ju SS high-speed level

bomber

carried i,46S lbs

pylons, plus a small additional load internally.

armament comprised
front

three

and rear C(Kkpit

and dive

bombs on underwinj;

l.SOO kgl ni

Its

defensive

".^-mm M(i

15 machine guns

and

ventral gondola.

pt)sitions

in a

\i>nrvtraitahle
tail

wheel

Beautiful but scarce

The Supermarine

Spitfire,

potent with

its

eight

wing-mounted .303-in Browning machine guns,

was available in far smaller numbers than the
Hurricane

Mk

MIv

11

in the Battle.

Nine squadrons had the

by the outbreak of wac, and

..'

'

..111

in

deliveries of the

June 1940.

;ned to serve as both a long range fighter and a defensive

I

ft,

the

MrsMis^hmiti

Bt

10 {jhoir)

was

a disastrous

imer role when confronting nuKlern

1

fighters. Its

maneuverability and weak defensive armament

high losses during the daylight raids over Britain.

Force of destruction
The mainstay of
of Britain, the

by a

Mk

the RAF's
(4S;?

of

Fighter

Command

Hawker Hurricane,
^

first

Squadron

during the Battle

represented here

at Biggin Hill

aircraft with a

top speed greater than .^00

mph

km/h). Similarly armed to the Spitfire, though inferior

and climb,

it

had

Rolls-Royce .Merlin

than 1,715 were flown by Fighter

Battle,

and

four-fifths of the

enemy

^^^

14^9, was

111

of \,{)M) hp.

ommand

pilots

aircraft destroyed

in

speed

No

fewer

during the

fell

to them.

87

BACK TO WAR

^wr-ms

Heavy Bombers

Rearmament

late

in

the

1930s spawned a number of

four-engined long-range heavy bombers that gave the

major powers the ability to undertake mass-formation

strategic raids by day and night. Their targets were
industrial sites, transportation hubs, cities, and military
installations in their opponents' countries and occupied
territories, the aim being to cripple the opposing war
effort by hindering production and mobility, and by
demoralizing the populace.

Some

of the foremost

heavy-bomber designs are featured

here.

Exhaust pipes equipped with

flame dampers to conceal

from night

aircraft

fighters

Fortress forebear
The prototype
(the

for

one of World

by four 750-hp Pratt

&

carried a crew of eight.

first

War

II's

most famous bombers

B-17 Flying Fortress), the Boeing Model 299 was powered

Whitney Hornet
It

cost Boeing

radial engines

and

$432,034 to build and

expensive gamble paid off

when

the B-17

went into production.

Leadmg edge armored

bomb-

for protection against

adier/nose-gunner

barrage-balloon cables

Position of

First

flown

in

1939, the Handley Page Halifax was

the RAF's (Royal Air Force's) second four-engined

bomber. Versions powered by liquid-cooled Rolls-

Royce Merlins and air-cooled

(seen here)

were produced,

Bristol Hercules engines

a total of

6,176 being

The maximum bomb load was 12,000

built.

lb (5,443 kg).

Inner-engine nacelles
also house retracted

undercarriage

Long-legged
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers for the USAAF
(US Army Air Force), US Navy, and Allied air forces than any other single
American

aircraft

- 18,431

in total.

Equipped with a

high-lift

reduced drag, the Liberator had a crew of eight or 10, and

could carry an 8,800-lb (3,992-kg)

88

Bristol Hercules air-

cooled radial engine

Northern might

bomb

wing that
B-24J form

in its

load over 2,100 miles (3,379 km).

it

flew on July 28, 1935, only to crash on October 30. But the

1939-1945 HEAVY BOMBERS

Dam

buster

The famous Avro Lancaster originated

as a four-

cnginc-d version of the failed, twin-engined

Manchester. The most celebrated of the

sorties

Avro

56,000

flown by Lancasters were those against the

Ruhr dams on May 16/17, 1943, by 617 Squadron:

the

"Dam

Busters." Production totaled 7,377.

Sole Soviet heavy

The Tupolcv TB-7/ANT-42,

later redesignated I'e-8

Vladimir Petlyakov, was the

after design-team leader

Soviet Unit)n's only heavy

bomber of World War

11.

It

had four 1,340-hp .\.\1-35A engines and could carry

a

4,409-lb (2,000-kg)

bomb

load over a

maximum

range of 2,236 miles (3,600 km). Only 93 were

built.

German Griffon
The Heinkel He 177 Greif ("Griffon") strategic
bomber was four-engined; each nacelle housed two
Daimlcr-Ben/ liquid-cooled 12-cylinder engines,
coupled to a single propeller. Engine

problems and
ID-nim \K, l>l cinnuti ginihjl-muun

The example

fuel

shortages limited

seen here

is

its

a captured

operational use.

He l"" under

test.

Tu'o .303-in machine

aims

in

nose turret

The Short Stirling was the first

monoplane bomber to

akjgined

rXF
i;

service

and the

itionally. Its

.>>)ut

first

four-

enter

to be used

shoulder-wing

required a complicated stalky

undercarriage with an electrical

vtion

mechanism

lesome
'

:.._ -il

hp

that proved

in service.

Bristol

engines,

it

Powered by

Hercules air-cooled

could carry a

14.000-lb (6.350-kg)

bomb

load

over a range of 590 miles (950 km).

total of

2,208 were

built.

89

BACK TO WAR

tmmB Messerschmitt^ Bf 109E

The

Spitfire's

great adversary during the

Battle of Britain of

High-powered engine

1940, the Bf 109 was designed by Willy Messerschmitt of the

Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. Designed to match the smallest possible

The Bf 109E-3's liquid-cooled Daimler-

airframe with the most

inverted-V engine, hence the low

powerful engine available,

it

first

flew in

mid-September 1935, at which time it was probably the world's

most advanced fighter. Blooded in the Spanish Civil War, it
remained in service in various forms, latterly with foreign air
forces, for nearly 20 years. In total, some
Aperture mspmner
,
35,000 of all marks were built.
through which ZU-nim
'

cannon

fires

Benz

DB 601Aa was

a 12-cylinder

position of the exhaust stubs.

a metal, electrically

with a

20-mm

MG FF cannon

through the hole

It

drove

operated propeller,
firing

in the spinner.

Exhaust
stubs

Aperture for

wing-mounted
un
Slats in

enhance

90

lift

wing leading edge

and delay stalling

1939-1945 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E

Minimum headroom
Three-blade

The Bf 109's narrow, cramped, single-seat cockpit

(left) was enclosed by a heavily framed, sideways-

Blast troughs for twin 7.92-nnir

opening canopy, which incorporated crude sliding

on engine crankcase

MG

metal propeller

17 machine guns mounted

The structure inhibited the pilot's

vision, and was so restrictive that head movement
was limited. Moreover, the hood was difficult
side panels.

to

open from the

inside.

Quick-removal engine
panels for easy field

maintenance

Spinner covers
pitch-change

mechanism

Specification
Engine

1,1

50-hp liquid-cooled

Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa

Wingspan 32

ft

Length 28

ft

Height

ft

11

Weight 5,523

in

in

lb

in

(9.8

(8.6

m)

(3.4

m)

m)

(2,505 kg)

Top speed 354 mph (570 km/h)

Rate of climb
(945 m/min)

3,

00 ft/min

at sea level

Service ceiling 36,000

Armament
Crew

ft (1

,000

Four machine guns, one cannon

91

ACK TO WAR

imbm Boeing B-17G

One of the
War

HLimilton Stcindard Hydrumatic

constant-speed propeller _

greatest medium bombers of World

was used for

massed formations.
Among its best-known operations were those from
England against targets in Germany and occupied
II,

Boeing's B-I7 Flying Fortress

high-altitude daylight raids in

Europe, carried out by the 8th Air Force of the

(US Army Air Force) from 1943. First flown

USAAF
as the

B-299 on July 28, 1935, the B-17 appeared

in several basic variants

with steadily increasing

defensive armament. At the time production ceased

in

1945, a total of 12,726 B-17s had been buih.

Fabric-covered

Sally

rudder

The

Memphis Belle

B., alias

aircraft featured here (and

flight

above) was one of the

to be produced.

shown

last

in

100 B-17s

rolled out of Lockheed's

It

plant in Burbank, California, in June 1945 -

too late to see combat. After being used for

cartographic

work

in

France

the British entrepreneur Ted

Sally B., as
title

Tail-gunner
position

92

26-in (66-cm).

diameter

tail ti'heel

it is

now known,

role of the

it

was bought by

White

in

1975.

starred in the

1990 movie Memphis

Belle.

1939-1945 BOEING B-17G

'Bombs away!'
Outer wing

Navigation
.

The bombardier's

light

position in the nose has a

triangular flat-glass panel for aiming, using

the centrally positioned bombsight.

rack selector switches are on the

bombardier was
and

in

aircraft for the run

Control yokes for ailerons

elevators

absolute

on

The bomb
The

left.

command

of the

to the target.

Bombsight

Good instrument
The

visibility

neatly arranged cockpit has

the pilot's seat

on the

left

and

the copilot's on the right, while

the throttle controls are situated

on

a central pedestal.

The most

important flying instruments

are in the center of the panel,
clearly visible to both pilots,

while the engine instruments

are

grouped on the

right.

Selector switches

Cockpit roof contains

two emergency

exits

Cheek position
for one .50-in
machine gun

Navigator's
sighting

dome

M^

JM.

mMt
Specification

\1

Engines Four 1,200-hp

air-

\
\

Length 74 ft 4
Height 19 ft
1

ft

in

(31.6 m)

in

(22.7 m)

in

(5.8

Service ceiling 35,600

Armament

h>

^^^^| ^^^^^^B^
<a|^^^H
""'^^1
-m^

m)

Weight 55,000 lb (24,948 kg)

lop speed 302 mph (486 km/h)
ft

(10,850 m)

13 M-2 Brownina .50-in

machine quns: normal internal bomb
load 4,000 lb (1,814 kg)

fairing for

loop antenna
55-in (1.4-m)

Crew

J^
"^^^H ^^^^^^Kp*
~

B-22 turbo-supercharqers

WIngspan 103

Streamlined

cooled radials with General

Electric

*^^^^P

-H^^B
^^B

^ w
^
k

JL_j

^" ^^*-f

^^B

10

diameter wheel

93

BACK TO WAR

mm Late-WWII Fighters

During World War

development had
and this, coupled with the entry
of the US into the conflict, meant that a wide variety of
designs were rolling from production lines worldwide.
By the war's end, piston engines were approaching the
limits of their mechanical complexity and performance,
and high-speed flight was presenting new aerodynamic
problems as the speed of sound was approached. Shown
here is a selection of some of the most renowned fighters
from the combatant nations.
proceeded

II

fighter

at great pace,

Manually folded

Known

wingtips (later
its

discarded)

by the Allies as the "Zero" from

Japanese Navy designation Type

Carrier Fighter, the Mitsubishi

Reisen

first

flew on April

1,

A6M

1939, and

served throughout the war.

When

production ended with the

A6M7

1945, 10,500 Reisen had been

in

built.

Formidable opponent
Designed by Kurt Tank, the Foclce-Wulf

maiden

flight

on June

powered by

two 7.9-mm

MG

1939. The

1,

1,700-hp

Fw

190 made

Fw 190A-3

BMW engine.

Aniiidar

cooler

oil

its

around nose
{below)

was

Matt black antion top

of forward fuselage

Armament comprised

glare paint

17 machine guns in front

of the cockpit and four

20-mm

MG FF cannons in the wings.

Tempestuous fighter
The Flawker Tempest V Series 2
{right) was the only version of
this fighter to see

war.

It

Sabre

had

II

combat

in the

2,200-hp Napier

24-cylinder H-type

engine and was armed with

four
II,

20-mm

cannons. The Tempest

which followed the

last single-seat,

into service,

was

the

single-piston-engined fighter

to enter production for the

Royal Air Force.

Radiator

Large clear-view

in

undernose housing

teardrop canopy

Huge production
One
the

of the greatest fighters of the war,

North American P-51 Mustang

first

flew in October 1940. Early models had

a cockpit faired into a high rear fuselage,

but the P-51D

{left)

introduced a bubble

canopy. Capable of speeds up to 437

mph

(703 km/h), more P-51Ds were built than

the total of

94

all

other P-51 variants together.

939-1945 LATE-WWII FIGHTERS

Russian attack
By mid- 944 there were more Yakovlcv Yak-9s on
1

Russia's major

war

fronts than

of the other fighters

all

equipping the Soviet Air Force. Ihe Vak-9l)

had

top speed of 374

mph

(600 km/h)

(3,100 m), and was equipped with a

at

[ri^ht)

10,170

20-mm

tt

engine

mounted ShVAK cannon and one 12.7-mm machiiu

four-blade,

gun.

vanable-pitch
propeller

Yak-9P

in

When

production ended with the postwar

1948, 16,769 ol

all

models had been

Iniilt.

AJfiisUhle engine
Rihlii)

cooling

jiitvnna

gills

The Republic Thunderbolt

entered service

in

1942

first

in its

"razorback" P-47B form. From the

later

P-47Ds onward

fuselage

and

low rear

bubble canopy

were introduced. P-47Ns

[left)

were powered by the 2,800-hp

Pratt

&

Whitney R-2800-77

two-row, 18-cylinder

air-

cooled radial engine and

armed with

eight .50-in

machine guns.

Tail

wheel

retracted

Long nose
with

interferes

pilot's

new

for

approach and landing

Watching from the

Appearing

late in the

skies

war, the Spitfire

PR

.Vlk

XIX

(heloiv)

was

an unarmed reconnaissance version of Supermarine's famous

fighter. Basically a

a universal

camera

Mk XIV

with modified

.Vlk VC."

installation, a top speed of

(740 km/h). and a ceiling of 43,000

ft

wings,

it

had

460 mph

On

(13,100 m).

rctrjititin,

wheel

turns through

90 to he

flat

Navy warbiro
The

distinctive mvertcd-gull

F4U

Corsair naval fighter allowed a short undercarriage

wing of the Chancc-Vought

to be used while permitting adequate

/

ong nose houses

ground clearance

for the largc-diamcter propeller. First flown in .May 1940,

could attain

3''4

mph

(600 km/h) and served with the

Rolls-Royce

it

(iriffon engine

US Navy, US Marine Corps, and

Britain's Fleet Air

Arm.

95

BACK TO WAR

The

im'i94$

First Jets

Single-seat cc>ckl>it

The

^ii^^^;2j-___
first turbojet engines were barely
more powerful than the larger piston engines of
the time, but as manufacturing and operating experience
was improved their power quickly increased. One of the
major challenges was to develop metals that could
withstand the heat and stresses generated within the

engines. Before long, the aerodynamic problems of high-

beyond Mach

"sound barrier,
would also present themselves to scientists and designers.
speed

flight

1,

the so-called

Turbojet pioneer
The

Tail plane clear

,

Machine guns

first

Heinkel

airplane to fly purely

He

178, which had an

on turbojet power was

HeS 3b

in nose.

of jet efflux

providing a thrust of 1,100 lb (499 kg).

on August 24, 1939, followed by a true

Junkers
jet

the

gasoline-burning engine
It

made

its first

flight three

days

hop
later.

Jumo

engine in

underwing nacelle

Bubble canopy over

single-seat cockpit

First

combat

Engine air intake well

forward of wing leading edge

jet

The sharklike Messerschmitt Me 262 was the first turbojet

aircraft to enter combat service, doing so with the Luftwaffe
in

the

autumn of 1944. Powered by

thrust Junkers

Jumo 109

day and night

fighter,

engines,

and also

a pair of 1,980-lb (898-kg)

it

was deployed

as both a

as a bomber.

Jet-powered bomber
The Arado Ar 234B
bomber.

true

jet

also

performed reconnaissance

It

003 turbojets gave

at

32,800

ft

was

Blitz ("lightning")

the world's

it

duties.

maximum

Although

speed of 460

(10,000 m), they had a

life

its

mph

two

BMW

(740 km/h)

of only 25 hours

because certain components were prone to cracking.

96

America's first jet

first

entered Luftwaffe service in July 1944 and

The

first

flight

US

jet aircraft,

on October

1,

the Bell P-59 Airacomet,

made

thrust General Electric I-As. Although

it

was

its

maiden

originally intended to

combat performance proved inferior

piston-engined contemporaries and it served mainly
be a fighter,

its

1942, powered by two 1,300-lb (590-kg)

to that of
as a trainer.

1939-1945 THE FIRST JETS

Two machine guns
tm

either side of

nme

Soviet success

An

agile,

the

Korean War (1950-53), the Mikoyan and

rough fighter used to great

effect

during

Guryevich MiG-15
It

first flew in December 1947.

was powered by one Rolls-Royce Ncnc engine,

developed
/

Engine

the mid- 1940s.

in Britain in

nng cockpit canopy for two-seat

trainer version

air

intake

British jet fighter

The Gloster Meteor was

the

squadron service with the

the only Allied

jet

up

to

\'l

fighter to enter

(Royal Air Force) and

to see action in

used principally against

attain speeds of

first jet

RAF

flying

World War

II.

It

was

bombs and could

415 mph (668 km/h).

Too

Rear fuselage easily

removable for fast

LATE FOR SERVICE

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star {left) was the first jet aircraft
accepted by the US Army Air Force for operational service. The
prototype made its maiden flight on January 8, 1944, and
the first service trials aircraft was delivered that

engine replacement

October. Production P-80s, with General Electric

J33 engines, came too

War

11,

late to serve in VC'orld

but saw action

Twin booms carry

tail

in the

Korean War.

surfaces

Ghost-powered Venom
The dc Havilland D.H.I 12

Venom

single-seat high-

performance

powered

fighter- bomber,

b\ a de Havilland

Ghost turbo|et,
in

1949.

were

first

Among

appeared

later versions

a two-scat nightfighter

and the Sea Venom

Fleet Air

for Britain's

Arm. This ex-Swiss

Air Force machine has a

modified nose.

When North American

ill

December 1950,

General

Icctnc

F-86 Sabres engaged MiCi-15s over Korea

the Sabres

came out

best.

The

early Sabres

J47 engines giving 5,2()0-lb (2,360-kg)

had

thrust.

97

EMPIRE

Al

WAYS

i'?f,fl

The Jet Age Dawns

THE

WIDESPREAD CONSTRUCTION of

World War

II

had rendered the

a passenger transport, and

iandplanes

engined

with

its

during

airfields

flying boat obsolete as

place

was taken by

pressurized

passenger cabins.

Soon, however, even these began to give way to the

the turboprop

and pure-jet

airliners that

world's major commercial airlines.

used
Star turn
Airline posters have

always been evocative

ot the eras in v%hich

in fighters

first

would equip

jet

of

the

engine was also

and bombers, but military transports were

piston-engined for
into high-speed

of swept

The

four-

some

time.

German wartime

research
Navy

aerodynamics heralded the introduction

wings and podded engines, and the era of

for the

Austrahan

airhne Qantas dates

from the 1950s, and

supersonics

was born.

In the

same period,

the helicopter

Vampire and Venom

)et

fighters

and

was prevalent

became

included

practical

the

aircraft;

supersonic

other significant creations

transport,

high-capacity

wide-

1950s.
is

a Sea

trainers
in the

Shown below
Vampire

in

British Fleet .Air

sh()\\s a l.(K:kheed

Constellation.

The de Havilland
family of twin-boom

they \\ere designed.

This advertisement

jet

bodied

airliners,

and the vertical-takeoff airplane.

Arm

colors.

99

DAWNS

rm- lET AGE

1946-1969

PiSTON-EnGINED AIRLINERS

With the end of World War

II, commercial
once again came to the fore. While
Britain's manufacturers concentrated on

airliners

converting wartime bombers to meet the

demand, the US already had aircraft that were

designed as commercial transports but had

pMMii|P|y|^jy^.

been hurriedly adapted for military use during

the war. It was not long, however, before new,
custom-designed airliners such as those
featured here were joining the airline

Lancaster conversion

fleets.

Essentially an Avrci Lancaster

bomber with

nose and

by streamlined

was

tail

turrets replaced

a lot faster than

comfort.

It

its

mid-upper turret removed and

its

fairings, the

Avro 691 Lancastrian

1930s forebears, but lacked the

served with Qantas, Skyways, and British

South American Airways Corporation

among

others.

Tail

IS

provided

with triple fins

and rudders

All-mctcil, stressed
skill fiisehige

From the ashes of the Wellington

Fill

The

first

airline

postwar

British transport airplane to

units and, at

first,

Double bubble

fuselage seating 21 passengers.

A commercial development

the fabric-covered

new

It first

down

hangar accommodation

Wellington bomber components, such as the engine nacelle

and undercarriage

folds

military transport, the

stressed-skin metal

bubble "-section fuselage

Circular

windows

377

of Boeing's C-97
Stratocruiser

was

powered by four massive, complicated 3,500-hp

flew in June 1945.

radial engines,
Pressurized "double-

sideways for easier

undertake

work, Vickers' V.C.I Viking combined many

geodetic outer-wing panels, with a

its

and

first

flew in 1947.

Its

"double-bubble" fuselage accommodated

resist

pressurization stresses
^

passengers on

two

levels

staircase to a lounge

and included

a spiral

on the lower deck.

Upswept fuselage
improves ground
clearance at takeoff

123-ft.

(37.5-m)
tvingspan
Unprcssiirized two-

deck fuselage
Pratt

&

Whitney Double

Wasp four-row

radial engine

Bound for North Africa

With

its

double-deck accommodation, the Breguet

763 Deux-Ponts
1949.

14R

It

airliner first flew as the

was powered by four 1,580-hp

761

engines, but these were replaced by Pratt

Whitneys

in the

in

SNECMA

&

production models. Air France

Small

named

entral fin

had 12 of the improved 763s, which

it

Provence and used mainly on North Africa routes.

100

1446-1969 PISTON-ENGINED AIRLINERS

Most elegant
I

airliner

he Airspeed Ambassador, with

ind triple
iirliner

tins,

was

elegance. Conceived as a

replacement,
a cruising

it

its

hi^h wing

the epitume ot piston

entered service

speed of up to 260

in

DC-3/Dakota
1952 and had

mph

(418 km/h).

Vndercjrriage
retracts into rear

uf

Competition for Douglas

eiij(ine nacelles

fiOSSIu.u

American manufacturer Consolidated-Vuitee

Aircraft (Convair) produced a scries of piston twins

intended to replace the ubiquitous Douglas DC!-?.

nli>Liiie
I

ft

(1^

The Model 240,

spans

m)

first

flown

in

March

1947, was followed by the Model >40

irifihl),

which made

its

maiden

and entered

(^ctt)ber 1951

flight

service a vear later.

One
tin-

of tlu greatest postwar piston-cngined airliners

d Constellation {abofe)

cimI ni;isii.ied
bci;iM

Z.SOO-hp Wright

C-69

commercial

first

flew as the

military transport in 1943.

life

as the 51 -passenger

049

It

194S, aiul the ultimate development was the 99-

Cyclone R-i3U)
radial engine

srat

Model Ih49 Starlmer of 1^56. This South

Atrican Airwavs .Model ^49 dates from I95t'

Flying the seven seas

Developed from the C-54 Skymaster military transport
via the

D(

-4

Seven Seas with

and D(

its

-6 families, the

cxpressum of piston-engmed passenger

in

Douglas D(

transatlantic capability

was

-"(

the ultimate

aircraft. First flow n

1955, the D(;-7C could normally carry between 60 and

105 passengers
eclipsed by the

in a fully

first jet

pressurized cabin.

It

was

later

transports, including the DCi-S, but

continued flying as a cargo plane throughout the 1960s.

101

THE JET AGE DAWNS

1946-1969
The advent of jet
pure

jet

&

Jets

Turboprops

airliners, employing either

engines or propeller turbines, quickly

relegated the postwar piston-engined machines

Those airliners with propeller

known as turboprops - were noted
turbines
for their comfort, smooth running, and lack of
vibration. However, in the public's eyes their
"old-fashioned" propellers seemed to relate
to second rank.

more

to the piston-engined era than the jet era.

Although more economical on shorter routes,

turboprops eventually gave way to the pure jets.

Trouble-free transportation
The world's first turboprop transport airplane, the Vickers Viscount,
flew on July 16, 1948, proving almost trouble-free from the outset.
Powered by four Rolls-Royce Dart propeller
produced

until

turbines, the Viscount

1964 and was used by more than 60

first

was

different airlines.

Stretched fuselage

accommodated

Flightdeck well

forward

in

nose

additional passengers

The revolution starts here

The de Havilland Comet was
prototype

BOAC
jet

made

(British

its

maiden

Engines buried

the world's

first jet airliner.

1949, and

flight in July

in

The

in

wing rqots

1952

Overseas Airways Corporation) began the

first

passenger service. But in-flight structural failures cost the

Comet

its

early preeminence,

the improved

4C

and despite the introduction of

{above), sales never recovered.

Soviet giant
Until the appearance of Boeing's 747, the Tupolev

Tu-1 14 was the world's largest

flight in

1957 and entering

airliner,

four 14,795-hp turboprops gave

speed of 478

mph

making

airline service in
it

maximum

(770 km/h) at 29,500

ft

its first

1961.

Its

cruising

(9,000

Born-again bomber

Shown above
Eight-hladed counterrotatmg propeller

in

prototype

form, Tupolev's Tu-1 04 used

the wings, undercarriage,

tail

unit, engine installation,

and

nose of a Tu-1 6 bomber,

while the fuselage was new.
It

began operations for the

Soviet airline Aeroflot in

September 1956, when, due

to the

early

only

102

jet

problems with the

Comets,

it

was

the

transport in service.

1946-1969 JETS

TURBOPROPS

&C

Dual-usage design
Bfninnlng

Model

the

its lite .is

demonstrate the dcsinn's

^67-S(),

which was

built to

both commercial

suitability for

operation and as a military tanker, the Boeing 707 ushered

the age of widespread

jet

transport.

The

first

in

production

version of the airplane, a 707-121, flew on

December

20, 1957, and between August l^SS

and April 1982

916

a total of

707s (including

civil

airlines ar)und the world.

were delivered to

variants)

all

Wing has 3S degrees

of sweepback

Crew

uf three to fire

on ftightdeck

podJal engines
the wing "clean'

UnJerstiing
leave

Large flaps reduce

,

speed for landing

Dihedral angle on

unsuept tailplane

AlRWfS

Fine-lined flyer

The Douglas DCNS,

the second .American commercial

transport, resembled Boeing's

and somewhat
Tail

bumper/

fuselage vent

May

on

707 but had

finer lines. Despite

30, 1958, the

first

making

less
its

maiden

of the stretched Series

aircraft did not fly until 1966.

jet

wing sweep
flight

60

The last of the line was

SAS in 1972, bringing

sent to the Scandinavian carrier

total

number

of

all

variants produced

up

the

to 556.

t-xternal fuel tanks give

increased capacity

High-set tailplane with bullet

fairing at /unction with fin

Completely "clean"
wing - free of engines

Elegant aircraft
By mounting four Rolls-Royce engines
in pairs

on

the rear of the fuselage,

Vickcrs Armstrongs gave

its

VCMO

very "clean" wing, and greatly reduced

the cabin noise. First flown in June 1962, the VC^IO entered

BOAC; two years later. It was followed by the

more powerful Super V(!10 with its longer fuselage.

service with

Rear-mounted engines well

CAtravelle uses

same nose

as de Havilland

section

of fuel tanks, reducing

four Rolls Ri>\ce

clear

Conway

engines in pods

fire risk

'.omet

Successful jet
After

first

flying in

Claravelle

Vang

May 1955, Sud-Aviation's SI .210

won orders from Air France, SAS, and

of Brazil. Early versions of this

medium-

range twin-jet airliner had Rolls-Royce Avon engines.

When
built,

pr<Kluction ended in

making

it

!'*''2,

282

aravelles

had k-en

the most successful letliiur develoixd by a

single western hurpean country

up

t>

that time.

103

THE JET AGE DAWNS

/946-/969

&

Jet Fighters

During the 1950s and 1960s a whole

gamut of classic military jet aircraft filled the
skies, and the world became familiar with
such famous names as Hunter, Phantom, Canberra,
Vulcan, and Super Sabre, to mention but a few. With

Bombers

the

Cold War still very much at the fore, manufacturers both

in the West and in the Eastern Bloc vied to keep pace with
developments in aircraft, weapons, and technology in order
to maintain a "balance of power." Under this degree of pressure,
aircraft were constantly being developed and improved.

Soviet success

One
the

9,000 of various models were

First supersonic fighter

The

first

between 1958 and 1980;

operational fighter in the world capable of level

US

made

its

maiden

Air Force service in

flight

on

May

November

The

Pratt

fighter.

built in the

was

Over

USSR

also built under

was

and

India.

LVitemia

25, 1953, and entered

of that year.

it

license in China, Czechoslovakia,

Communicdtiom

supersonic performance, the North American F-lOO Super

Sabre

of the USSR's most successful warplanes

Mikoyan and Guryevich MiG-21

&

Whitney J-57 turbojet engine gave the F-IOOD a top speed of

892 mph (1,436 km/h) at 35,000 ft (10,670 m).

First

Wings swept
back 40

flown on July 21, 1951, the

Hawker Hunter was powered by

a Rolls-Royce

Avon

armed with four 30-mm Aden cannons

turbojet and

in

an ingenious undernose pack. The Hunter served with

many of the world's air forces, and 1,972 were
built before

sOi'j/

iiir

production ended in 1959.

-^gt'

intake in nose

Antenna at base of
fin leading

edge

France's nuclear bomber,

the Dassault Mirage IVA,

was

first

flown

1961. To allow
short runways

when

dispersed in an emergency,

equipped with a rocket-assisted takeoff system.

Auxiliary/
fuel tanks

104

Atar

9K

with

maximum

it

October

in
it

to use

was

Two SNECMA

turbojets, each giving 15,432-lb (7,000-kg) thrust

speed at sea

afterburner, gave the

level of

1,454

mph

bomber

maximum
Mach 2.2.

(2,340 km/h), or

1946-1969 JET FKIHTERS & BOMBERS

Arrival of the V-bombers
The

first l.irgc

honilHr to have

a delta

wing, the Avro Vulcan,

along with the \'ickers Valiant and Handley Page Victor, made

up the RAF's (Royal Air

prototype Vulcan
entered service

first

in

Force's)

group of "V-bombers." The

flew on September 3, 1953, and the type

1956. The example

which was powered by four

shown here is a B.Mk 2,

Olympus turbo|ets

Bristol Siddeley

of 17,000-lb (7,71 1-kg) or 20,()0()-lb (9,()^2-kg) thrust each.

Dell J icing Wiis giicn

lejiiing-eJgc

sweep

compnunj

in Liter versions

Radofne also houses electronic

countcrnieasiires equipment

Double-delUi wing

Supersonic Swede
Engine

With

its

unusual double-delta wing,

Sweden's supersonic
fighter [rii^ht)

air intakes at

front of wing

35 l^raken

from Saab entered

service in I960,

Fighter of repute

and was also

First

used by Finland, Austria, and

Denmark. The

definitive

35K had

October 1947,

in

model, the

swept-wing

first
J

flown

North American's F-S6 Sabre was the

jet

fighter to

go

into

a 12,"l()-lb (5,~65-kg)

thrust R.\l 6C' engine

production and serve with the USAF.

and could
It

made

name

for itself in the

Korean

carrv four Falcon air-to-air missiles.

War, and a range of variants served

hlighl refueling

Navigator

Pilot in front cockpit

with

many

nose probe
this

rear cttckpit

The F-S6K

air forces.

(like

Royal Netherlands Air Force

example) was evolved from the F-860

for

Leading-edge

slats

improve

low-sfieed handling

NATO

forces,

and had

both cannons and missiles.

of intake
improves airflow to engine

Splitter plate in front

Vietnam veteran
The most

significant

Western fighter ot

1960s, the .McDonnell Douglas F-4

first

flew on

not only the

May

the

27, 1958, and equipped

US Navy and USAF,

other air arms.

It

but

many

played a prominent part

Vietnam War, proving equally

whether

Phantom

sea- or land-based.

Shown

effec

here

is ai

F-4F of the US.AF's Tactical Air Conimanii

Engine nacelle

Simple wing has

single

Britain's first jet

Bombardier's
position in nose

main spar

bomber, the Canlx-rra from English

Electric, served

with the R.\F from 1951. Powered bv Rolls-R)yce Avt>ns.

proved effective for high-altitude reconnaissance. This

was used

as a test be-d

f<r

the Napier

it

also

anbcrra B.2/6

Double Scorpion rtKkct motor.

105

THE JET AGE DAWNS

mUSM Lockheed SR-71A

One of the most amazing

aircraft of the twentieth century,

the SR-71 "Blackbird" originated in

1957

in a

request by

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that studies be made

of the altitude, speed, and radar cross-section of an aircraft
to replace the Lockheed U-2 spyplane. Two years later,

US

the

Lockheed's famous "Skunk Works," where many advanced

secret projects were hatched, submitted its A-12 design. The
fastest air-breathing crewed aircraft, it was designed to fly
at

Mach

3, three

times faster than

twice their altitude.

The SR-71

modern

fighters,

and

at

first

flew on April 24, 1962.

Nacelle housing Pratt &.

Whitney JTllD-ZOB (}58)

turbo-ramjet engine

Engine

air intake

Early Blackbird
Seen above
its

is

Lockheed A-12, prototype of the SR-71.

successor, the

YF-12A,

including 2,070.101

mph

last flight

of an A-12A'F-12 took place in

Mission equipment bay

in

nose, tvith aperture for

panoramic camera underneath

106

May

1965

and speed,

(3,331 km/h) over a 9/15-mile (15/25-km)

course, and an absolute sustained altitude of 80,258

The

In

set records for sustained height

ft

(24,463 m).

November 1979.

Integral fuel tanks in fuselage,

Rear cockpit for

reconnaissance

systems officer

aft of rear cockpit

almost to tail; total capacity

from

10,158 gallons (46,180

liters)

Fuselage chine houses interchangeable

reconnaissance equipment packs

1946-1969

LOCKHEED SR-71A

After A- 12s were used for reconnaissance, Lockheed built

aircraft

YF-12A missile-armed interceptors for the

Then followed the SR-~1A rcconnaissancc/strike
(shown here), first flown m December 19f>4. In 1976

SR-71s

set

three experimental

US

Air Force.

2,193.17

absolute records for speed

mph

horizontal flight of 85,069

A
The SR-71 A was
with a

much

a straight line of

(3,529.56 km/h) and sustained height

ft

RETURN TO DUTY

larger than

its

predecessors

Twin all-moving

greater fuel capacity and bays

until

in

fins,

hydrauliCiilly activated

housing sensors and radar. Production

ended

in

(25,929 m).

1968, and SR-'') As served

1990. Five years later tw<

returned to active dutv.

Engine exhaust mizzle

Six bypass pipes feed

Wingtip and outer half of I

nacelle hinge

up

to allow

access to engines

air

through

afterburner to enhance

supersonic thrust

"Btg

mI" modification,

unique to the machine shown.

increases

and enhances sensor

and capability

capacity

THE JET AGE DAWNS

The Boeing Line

1946-1969

On July

15, 1916, William Boeing

up Pacific Aero Products, and
the following year he changed its name to the Boeing
Airplane Company. Now with more than 80 years of
continuous operation behind it, Boeing is the longestrunning aircraft manufacturer in the US, and its
products have included an exceptional number of

^F^A/i:

set

outstanding designs for use in

all

manner of

roles.

The
Segmented

first

William

high-lift

along wing
leading edge

slats

E.

Boeing
Boeing and naval officer Conrad Westervelt

collaborated

in the

design of the company's

product, a twin-float seaplane built

Lake Union,

made

New

that country's

first

first

boathouse on

Washington. The two

Seattle,

were bought by the

in a

B&Ws

built

Zealand government and

experimental airmail

flights.

Lightweight liner
Boeing's latest product, the

long-range 777 airliner

flew

in

June 1994.

A?'
i5')^^v
\'

first

v^6(

built

It is

with lightweight materials such

as

aluminum

fibers,

and

equipped with a

alloys,

glass fiber,

and

*>>^

is

digital fly-by-wire

flight control

Tail

!'

>

f*i

carbon

system

of fuselage houses

auxiliary

power

unit

Six-wheel groups, rear

Pratt

Hornet

&

Whitney

pair of wheels steerable

Double-slotted flaps
inboard of engines

radial engine

Commercial comfort
Designed to meet a United Air Lines
requirement, the

Model 247 commercial

transport (beloiv),
Pratt

first

flown

in

1933, had two

& Whitney Wasp air-cooled radial engines

and carried 10 passengers

in

considerable

comfort for the time. Stewardess service and

a tiny galley

and washroom were included.

First

flown

Monomail

in

1930, the all-metal

[above]

made

very early use of a

semi-retractable undercarriage.

two

built

Air Transport, the second, the

All-metal

moiiocoque

fusel,

The only

were used successfully by Boeing

Model 221,

having a cabin for six passengers. Both

were

later

converted to eight-seaters.

1946-1969 THE BOEING LINE

An ARMED

FORCE

Company highlights

Narrow, long-span
I

1916 Two B&W seaplanes built

Aero Products Co registered

Company

2*^'

mlkIc

.iiui

.i

1942. With

its first flight in

10- or

Vj;un defensive

its

three pressurized crew

armament

in

controlled power-operated turrets and a directly controlled

U'lngi for htgh

four remotely
tail turret,

it

lift

at allituJe

was

re-registered as

Boeing Airplane

1933

Boeing B

compartments

Pacific

1917

hi-

Boeing Aircraft

Co

Co formed

as

subsidiary

1947

1960

The two companies merge

Boeing buys Vertol helicopter

company
1961

Name changes to The Boeing

Company due to diversification
of output

1986

Boeing buys North American

Aviation

1997

Boeing buys McDonnell Douglas

\

paisenfiers.

variant

and

depctuimg on

Each Ijnn-hp Wright

Doiihle Cyclone engine has
two superchargers

Rear gun

positinii

pnnuics

good defense

laximt

against

attack from hehind

Sleek bomber
Designed to carry thermonuclear hombs, the

B-47 was revolutionary when

in

1947,

in part

due to

wing and

six

its

ir

first

appeared

35-dcgrcc swept

underslung

jet

engines.

The slow-accelerating turbojcts were

augmented by IS rocket-assisted takeoff units,
while its only defense was a pair of

20-mm cannons

in a

tail turret.

H^^^
WJ^^jL^/

^^^^54

hco dene
eneral
Uectric I'i?5 engines

Whitney, or Rolls-

Royce tiirhofan engines

can he used

Pilot

Single-slotted flaps

and

copiloi/tail-gunncr

seated in tandem

along trailing edge,

(luthoard of engines

Nat igator/hombardier 's

A
Designed as a short-to-medium-range

and turboprop-powered

jet

types, the

Boeing's usual styling by having

around the rear

CHANGE

fuselage.

its

Its

IN

High

to replace piston-

ile.ir

three engines clustered

auxiliary

power

"S"duct leading
Sealing for up
passengers

it

independent of ground power vehicles.

of let efflux

Air intake with

unit for

made

set

tailplanc well

727 departed from

stationary use and integral boarding stairs

virtually

position in nose

DESIGN

to central engine
/.

/ ''

10^

THE JET AGE DAWNS

^^^ Boeing B-52G

When

Boeing conceived the B-52 Stratofortress conventional

and nuclear strategic bomber late in 1948, it was expected that
it would serve until the late 1950s. Yet it is still going strong
and, in

its

latest

B-52H

version, will equip frontline

the tandem-cockpit YB-52, took to the

followed two years later by the B-52A with

with

US

Strategic Air

The

first

Fixed external
fuel tank, capacity

Air Force

700 gallons

The first of the breed,

air on April 15, 1952,

units well into the twenty-first century.

airline-style flightdeck.

US

its

(2,6S0

liters)

now-familiar

Stratofortress to enter service

Command was

the

B-52B

in

1955. Since

then the successful design has undergone constant updating

of equipment and extensive structural modification.

Specification
Engines Eight

Pratt

(6,237-kg) thrust with water injection

Wingspan 185
Length 160

ft

ft

m)

ft

^^^

^^g^^^f

takeoff weight

488,000

(221,357 kg)

Well displayed on

this

B-52E

is

the earlier, taller vertical

This variant of the Stratofortress, of which 100 were

had

a completely

new

navigation and

Combat ceiling 46,000 ft (14,000 m)

Armament Defense: four .50-in M3s;
bomb load: 20,000 lb (9,072 kg)
Crew 6

tail.

built,

bombing system

that

J^
^H

Ci^^^^^^^^^^l^^V^^^^
^^^^^
^^B
^^
^^^^

SB^^^

Top speed 650 mph (1046 km/h)

Tall tail

H|^B

^^^^^

(56.4 m)

11 in (50.2

Maximum
lb

& Whitney J57-43WB

turboiet engines rated at 13,750-lb

_^^f

nominal

^^^L
BB^^k

^^^

4
Iw

^HL

required substantial redesign of the crew compartment.

ALQ-n?

radar

warning antenna

Turret for low-light /

television scanner

Electronic

countermeasures
antennas

Forward main undercarriage;

port trucks retract forward,

starboard trucks retract aft

110

1946-1969 BOKING B-52G

Wings of
Ihc B-S2's
flight,

fuel
wing

is

based on a two-spar torsion box, and

is

though the weight ot the paired engine pods dampens

appeared

in

extraordinarily flexible in

1958, was the greatest single advance of the type.

the largest integral fuel tankage up to that time, giving the

capacity, including the fuselage tanks, of

46,575 gallons

The B-S2Ci, which

wing incorporated

this out.
Its

bomber

a total internal fuel

(176,,?()5 liters).

On

this

variant the ailerons were omitted, lateral control being provided by spoilers.

Ill

THE

DAWNS

FT ACE

"^km Boeing 747-400

of the famous 747 airliner made its
maiden flight on February 9, 1969. The program
was launched by Boeing at enormous financial risk,
but the company's gamble paid off handsomely over
the ensuing years. The 747 ushered in the age of the

The prototype

widebody, bringing

air travel

within the reach of

people. Although the 747-400 looks to

and purposes like just another variant of
the 747 family, and has the same fuselage dimensions
as the -300, it is a major redesign incorporating
numerous aerodynamic enhancements and upgraded
engines, and is cleared to higher operating weights.

many more
all

intents

Plenty of

room on board

On December

30, 1969, the 747, represented above by

the prototype,

powered by four 43,000-lb (19,732-kg)

thrust Pratt

&

Whitney JT9D turbofan engines, was

up to 490 passengers. The launch

certificated to carry

customer. Pan American, flew the type's

service, using the first

from

New

York

to

first

scheduled

production variant, the 747-100,

London on February

22, 1970.

Fin built up on two-spar

box structure

Rearmost passenger
door

entry/exit

Engines Four Rolls-Royce RB 21 1-524 turbofans,

of 58,000-lb (26,300-kg) thrust each

Wingspan

211

ft

5 in (64.4

m)

Length 231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)

Height 63 ft 8 in (19,4 m
Maximum takeoff weight
^000 lb (362,880 kg)
Typical cruise speed Mach 0.85
Initial

cruise altitude*

34,700

ft

(10,577 m)

Range* 6,828

miles (10,982

Passengers 420

(in

km)

typical

three-class arrangement)

Crew 4 pilots and up to 14 cabin crew

* at maximum takeoff weight

The 747-400 has, in common with the -300, the Stretched Upper
Deck fuselage. While this additional passenger accommodation
inevitably increases weight,

it

also improves the fuselage

aerodynamics. The -400 was developed to enable the 747 to

nonstop, without requiring a reduction

12

fly

popular long-haul routes, such as those from the US to Asia,

in

payload.

1946-1969 BOFINC. 747-400

Overhead systcnn
switch

paiit-l

Instrument panel has five

catbode-ray-tiibe EFIS dispbyi

Making

Twin landing

life

easier

lights in ifing
^

root leading edge

The rwo-crew

flightdcck has an Klcctronii.

Flight Instrumentation

System (EFIS), which

presents primary flight and navigation

information on color cathode-ray tubes. This

reduces the pilots' workload by about a third.

Because of the
small rest area

is

aircraft's increased range, a

provided behind the cockpit.

^Captain's seat
First Officer's

6-ft (l.8-m)

on
on

left,

right

high winglets,

canted out at 290-degree angle

Special color scheme applied to

promote the March 2000 Qantas
.Grand Pnx in Melbourne

Additional passenger accommodation

Upper Deck: 52 business69 economx-class seats

in Stretched

class or

Flight deck includes

two folding

seats for

observers at rear

tlii
rH SPIRIT OF "AUSTRALIA

Full-length nacelle cowling for

Rolls-Royce RB.ZII engine

113

THE JET AGE DAWNS

VTOL

i946-f969

The advantages of endowing an

and land

vertically,

Aircraft

airplane with the abihty to take off

with no forward speed, have always been apparent;

means of
accomplishing this was developed. The true jet-lift pioneer was RollsRoyce's Thrust Measuring Rig (the "Flying Bedstead"), which first
hovered uncertainly in 1953, but was never intended as a practical
but

it

many

took

aircraft.

Shown

years of experimenting before a practical

here

is

a small selection of the

VTOL

(Vertical

Take-Off and Landing) devices built, some of which

proved more successful than others.

Retractable stabilizing

wheels

in ivingtips

Large spinner for

coiinterrotating

propellers

flown

First

was

in

1965, the Yakovlev Yak-36

the USSR's

first jet

V/STOL

(Vertical or

Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. Ten

were buih,

all

with two Tumanskii R-1 IV

turbojets engines. Stability

was maintained by

reaction control nozzles in the wingtips,

and

at the extremity of a

tail,

long nose boom.

French
The

initiative

\OVi-ix

(3.2-m) diameter ringlike wing

SNECMA's C.450

of

Coleoptere (above)

surrounded a fuselage containing a 8,155-lb

(3,700-kg) static thrust turbojet engine.

Its

was made in May 1959, but

the program was abandoned when the
Coleoptere crashed two months later.
first free flight

POGO POWER
named "Pogo," Convair's XFY-1
was designed to be lifted vertically by

Appropriately
of 1954

the counterrotating propellers of

its

5,850-shp

Allison turboprop engine. Successful transitions

from

vertical to horizontal flight

and

vice versa

were made, but the backward descent to land,

after a pull-up into the vertical,

was

tricky.

Vertical hook-up
In

November 1956

Vertijet

make

became

the

a transition

flight

the

the USA's
first

Ryan X-13

pure-jet aircraft to

from horizontal to

and back. Five months

first full

transition

later

from

it

vertical

made

vertical to

horizontal flight, and vice versa for

Aircraft attached to elevated

flatbed of special trailer

114

a vertical descent to a

landing on

its

hook-on

dedicated

trailer.

1946-1969 VTOI. AIRCRAFT

Harrier takes the lead
Dcsipncd around the

brilliant

Rolls-Royce i'cuasus vcctorcd-

"lump

Jet")

was

the
P.l
jJiM^-cti^'f root exlt'iiiitiiis

maneuver
and improve handling

LERX)
lift

increase

Hawker

the world's

squadron

first

service.

127, which hrst

Hew

making complete

conventionally

Kirst

April 2, 1957,

it

vertical descent,

back to

II.

Seen here

in a

ground

late 196()s/early I97()n

in

lift

flight

achieved

lb

and then

climb

the VAK 191B VTOL aircraft of the

was developed by Vl-"W-Fokkcr of Germany
Italy. Its

lour thrust-vectoring no/zles,

lift

vertical

level flight, three years later.

mam

hft/cruise engine, a

(4,M)9-kg) thrust Rolls- Royce/.M 11'

two RB. 162-81

its first

level flight to

test rig,

cooperatn)n with Fiat of

lO.lhO

RB.IOS

S.C.I were

flown ccmvcntionally on

complete transition from

and the

BAc/McDonncll Douglas AV-S Harrier

in Britain's Sht)rt

RB.IOS.

in July I'^hl,

transitions troin horizontal to

led to the Sea Harrier

VTOL concepts,

under the power of a single horizontal

Hawker

vertical (and back) that September. Further

developments

early

dead weight during normal

was developed through

Siddeley Kestrel from the original

As with many
engines

V/STOl. combat airplane

It

lift

the four tilting Rolls-Royce

thrust engine, the British Aeorspace (BAe) Harrier (the

to enter regular

Four-engine

was augmented

engines fore

and ah. The

RB.19M2

with

in vertical flight

prti)tvt

by

loundered.

115

THE JET AGE DAWNS

TMm'BAE Harrier GR.5

With

its

new and larger wing, an

airframe structure

incorporating 26 percent carbon-fiber composite, and

major innovations to the basic Harrier

several other

design {see p. 115), the

GR.5 was

the resuh of a joint

study by British Aerospace (BAe) and McDonnell

Douglas. The aim was to meet Air Staff Requirement

409: higher performance and a greater fuel/weapon

load to enable the Harrier V/STOL (Vertical or Short

Take-Off and Landing) ground-attack and battlefieldsupport fighter to remain in frontline service with the

RAF

(Royal Air Force) in

Germany

well into the 1990s.

Seen above are Harrier GR.5s serving with 4

Specification
Engine 21,750-lb (9,865-kg)

Squadron, RAF,
counterpart

thrust Rolls-

flew in

Royce Pegasus 105 vectored-thrust turbofan

Wingspan 30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)

Length 47
Height 1
1

ft )'^ in
ft

in

in

in the

Germany in the mid-1990s. The type's

US Marine Corps was the AV-8B, which

November 1978. However,

the

RAF

did not finaUze

plans for the improved Harrier until 1978, and

(14.4 m)

April 1985 that the

first

prototype GR.5

made

it

was not

its

maiden

first
its

until
flight.

(3.6 nn)

Maximum weight

31,000

1b

(14,060 kg)

Top speed 661 mph (1,064 knn/h)

Range 2,440 miles (3,928 km)
Armament Two 25-mm Aden cannon;
two AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles;
9,200

lb

Crew

Detonation cord

in

canopy

roof shatters canopy before

emergency ejection by pilot

(4,173 kg) of weapons/drop tanks

Forward swiveling nozzles

of Rolls-Royce Pegasus
vectored-thrust engine

Free-floating supplementary air

doors permit additional air to be

drawn

in

during hovering flight

Putting

it

all together

Production of the GR.5 was shared between BAe and

McDonnell Douglas. The former made the aft fuselage
and tail, and the latter the front fuselage and singlepiece wing. Final assembly
at BAe's plant

unit to have the

and

airfield at

GR.5 was

Many were

116

and

later

flight testing

took place

Dunsfold. The

Squadron

upgraded to

first

RAF

March 1989.
GR.7 standard.

in

Steerable, levered-

suspension nose wheel

retracts

forward

1946-1969 BAE HARRIER GR.S

Cockptt well fnnvard nn

nose and pntvuied with
clear-vietf

huhhie inmipy

VERITABLE

flii;hi refiielinK

trclruitvd)

Installed in the (iR.S

for
fiber

ii'iwj;

i.jrhi

was

a pair of the

25-mm Aden cannon, which

fire

Sm^lc-puw

ARMORY

I'rohe for in

3,600

thcn-ncw

together could

shells per minute. Also, seven

weapons or

pylons

stores facilitated the aircraft's

primary role of battlefield offensive

strike, fitted

with

marked jnhedral

as standard in the rear fuselage

were dispensers

for chaff or flares, used to confuse

and

missiles.

from

The GR.5's

enemy radars

ability to

operate

sites close to the battlefront

makes

it

a potent

weapon.

THE JET AGE DAWNS

mtm

Concorde

Fairing for rudder

power control

Aluminum skmumg can

The Concorde is a striking example of international

cooperation in advanced technology. Conceived in the mid1950s, the world's only successful supersonic commercial
transport became a collaborative venture when the British
and French governments agreed to it in November 1962.
Seven years later, in March 1969, the two prototypes from
British Aerospace and Aerospatiale made their maiden
flights, and fare-paying services were initiated by British

Fuselage kept to

270

Mach

2.0.

minimum

cross-section possible with

four-ahreast seating

Long

fore-aft root of

wing allows

thin

wing

to

be used while retaining

Airways and Air France in 1979. Sixteen production

Concordes were built on assembly lines in Bristol, England,
and Toulouse, France, and 13 remain in operation today.

On

tolerate

kinetic heating to

(120C) at

unit

structural stiffness

the same runways

Accommodating 128 passengers, the Concorde cruises efficiently at over 1,300 mph
airport runways
(2,100 km/h), more than twice the speed of sound, yet operates from
variable-geometry
designed for subsonic airliners. Regardless of the speed of the aircraft, the
mph
(483 km/h).
below
300
engines
the
to
airflow
the
of
engine air intakes keep the speed

118

Wing skinned with machined!

aluminum panels

1946-1969

On
in the

Concorde

the pilot

and copilot

sit

CONCORDE

the flightdeck

side-by-side; a third

crew

member behind them on the starboard side attends to the systemsmanagement panel. There is provision for a further seat behind the
pilots. The instrumentation appears somewhat antiquated now.

Airspeed indicator

Nosing around

(Machnieter below, obscured)

Because of the Concorde's high "angle of

attack" during landing and takeoff,

its

nose

is

hinged to droop, greatly enhancing the crew's

view.

Once

the aircraft

is

airborne a retractable

Control column and yoke^

iperates elevons, which act as

both elevators and ailerons

visor streamlines the nose

and protects the

main windshield against the

experienced

in

supersonic

kinetic heating

flight.

Rudder pedals^

four

throttles

on

central pedestal

Complex wing curvature

optimum efficiency
at high and low speeds
ensures

Fairings covering elevon

power control

units

Sections along wing leading edge

incorporate expansion joints

Coming

in

to land

The Concorde's

steep tail-down approach

touchdown means that the crew on the

flightdeck are 37 ft (11.2 m) above the

to

ground when the wheels make contact

with the runway. Here, the nose
121^-degree fully

Antenna for
Sound-insulated, pressurized, and
,

VHF

down

is

in its

position.

omnidirectional

radio range navigation aid

air-conditioned passenger cabin

Retractable

tail

bumper with

twin wheels in rear fuselage

119

'l^a.A^f^ne

'"'Oar-'-- *

'

(970-2000

The New Technology

ALTHOUGH
military

THE INCREASING complexity of

resulted

aircraft

and

development

longer

in

civil

periods and higher costs, progress in the last decades of the

century accelerated on

all

fronts.

The

bodied airliners brought long-range

proliferation of wideair travel

within the

reach of millions, while technical developments led to great

changes in aircraft operation.

New

materials cut

down on

Aircraft for sale

weight, while refined aerodynamics continued to improve

Some

performance. Stealth technology changed the image of

United Europe

An
of the larger air

shows are primarily

trade affairs,

where

the world's aerospace

bombers and

fighters,

and weaponry continued to evolve.

Meanwhile, home-built

ultralight airplanes proliferated as

companies can exhibit

their

products to

potential customers.

However, several days

with enhanced flying

a reality.

passenger

At the beginning of the new century the 500airliner

is

upon

us,

and

the

displays are set aside

for the public.

cooperation, the

swing-wing Tornado,
represented here by
a

never before, and sustained human-powered flight became

tilt-rotor

outstanding

result of international

GR.l all-weather

tactical strike aircraft,

is

a product of

Panavia, a European

consortium of

German, and

convertiplane

is

becoming

a practical vehicle.

British,

Italian

companies.

121

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

Helicopters

1970-2000

Because of the complex mechanical and aerodynamic

problems associated with rotating-wing aircraft, the
development of the helicopter was protracted, and
many saw little use for it. However, once
it had been perfected, it
soon proved its worth in a

Forward transmission.
gearbox

in front

pylon

variety of roles, including medical evacuation

crop-spraying, troop transport, heavy lifting

and construction work, policing, and antisubmarine operations. More recently it has
also become a potent antitank weapon.
Tandem transport
First flown in 1961, the tandem-rotor Boeing Vertol

medium

transport helicopter

turboshaft engines driving

rotors.

RAF

is

powered by

two

CH-47 Chinook

a pair of

Engines or
side of rear pylon

Lycoming T-55

60-ft (18.3-m) diameter three-blade

(Royal Air Force) Chinooks like this one (above) can

carry a 22,000-lb (10,000-kg) payload or 30 seated troops.

Two 1,320-shp Turbomeca

Turmo 111C4 turboshaft engines
mounted side-by-side above cabin

Success... but

too

late

1920s Spanish marquis Pateras Pescara built

and tested several cumbersome helicopters with
In the

some

success. This

1925

effort,

with coaxial biplane

Salmson

radial engine,

achieved a degree of

stability,

but Pescara's

rotors

powered by

was overshadowed by the advent of

Autogiro (see pp. 12-13

work

the Cierva

Amphibious helicopter
The Sikorsky S-61N, launched

in

1962

(updating the S-61 of two years

earlier),

is

an all-weather helicopter

airliner.

It

can accommodate between 26 and

28 passengers
hull enables

operations.

It is

it

cabin, and

to undertake

its

sealed

amphibious

powered by two 1,500-shp

General Electric

122

in its

CT58

Turboshaft engines.

Tail

boom

five-blade

supports
tail

rotor

970-2000 HELICOPTERS
Champion weight
Far and

away

lifter

the largest and most powerful

helicopter ever built

was

the Soviet Union's

Mil V-12 of 1967. This heavy-lift generalpurpose helicopter was equipped with two
6,500-shp Soloviev

D-25VF

turboshaft

engines at each wingtip, driving

two

five-

bladed rotors of 115-ft (35-m) diameter.

With

mph

a top speed of 160

(260 km/h),

the V-12 set several world records for

weight-lifting in 1969, lifting well over

88,000

lb

(40,000 kg) on one

flight.

Ambulance chopper
Tail rotor counteracts

torque of main rotor

Used

for tactical assault

and troop transport,

the Westland/Aerospatiale

Puma

HC Mk

was developed from the French SA

300, which made its maiden flight in 1965.
{left)

Entering service with the

the

RAF

in

mid-1971,

Puma can

carry up

to 16 troops, or four

stretchers

and four

seated casualties.

Attack Apache

Stallion power
The

first

prototype of Sikorsky's

twin-engined design,

and

this

made

its

CH-53

maiden

Developed by Hughes Helicopters, which

1964,

became McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co.

in 1984, the AH-64 first flew in 1975. The

heavy-duty, multipurpose version, the

53E Super

Stallion {right),

was produced

Navy and US Marine Corps

it

CHUS

to meet

requirements. Powered

by three 4,380-shp General Electric

engines,

family, a

flight in

T64

turboshaft

can carry up to 55 troops or seven cargo

pallets.

The US Navy model,

Dragon, serves

in a

the

MH-53E

mine-countermeasures

Sea

role.

AH-64A Apache
service with the

prime role
night, in

with a

is

{above) entered operational

US Army two

years

later. Its

anti-armor attack by day or

any weather, and

30-mm M230

it is

equipped

chain gun under

nose and rocket pods on

its

its

stub wings.

123

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

AH- IS Cobra

Bell

I970-2000

The major antiarmor helicopter of the US Army in the

1980s, the Bell AH-IS began life as the Model 209, first
flown on September

1965. The design at

7,

first

85 percent of the components used in the UH-1

utility and troop transport helicopter, including

power

transmission, and

plant.

incorporated

HueyCobra
its

The AH-1 proved

rotor,
its

worth

hands of the Assault Helicopter Companies in

Vietnam, and many of them subsequently served in Europe.
in the

Specification
Engine 1,800-shp Avco Lycoming

Three barrels of

fire

T53-L-703 turboshaft engine

Rotor diameter 44

Max. length 53
Height 13

ft

ft

lb

m)

The example above

ft (1
1

in

5 in (4.09

Weight 10,000

(16.18 m)

The AH- IS has redesigned, composite rotor blades and an

uprated, 1,800-hp Avco Lycoming T53 turboshaft engine.

3.4 m)

(4,536 kg)

Top speed 141 mph (227

Initial

rate of climb

Service ceiling

ft

Armament One 20-mm

eight BGi\/l-71
rockets

Crew

l<m/li)

1,520

12,200

ft

has a rate of

fitted

(494

nn)

fire

with a nose turret containing a

Ml 97 20-mm

per nnin

Composite main blades developed

Kaman can tolerate damage by
weapons of up to 23-mm caliber^

cannon; four weapons points on stub wings usually carry

TOW

missiles

and two pods with 7-19

by

folding-fin aircraft

Tail rotor driven

by

and bevel drives

from main gearbox
shafts

Rotor blades have

tapered tips
Orifice for output of

turboshaft engine

Pylon carrying

cambered

tail

trailing

rotor has

edge to help

counteract torque of main rotor

Driveshaft to

tail

rotor runs

along spine of tail

Tail skid protects tail

rotor

and tailboom
from damage

Elevator with inverted airfoil

section assists

movement

in the

pitching plane
Tail

boom

built to

withstand

damage from weapons of up

23-mrn

124

to

caliber

boom

cannon, which

of up to 3,000 rounds per minute.

(3,718 m)

each

in

is

three-barrel General Electric

1970-2000 BELL AH-IS COBRA

Slim destroyer
Because
a

its

crew are seated

narrow front

for

ground

fire

sorties against

profile that

as

it

tandem, the Cobra has

in

makes

performs

its

enemy armored

it

a difficult target

dangerous low-level

vehicles.

The stub

wings carry antitank missiles and rockets.

Pilot's seat

higher than

Viewfinder for

him

sighting system

gunner's, allowing
to see

forward
Stub wings relieve load on

main rotor and provide

Sight control

points for weaponry

handle and trigger

Four

TOW missile

launch tubes outboard,

rocket pods inboard

Nose gunner
The forward cockpit
the gunner/copilot,

Landing skids instead

of wheels, which are
less robust

position

who

is

is

occupied by

provided with

several electronic aiming devices in addition

to his
turret,

own

vision.

He

operates the nose

which can also be

fired

by the

pilot.

125

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

Wide-Bodied Airliners
Commercial mass
became

transportation by air

a reality with the advent of the wide-

bodied airhners. The abihty to carry several

hundred passengers

each airplane meant

in

that fares could be reduced to a price

affordable by
air travel

many more

people,

making

competitive with other forms of

Lliidcrwing

engine

pud

ngine

to

rear fuselage

Troubled beginnings

transportation. Since the rollout of the

prototype Boeing 747

aircraft

in

1969

manufacturers have fielded

airhners, as they have

come

major
"widebody"

several

to be

known.

Lockheed of the US reentered the commercial-aircraft market with the L-101

TriStar, but initial

problems with the three Rolls-Royce RB.211

jet

a range of variants, according to airlines' operational requirements.

medium-range version

400 passengers

carries

Let

down

by

its

so,

99

Il-86s

widebody game, was

Samara NK-86 turbofans. Even

were delivered before production ceased

1994, the principal operators being Aeroflot

Lower deck

numbers

nidiides

holds for containers

Vnukovo

Airlines. In

seating layout,

Similar in configuration to
its

9nd the

competitor the TriStar,

the

McDonnell Douglas

DC- 10 was powered by

three

General Electric CF-6 or Pratt

&
First

Whitney JT-9D turbofans.

in 1970, it was offered

flown

in three principal versions, the

10-10 for

US domestic

and the 10-20 and 10-30

126

DC

services,

for

basic

relatively short lives of Soviet

engines, in this case four

engine

The

high-density configuration.

Ilyushin 11-86-300, the USSR's

entry in the

handicapped by the
Podded turbofan

in its

engines

The
first

Built in large

engines put

flown on November 16, 1970, the TriStar was offered

at a disadvantage. First

{left)

in

and

an all-economy nine-abreast

350 passengers can be accommodated,

aircraft typically cruises at

560 mph (900 km/h).

it

in

1970-2000 WIDE-BODIED AIRLINERS

Stretched Upper

Dc

increases capacity

Trailing-edge

enhance
low speeds

flaps
at

lift

Ul

Twin nose
Exhaust for

wheels

auxiliary

power

unit

Shortest-possible wingspan

Sixteen main wheels on

four undercarriage legs

Despite

its size,

Boeing's

747 required no major advances

or structures, but extensive use

was made of

in

aerodynamics

high-lift devices to

keep the

span to a minimum, and to avoid problems with hangarage and

^5

^-

p^vv^^tivt:

--Q-:

on airport aprons and taxiways. Seen here

here in the colors of the now-defunct Pan

American World Airways, the Airbus A300

first

flew in

October 1972, powered by General

Electric

The

was Air France, which put

It

first

carrier to operate the type

into service

on

its

Paris-London route

in

CF-6 turbofans.
1974.

Interior cabin width

Cockpit well forward on

IS'Aft (4.7

nose for optimum view

Aircrew

Shown

'

a 747-400.

French premiere

ii^
^^'

is

m)
Single-slotted outer-

r^r-Li-W

entry door

First

Widebody fuselage allows

flown

in

September 1981, the Boeing 767 began

scheduled services with United Airlines a year later

nine-abreast seating

and has found numerous buyers

Winglets reduce aerodynamic

drag and reduce fuel burn

all

over the world.

This 767-300 can seat up to 350 passengers, and has

a range of

almost 5,000 miles (8,050 km).

Nose wheel
doors

Engine pod well forward

of wing leading edge

Upgrading an old favorite

McDonnell Douglas's MD-1

t
imore
'nd

is

first

flew in January 1990,

development of the DC- 10 with a longer fuselage,

advanced engines, improved aerodynamics, and a

edesigned, two-crew cockpit.

choice of power plants

offered. Alitalia operates both the standard

the

MD-llF(C) Combi

is

MD-11 and

passenger/freight type.

127

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Airbus Line

I9TO-2000

y<^^
ft a a
^i>y

December 1970,

In

the

first real

challenge to Boeing's supremacy in the

market arrived with the

jet airliner

formal creation of Airbus Industrie. This

collaboration of the European manufacturers

Hawker Siddeley, Aerospatiale, Deutsche Airbus

Fokker VFW, and

CASA was

Three fuselage frames

removed forward of
wing, and four aft,
compared with A320

backed by the

French, German, Netherlands,

First

world's

bodied

first civil

fuselage

the

1995, the

in

some 12

134 passengers

twin-engined wide-

A3 19

is

a short- to

ft

(3.5

of a corporate

m)

shorter,

May

(CJ) version began in 1999.

jet

Fuselage built mainly

of high-strength

Room
first

widebody

certified for a

two

for

in

A300B1 -

pair of turbofan engines in

heavier

B2 (shown

its

here)

in

A300

aluminum

first

October 1972, with

underwing pods. The

was chosen

entering service with Air France in

later

front

two-person cockpit crew,

thus avoiding the need for a flight engineer, the

flew - as the prototype

larger,

for production,

May

1974.

It

was

superseded by the B4, which had more powerful

engines and carried more

fuel.

Winglets

High-aspectratio

wing

Fin
built

A300 and
A3 10 were still in production,
the A320 was a short/mediumIntroduced while the

range narrowbody.
in

It first

flew

February 1987, and the

initial

customer, Air France,

A320

March

received

its first

1988.

was subsequently

It

in

complemented by the smaller

A3 19 and

the larger

Final assembly of

A321.

A320s

takes

place in Toulouse, France.

128

first

composite-

primary structure on a

certified

Narrow-bodied Airbus

was

commercial

airliner

Winging the changes

Although the A3 10 employed the same layout as
forebears,

it

had

a redesigned

its

wing and could carry more

than 200 passengers. The A310-300 (belotv) succeeded the

initial
Its

200

series,

making

winglets distinguish

it

its

maiden

from

all

flight

other

on July

A3 10s.

8,

entered

1996, and deliveries

strength to strength.

The

medium-

accommodating

in single-class layout. It

service with Swissair in

Airbus consortium has

airliner, the

grown from

A3 00,

flown

range lower-capacity version of the A320, with a

and Spanish governments.

Since the launch of the

SMALL ALTERNATIVE

1985.

alloy
^

1970-2000 THE AIRBUS LINE

Company highlights

Fuselage

and

flight

common to
A340 and A330

deck are
1

1970 Airbus

1974 A300B2

enters service.

1982 A3 10 makes

Its

1987 A320 makes

first flight.

A340

1991

Four-jet

1993

First flight

1996 Airbus

both

Industrie formally set up.

of

maiden

flight.

takes to the

air.

A321.

Military

Company

formed. Large Aircraft division

established to develop

2001

First flight

Long-range flyer

A3XX.

of 80-to-100-seat

Although designed for intercontinental

A3 18 scheduled.

the

flights, the

same cockpit avionics and fly-by-wire

bid to reduce airline training costs.

Lufthansa

in

March 1993, while

discovering that

The

four-engined

flight controls as the

first

A340 uses
A320 in a

production example went to

several other airlines ordered

McDonnell Douglas MD-lls were short on

A340s upon

range.

High-efficiency wing

A330
Rolls-Royce Trent turbofans/

became standard on A330-300

Simultaneous certification
First

Krueger flaps at

in November 1992 in A330-300

A330 is a medium/extended-range

flown

form, the

leading-edge wing
roots improve
,

takeoff performance

twin-jet. In
Flap-track fairing at
iling

October 1993, with General

became the

first aircraft

European and US

certification

Electric engines,

edge
receive both

it

simultaneously. Air Inter took delivery of

first

A330

in late

to

its

December 1993, putting

the

type into service in January 1994.

129

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

/970-2000

General Aviation

Airplanes for personal and business use have

existed ever since the earliest days of fhght; but it
was not until the 1920s that anyone other than
the very wealthy could afford to own an airplane.
In the 1930s gliders and light biplanes such as the
de Havilland Moth brought flying within the reach

many more people; and since World War II the

number of privately owned aircraft, from business
jets to ultralights, has grown considerably. Indeed,
of

operating your
is

now

own

private aircraft, especially a

jet,

seen as the ultimate status symbol.

French flea
In

1933 Frenchman Henri Mignet

introduced his

Sky Louse,

H.M.14 Pou Du

a tiny

Ciel, or

tandem-wing airplane

that could be built by amateurs.

Many

people around the worjy|idtf "Flying

Fleas," but an inherent^PIt caused
several deaths

and they<^ere banned.

Modified variants

still fly

safely today.

There have been several attempts to produce "flying

cars" - aircraft that can be driven on roads after touch-

down. None have

successful

was

really

caught on, but one of the most

the 1950s Aerocar designed by

Taylor of the US.

Its

Molt

143-hp engine drove the pusher

Protective skid

beneath

Ever the Optimist

tail

propeller via one transmission shaft and the front

wheels of the car/fuselage via another.

the flying surfaces were folded up

Upon

Gliding

landing,

and towed behind.

stall

upper wing leading edge delay

and reduce landing speed

a sport that

demands

skill.

materials and improved aerodynamics.

Edgley

framework covered
with doped linen

Over

the

EA9

less

than 2

kit

An old

form

ft

(60 cm) per second.

for

favorite

1920s, the de Havilland

flew in 1931 and

after the

Now

was

D.H.82A

Tiger

programs

World War

II.

is still

and

private

built,

owners and

classic veteran, the "Tiger," as

much

late

first

Commonwealth

Thousands were

war many were acquired by

a prized

known,

in

Moth

the standard basic trainer for the

(Royal Air Force) and British Empire and

training

British

It is

supplied

in

assembly by groups or individuals.

Descended from the Moth and Gipsy Moth of the

RAF

The

Optimist {above) makes extensive use of

Fibrelam composite throughout, and has a sink rate

of

130

great

have searched for greater efficiency through the use of

new

Wire-braced wooden
Slats

is

years the glider has progressed steadily as designers

loved by pilots worldwide.

it

and

clubs.

has become

1970-2000 GENERAL AVIATION

Freedom of flight

Many large companies and wealthy individuals have

own aircraft, making them independent of airline

their

timetables and large commercial airports. Typical of the

business jets that

now

ply the world's air routes

is

the

Falcon family produced by Dassault Aviation of France.

The three-engine Falcon 900

(left)

can carry up to

mph

19 passengers at speeds of up to 590

(950 km/h).

Sailu'ing originally developed as

means of facilitating return

of manned spacecraft after reentry

possible
,

High-aspect-ratio wing
(long span,

narrow

chord) gives

Inset ailerons for

optimum

lift

lateral control

Pilot controls glider

moving

by

body position
to wing surface

his

in relation

Clear P^xiglas canopy

offers

good

visibility

CENTURY OF CHANGE?

Hang

gliding, pioneered

and Otto

by Percy Pilcher

Lilienthal in the 1890s,

is

now

popular sport. Modern hang gliders with

sail-like

wings can put up impressive

performances

in skilled

hands. Even so, the

basic principles are not far

removed from

those developed more than a century ago.

Skid under nose for

protection during landing

Pivoted wing moves in

similar fashion to system

used on hang gliders to

control aircraft

Flying for fun

One

step

up from the hang

which can

either take the

glider, like this Solar

glider

is

the ultralight,

form of a powered hang

Wings Pegasus XL-Q, powered by

Rotax 462 engine, or resemble

minimal airplane,

with a conventional control system. Available

in a

wide

variety of designs, ultralights can operate from

small fields and are simple to maintain.

131

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

The

&

Fighters

1970-2000

modern combat

prohibitive cost of

aircraft

means

Bombers

that

the air forces of smaller or poorer nations must be equipped

with aircraft capable of performing several different

roles.

Thus, while some aircraft are still designed with very specific
tasks in mind, others are versatile and can carry a wide variety
of weaponry. The capability to operate in all weather is essential,

and stealth technology is in demand to make fighters

and bombers almost invisible to enemy radar systems.
Modern weapons systems enable several targets to be
identified and engaged simultaneously.

Heavyweight helper
Designed as a close-support attack

Fast and furious

versatile multimission land-

and day/night

strike

and carrier-borne

and reconnaissance

bombs and

fighter,

30-mm

aircraft, the

worldwide.

Two

missiles

on

its

carries various

wing pylons, and

also has a

GAU-8A multibarrel cannon

speed is 439 mph (706 km/h).

General Electric

in its nose. Its

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet has won customers

top

16,000-lb (7,257-kg) thrust General

Twin
Electric

aircraft, the heavily

armored Fairchild A- 10 Thunderbolt

F404-GE-400 turbofans
1,190

mph

give

it

a top speed of

(1,915 km/h), or

Mach

fins

canted outward,

with inset rudders

1.8.

Engines mounted sideby-side in rear fuselage

4
Afterburner uses injection and

combustion of additional fuel

to

augment

thrust

Long-term investment
The Tupolev Tu-22M bomber and

missile carrier

entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1975 and

is

expected to remain a

vital part

of Russia's long-

Two Samara
maximum speed

range strike capability beyond 2010.

NK-25

turbofans give the aircraft a

mph (2,000 km/h) at high altitude. Its

maximum weapons load is 52,910 lb (24,000 kg).

of 1,243

Widely spaced engine nacelles

with intakes beneath wingroot extensions

Nimble player

potent long-range air-superiority fighter, the Sukhoi

Su-27 was

built in large

Force, and

many remain

numbers

for the Soviet Air

in service

with Russia and

other powers, including China, Syria, and Vietnam.

Noted
has a

132

for

its

exceptional maneuverability, the Su-27

maximum

speed of 1,336

mph

(2,150 km/h).

1970-2000 FIGHTERS
American Eagle

Agile bird

single- or tAvo-seat

The Lockheed Martin F-16

air-superiority fighter, the

Fighting Falcon multirole

McDonnell Douglas F-15

air-combat fighter also has a

Eagle

is

powered by two

ground-attack capability.

23,930-lb(10,855-kg)
thrust Pratt &C

is

Whitney

its

F-lOO turbofans and has a

top speed of

Mach

BOMBERS

&:

2.5.

It

very maneuverable, and

large, clear

canopy allows

the pilot a superb all-around

It

view.

carries a formidable load

Pratt

& Whitney

FlOO engine takes

of weapons, including

AIM-7 Sparrow or
AIM- 120 AMRAAM

four

the F-16

mph (2,172 km/h),

or Mach 2.05.

to 1,350

air-to-air missiles.

AIM-9L
Sidewinder
to-air missile

air-

on

wingtip pylon

Hughes APG-63 radar

scanner

in

nose

Intake ducts have ramp

doors inside to control

All-moving

flow of air to engines

tail

plane

Long wing leading-edge root

(LERX) improve

extensions
airflotc

over wing at high angles

of attack

in

extreme maneuvers

APG-65 midtimode
radar in nose

Large

fin

All-moving foreplane doubles

Cooperative effort
The Eurofighter Typhoon

air-superiority fighter

venture by Daimler-Benz of Germany, Alenia of

of Spain, and British Aerospace of the

UK.

It is

is

a joint

Italy,

CASA

very agile in

subsonic close air combat, and also has surface-attack and

reconnaissance

capabilit\'. It

can attain

Mach

2 with

its

two

13,500-lb (6,124-kg) thrust Eurojet EJ200 turbofans.

133

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

M1G-2IF-I3

1970-2000
The Soviet Union's
flight,

the

first

Mach 2 in level
NATO, was numerically

production aircraft capable of

MiG-21, codenamed "Fishbed" by

most important short-range fighter in Soviet service in the 1960s and

The Mikoyan and Guryevich design bureau's first deltawinged prototype, the Ye-4, made its maiden flight on June 16, 1955,
and was followed by the Ye-5 and the Ye-6 pre-series prototypes. Smallscale production of the MiG-21F began in 1959, but gave way to the
MiG-21F-13 in 1960, the designation denoting compatibility with the
K-13 infrared-homing air-to-air missile, carried on underwing pylons.
the

early 1970s.

Fence on upper

Wing has an anhedral angle

wing surface

(slopes

down toward

tip)

directs airflow.

Under-equipped performer
Although

it is

reliable in service,

a day for several days,

its

high fuel-burn, the

navigation,

weapon

and

is

MiG-21

load,

can perform six sorties

cheap to operate apart from

is

deficient in endurance,

and all-weather

avionics. All

variants have only simple search/track radar for air-to-air

interception, of limited value for air-to-ground sorties.

Tail pipe

of engine

afterburner
Ventral fin/tail

bumper

Air brake powered!

by hydraulic ram

134

1970-2000 MIC-ZIF-

13

Pedigree dogfighter
The MiG-21F-13,
simple aircraft, was

having a single

essentially a

armed,

30-mm NR-30 cannon and

two K-13

missiles.

vertical reconnaissance

cockpit floor.

cheap and

initially lightly

It is

There was also a

camera under the

an exceptional and

agile

dogfighter and handles well, though

it is

prone to mild snaking that can

cause

compressor of

stalls
its

and surges

in the

Tumanskii turbojet.

Main undercarriage

retracts inward into

wing and fuselage

Specification
Engine 13,670-lb (6,200-kg) reheated Tumanskii
RD-1 1-300 turbojet

Wingspan 23

The MiG-21 has undergone continual and

(7.15 m)

ft SV: in

Total length

51

Height 13

ft

5 in (4.1

Maximum

loaded weight 18,104

Top speed

ft

,386

(15.76 m)

8'A in

m)

mph

lb

(8,212 kg)

(2,220 km/h) above 36,000

ft

(11,000 m)[Macli 2.1]

extensive development, both in Russia and

abroad. Total production of

all

variants,

Rate of climb 590

ft

(180 m) per sec

Service ceiling 59,055

ft

including those of foreign manufacture built

Armament Two 23-mm

under

air-to-air missiles,

license,

has topped 13,500 aircraft.

Used by no fewer than 56

air forces,

it

has

taken part in at least 30 shooting wars, and

many

still

serve with front-line

combat

220-mm
Crew

or

(18,000 m)

cannons; up to four K-13

four 550-lb (250-kg)

325-mm

bombs

or four

air-to-surface missiles

units.

Plexiglas

canopy

allows good view

Radio atztenna

except rearward

Armored

glass

windshield
Intake centerhody

automatically adjusts fore

and

aft

according to speed

\Underfuselage pylon for

auxiliary fuel drop tank

135

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

Military Support Aircraft

/970-2000
In addition

to

serving in their basic

roles as personnel, vehicle,

and

supply carriers, the larger

transporter types of military
aircraft are often

adapted to act

as air-to-air refueling tankers or as

airborne platforms for early-warning radar

systems or battle-management

suites.

Other

Four-jet hunter

models are purpose-designed for roles within

maritime reconnaissance or antisubmarine
warfare. One prime requirement for a troop
carrier is that it has the ability to operate from
short, rough-field airstrips anywhere in the

make

world; the capacity to

can be indispensable

The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR. 2 was

first

to enter service, in 1970. Based

Havilland Comet,

it

a steep takeoff

in these circumstances.

maximum

in

the sky
Sentry, seen here in

warning and control

radar antenna

by the

USAF

is

aircraft.

its

AEW Mk

form,

30-ft (9.14-m) diameter

mounted above

the rear of a Boeing

(US Air Force) since 1977 and

NATO

is

an early-

"rotodome"

707 airframe. Used

since 1983, the Sentry

can remain on station 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from base for six hours.

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules

and

in its latest

As well

freighter first entered service in 1956,

form, the C-130J, will serve for

C-130H

many

as transport, this versatile aircraft's roles

include electronic warfare and flight refueling.

is

The

powered by four 4,508-shp Allison

T56-A-15LFE turboprops.
Four-blade
reversible-pitch

propellers

136

the airframe of the de

490 mph

788 km/h) and an endurance of 12 hours.

internally clear to allow

Sentry

on

has four Rolls-Royce Spey 250

turbofans, giving a cruising speed of

Circular-section fuselage,

The Boeing E-3A

the world's

land-based, four-jet maritime reconnaissance aircraft

years ahead.

use of space

1970-2000 MILITARY SUPPORT AIRCRAFT

Underwing pod

Fuel tanks in outer

wing sections

houses unit for

>

in-flight refueling

The Royal Air

Force's

BAG VC

from

civil

and entered

VC

10 and Super

10 K.2

were modified

in-flight-refueling tankers

VC

10 airliners

service in 1984, followed by K.3s

and K.4s. They mainly serve Panavia Tornadoes.

Russian giant
The huge Antonov An-22
with
first

its

Antei,

211-ft (64.4-m) span,

flew in 1965. Production

An-22Ms

are

powered

^*^^

by four 14,995-shp

NK-12MA

single-shaft

turboprop engines driving the

largest mechanically-coupled

contrarotating propellers in use.

Multiivheel undercarriage /

Wing

spreads load of aircraft and

retracts into side

raised

above

Cockpit well forward

fuselage to keep hold

sponsons

structure-free

on nose to optimize
pilots' view

\
The

Ilyushin 11-76 medium/long-range transport

aircraft flrst flew in

March 1971 and

has entered

service with several air forces other than Russia's.

Seen here
has a

is

the I1-76MF, flrst flown in 1995,

maximum

payload of 114,640

lb

which

Spacious traveller

(52,000 kg).
First delivered to the
in

USAF's Military

Airlift

Command

1969, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy long-range logistics

transport (beloiv) spans almost 223

form

it

can carry a

maximum

ft

(68 m). In

its

G-5B

payload of 291,000

lb

(32,085 kg) for more than 3,400 miles (5,470 km).

137

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

Lockheed F-117A

/970-2000

Updated as required

As LONG AGO AS 1975, Lockheed in the US embarked on a

program named Have Blue to develop a "stealth" aircraft,
employing faceting - the use of critically angled flat surfaces
throughout the airframe - to minimize its radar signature.
The tw^o prototypes made proved difficult to fly, but showed
that the idea was attainable. In 1978 the company began
work on five Senior Trend development aircraft, and the
first production F-117 Nighthawk fighter/attack aircraft
was delivered in 1982. The US Air Force ordered 59
Nighthawks, at a cost of $42.6 million each.
Unveiled to the public in 1988, the F-117

The multifaceted
is

surface of the F-1 17's pecuHar airframe

very apparent in this view. Although initially

made almost completely

some

of

aluminum

alloys,

parts of the aircraft's structure, such

as the ruddervators,

have been replaced

by units made from thermoplastic

graphite composites. Systems and

equipment have also been

progressively updated.

played a significant role in Desert Storm,

the 1991

war with

Iraq.

Stealth and speed

The

flat

undersurfaces of the F-1 17's wing

are blended into the fuselage,

whole underside
exterior

is

making

a lifting surface.

the

The

almost entirely covered with

matt-black radar-absorbent materia

The

F-1 17's configuration gives

landing speed of 172

mph

so a brake parachute

is

it

Main wheels
(227 km/h),

needed to reduce

the length of the landing run.

retract

forward

into fuselage

underside

One-piece, upwardAll glazed panels are gold-

coated to conduct radar

energy into airframe

Flat,

faceted surfaces result

in exceptionally

appearance from

all

angular
aspects

Undercarriage and weapon bay doors

incorporate diagonal patterns on their fore

and

138

aft edges to dissipate radar

energy

hinging cockpit canopy

Hydraulically actuated iveapons-

launch trapeze mechanism in top

of weapons bays

1970-2000

Room
The

map

^^
^^^^

^^^^^

moving-

sequence

is

initiated

The

ejection-seat

by pulling the yellow

SiPP^^K'^'l^lliWlMi
H^^^^A

Control colionn

The Nighthawk gains

created by
it is

around

a two-spar box; rear spars provide

attachment point for elevens

-_^^^fflW^^'

handles at each side of the seat simultaneously.

'^"'^^p

\Wi>igs constructed separately

^ivioa^r^
4KaBS^^

display and, beneath the heads-up display.

a screen for infrared imagery.

firing

.^KM&^
>^^^Bi0S1BiM

for one

F-1 17's single-seat cockpit includes a

LOCKHEED F-117A

its

^^

its lift

<.

^.Ji^KB^^^\\

from the numerous vortices

its size and power

sharp faceted surfaces. For

very agile.

Its six

movable control surfaces comprise four

elevons on the wing trailing edges for pitch and

and two ruddervators. These move

pitch

and

in

in

yaw

control,

unison to control

opposition to control yaw.

139

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Future of Flight

1970-2000
The

airplane's future

is

every bit as incredible as

its

can seriously contemplate flying from New York

to Tokyo in 90 minutes, perhaps in a pilotless airliner, or
exploring space in a reusable hypersonic launch vehicle,

We

past.

cities could be patrolled by unmanned aircraft.

However, apart from the technological hurdles that must be
overcome, the world's aerospace companies face increasingly

while

formidable investment costs that could cripple development.

This means that global partnerships must be formed to share

and new levels of manufacturing and

engineering efficiency must be achieved.

the financial burden,

Good

for business

The Vantage business

of Iowa,

is

unusual

in

jet

under development by VisionAire

having forward-swept wings.

undergone major changes including repositioning

Remote-control warfare
This sinister-looking beast

Grumman

is

Combat

Air Vehicle (UCAV), intended as a low-cost,

stealthy, reusable precision-strike

Operated by a

command
it

can

center

loiter

many

weapon

system.

mission controller in a

pilot/

miles from the target area,

over hostile territory to gather target

data, deliver precision-guided weapons,

and then

return to base to refuel and rearm.

Canard control surfaces

ahead of wing

Bird of prey
Lockheed Martin/Boeing's F-22 Raptor
superiority fighter,

powered by

air-

a pair of Pratt

Whitney Fl 19-100 turbofans, has suffered

budget as well as

its

the

US

testing

in the

is

its

development

proceeding swiftly, and the maker

examining ways to broaden

is

&

cuts to

quantity ordered for

Air Force. Nonetheless

set to enter service late in

its

capabilities.

2005.

is

It

Twin

fins

and rudders

canted outward on
either side of engines

Blended
fuselage/wing
design

Composite material
used for iving skins

140

its

fuselage structure

lowering

its

wing.

Due

Vantage should cruise

Northrop

proposal for an Uninhabited

changing

and

airfoil section,

for delivery at the

at

around 400

mph

its

It

has

engine,

and

end of 2002, the

(650 km/h).

1970-2000 THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT

Diamond

in

the sky

This futuristic twin-engined airliner project from

Lockheed Martin

Unmanned

eye

by vertical

fin surfaces.

Fully retractable

tips

tricycle undercarriage

back to the airplane's

Using stealth technology,

gives the

Lockheed Martin/Boeing's

Tandem-wing designs date

earliest days; the layout

machine an exceptionally wide

fore-and-aft center of gravity.

Dark Star (above) was part of

a program instigated by the US
Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency to evolve a High
Altitude Endurance

US features tandem wings - the

and the rear forward - joined at their

in the

front swept back

Wingtip

fin surfaces

reduce spillage of air

and improve
of wing

efficiency

Unmanned

Air Vehicle for reconnaissance.

Dark

Star

was canceled due

to cost overruns, but the

successful development of

such aircraft

is

inevitable.

UCAVs
into

body blends
wing structure

caption, far

('see

leftj

Twin

fins

and

Pressurized cabin will

house pilot and

rudders at ends

relief pilot

of tail booms

Short-span gull-

wing lifting-body
configuration

Communications
The Proteus

link

high-altitude long-operation

Scaled Composites in the US,

is

(HALO)

aircraft,

produced by

the prototype of a flying relay station

able to provide cellular telephone

and broadband data

services at less

cost than satellite communications. Conceived by Angel Technologies,

the aircraft will fly in a continuous 30-degree

The

flying

and

wing

is

an enduring concept,

airliner designs

embodying

principle are being studied

on both

the

sides

Overwing engine
mounting reduces
noise heard on ground

bank

for

up

to 18 hours.

Aerodynamic
fuselage

of the Atlantic. This Airbus proposal

has four overwing turbofans and

would carry 1,000 passengers

in its center section. It would
Large ivmgtip winglets

in

addition to twin fins

141

^OimERN CROSS ^:^.

PART THREE

Aviation

Innovators
Great aircraft do not appear by chance. They are the

products

of

great

people:

designers, manufacturers,

extraordinary

skills in

and

pioneers,
pilots

who

scientists,

apply their

windtunnels, factories, and

experimental establishments around the world and, of course, in the air

made

flight

itself.

Their dedication has

one of humankind's greatest technical

achievements. The following pages contain brief

biographies of
to aviation.

some of

The

list

the outstanding contributors

continues to grow.

AVIATION INNOVATORS
(Distinguished Service Cross) for

He was

gallantry.

CLEMENT ADER
1841-1925
Wealthy French

electrical engineer

Clement Ader made the

powered takeoff

first

piloted

in history, at

mass formation of 24 Savoia-

SM.55X

landing during a long-distance

a transatlantic round-trip flight

bombing raid. After the war Alcock

became associated with Vickers
Ltd., and it was in a converted
Vimy bomber that he and Lt. Arthur
Whitten Brown made a nonstop
flight from Newfoundland to

Italy to

June 1919. Both men

1890. Ader achieved

were knighted

this feat in his

led a

Marchetti

Ireland, in

airplane - the bat-winged.

the Regia Aeronautica. In 1933 he

prisoner by the Turks after a forced

Armainvilliers, France, in October

first

taken

later

was

killed

when

ADER'S

his

18, 1919,

Viking
at

autumn 1921 Barnwell accepted

technical

commission

RAAF

in the

(Royal Australian Air Force), but

1923 he returned

in Italian to

in

to his old post at

describe a large formation of aircraft.

Bristol, designing a variety of aircraft

Balbo was subsequently appointed

that included the Bulldog fighter, the

governor of Libya. At the outbreak

World War

II,

he called for Italy

to side with Britain, contrary to

Mussolini's plans.

and was

killed

Cote d'Evrard

HI

during an attempted

antiaircraft

forced landing in fog.

his

France

from

noun balbo was coined

AVION

in

monoplane, as well as

the outstanding Bristol F.2B. In

Chicago, landing on Lake

He

when

returning from

a patrol in 1940, shot

own

down by

Blenheim bomber, and the Type 138

high-altitude monoplane. In 1938,

mono-

he designed a light single-seat

continued to

North Africa

lead air patrols over

amphibian crashed

Bullet

on

Michigan. As a result the collective

of

Alcock

for their feat.

on December

flying boats

including the Scout biplane and the

M.l

the

plane for the Civil Air Guard, one of

which was
its
it

second

built for his

flight,

own

on August

crashed, killing

its

use.

On

1938,

2,

designer.

guns of

base.

OLEG ANTONOV
1906-1984
Soviet designer Oleg

Antonov

built his first

aircraft, the
in

1924.

Golub

Two

glider,

years later

he became a student at

Leningrad Polytechnic

He

Institute.

design gliders and,

steam-powered Eole, which he

built

in

1930, joined the

continued to

upon graduation

new Moscow

between 1882 and 1890. Although

Glider Factory, where he became

he covered a distance of only 165

chief designer. In 1938, he

(50 m), this

was enough

Army

French

ft

for the

to the

work on

to encourage further

experiments. Ader started, and

abandoned, work on

his

before moving on to the Avion

light aircraft,

then detached to

Avion

moved

Yakovlev design bureau to

but he was

work on

STOL

observation aircraft. Shortly

II,

III,

afterwards he was involved in the

which employed two steam engines

design of the A-7, one of the

to drive tractor propellers. This

troop-carrying gliders. In 1946 he

was aborted

project

tests in front

after

two

failed

of military witnesses

in

set

first

up the Antonov design bureau,

which went on

to

produce a family

1897. Ader's subsequent claims to

of transport aircraft, including the

have flown are not borne out by

An-2, An-10, An-12, An-22, An-24,

Work began on an
the French Army lost

official reports.

and An-124. One Antonov design,

Avion IV, but

the

interest in flying

machines

in

1898

An-225 Mriya, is the heaviest and

most powerful aircraft ever built.

and ended Ader's contract.

JOHN ALCOCK
1892-1919

Born

in

making

is

the

nonstop transatlantic airplane

flight.

the

for

After qualifying for his pilot's

certificate in

1912, he came third

1914 London-Manchester

in

race.

World War I Alcock

(Royal Naval
Air Service), where he became an
instructor. In 1917 he was appointed
flight commander, and in September
of that year was awarded the DSC
At the

start of

joined the

144

RNAS

Multiple world record holder Jean

in

S.

Kent, England, Captain

Frank Barnwell was the designer

Batten, of Rotorua,

responsible for the outstanding Bristol

sailed to

many

other Bristol

from the 1910s to the 1930s.

Barnwell served six years as an

Alcock
first

Born

aircraft

Manchester, England, John

remembered

JEAN BATTEN
1909-1982

F.2B Fighter and

SIR

BARNWELL

1880-1938

CAPTAIN FRANK

GENERAL HALO BALBO

1896-1940
Italy's

Italo

most famous interwar

pilot,

Balbo served with the Alpine

troops during World

War

and then

joined Benito Mussolini's Fascist

movement.

knowing
he was

In 1926, despite

nothing about aviation,

appointed Secretary of State for

He

quickly learned to

about reorganizing

fly,

and

Air.

set

Italy's air force.

England

in

New

Zealand,

1929, and

in

December 1932 learned to fly. In

May 1934 she established a new
women's solo record for an

apprentice with a shipbuilder

England-Australia

before joining his brother in a

the 10,500 miles (16,900

small engineering firm near Stirling,

Lympne, Kent,

Scotland, where they built several

days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, beating

gliders

and powered airplanes.

Amy Johnson's

to

traveling

flight,

km) from

Darwin

14

in

1930 record by more

In 1911, he joined the British &C

than four days. She then flew back

Colonial Aeroplane Co., later called

from Darwin to Lympne

the Bristol Aeroplane Co., as chief

16 hours, 15 minutes, the

draftsman.

From 1913

to 1921,

Australia-England solo

in

17 days,

first

flight

by a

apart from a spell in the

RFC

woman.

(Royal Flying Corps)

1914-15,

became the first woman to fly solo

from England to South America,

in

he produced a range of designs

In

November 1935

she

AVIATION INNOVATORS
traveling via South Africa. She

claimed world records for both the

from Lympne to Natal and

flight

GIUSEPPE MARIO BELLANCA

1886-1960

Air Service) raid on the Zeppelin

sheds at Friedrichshafen, Germany,

in

November 1914.

1916 he

In

monoplane launched Blackburn

Aeroplanes. The company's name
was changed to the Blackburn
Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd. in

the South Atlantic crossing. In

Sicilian-born Giuseppe Bellanca built

relinquished his interest in the firm

October 1936, she made the

a two-seat

pusher biplane and a

monoplane before emigrating from
Italy to the US in 1910. The

to enter parliament.

became the Supermarine Aviation

Works, achieving fame for its

a family of interwar spotter aircraft

following year he built another

Schneider Trophy seaplanes and

Iris

direct

first

England-New Zealand

flight,

also breaking the England-Australia

solo record.

year later she set a

new Australia-England
and became the

solo record,

person to hold

first

aircraft,
fly,

used

it

to teach himself to

and then opened

Mineola, Long Island,

New

at

back solo records simultaneously.

Bellanca continued to build aircraft

York.

while working as a consulting

1847-1922
developing the telephone,

work

his

1907

in

founded the Aerial Experiment

Bell

Nova

Association (AEA), based in

Scotia,

New

Canada, and Hammondsport,

York, to conduct experiments

with both gliders and powered

team included

airplanes. His

engineering students

RW. Baldwin

and J.D. McCurdy, US Army officer

Lt. T.E. Selfridge, and Glenn Curtiss,

who

provided expertise on gas

engines. Four

were

built

powered airplanes

and

tested in 1908, the

most successful being the June Bug

and the Silver Dart; the former won
the Scientific

the

first

American trophy

for

public flight in the US,

which was made by Curtiss

1908. Although the

March 1909,

Bell

AEA

machine to demonstrate the

company's new air-cooled

folded in

experiment with machines using

his

tetrahedral kite principle.

that bears his

name, Lawrence

Bell

V8

Mark

December 31, 1927, and production

1904, continued to produce aircraft

engines through the interwar years,

until the late 1980s.

and also expanded

After

making

1908.

monoplane

He founded one

flying

grounds

won

500

fly

and qualify

of Britain's

to set

day (he did

He

it

officer in the

was instrumental

planning of the

RNAS

numbers of Rolls-Royce Nene

it was acquired

SNECMA.

ERIC BISHOP

designer of the world's

airliner, the

in the

(Royal Naval

first jet

de Havilland Comet,

Ronald Bishop joined the de

Havilland Aircraft

used the

(Royal Naval Volunteer

Reserve), he

Company

as an

apprentice at age 18. At the time

of his retirement in 1964, he

was

deputy managing director and

design director. As well as the

Comet, he conceived many other

and military aircraft, most

civil

was a mechanic when he joined the

Glenn L. Martin company in 1912.

notably the Mosquito, one of the

He

War

most

rose to be vice-president and

general

manager before leaving

Martin

in

January 1925. In 1928, he

joined Consolidated at Buffalo,

New

1935.

company.

He

then formed his

World
Other types were the Hornet

LOLIb BLERIOT

versatile airplanes of
II.

twin-engined naval

fighter, the

Vampire

the

Heron

York, and served as general manager

until

II.

1903-1989
The

to

up Pemberton-Billing

As an

War

engines. In 1968

RONALD

bet with Frederick

in a

1872-1936

Hispano-Suiza made

by the French company

Essex, in 1909. In September 1913

he

jet

Hawker

1962.

in

Fambridge,

at

armaments.
widely used

large

and gunrunning, Noel Pemberton

Billing built his first

into

20-mm cannon was

during and long after World

a fortune selling yachts

in

His

series.

of a wide range of types continued

In the 1940s,

Group

LOUIS BLERIOT
I

Hispano-Suiza company, which he

NOEL PEMBERTON BILLING

1881-1948

Siddeley

aviation for

in

established in Barcelona, Spain, in

Its

Aircraft Ltd joined the

engine, which

and the French SPAD

Ltd to build his "Supermarine"

company

renowned

as a designer of

Bellanca Aircraft Corporation on

RNVR
aircraft

is

aircraft.

disappeared soon after Blackburn

known

wing monoplanes. He founded The

flying boats.

1894-1956

widely

aircraft as the British S.E.5a fighter

Aircraft to build distinctive high-

money

Founder of the

Columbia

Levine, he formed

and the

The famous name eventually

powered such noted World War

engine. In 1927, with Charles A.

before breakfast).

LAWRENCE DALE BELL

6IRKIGT

1878-1953

Birkigt

Handley Page that he could learn

continued to

MARK

designing the

radial

fighters,

Buccaneer low-level strike

automobiles, Swiss engineer

first

in July

and Roc naval

Corporation
a

Although better known for

the Shark torpedo bomber, the Skua

More

1920s, including

Arm, the large

and Perth biplane flying boats,

for the Fleet Air

Spitfire fighter.

engineer to Wright Aeronautical

in the

1914. Blackburn's products included

a flying school

both England-Australia out and

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

its

The company

jet fighter,

light

Dove and

commercial transports,

and the Sea Vixen naval

fighter.

own

French pioneer Louis Bleriot secured

himself a place in the history books

by making the

across

first flight

powered

the English Channel in a

airplane. Bleriot

had made

his

fortune from autt)mobile headlights

Bell Aircraft, to build

before entering into aeronautical

military airplanes.

ROBERT BLACKBURN
1885-1955

the P-39 Airacobra fighter, the P-59

British engineer

Airacomet - the USA's first jet

aircraft - the X-1 and X-2 rocket-

was working in France in 1908

when Wilbur Wright gave his flying

crashing frequently.

powered high-speed research

aircraft, and a large family of

demonstrations there. This inspired

Wright brothers had demonstrated

him

to pursue a career in aviation.

the successful control of an aircraft,

His

first

The company
produced such famous aircraft as

helicopters, including the

"Huey" Iroquois and

Osprey

UH-I

tiltrotor convertiplane.

airplane, a rather heavy

monoplane

the V-22

NOEL PEMBERTON BILLING

fly,

Robert Blackburn

built in

1909, failed to

but his Antoinette-type 1911

experiments with the Voisin brothers.

In 1906, he put together his

own

team, producing widely varying

designs that he tested himself,

Raymond

Once

the

Saulnier produced the

Bleriot

XI monoplane,

Bleriot

made

his

in

which

cross-Channel

flight

145

AVIATION INNOVATORS
on July 25, 1909. The resulting fame
of man and machine brought worldwide orders assuring
future. Bleriot

his

company's

stopped flying

later

With US Navy Cdr. G.

Conrad Westervelt he created the
airplane.

B8cW

seaplane. Boeing registered his

company.

Pacific

that year, but the Societe Bleriot

July 1916, and

Aeronautique thrived

Airplane Co.

in Paris

throughout the interwar years.

Aero Products,

renamed

in April

in

Boeing

1917. During

company
US Army and

Navy and commercial

Boeing

1892-1986

it

the interwar years, the

built fighters for the

MARCEL BLOCH

flights. In

GABRIEL BOREL

went on to produce many outstand-

known

Marcel Bloch was drafted into the

727 and 747

from the Borel

at

in

1914 and

laboratory at Chalais-Meudon and

Farman

factory. In

1917, with Henri Potez, he formed

(Societe d'Etudes Aeronautiques)

to build the

SEA. 4 two-seat scout.

Bloch survived the postwar slump by

producing furniture, but

in

1930

formed Avions Marcel Bloch to

build advanced all-metal civil
military machines.

work

in

War

1961.

He

and

refused to

for the Nazis after France's

1940 and was sent to

Buchenwald concentration camp,
which he survived. In 1945, his
family changed its name from Bloch
defeat in

to Dassault, the

wartime Resistance

code name used by

his brother.

monoplanes, sea-

a series of

and

emerged

flying boats
stable.

During World

they built products for other

was restructured

HAUPTMANN OSWALD
BOELCKE
1891-1916
A German

Oswald Boelcke gained his aviator's

two weeks after the start
of World War I and flew many
reconnaissance missions. Awarded

certificate

the Iron Cross in 1915, he began

as Societe Generale

own

rules of air

combat

that

but

built,

MARSHAL SIR WILLIAM

SEFTON BRANCKER
1877-1930

Brancker served
then

in India,

Box

Bristol

in the

where

Boer

kite inspired

him

held several posts, including

learn to

fly.

Commander'of

Flying Corps) in the Middle East,

Russian front to form a prototype

and Major-General

Jagdstaffel ("attack squadron") in

(Royal Air Force). After the war,

in this

unit under his tutelage. Boelcke

RFC

the

(Royal

RAF

in the

Brancker became an active

flying aces

After flying in a Curtiss seaplane in

into private business in 1945.

he

he was recalled from a tour of the

Many German

went

to

France's greatest aircraft companies.

1916.

the war, Bulman, by then a director,

War and

During World War

became known as "Boelcke's Dicta"

and were taught to all German

gained their combat training

1935,

in

a flight in a

Director of Air Organization,

WILLIAM E. BOEING
1881-1956

bombers, and,

William Sefton

airmen. Having advocated the

up Avions Marcel

He then became chief test pilot

Hawker Aircraft, where he tested

1925.

Royal

in the British

creation of dedicated fighting units,

set

Farnborough, England, from 1919 to

fighters, light

Dassault, which became one of

Marcel then

Royal Aircraft Establishment,

at the

the prototype Hurricane fighter. After

AIR

Artillery in 1896,

developed

served as

test pilot

remaining with Hawker throughout

Commissioned

his

were

no orders were forthcoming.

new monoplane,

He

He

the company's classic range of biplane

fixed, forward-firing

victories.

1915.

in

(Royal Air Force)

Mecaniques. The C.l and C.2

equipped with

amassed 40

RAF

an

at

flying Fokker's

synchronized machine guns, and

(Royal Flying Corps) from the

des Constructions Industrielles et

fighter prototypes

pioneer of air fighting,

of Britain's great test pilots,

Royal Artillery

companies. In 1918 the company

both the aeronautical

the Maurice

SEA

The Boeing Company

One

good

RFC

1914

planes,

Corps of Engineers

PAUL W.S. BULMAN

1896-1963
"George" Bulman transferred to the

B-29, and B-52 bombers, and the

worked

became simply Dassault Aviation.

reputation, and between 1910 and

ing airplanes, including the B-17,

was renamed

Morane-Borel.

as the

airplane gained a

become one of France's

airliners. It

it

Mourmelon, France, where two of

their pilots, Leon Morane and
Raymond Saulnier, built a mono-

The

the

Dassault Breguet Aviation. In 1990

his

brother opened a flying school at

foremost aircraft manufacturers.

Later to

and

In 1909, Gabriel Borel

plane

airliners.

retired in 1934, but his firm

unknown]

[b.-d.

1971, control of the

company passed to Dassault and

name changed to Avions Marcel

was

on October 28, 1916, when

was struck by

proponent of
aviation.

He

all

forms of

civil

joined Holt

Thomas's Aircraft Manufacturing

1914, Yale graduate and Seattle

killed

timber merchant "Bill" Boeing

his Albatros biplane

Co., and in 1922

decided that he could build a better

another flown by a comrade.

Britain's Director of Civil

Aviation.

He

was appointed

died in the 1930

crash of the R.lOl airship.

WILLIAM SEFTON BRANCKER

LOUIS BREGUET

1880-1955
The son of wealthy

Parisian clock-

makers, Louis Breguet turned to

aviation in 1907, building a large,

unstable helicopter. His

flown

in

first

airplane,

1909, led to a series of

all-

the

for his claim to have

first

I.

World

war he founded the

Compagnie de Messageries

After the

aircraft

company

built

numerous

successful designs, such as the Breguet

19, used for

many

long-distance

made

airplane flight over the

from the US Naval Academy

Aeriennes, later Air France, while his

146

Famed
North

airline

Di

1888-1957

reconnaissance airplane was one of

War

EVELYN BYRD

metal biplanes. The Breguet 14

the outstanding aircraft of

BOEING (RIGHT) AND WESTERVELT WITH

COMMANDER RICHARD

Pole,

Richard Byrd graduated

1912 and served

in

in administrative

roles before joining the pilot training

program

in

World War

I.

In 1919,

he helped plan a transatlantic

by US Navy Curtiss

and

in

NC flying

flight

boats,

1926, with Floyd Bennett,

attempted the

first

airplane flight

AVIATION INNOVATORS
powered

over the North Pole. Byrd and

first

Bennett's claim to have succeeded

the basic principles of heavier-than-

earned them the

US Congressional

Medal of Honor, but

has since

it

he established

flight

and founded the science

air flight

of aerodynamics.

He was

the

person to divorce the systems of

turned around 150 miles (240 km)

and thrust and to conceive the

short of the Pole.

Having

failed to

means of propulsion (1799);

1927, Byrd turned to Antarctic

first

making

exploration,

over the South Pole

the

first flight

fixed-

the

to build such an aircraft (1809,

tested as a glider); the

whirling arm and

1929.

in

lift

wing airplane with an independent

beat Lindbergh to Paris, France, in

fly

to use a

first

model

glider

for aeronautical research (1804);

the

first

foils for

CAMM

SYDNEY
1893-1966

SIR

Few British aircraft designers have

many famous airplanes to their

credit as

Sydney

Camm. A

builder of flying models

he joined the Martinsyde

as a

woodworker

air-

also invented the

and sent up

his terrified

monoplane

in a

coachman

glider four years

Although unpowered and

his youth,

uncontrolled, these were the

for his

work on

Autogiro rotating-wing
de

He became

Spain.

young

aircraft

age.

interested in flight

Model

York

was

at the age of six,

civil

engineer, specializing in railroad

bridges.

He

developed a deep

interest in aviation,

with

first

New

all

corresponding

of the leading pioneers. In

1894 he published Progress

in Flying

Machines, an impressive and

heavier-than-air airplane flights.

done worldwide up

CLYDE CESSNA

to that time. In

JUAN DE LA CIER\

1896, he began experimenting with

1880-1954

introducing the Pratt truss bracing

size gliders in

Cessna was a natural mechanic

who

system into airplane design. These

biplane in 1912, and a

went on

of

machines were flown on the shores

1913. In

appointed to the board

one of America's principal

1935, and

in

Hawker

Raised on a Kansas farm, Clyde

to

become the founder

light-

airplane manufacturers. In 1911,

Siddeley Aviation's director of

after seeing a flying exhibition, he

ordered a Bleriot monoplane

Cygnet, Hart, Fury, Hurricane, Sea

Typhoon, Tempest, Sea Hawk,

Hunter, and

P.

11 27 Kestrel.

GASTON AND RENE

CAUDRON

France, built their

first

1908 and

set

in

1910

Picardy,

airplane in

up a

flying

own

and

fly,

set

In

himself up as a

passing the
to his

1925, when he and

He

left

Air.

to

retired in

Dwane

biplanes.

War

I,

and the

World
interwar years saw a
in

variety of designs, including airliners,

light aircraft,

and successful racing

monoplanes. Although they

gliders in 1946, the

to revive after

built

company

World War

failed

GEORGE CAYLEY

English designer

George Cayley

is

known

father of the airplane."

as "the

About

century before the Wright brothers'

moved

whole

series of

DC-2

to England

many by

Alliott

A.V. Roe. In

Germany, Spain,
killed in a

Croydon,

airliner crash at

9,

COLONEL VIRGINUS
1886-1948

model airplane

builder and follower of the

met engineer

1925

and

Autogiros was

England, on December

pioneers. At the age of 18 he

1936.

CLARK

E.

Virginus Clark's brilliance as an

Roe and

engineer

was

first

training at the

evident during his

US Naval Academy.

moving

into

He

the drawing office. A.V.

Roe

carried out studies in aerodynamics.

soon

baronet from Yorkshire, England,

Sir

Cierva

license in France,

Roy Chadwick was,

as a youth, an avid

controlled

formed, Autogiros being built under

Wallace.

& Co Ltd was formed in

1773-1857

first

1926, the Cierva Autogiro Co. was

1893-1947

assistant before

SIR

the

produced,

joined him as his personal

II.

made

flight in history. In

1937,

ROY CHADWICK

SIR

machine,

his first successful

form

company presidency on

nephew,

flight.

a safe aircraft,

and the US. Cierva was

built distinctive

and twin-engined bombers

1923

rotor head,

years later Cessna

maiden

the C.4, with a fully articulated

airplanes, but returned to

Cessna Aircraft.

its

Cierva evolved his Autogiro concept.

school and a factory, at which they

twin-boom tractor
They produced trainers

which crashed on

gyroplane

Two

as a civil engineer

Determined to devise

wings.

Walter Beech formed Travel

had graduated

he designed a large trimotor biplane,

barnstormer. In 1916-17 he built

until

in

and Augustus Herring. From 1900,

Chanute was a trusted confidant of

two more
farming

1882-1915, 1884-1959
The Caudron brothers of

fuselage and built his

a powered
monoplane
1919 - by which time he

1910-11,

of Lake Michigan by William Avery

After 13 crashes, Cessna had taught

himself to

multiplane and biplane hang gliders,

design. His creations included the

Fury,

full-

comprehensive study of the work

Camm

time of his death was

and

kites

were followed by two

moved to Hawker Engineering Co.

(later Hawker Aircraft) as a senior
draftsman in 1923, and within two
years was chief designer. He was
at the

Juan

Cierva was born in Murcia,

la

at a

the

aircraft,

OCTAVE CHANUTE
1832-1910

where he became a wealthy

1849,

in

Most famous

crashed shortly after takeoff.

limbs. Cayley flew a full-size triplane

later.

progressed to the drawing office

under G.H. Handasyde.

it

Paris-born Octave Chanute

1914 and

in

World
War II he designed the Tudor commercial transport. It was in the
prototype Tudor II that Chadwick
was killed on August 23, 1947, when

taken to

boy aboard

all,

the Lancaster bomber. After

the caterpillar tractor, and artificial

skillful

company

(Royal Air Force), the

tension wheel (for undercarriages),

glider with a

as

He

wings.

RAF

for the

Anson, and, most famously of

JUAN DE LA CIERVA
1895-1936

and

to realize the advantages of

streamlining and of cambered

Cierva on Autogiro design. His

subsequent designs for Avro included

the Avian two-seater, the Tutor trainer

first

transpired that their Fokker Trimotor

la

War

after the
I

Chadwick found himself

charge of 100 draughtsmen.

designed the Avro Baby

and

later

OCTAVE CHANUTE

1913, and

outbreak of World

in

in

He

1919,

collaborated with Juan de

subsequently learned to

After being posted to

fly

NACA

and

(the

National Advisory Committee for

the Wright brothers,

who,

in

and

it

was he

1903, took their work to

European experimenters through

lectures and articles in France.

Aeronautics) in 1917, he embarked

on an intensive study of
sections, developing his

Most famous

of these

is

airfoil

own

series.

the simple

147

AVIATION INNOVATORS
Clark Y, which gives high

the

hft for

UK. He subsequently pioneered

low drag and was widely adopted.

in-flight refuelling techniques. Flight

One

Refuelling Ltd., the

of

most notable uses was

its

in

NYP

Charles Lindbergh's Ryan

founded

of St. Louis. Clark also devised

an effective drag-reducing cowling

Spirit

for radial engines in the early 1920s.

After forming the Clark Aircraft

Corporation

in the late

1930s he

introduced a method of building

by using plastic-impregnated

aircraft

wood, known

Duramold, with
remarkable savings in time and cost.
as

at the

company he
1935, was still flourishing

in

SAMUEL FRANKLIN
CODY
1867-1913

end of the twentieth century.

JACQUELINE COCHRAN
c.1906-1980
Jacquelme Cochran

American

pilot

was born

in Florida.

poor

Brought up by

foster parents she suffered

hardship in her youth, but became a

well-known beautician and cosmetics

tycoon before marrying aviator

COANDA

HENRI

Floyd Odium. In 1932, she learned

1886-1972
Henri Coanda

remembered

best

is

as the discoverer of the

which

effect,"

is

in

the tendency of air

graduated from the High School of

as the

At

intake's best student.

first

Aero Show

in air races,

to

abandon

in

Trophy

became the

and

in

woman

1939 she

make a
During World War II,

first

blind landing.

1938, flying

in

to

he exhibited a propellerless biplane

Cochran campaigned to establish the

WASPs (Women's Airforce Service

with a 50-hp Clerget engine that

Pilots). In

the second Paris

1910,

in

it

and never

was

flew,

has often been

represented, erroneously, as the

In 1912,

jet aircraft.

&

the British

Company

woman

totally impractical
it

Coanda

first

which he designed

Canadian-built

to break the

on the same day,

she set a world

sound

first

barrier;

speed record

joined

Colonial Aeroplane

at Bristol,

in a

F-86 Sabre, she became the

drove a ducted turbine screw.

Although

1953,

for

England, for

a distinctive series

SAMUEL FRANKLIN CODY

entering the

Romania. She won

a Seversky fighter,

1909

in Paris, France, in

compete

the Bendix

Bucharest, Romania, he

Aeronautics

fly in

to

1934 MacRobertson race from

England to Australia, which she had

"Coanda

or water to follow a curved surface.

Born

and then began

three weeks,

to

women
mph

Born

S.F.

Cowdery in Iowa, Cody

name in tribute to

1905. The successful operation of

emulated by becoming a skilled

model in 1906 encouraged

him to build a full-size version.
Powered by a 24-hp Antoinette

horseman, sharpshooter, and

engine, this tandem-twin-rotor device

changed

a large

his last

whom

"Buffalo Bill" Cody,

and running

a successful

show. Settling

lassoist,

Wild West

England

in

he

in the early

1890s, he developed a man-carrying

kite

system for the

was then employed

of Britain's

first

War

Office,

and

intuitive engineering skills,

on

Lisieux, France,

on November

his

further his ideas

an airplane for the army, and

this machine - British Army

on rotary

in

- he made the

(1,050 km/h).

sustained and controlled powered

first

on October 16, 1908.

CAPTAIN DIEUDONNE
COSIES
1896-1973

flight in Britain

After dismissal by the

Romania

1909, he developed his

French scout pilot

airplanes. Flying these aircraft, he

and

won
*^

Alan

before

World War

RFC

I,

1917, where he learned to

1921, after a

working

spell

in

In

fly.

for a

was employed
and manager of the de

joyriding outfit, he
chief pilot

^^

and transferred

(Royal Flying Corps)

1911, and the British

Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service.

flying

World War

in

on Air Union's

I,

cross-

services after the war,

Dieudonne Costes won international

acclaim with a series of record-

breaking long-distance

Military Trials in 1912.

made

Cody was killed in 1913

when the "Waterplane"

These included

flights

he

as Louis Breguet's chief pilot.

flights

from

Paris to

he had built for the

Aswan, Egypt, and to Persia in 1926,

and from Paris to Nijnitagilsk,

Circuit of Britain race

Siberia, in 1927. Later that year he

broke up

as

After claiming eight victories as a

Channel

1910, the number one

in

joined the Royal Artillery shortly

to the

in

and two Michelin Cups

Cobham

War Office in
own series of

the British Empire Michelin

Cup

1894-1973
British trailblazer

flight.

built

Aeroplane No.

ALAN COBHAM

3,

1907. The claim that this machine

and monoplanes before returning to

SIR

aboard, near

ability to hover manned or

unmanned has since been questioned.
Cornu lacked the finances to develop

Cody

of 652

1914.

ft

man

of conventionally powered biplanes

in

(30 cm), with a

had the

in the building

military dirigible,

the Nulli Secundus. Relying

allegedly rose to a height of

in flight.

circumnavigation of the

began

globe.

He

in

West

flew from Paris to Senegal

Africa,

on

to Brazil

(making

PAUL CORNU
1881-1944

the

flew Britain's Director of Civil

French cycle and car

coast of South America, and up the

Aviation, Sir Sefton Brancker, to

salesman Paul Cornu

Cape Town and back; and

remembered

He made

North Africa

he

made

These

Europe and

flying tours of
in

1922;

in

1924 he

in

1926

and others helped

first

Britain's Imperial

Airways. In 1932,

Cobham

launched

Aviation

Day Campaign,

his

air display to foster

148

its

manned

helicopter

own

power.

He

a touring
in

JACQUELINE COCHRA

Pacific

seaboard to Washington

first direct,

TR

nonstop Paris-to-New

flight in the

Breguet

Point d' Interrogation.

experimenting with

made

model helicopters

goodwill tour of the US.

in

state.

The airplane was then shipped to

Japan, from where Costes flew back
to Paris. In 1930 Costes made the
York

began designing and

National

airmindedness

is

for his

to rise vertically under

establish the routes to be used by

direct air crossing of the

South Atlantic), down the Atlantic

claim to have built the

a return flight to Australia.

flights

first

a 16,387-mile

XIX Super
He then

(26,383-km)

AVIATION INNOVATORS
for infringing their patent for

GROUP CAPTAIN JOHN

CUNNINGHAM

airplane control, and eventually lost

and

a lengthy

1917-

bitter legal battle.

John Cunningham was one of the

most distinguished British civil and
military pilots of the 1940s

He

1950s.

Company's

Aircraft

and

joined the de Havilland

light aircraft

development department

in

The outbreak of World War

II

GEOFFREY DE HAVILLAND
1882-1965

SIR

1938.
in the

following year thwarted plans for

British aircraft designer Geoffrey de

him

Havilland started out

to attempt the light airplane

in the

auto

long-distance record. Serving in the

industry before building his

RAF

airplane in 1908. Although this

(Royal Air Force) during the

became the first Briton

shoot down an enemy bomber
war, he

night. This feat gained

to

machine was

at

airplane

Cunningham

it

and

was

a failure, his

first

JAMES DOOLITTLE WITH A CURTISS RACING SEAPLANE

second

so successful that both

creator were taken on by

its

War

He became

2 hours 32 minutes.

He

died on

January 4, 1910, when the port wing

a reputation as a nightfighter pilot,

Britain's

and he went on

designer and test pilot for the Royal

of his Bleriot - in which he had

Aircraft Factory at Farnborough,

England, producing the B.E.I, B.E.2,

a 50-hp engine instead of its original

25-hp unit - collapsed during a turn

chief test pilot for de Havilland in

FE.2, S.E.I, and B.S.I. In 1914, he

at

1946. His achievements

joined the Aircraft Manufacturing

onto a hangar, throwing him out.

20 enemy

to destroy a total of

aircraft.

After the

war he was appointed

in this role

included piloting the maiden flight of

the de Havilland

and,

globe

Comet

jet airliner

1955, circumnavigating the

in

in the

Comet

3.

The 30,000-

mile (48,300-km) flight took 56 hours

1958 Cunningham

to complete. In

was made

Company

Office.

building a variety of

Moth

civil

and military

most famously the D.H.60

Mosquito,

light airplane, the

the Vampire, and the

40

ft

(12 m). The machine

fitted

fell

American aviator James Doolittle

is probably best remembered for
raid

Signal

to 1913, wealthy French

and

a director

first bombing
World War II.

in

days, before joining the

1869-1924
From 1910

on Japan

Doolittle built a glider in his school-

ARMAND DEPERDUSSIN

businessman Armand Deperdussin

Comet.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL
JAMES DOOLITTLE
1896-1993

leading his country's

role.

own company,

In 1920, he started his

aircraft,

same

(Airco) in the

the

his design engineer,

Corps

1917. In 1922, he

one-stop

superb

US Army

as a flying cadet in

made

the

test pilot,

Louis Bechereau, worked

stuntman and wing-walker.

He

together to produce a

the Schneider

became an

he was also a

of de Havilland.
later

first

across the US.

flight

Trophy

He won
US in

for the

1925, flying a Curtiss seaplane, and

executive director of

family of

British Aerospace.

monoplanes. Flying one

in

of these machines, the

relying entirely

aviator Jules Vedrines

Despite becoming manager of Shell

won

Oil's aviation

GLENN

H.

CURTISS

9,

Hammond

a successful bicycle

and motorcycle
ability

Bell's

AEA

Experiment Association).

In

1908 Curtiss designed the AEA's

third airplane, the

June Bug,

which he made the

in

the

own

first

USA. He then

left

up

his

airplane manufacturing

company, which produced the

world's

first

flying boats.

trainers

War

I,

practical seaplanes

His Curtiss

JN

were widely used

and the

in

Born

in

was

when

and

his interest in aviation

Reims, France, on

in

1930,

setting a

world

returned to active duty

in April

raid

in

in

1931.
1940,

1942 masterminded the

on Tokyo by 16 B-25

Mitchell bombers.

He

the 12th Air Force

and commanded

formed

later

and 8th Air Forces. After

war Doolittle returned to Shell,
where he went on to become a
company director.
the 15th
the

new

speed record at the same time.

Despite these triumphs, and the
elegant,

fly,

molded-plywood, mono-

PROFESSOR CLAUDE
DORNIER
1884-1969

airplane from this pioneer and

racing models, orders were thin on

German

the ground. Deperdussin resorted

Dornier was born

embezzlement, for
which he was arrested in the closing
months of 1913. The company that

received his engineering education

he had created was taken over by

the viability of the count's airship

Louis Bleriot. After a prolonged

designs.

a tour of

fly.

Embarking on

Europe, he became the

World

July 1908,

and, at Turin in

was the

to carry a

first

female passenger, Therese

first

fly in Italy

safe, steady pilot,

distance records. In

(Royal Naval Air Service). Curtiss

flying a Bleriot
a flight of

by the Wrights

title at

department

coque fuselages of some of the

was taken

to court

in

Another Deperdussin racer

September 29, 1913, setting

inspired by Voisin's gliding

person to

RNAS

the

blind flight,

experiments. In 1907, he bought an

"Jenny"

large Curtiss flying

won

Schneider Trophy contest

Trophy

He

famous

defended the Gordon Bennett

Orleans, France, Leon

taught himself to

boats were developed into long-

range patrol aircraft for the

LEON DELAGRANGE
1873-1910

in Paris

public flight
to set

first

April.

Delagrange was a popular sculptor

in

their seaplanes

first

on instruments.

speed record for landplanes

and

following year one of

DE HAVILLAND VAMPIRE

with engines led to him joining

Graham

mph

(174km/h). The

manufacturing business. His

(Aerial

1912, setting a record

speed of 108.2

was born in
Hammondsport, New
York, where he set up
Curtiss

1929 made the

he continued to

in

hicago on September

Pioneer and innovator

Alexander

Gordon Bennett

trophy race, held

1878-1930
Glenn

the

fast, stylish

Peltier.

he set several

December 1909,

monoplane, he made

124 miles (200 km)

in

later

to large-scale

investigation Deperdussin

was

He

shot himself

in

Munich.

In

in

Claude

Bavaria and

1910 he was engaged

by Count von Zeppelin to check

He

also designed a series

of airplanes for the Zeppelin

company during World War

eventually given a suspended

sentence.

in

aircraft designer

924.

I,

which

included several giant seaplanes and

149

AVIATION INNOVATORS
were constructed

flying boats that

Some

with metal airframes.

of this

work for Zepphn continued after the

war but, when aircraft manufacture
in Germany was prohibited in 1922,
Dornier

set

up

his

Switzerland and

own works

in

There he

Italy.

developed the celebrated Wal and

Do X

World War II saw

new Dornier military

flying boats.

the arrival of

Do

such as the

aircraft,

bombers and

the

Do 335

push-pull

civil products included the

- the world's first V/STOL jet

transport - and the

and commuter

Do 228

in all of the

1931, and being the

Vickers/BAC

(British Aircraft

biplanes were built.

fly

DU TEMPLE DE LA CROIX
1823-1890
la

Croix

born

Brooklyn,

in

New

York, and

joined the Connecticut Aircraft Co.

in

1915. Later the same year he

is

credited with the

loan from sportsman David Davis,

the Davis-Douglas Co.
to build

an airplane to

across the US.

Douglas

set

up

was formed
nonstop

fly

When this crashed,

his own company

a full-size aircraft

Air Service,

around

1937, while attempting to

around the world

in a

Lockheed

and her navigator,

Fred Noonan, disappeared over the

The circumstances of

Pacific.

the

flight.

The company found

first

The

three-wheeled undercarriage, and

1874

a full-scale

monoplane based on this design,

powered by a two-cylinder hot-air
engine, was finished at Brest, France.
It achieved a powered takeoff - but
not a powered flight - when run

down an

inclined ramp.

steam boiler into the

is

one of

Britain's

aviation engineers.

most

influential

at the

Two

years

aircraft,

Weybridge

in

on

worked

aircraft such as the Wellington,

Warwick, and Windsor bombers.

He was promoted to experimental
manager in 1940 and became chief
designer five years

later,

leading the

development of the VC.l Viking,

the

first

postwar

British transport

but

no record of the machine

JACOB ELLEHAMMER
An accomplished Danish
Jacob Ellehammer
in

DC-1,

DC-10

1883-1941, 1879-1980
of Geneva,

Switzerland, were the inventors of

1905, powering

Copenhagen
it

with a 9-hp

three-cylinder engine of his

AMELIA EARHART
1898-1937
Born

in

design.
tests

Amelia Earhart worked as

on

He made

own

unpiloted tethered

a circular track

on the

isle

of Lindholme early in 1906, during

Kansas, the famous aviator

which the

a nurse

aircraft rose off the

Canada during World War I, then

entered Columbia University in
1919. As a student she was inspired

ground. Ellehammer then uprated

to obtain a pilot's license after flying

biplane." In this form the aircraft

in

HENRI DUFAUX

inventor,

built his first

full-size airplane at

The company merged with

McDonnell in 1967.

The Dufaux brothers

age

England. Under chief

designer R.K. Pierson he

great

jets.

ARMAND AND

1871-1946

their

Upon graduating

known

and DC-7 four-engined transports

also sold well, and were followed
by the DC-8, DC-9, and

ELLEHAMMER

built

DC-4, DC-6,

later

JACOB CHRISTIAN HANSEN

of 20, he joined Vickers Aviation at

later the brothers fitted a lightweight

DC-2, and DC-3/C-47 Dakota

transports.

he served as chairman of BAC.

GEORGE EDWARDS

around-fhe-world

success in the 1930s with the

Concorde. Between 1963 and 1975

1908-

(Douglas World Cruisers),

made

Vanguard, Valiant, VCIO, and

disappearance remain a mystery.

from London University

with a swept-

being tested in this form.

US Army

first

forward wing, retractable

there

DWCs

In July

as

flights

to build

as

to fly an

Corporation) designs - the Viscount,

airplane across the Atlantic.

SIR

1857. In that year Felix patented

US Navy.

for the

woman

which made tentative

and took over a contract

two modified versions

first

During an illustrious career. Sir

George Edwards established himself

torpedo bombers for the

In 1924,

became the

first

In the

model airplane powered

boatlike nacelle. In

moved to the Glenn Martin

company in California, designing the
MB-1 bomber. In 1920, with a large

to California. In

1932, flying a Lockheed Vega, she

by clockwork and then by steam,

built a

Donald Douglas, founder of the

eponymous airplane company, was

New Jersey,

He

postwar

French naval officer Felix du Temple

1850s, with his brother Louis, he

1892-1981

and from Hawaii

person to

first

from Mexico City to

fly

Electra, Earhart

powered, piloted takeoff.

DONALD WILLS DOUGLAS

aircraft to enter airline service.

was involved

de

utility

aircraft.

across the US, establishing the

world's autogyro altitude record in

FELIX

war

Dornier's
3

flight

17 and 217

fighter-bomber. After the

Do

heavy machine with a 120-hp

Dufaux engine, crashed in 1907.

The following year they constructed
a lOO-hp combined helicopter and
airplane that was designed to take
off vertically and glide horizontally.
This was followed by a biplane in
which Armand flew the length of
Lake Geneva in 1910. Four Dufaux

with racing pilot Frank

Hawks

the engine to give

again

in

1920. Earhart gained fame and

fortune

when

woman

to fly across the Atlantic,

she

became the

as the passenger in a

20 hp, and the

machine was modified

made

tethered flights. After

relocating his trials to

Ellehammer

first

as a "semi-

Copenhagen,

built a triplane in

which he made some 200 hop-

Fokker

flights in

1907. In 1908, he

won

marks when he made

powered hop-flight in

Tri-motor, on June 17-18,

prize of 5,000

used a gasoline engine that could be

1927. Although she did no

the

attached to a bicycle. In 1905, they

piloting during this flight,

Germany in his new tractor biplane.

He subsequently built both a

the

Motosacoche motorcycle, which

demonstrated a model helicopter

Paris. Its

in

3-hp twin-cylinder engine

drove a pair of two-bladed rotors on

lateral outriggers.

It

lifted

(6.4 kg) of ballast, but

by

14 lb

was guided

vertical cables. Their first airplane.

150

Earhart soon began to

establish her

own

seaplane and a monoplane, neither

flying

was flown. Ellehammer

became interested in helicopters
and experimented with a model

of which

Her achievements
included becoming the first
records.

woman

to

make

also

a trans-

continental round-trip

first

AMELIA EARHART

rotorcraft in 1911.

AVIATION INNOVATORS
interwar years saw the appearance

ROY FEDDEN
1885-1973

ROBERT ESNAULT-PELTERIE
1881-1957

of his IIID/F series of military

The

Flycatcher naval fighter, and the

Born

Fox bomber - an aeroplane

Fedden was an important

general-purpose airplanes, the

ever-inventive French engineer

Robert Esnault-Pelterie

poor copy of

aircraft, a

built his first

Wright-

SIR

that

England, Roy

in Bristol,

figure in

the development of airplane engines.

revolutionized aircraft design in

quickly

Britain.

During World War

followed this with a glider with

Fairey's

most notable

small wingtip control surfaces that

the Swordfish, Albacore,

doubled as ailerons (the

Barracuda torpedo bombers. His

his

postwar products included the

engines, he

Gannet, the Rotodyne compound

engineer.

convertible transport helicopter, and

oversaw the production of Rolls-

He

type gHder, in 1904.

first

fitted to a full-size aircraft)

elevators.

and

Both of these machines

were unsuccessful. Then,

came

to be

in

1907,

the F.D.2 - the

powered airplane, the

monoplane with a 30-hp

his first

R. E.P.I

own

semi-radial engine of his

which made only tentative

The R.E.R2

of 1908

exceed 1,000

flights.

of aviation, the

were born

time he had turned his attention

HENRI FABRE

to the even greater challenges of

rocketry and space travel.

1909, but this

his first seaplane in

airplanes to use the

seven-cylinder rotary

from water on March 28 and 29,

with the distinctive Taube ("Dove")

1910. These historic

monoplanes. These were developed

piloted by Fabre himself,

The

birdlike wings

were inspired by the seed of the

Zanonia palm

tree.

The

made

became

Production, and led missions to the

alterations to

recorded

won

flight

of

improve

little

first officially

own

French francs for

observed 3,281 -ft

flight in

won

in France,

Reims

and opened

aircraft factory.

his

The boxkite

Many Rumpler

Taubes

World War I, although by

then the design was outdated.
early in

British aircraft

Sir

in aviation in

and

his career

FARMAN
BIPLANE

moved

developed the

Fl

built the Fl

184

265, a helicopter

with two intermeshing, counterrotating rotors. Six of these machines

were

built for the

German Navy

in

it

F.16

(1912

to Short Brothers,

where

he was appointed works manager

Responsible for designing the

first

and chief engineer.

In 1915, he set

seaplane to take off from water,

up the Fairey Aviation Company,

French engineer Henri Fabre began

mostly building Short and Sopwith

studying aviation in 1905. After

aircraft

conducting

War

a series

forming Flettner

1935 he

He

built stable tailless airplanes.

then

known, however,
work on

keen model

He began

of the Blair-Atholl Syndicate, which

1882-1984

in

best

then retired from the business.

1911 as shop manager

airplane builder.

MRU

is

was nationalized
1936. The Farman brothers

to flourish until

manufacturer

electrical engineer

HENRI FABRE

Maurice Farman. The company

"Shorthorn" biplanes, and continued

Richard Fairey was originally an

using light control-column

and 185 autogyros, and then

MF.7 "Longhorn" and

RICHARD FAIREY
1887-1957

He

GmbH m

achieved early success with the

SIR

moved

rotorcraft. After

et

service as reconnaissance aircaft

be

Maurice joined the business and

manufacturers' airplanes.

saw

invented

that allows a large control surface to

copied designs of the era. In 1912

together they founded Avions Henri

the design.

Flettner

for his later pioneering

successful designer of floats for other

manufacturers subsequently copied

1885-1961
German innovator Anton
gave his name to a tab he

one of the most widely used and

Germany by the Rumpler

Flugzeugwerke. A number of other
be built in

and

ANTON FLETTNER

force.

in

became

Ltd.,

biplane he produced there became

1909, and soon afterward Etrich

seaplanes, however, and

Roy Fedden

designed cars and aircraft engines.

(150 m)

ft

reached an agreement for Taubes to

of

and Germany. After the war

492

money and had to abandon his

experiments. He retained an interest

successful machines appeared in

Italy,

and on January 13,

won 50,000

(1-km) closed-circuit

development

US,

he founded

Europe. In 1909 Henry

Fabre ran out

its

a prize for the

meeting

result,

special technical adviser to

biplane in 1907. After making a

into 1911, this unconventional tail-

As a

aloft.

Britain's Ministry of Aircraft

further 63,000 francs at the

machine had

development of the Mercury,

ballooning and took Henry

continued to be modified and flown

first

and oversaw the

chief engineer

This inspired Henry to buy a Voisin

the

it

Company

1920, Fedden was retained as

Hercules, and Centaurus series of

1908,

who had

in

engines until 1942. That year he

later that year,

were

flights

development

was absorbed

Aeroplane

began when Maurice started

first

flights

its first

never flown before. Although

potential.

first

it

Brazil-Straker

parents. Their involvement in flying

performance, he

first

engine, and

testing in 1904.

into the Bristol

Farman brothers

one of the

Etrich will be forever associated

fellow Austrian Franz Wels began

own

was appointed chief

During World War he

a great line of engines.

When

France to English

number of

The name of Austrian engineer Igo

and

in

never flew. His second seaplane was

new Gnome

Etrich

first in

1874-1958, 1877-1964

some of which saw service in the

early years of World War I, but by

tailless gliders that

1906. After persuading

new
The Jupiter
prototype he developed became the

FARMAN

evolved more conventional designs,

1879-1967

in

employers to build their

also put in charge of designing a

HENRY AND MAURICE

following

DOKTOR IGO ETRICH

an automobile

Royce and Renault engines and was

airplane to

Influential in the early

from

company

and

(1,610 km/h).

year. Esnault-Pelterie eventually

this

his career as

engineer with the Brazil-Straker

radial aircraft engine.

was more

flights in the

were

design,

successful, and, in a modified form,

made many

first

mph

He began

II

aircraft

of aerodynamic

experiments, he designed and built

under

license. After

World

Fairey concentrated on

developing his

own

aircraft.

The

151

AVIATION INNOVATORS
1939-^0. The
by the

282

Fl

265 was followed

Fl

Kolibri.

Over 1,000

He was

owner.

attracted to aviation

by Wilbur Wright's
in

but the factories building them were

completed

bombed

1910 before he could build

his

airplane, abetted by Franz

von

After

1943: only 24 saw service.

World War

II

worked

Flettner

for the US Navy, before founding his

own company in New York in 1949.

Daum. By

rating.

DOKTOR HEINRICH KARL

JOHANN FOCKE
in

in

1924 he founded
the Focke-Wulf company with Georg
Wulf,

In

I.

initially

building commercial

transports and training aircraft. After

the arrival of designer Kurt

Tank

in

1931 the company made a chain of

Focke

successful airplanes, but

pursued

1911 he gained his

his interest in rotorcraft,

When

him from

his

the Nazis dismissed

company

in

1936 he

started an offshoot, Focke-Achgelis,

where he

built the

Employing twin

made

its first

Fa 61 helicopter.

lateral rotors,

free flight in

World War

Brothers

FOLLAND

working with the

Fokker then designed

company's chief

set

Knowler, he

up the Fokker

at Johannisthal,

it

June 1936.

the

The company
supplied Germany with more than
40 types of aircraft during World
I,

the agile Dr.

triplane. After the

moved

flying boat,

created for

BOAC

war Fokker
it

continued to

rporation).

aircraft.

for

HENRY PHILLIP FOLLAND

1889-1954

producing the renowned S.E.5

He joined the Gloucestershire

Company (later Gloster) in

fighter.

Aircraft

1920, where he designed a

German

as

He

Trophy

founded

began a distinguished career as an

of fighters including the Gauntlet,

twenties, before acquiring his

airplane, a primitive Ellehammer-

contests, as well as a range

company undertook subcontract work and after the war

1912.

When

de Havilland

left in

1914, Folland took over leadership of

the design team

and was responsible

II

left

Gladiator. In

1937

own company,
During World War

to start his

the

produced the Gnat

Folland retired

to

fly.

motorcycle factory

in his
first

inspired 35-hp tractor triplane, in

1908. He tested this machine at

Magdeburg, Germany, in the winter
of 1908-09.

it

jet fighter/trainer.

best flight covered

Its

a distance of 1,312

ft

(400 m) on

February 18,1909. Later that year.

1951.

in

native

first

Grade

also successfully flew a

high-wing tractor monoplane.

Germany's

most successful World War

established the

werke

fighter

Anthony Fokker was the

SIR

school.

1890-1969

flying boats.

He

joined Short

Brothers at Rochester, England,

mechanic

as a

in

1915, working

on the Type 184 seaplane.

was then put

in

that developed
first

some of

all-metal aircraft.

time

He

charge of a team

when Short

was producing

Britain's

He was

appointed chief designer

at a

The

Grade flying
was sold to
start of World War

factory

in

British pilot

and entrepreneur Claude

Grahame-White

visited the Bleriot

factory while he

was

in

France for

the 1909 Reims meeting, ordered

fly.

After briefly running a flying

school

great flying boats

such as the Singapore and the

all

CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE
1879-1959

an airplane, and taught himself to

1926,

Brothers

Calcutta. Responsible for

in

France, he opened one at

Brooklands

England, and then

in

established the

of

at

Hendon.

London Aerodrome
1910, he gained

In

dogged race with

the company's aircraft design

prominence by

between 1926 and 1943, Gouge

French pilot Louis Paulhan to win

oversaw the production of the

the Daily Mail's 10,000 prize for

majestic Empire Class

I.

for

developing classic British seaplanes

and

and used some of these

Aviatik after the

remembered

is

He

Flieger-

to train pilots at the

ARTHUR GOUGE

Arthur Gouge

Hans Grade

1911 to build high-wing

in

aircraft,

son of a wealthy

mono-

planes for Imperial Airways as

152

remembered

mobile industry, Henry Folland

were destroyed by bombing.

Dutch plantation

is

the

Folland Aircraft.

aircraft,

1879-1946
Hans Grade

racing seaplanes for the Schneider

Factory, Farnborough, England,

for designing

HANS GRADE

After ten years in the British auto-

production, but most of those built

FOKKER
1890-1939

of

series

he

ANTHONY HERMAN GERARD

He

retired in 1959.

thrive, constructing transport

monoplanes and military

(British

Overseas Air

the business to the

Netherlands, where

and

fighter

the Princess

including the Eindecker

monoplane and

SRA.l

flying-boat

Gamecock, and

helicopter, the

developed

near

Berlin, to build them.

War

Henry

designer,

de Havilland at the Royal Aircraft

Renowned

1943 and joined

and chief executive. Here,

airplane designer under Geoffrey

II

in

Saunders-Roe as vice-chairman

Fa 223 Drache, was ordered into

Focke's

resigned from Short

pilot's

building Cierva C.19 and C.30

Autogiros.

Gouge

PHILLIP

short hop-flights, and

monoplanes and

Germany,

Heinrich Focke served as a pilot

World War

HENRY

the end of that year he

Aeroplanbau

pioneer of rotorcraft

own

Sunderland patrol

II

boat and Stirling bomber.

succession of Spin ("Spider")

1890-1979
A

May

flying

his military service in

was making
in

World War

1908, but he had to wait until he

of these helicopters were ordered,

in

well as directing the design of the

France

flights in

the

first flight

his

from London to

Manchester. Although he

lost the

AVIATION INNOVATORS
race, he

made

the

point-to-point

first

night flight in England. In

War

RNAS

he joined the

Naval Air

in

Paris,

and Kharkov Technical

Institute, finally

He worked

(Royal

Service), taking part in a

on German bases

raid

World

Belgium

in

graduating

in

powered by rubber and

air. In 1889 he designed

airplanes

1923.

for the Soviet Union's

and

built a radial rotary

enabled one of his models to

joining the Richard design bureau in

128

Born

fly

(39 m) in eight seconds on

ft

He

Michigan, Edward

in

Heinemann was

1915. Graham-White resigned his

1928.

commission soon afterwards

chief of the Kochyerigin bureau in

experiments with curved surfaces,

world

1931, where he led the design of the

and, most notably, built a boxkite

Cruisers.

TSh-3 armored attack monoplane.

glider that lifted

Between 1936 and 1938 Guryevich

the

worked at Douglas in the United

States on the DC-3 program. He
then returned to the Soviet Union
and joined an experimental design
section (OKO) headed by Artyem
Mikoyan to work on the Kh high-

succeeded

to

concentrate on building aircraft, and

his

company produced

original designs

the

war he

a series of

up to 1919. After

dealt in real estate.

DANIEL GUGGENHEIM

1856-1930
Philadelphia-born industrialist and
philanthropist Daniel

became

Guggenheim

a benefactor of aviation in

the 1920s. His son Harry, a

aviator,

New

US

naval

persuaded him to endow

York University's aerodynamics

program with $500,000

Three years

later

in

altitude interceptor. In 1942, the

OKO

became the Mikoyan and

Guryevich (MiG) design bureau,
which produced a string of fighters
Guryevich retired

1923.

Promotion of Aeronautics, to which

The

fund helped to develop instrument

Among
the

the events

Guggenheim

it

and rocketry.

financed

was

Safe Aircraft

Competition, held

in the late

1920s.

in

II.

him 16

(5

m)

working

building a person-

in

pioneers,

who

joined Douglas as a

for

Northrop, returned

there to lead the design of a

number

of famous airplanes, including the

experiments with other

results of his

He

draftsman and, after a period

off

1894. Hargrave never

carrying airplane, but he shared the

SBD

Dauntless dive-bomber, the

A-20 Havoc attack bomber, the

D-558-1 Skystreak world speed

used the box-kite

principle in early airplane design.

record breaker, the D-558-2 Skyrocket (the

HARRY GEORGE HAWKER

Mach

1889-1921
He was

Australia.

2),

first

airplane to attain

and the A-4 Skyhawk

attack bomber, which

Harry Hawker was born

fly.

became known

in Victoria,

fascinated by

as

'Heinemann's

Hot Rod."

Traveling with two friends

1912 he

to England, in

gained employment
with

in

England but

in Australia,

where he

trained as an engineer-draftsman.

Mikhail Guryevich was cofounder of

Observatory, Hargrave came into

In 1883, while

working

at

Sydney

the design bureau responsible for

an inheritance that allowed him to

producing the Soviet Union's highly

devote his energies to aviation and

other scientific experiments.

He

number

Sopwith Aviation

at

went on

aeronautics at Kharkov University,

of model ornithopters - aircraft

pilot,

I'Academie de I'Aeronautique

propelled by flapping wings - and

demonstration and

to test a large

learned to

fly.

Brooklands and

He proved

Born near Kursk, Russia, he studied

in

ft

World

of the Douglas

flight

for developing the box-kite,

brought up

fighters.

in

inspired to design

airplanes by the 1926 around-the-

famous escapologist Harry Houdini

MIKHAIL GURYEVICH
1893-1976

MiG

ground

also conducted

away from school to work with

automobiles. He was inspired to
become a pilot after seeing the

1850-1915
Hargrave was born

successful series of

1891.

2,

ran

LAWRENCE HARGRAVE
Famed

January

engineering from a young age, and

1964.

Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the

flying, aviation safety,

War

during and after World

he established the

he eventually donated $3 million.

appointed deputy

HEINEMANN

H.

1908-1991

engine that

Central Construction Bureau before

He was

EDWARD

compressed

and became the company's

test pilot. In the

World War
he made many notable flights and
years before and during

tested countless
as well as

Best
I

Sopwith prototypes,

making some valuable

remembered

for the military

aircraft he designed for

World War
first

II,

Germany

airplane, a boxkite biplane, in

1911.

He

subsequently worked for

LVG and

Hawker and

Hansa-Brandenburg, where he

Lt. Cdr.

Mackenzie

Albatros before moving to

designed a series of seaplanes. In

Daily Mail prize for a nonstop

1922, encouraged by orders from

transatlantic flight in a Sopwith

Sweden

Atlantic, but failed

were forced

when

up

they

to ditch in the ocean.

his

for his designs, Heinkel set

own company, which made

Fortunately they were rescued by a

military aircraft, seaplanes,

flying boats

In

He was

range of single-engined trainers,

tramp steamer. Hawker remained

undaunted and took up motor

in

Ernst Heinkel built his

contributions to their design. In 1919,

Grieve tried to win the 10,000

and

over the next ten years.

1935 he formed Ernst Heinkel

practice flight for the Aerial Derby,

AG. The company's famous World

War II military aircraft included the
He 111 bomber, the He 178 (the

when

world's

racing as well as test flying.

killed

on July

12, 1921, during a

the Nieuport

biplane he

company

CLAUDE GRAHAM E-WHITE (RIGHT) AND PASSENGER

ERNST HEINKEL
1888-1958

a natural

was

Goshawk

flying crashed.

The

that built the Hurricane

War II was
him - Hawker Aircraft.

first

airplane),
fighter.

turbojet-powered

and the He 280 twin-jet

After the

fighter

during World

name changed

named

after

its

war

the

company

to Heinkel, prior to

absorption by

VFW

in

1964.

153

AVIATION INNOVATORS
WILLIAM SAMUEL HENSON
1812-1888
Engineer and inventor William

Henson was born

England.

in

He began

with gliding models

Nottingham,

experimenting
in

1840, and

in 1842 patented a steam-powered

monoplane exhibiting many features
of the powered aircraft developed
60 years later. When he formed the

Steam Transit Company

RNAS

served in Britain's

(Royal

from 1914

Naval Air

Service)

the end of

World War

emerging

I,

wooden, prone-piloted

tailless,

until

in

with an engine

England, and

Avro

Avro Baby biplane nonstop from

resumed

London

with

to Turin in northern Italy.

same machine,

In 1921, in the

Hinkler

made

(1,280-km)

III

up the

east coast of

Ho

backing, built the

IV

of the

World War

used bonded plastic

Ho

was

Ho

machine, while another of their

of his "Aerial Steam Carriage" in

the longest nonstop flight by a light

designs, the

aeroplane up to that time, flying

fighter,

from Croydon, England, to Riga,

end. After the

Latvia, a distance of 1,200 miles

contributed to the reestablishment

(1,920 km),

in the

of the Luftwaffe in Germany, while

Avian. Early

in

were published.

flight

model of

large-scale

this airplane, built

the help of

with

John Stringfellow, was

proved mcapable

tested in 1847, but

of sustained

flight.

Henson gave up

Discouraged,

the project

and

and he followed

15!4 days,

Stringfellow to carry on his work.

1931 with the

HERBERT JOHN LOUIS

HINKLER
1892-1933
born

in

this in

He

also a

IX twin-jet

in the

Vologda

Russia, Sergei Ilyushin began his

i.A.38 tailless transport.

career in aviation in 1916 as a

in a

HOWARD ROBARD HUGHES

out

all

He

he could about airplanes.

in

and 1940s,

Aircraft

Company

racer, in

which he

University's

Department of Aeronautics.

In

1927

to build the

he joined the Mitsubishi Internal

(563.7 km/h) in 1935.

Combustion Engine Co.

new US

(later the

He

unsuccessful Prototype 7 carrier-

flying a

based fighter

in

1932, and on the

all-

metal Prototype 9 land-based fighter

in

1934. Adopted for service as the

Type 96,

it

Gamma, and

war with China from

1937. Horikoshi's most famous
design was the Prototype 12. Begun
m 1937, it became the Mitsubishi
A6M Reisen. As Navy Type 0, or
Zero, it was one of the outstanding
fighters of World War II. The J2M
Raiden, its successor, was used to
defend Japan against bombing raids

scientific

and

to the Central

Aerodynamics

Institute in

at the

department of

later

put

in

charge of the

long-range bomber brigade in the

Central Construction Bureau. Apart

beat this the following

from

a brief spell as director of the

year in the modified H-1. In 1938,

chief administration of the Soviet

Lockheed 14 Super Electra,

Hughes flew around the world in just

aviation industry, Ilyushin stayed at

over 91 hours, another

During World War

II

new

record.

Hughes directed
toward

his energies

played a significant part

in Japan's

graduated

experimental airplane construction.

He was

also set a

transcontinental record in

January 1936, flying a Northrop

moved

Tupolev

mph

Nagoya Manufacturing Plant of

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries). Here
he worked as chief designer on the

He

1926 and was

1932, becoming deputy to Andrei

H-1

new world

landplane speed record of 352.3

1922.

and Hydrodynamics

1934, he founded the Hughes

set a

in

as a designer in

Air Force administration. Ilyushin

notable fighter planes of the 1930s

Horikoshi studied

Academy

technical committee of the Soviet

and found

After racing a modified Boeing fighter

Tokyo

joined the

appointed to the

quickly gained a

pilot's license

The designer of some of Japan's most

Jiro

Mouramets
army and

Il'ya

entered the Zhukovskii Air Force

and extravagant American

millionaire Howard Hughes learned
Eccentric

commercial

He

qualified as a pilot in 1917, then

1905-1976

to fly in 1927.

engineering at

district of

designing the Instituto Aerotecnico's

Hinkler was killed

1903-1982

1947. After this

2,

1894-1977
Born

bombers.

JIRO HORIKOSHI

flew

SERGEI VLADIMIROVICH
ILYUSHIN

war Walter Horten

mechanic on

crash in

The H-4

tailless

flew briefly before the war's

Two

years later

1946

flew only infrequently.

the South Atlantic.

the England-Australia record.

was

Hughes

solo flight across

first

the Alps while attempting to better

Bundaberg, Queensland.

on November

brother emigrated to Argentina,

his

solo England-Australia flight in

emigrated to America, leaving

Australian pilot "Bert" Hinkler

prototype

1928 he made

Ho

in

he was piloting on

powered

The

Bundaberg. In 1927 he achieved

VII

XF-1

period

II

Australia from Sydney to his native

in

the

He

in its structure.

1843, numerous fanciful impressions

Aerial

aircraft.

only once, under Hughes's piloting,

The powered

gliders.

when

a test flight crashed.

1938 and,

in

and the XF-1

narrowly escaped death

fitted

1935. After a spell

work

their

official

and

Ho V

nonstop 800-mile

flight

in

flying boat, the world's

photoreconnaissance

of military training the Hortens

1920 flew an

in

built,

H-4 Hercules

largest airplane,

of 1934,

II

one of which was

were

war he became
in

Ho

second design, the

as a distinguished pilot. After the

a test pilot for

glider

1931t Four examples of their

developing the gigantic

this

bureau, which was

named

after

most famous

him, until 1976.

Its

product was the

I1-2/I1-10 attack

aircraft, built in greater

numbers

than any other airplane

in history.

toward the end of the war.

REIMAR AND WALTER

HORTEN
1915-1993, 1913Creators of a celebrated
series of gliders

airplanes,

BERT HINKLER

154

and

German

and Walter Horten

brothers Reimar
built their first

HUGHES

H-4 HERCULES,

NICKNAMED 'SPRUCE GOOSE"

AVIATION INNOVATORS
engines, crew, and passengers were

/<$!

to be

AMY JOHNSON

He

Junkers all-metal

built the first

airplane, using steel, in 1915,

the

first

light-alloy

and

machine the

and the F-105 Thunderchief.

World War

renowned

German air
company

1921. Junkers'

built the

Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber,

perhaps

its

most famous

airplane,

AMY JOHNSON

Constellation airliner, the P-80

1903-1941
Born

England,

in Hull,

was working

Shooting Star

Amy Johnson

as a stenographer

when

London Aeroplane
1928. She became the first

she joined the

Club

in

licensed female

ground mechanic

England, and qualified as a pilot

July 1929.

made

The

in
in

following year she

a remarkable solo flight

England to Australia

in 19'/!

Starfighter,

jet fighter,

the F-104

and the U-2, YF-12A, and

SR-71 high-altitude reconnaissance

aircraft.

Johnson

from

I.

the

first flight

across the

from the US to Australia,

Fokker F.VIIb-3m Southern

Cross.

He

also

made

the

non-

first

first

Australia-New Zealand

flight.

1929 he formed Australian

National Airways. The following

year he flew solo in an Avro Avian

in

Russia but studied

in Paris,

France.

from England to Darwin

He

10'/<

days. In

in a

1934 he made

returned to Russia, but fled in the

single-engined transpacific

wake

from Australia to the US,

of the

working

1917

in

revolution. After

for Bleriot

1934.

and Fokker, he

with Seversky

In July

1933 she flew across the

formed Republic Aircraft

in

in the

He became

chief engineer of

in a

(Royal

was born

de Havilland D.H.60 Moth.

Jim Mollison,

RFC

World War

in the

In

flying a

pilot

Flying Corps) during

Aircraft designer Alexander Kartveli

finally settled

Atlantic with her husband, Scottish

Charles

stop flight across Australia, and the

1896-1974

US

days,

career as a pilot in the

Pacific,

ALEXANDER KARTVELI

d'Aeronautique

PROFESSOR HUGO JUNKERS

1859-1935

in Brisbane, Australia,

Kingsford Smith began his flying

made

engineering at I'Ecole Superieure

retired in 1975.

Born

After the

40

company

CHARLES KINGSFORD
SMITH
1897-1935

SIR

war he joined Western

Australian Airways. In 1928 he

after his retirement in 1932.

following year. By 1938 he was chief

jet

such as the F-84 Thunderjet

I,

with distinctive corrugated

service, in

fighter, the

he headed the

using experience gained with his

inaugurated an internal

were the P-38 Lightning

II

fighters,

skinning, including the

the

World War

the Junkers Flugzeugwerke where,

Ju 52/3m trimotor. Junkers also

Among

and the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

After

he produced a series of all-metal

research engineer.

monoplane

successors, the P-43

its

design of several successful

airliners

aircraft he designed for the

and

fighter

following year. In 1919 he founded

military designs in

1960. Here he led the design of

until

Seversky's P-35 advanced

housed within the wings.

Altair.

first

flight,

in a

During an England-

Australia flight in 1935 his Altair

disappeared off Burma;

newly

1939, a post he held

Lockheed

record

the

^^_^

Kmgsford Smith and

his companion were
never found.

D.H.84

Dragon. The next year the couple

D.H.88 Comet racer in the

MacRobertson England-Australia
flew a

race, setting record times for the

flights

between England and Iraq

and England and

later

had

to retire

They divorced

in

India, but they

from the

race.

1937. Johnson

joined the Air Transport Auxiliary

in

World War

when

II

and was drowned

the Airspeed

Oxford she was

ferrying ditched in the

Thames

estuary in January 1941.

CLARENCE LEONARD

HUGO JUNKERS

JOHNSON
1910-1990
American

Born

aircraft designer "Kelly"

Johnson was responsible

for

many

in Diisseldorf,

Germany, and

trained as an engineer, future aircraft

manufacturer

Hugo

Junkers founded

than 40 years at Lockheed. Awarded

company in 1895, and in

1897 was appointed professor of

a degree in aeronautical engineering

thermodynamics

by the University of Michigan

School. In 1910 he patented an

outstanding aeroplanes during more

1932, he joined Lockheed

in

in the

his first

at

Aachen High
all-

metal, all-wing airplane - the twin

CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH (SECOND FROM RIGHT)

155

AVIATION INNOVATORS
interested in aeronautics while he

KOOLHOVEN

FREDERIK

working

1886-1946

in Pennsylvania,

Dutch engineer "Frits" Koolhoven

Hanriot school

learnt to fly at the

France, and

at the Allegheny

won

in

his pilot's brevet in

1910. In 1912 "Kully" joined the

Deperdussin company as a designer

He was

and

was

Observatory

built a whirling

arm to test airfoils. In 1887 he

became Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution in

Washington, D.C.,

where he continued his experiments,

constructing more than 100 rubber-

British offshoot

powered models, and then building

much larger models powered by
steam engines. His "Aerodromes"

collapsed in 1913.

Nos. 5 and 6 made outstanding

department, where as chief designer

granted him $50,000 to develop a

under Louis Bechereau.

company's

chief engineer at the

when Deperdussin
He then moved to
Armstrong Whitworth's new aircraft
he developed the F.K.3 and F.K.8

manned

reconnaissance aircraft. In 1917

catapult launches his machine

he joined British Aerial Transport,

from

designing several military and

river in 1903 were disastrous

BAT's closure

aircraft. After

civil

in

1920

airplane. Sadly, the

1934 he

Vliegtuigen, which produced a

aircraft until
in

it

derivatives

its

in

1903. The aircraft was a failure, but

its

80-hp engine - also designed by

War

after his partner's

In the

II.

postwar

jet

era the

bureau was unable to compete with

its

rivals,

and was disbanded

1960.

in

LE BRIS

daughter - was

highly advanced. In 1905 he

8-

made

and 16-cylinder versions of up to

In

May

1906, with Capt

Societe Antoinette,

which

built a

range of Levavasseur-designed

courageous and ingenious retired

on the

broke

and the

loss of interest in his

when he became

destroyed by bombing

The

government

airplane, with

sponsorship, at Puteaux, Paris,

Levavasseur and named Antoinette

two

full-size gliders

albatross. In his

made one

own company, Koolhoven

wide range of

La-5 and

based

glider he

first

short glide from a towed

launch at Trefeuntec

projects hastened Langley's death.

his

to build fighters.

first

proved highly effective during World

Bris tested

designer for the Nationale Vliegtuig-

formed

Gudkov

LAGG

set

with V.P. Gorbunov and

monoplanes

at

Puteaux factory.

its

French sea captain, Jean-Marie Le

made

government's

industrie until 1926,

M.I.

1938 he

light alloys. In

JEAN-MARIE
1808-1872

two

he returned to the Netherlands as

a freelance consultant. In

and

a bifreau

100 hp.

houseboat on the Potomac

failures. Public ridicule

up

Ferdinand Ferber, he founded the

1896, and the government

flights in

steel

(<r.

1857), but

while attempting a

his leg

1848-1896
Prussian mechanical engineer Otto
Lilienthal

had

profound influence

He

second, untowed launch in a quarry.

on the development of

The second machine, which was

experimented with ornithopters

tested near Brest in

1868 with

ballast instead of a

human

flight.

1889 published

his classic

book Bird

also flew before crashing. Le Bris,

Flight as the Basis of Aviation.

who was

then turned to fixed-wing hang

killed in a

brawl

1872,

in

later

first

(flapping-wing machines) and in

pilot,

had an inspirational influence on the

was

1940.

OTTO LILIENTHAL

gliders, flying his first in 1891.

He
From

then until 1896 he built 12 gliders,

French aviation pioneers.

including both monoplanes and

LEONARDO DA

biplanes, the

VINCI

which was

No. 11 "standard"
monoplane of 1894. This became the

1452-1519
A

universal genius,

the

DOCTOR FREDERICK

and inventor

Frederick Lanchester
best

remembered

is

were of flapping-wing

bats, but

motor car

flight

first).

SAMUEL

1890s

P.

LANGLEY

propelled themselves by beating their

wings downward and backward. His

and drag

as early as

1894. His theories were beyond the

comprehension of most of

his

contemporaries, but received wider

recognition

when

they appeared in

two volumes on Aerial Flight,

published in 1907 and 1908. From
1909 to 1920 he was a member of
his

SYEMYEN ALEKSEYEVICH

was 1482-99, when he designed

Responsible for developing some of

World War
Syemyen Lavochkin was

the Soviet Union's best

fighters,

born

in

Smolensk, Russia.

Moscow

He

II

entered

Technical High School in

and

1920

specialized in aviation. After working

to study engineering,

at the Central

1834-1906
Born

in

astronomer Samuel R Langley was

one of the America's foremost

aviation pioneers.

156

later

Construction Bureau

and the Bureau of Special Design, he

became

a senior engineer at the Chief

He

first

became

On

made more than

August

9,

1896,

his glider stalled

from

and crashed; he died

his injuries the following day.

Industry

in

the early 1930s.

standing pilots, and even an early

hangglider. Sadly, because his

manuscripts were inaccessible until

the late nineteenth century, his

had no

Here

direct influence

upon

work

the

early development of aviation.

LEON LEVAVASSEUR
1863-1921
One

Administration of the Aviation

Roxbury, Massachusetts,

flights.

range of ornithopters with prone or

Committee

SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY

1,000

most productive aeronautical period

LAVOCHKIN
1900-1960

the British government's Advisory

for Aeronautics.

world. Lilienthal

firstly that man's skill and musclepower could enable him to imitate
the birds, and secondly that birds

formed the basis of the modern

lift

were made for

other experimenters around the

were constantly

and established the concepts that

theory of

aircraft to be built in quantity,

since at least eight

hampered by two misconceptions:

in

tested

gliders in the

he also devised a helicopter

His ideas on

first

while flying near Stolln, Germany,

and

and a parachute (though not the

1895. But Lanchester was also a

numerous model

of his

the perceived actions of birds

Dr.

probably

He

Most

machines (ornithopters) that copied

development of the automobile - he

pioneer of aeronautics.

Leonardo was

of science to investigate

aircraft designs

for his role in the

built the first British

man

the problems of flight.

WILLIAM LANCHESTER
1868-1946
British engineer

first

most successful of

his

of France's outstanding early

aircraft designers,

Leon Levavasseur

Lavochkin became convinced that

studied art before his fascination

plastic-impregnated birch laminates

with

could be used

to

in airframes, to

save

new technology prompted him

engineer. He built his

become an

OTTO LILIENTHAL

AVIATION INNOVATORS
CHARLES AUGUSTUS
LINDBERGH
1902-1974
American

was

the

pilot Charles

first

man

to fly solo non-

The son of
Minnesota congressman, he went

stop across the Atlantic.

a

boring,

left in

1922

to learn to

two years with

After

confidence and mechanical

led backers to put

Lockheed Aircraft Co., building

five years

Northrop's handsome streamlined

airplane. In

Vega monoplane.

Lindbergh

to engineering college but, finding

relaunched the firm with the help

of designer John Northrop as the

leading aircraft manufacturers.

steam engines turning propellers

own

businesses did not

Loughhead Brothers

Aircraft Corp,

as a

barnstormer he joined the US

founded

1930,

in

did Alcor, founded in 1937.

failed, as

Army

Air Corps, and in 1926

became an airmail pilot.

During

had

He

weather.

then set his

on the $25,000

sights

Orteig prize for the

nonstop

York

flight

to Paris.

St.

The

Spirit

Louis,

1927, accomplished the Paris

solo,

flight

CHARLES LINDBERGH

winning worldwide fame.

Despite the kidnap and murder of

their infant

wife,

son

1932, he and his

in

Anne Morrow, continued

to

pioneer air routes. His campaign to

keep the US out of World

later

harmed

War

his reputation,

II

but he

Born with the

this

American

last

name Loughhead,

aircraft

manufacturer

port of Bremen, where his

was US Consul General. He

1908 with the

US Army

he

legally taking

and

Am.

as his

own name

in

he taught himself to

PROFESSOR ALEXANDER
MARTIN LIPPISCH
1894-1976
Professor Alexander Lippisch began

Germany

designing sailplanes.

in the

He

first

Research

German

started building his

On
in

own

until

1936.

he advised the

II

aviation matters.

He

his brother

HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM

1840-1916

SIR

brothers formed Loughhead

that bears his name,

which struggled on

until

1921. In 1926 Allan Loughhead

in

final

in

an impractical

and unflown biplane.

JAMES SMITH MCDONNELL

1899-1980
James McDonnell, the founder of one
of America's most successful aircraft

corporations,

was born

Denver,

in

He graduated from

Princeton University in 1921 and

in

aeronautical

engineering at the Massachusetts

Institute of

Technology

with the

worked

Army
for

1925, by

in

won

which time he had

his

Air Service.

numerous US

wings

He

aircraft

companies, eventually becoming chief

in the

Best

Aircraft,

1910 resulted

and Maxim's

Aircraft Corp. This

one flying machine. In 1916 the

built only

to naught,

resigned and formed the

then

returning to his native California

Aeroplane Co. with

with British

project engineer of landplanes with

airplanes.

1913, he formed the Alco Hydro-

was badly
was used

rails. It

the Glenn L. Martin Co. In 1938 he

a Curtiss

gained

and rocket propulsion,

for the

belonging to his employer.

During World War

US government on

Malcolm. This company

which he began around 1928. After

working

fly in

built small naval

1920s

recognition for his research into

tailless aircraft

1934. Allan

Loughhead was working as a car

mechanic in Chicago in 1910 when

the Grover Loening

which

amphibians

civil

tested

master's

Aviation Section, he

left to start

name
it

was

it

pioneer Percy Pilcher in 1896-97

gained a degree

war effort after

the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Postwar he worked as a technical

1926 before

When

after this

Corp in 1917, building landplanes

and amphibians. When the company
merged with Curtiss-Wright in 1928
Aircraft Co,

his career in

US

it

on July 31, 1894, the biplane lifted

from its running rails but fouled the

Colorado.

a corporate

in

control system.

founded the Loening Aeronautical

adopted Lockheed as

adviser to the airline Pan

first

plant. After holding senior posts in

returned to favor through active

participation in the

diameter,

attempt to build an airplane

the

ALLAN HAINES LOCKHEED

1889-1969

in

German

1911 he joined the Queen Aircraft

Corp of New York, moving in 1913
to manage Orville Wright's Dayton

m)

in (5.5

brief association

degree in aeronautical science. In

of St. Louis,
May 20-21,

10

came

in

by Ryan, and on

ft

only for demonstration runs.

graduated from Columbia University

mono-

17

American aircraft manufacturer

Grover Loening was born in the
father

Backed by

businessmen from

built

New

from

Missouri, he had a
plane.

first

Kent.

in

had an untried and inadequate

damaged, and

LOENING
1888-1976

to bail out of an

airplane during bad

Baldwyn's Park

Powered by two 180-hp Maxim

upper restraining

GROVER CLEVELAND

time he twice

this

1890 he began the

construction of a massive biplane

test-rig at

fare so well:

fly.

towards developing an

was sold to an investment group and

went on to become one of the US's
Lockheed's

it

1932 Lockheed

In

skills

up 20,000 over

known

was born
England

in

in

for the

machine gun

Hiram Maxim

Maine, but

settled in

1881. In 1888 his

McDonnell

expanded greatly

course of World

War

II

and

subsequently built a series of highly

successful military

jet aircraft,

including the world's

borne
In

1967

the

first carrier-

FH-1 Phantom.
company merged with

jet fighter,

the

Douglas Aircraft to
create the

McDonnell

Douglas Corp.

Sailplane

Institute, Lippisch joined

Messerschmitt

in

1939, and was

largely responsible for the

Me

163 Komet rocket-

propelled

bomber

interceptor used by the

Luftwaffe

He

in

World War

II.

then began investigating

supersonic delta wings, and after

the

war continued

his researches in

the US. Before his death Lippisch

worked on
X-1

13AM

the Rhein Flugzeugbau

surface skimmer.

McDonnell

fh-i

phantom

157

AVIATION INNOVATORS
PROFESSOR WILLY EMIL
MESSERSCHMITT
1898-1978
Famous German

MIKHAIL LEONTYEVICH MIL

1909-1970
A

aircraft designer

leading pioneer of rotary-wing

Union, Mikhail

flight in the Soviet

Willy Messerschmitt was born

Mil was born

Frankfurt-am-Main, and

in Siberia.

After

with Kmgsford Smith at Australian

National Airways. In 1931, flying

a

Moth, Mollison

set a

record for

a solo Australia-England flight.

Changing
he then

to a cabin Puss

set

Moth,

an England-Cape

Town

graduating from the Novochyerkassk

record in 1932, and later that year

built his first full-size gliders

Aviation Institute in 1931 he joined

was

with an architect friend

Aleksandr Izakson's brigade at the

from east

to west. In 1933, after

Hydrodynamic

marrying

Amy Johnson,

in

in

1913.

Exempted from military service

during World War I due to poor
health, he attended the Munich
Institute of Technology and after
the war founded his own aircraft
company in 1923. Three years later
he set up an arrangement under
which the
built

by

aircraft he designed

BFW

Central Aero- and

came with

the

fighter, which went on to

become one of the greatest
fighters of World War II.
BFW was renamed in 1938
as Messerschmitt AG, and
produced the Me 262 jet
fighter toward the end of the war.
After the war Messerschmitt went

Bf 109

MBB

Bolkow-Blohm)

(Messerschmitt-

1969.

in

ARTYEM IVANOVICH
MIKOYAN
1905-1970

Red Army and moved to

Zhukovskii Air Force Academy in

joining the

the

designer Artyem

on the 1-153

fighter,

aircraft

Mikoyan entered
Academy after

the Frunze Military

work

before being

chosen to lead an experimental

design section

(OKO)

new

transatlantic

During World War

II

he served

in

the Air Transport Auxiliary.

in

1939. With

REGINALD JOSEPH MITCHELL

1895-1937
Designer of Britain's most famous

World War

II

fighter, the Spitfire,

Reginald Mitchell was born

in

He

Stoke-on-Trent, England.

served

a five-year apprenticeship with a

locomotive engineermg firm before

Kh

high-altitude interceptor,

joining the Supermarine Aviation

on

a series of

designated

World War

MiG

produced

MiG-15,

II

and then

fighters,

Mikoyan and
the war Mikoyan

for

jet fighters,

-17, -19,

notably the

and

head of the bureau

-21.

He was

until his death.

Works

at

Southampton

in

1917.

J.

MOLLISON

A.

Within two years he was appointed

chief designer, developing a line of
successful flying boats

Mitchell's S.5

and

and seaplanes.

S.6 seaplanes

won the Schneider Trophy

Britain. When Vickers acquired

ultimately
for

Supermarine

MITCHELL
(CENTER
FRONT)
WITH 1927
SCHNEIDER
R.J.

skills.
|2

in

1928,

it

was

largely to gain Mitchell's

His masterpiece, the

Spitfire, first flew in

Adopted by the
Air Force),

TROPHY
GROUP

it

1936.

RAF

(Royal

proved to be

a potent fighter, serving

throughout World

War

II.

JAMES ALLAN MOLLISON

1905-1959
Born

in

Scotland and educated at

Glasgow Academy, "Jim" Mollison

took a commission
(Royal Air Force)

in the

in

RAF

1923, and

underwent an advanced

pilot's

course at the Central Flying School

in

1927. Transferred to the

Reserve

in

Club

in

RAF

1928, he became an

instructor at the Australian

158

set a

record of 13 hours 17 minutes.

produced included

Mikhail Guryevich, he worked on the

Guryevich. After

Armenian-born Soviet

it

from Newfoundland to Croydon,

England, he

the V-12, the largest helicopter ever.

1930. After graduating he joined

which became

with his wife. In 1936, flying solo

1936 he became deputy chief

WILLY MESSERCHMITT

Nikolai Polikarpov's brigade to

purchased the Junkers organization,

and also flew across the Atlantic

aircraft.

helicopters

Germany

1950s. In 1965 he

the Mi-1, Mi-4, and Mi-10, and

to Argentina, but he returned to

in the

made

A-15

Kamov, and
during World War II flew Kamovdeveloped A-7 autogyros at the
front. Mil was appointed head of
CAHI's rotating-wing laboratory
in 1945, but left two years later to
form his own design bureau. The

Bf 108 cabin monoplane and the

he

solo flight over the South Atlantic,

autogyro rotating-wing

designer to Nikolai

were

to fly the Atlantic solo

first

as chief designer of the

In

(Bayerische Flugzeug-

werke). True success

(CAHI), where he worked

Institute

the

Adelaide, and then

LEON AND ROBERT

CHARLES MORANE
1885-1918, 1886-1968
The Morane brothers played an
important role

in the

development

of France's aviation industry. After

working

manager

as a

Bleriot, in

for Louis

1911 Leon Morane

set

company with his

brother Robert, designer Raymond
Saulnier, and Gabriel Borel. The
Morane-Borel-Saulnier company
built two monoplanes before Borel
left in October 1911. Renamed
Morane-Saulnier, the company
up an

aircraft

went on

to produce a successful

family of monoplanes and biplanes,

some of which saw service in

World War I. After Leon's death

in

1918 the company concentrated on

parasol-winged, radial-engined
fighters

and

trainers,

and

in the late

1930s produced the MS. 405 and

406

fighters. After

company

World War

Aero

the

worked

was taken over by Potez

II

built light aircraft.

in

It

1963.

AVIATION INNOVATORS
ALEKSANDR FEDOROVICH
MOZHAISKII

when
Grahame-

SIR

that firm failed, to the

HANDLEY PAGE

White company, where he rose to be

1825-1890

He

Mozhaiskii trained as a naval cadet,

designed a number
Grahame-White
between 1912 and 1915, and then
became superintendent of the Austin

although he also had an education

Motor

Born

chief engineer.

Petersburg region,

in the St.

of airplanes for

Russian aviation pioneer Alexsandr

He

engineering.

in

served in the Baltic,

and the Crimea, and

the Sea of Japan,

finished his naval service as a captain

in

1873.

He was

given a

civil

post in

where he pursued an

the Ukraine,

and

interest in bird flight

After his return to

&

Paul in

and

At

1917 he joined Boulton

Norwich as chief engineer

the end of

designer.

Among

the

many

was involved with

aircraft he

&

Boulton

kite flying.

Petersburg in

St.

Co.'s aviation department.

at

Paul were the Sidestrand

and Overstrand bombers, the RlOl

airship,

and the Defiant two-seat

DR HANS VON OHAIN

1911-1998
in Dessau, Germany, Hans von
Ohain studied at the University of
Gottingen, where he conceived of a

Born

propulsion system for aircraft based

on the

turbojet. His

work came

the attention of Ernst Heinkel

provided finance and

further research,

facilities for

and then

employed him and

to

who

in

1936

his assistant,

1876 he began constructing a large

fighter.

Max

monoplane powered by two English-

in

engine was running by September

designed and -built steam engines. In

summer

the

near

St.

was launched down

monoplane

ramp with

helm, but

at the

after a short

version

By the time North retired

1954 he was the company's
managing director and chairman.

of 1884, at Krasnoe Selo

Petersburg, the

mechanic

FREDERICK

the Aeronautical Syndicate and,

hop.

was discontinued

crashed

it

Work on

a modified

1887.

in

Hahn. The

He

HeS 3b

engine,

airplane to

American

develop the

manufacturer

"Jack" Northrop was born

Jersey.

He

began

in

New

his aviation career

with the Loughhead brothers

1916, and then moved

in

in

1923 to

demonstration

1937, and on August 27, 1939, the

Heinkel

JOHN KNUDSEN NORTHROP

1895-1981
aircraft

first

power.

178, powered by an

became

fly solely

the

first

under turbojet

Von Ohain went on to

new Oil jet engine with

BMW

and Junkers, but the project

was abandoned at the war's end.
Postwar he went to the US as a
researcher at Wright-Patterson Air

Douglas, where he worked on the

Force Base. In 1963 he became chief

scientist at the

(originally Nieport) set up a business

making spark plugs and magnetos.

World Cruiser design. Three years

later he was back with Allan
Loughhead, becoming a cofounder
of the Lockheed Aircraft Company.
Northrop designed the Lockheed
Vega monoplane with Gerry Vultee,
but in 1927 he left to form the
Avion Corp to explore all-metal

After supplying electrical equipment

aircraft structures. In 1932, with

setting

Donald Douglas, he formed the

Northrop Corp, which produced a
series of high-speed all-metal monoplanes. The corporation became the
El Segundo division of Douglas in
1937, but Northrop continued to

in

Often referred to simply as "HP,"

I.

prominent

designed a series of airliners and

make

Frederick Handley Page

EDOUARD DE NIEUPORT
1875-1911
Born
as

French Algiers and trained

an engineer, Edouard de Nieuport

Henry Farman's Voisin biplane,

for
in

in

1908 he founded

company, building

company

failed,

his first aircraft

but

monoplane. The

1910 he

in

set

up a successor, SA des Etablissements

Nieuport, at

Issy, Paris, to

make

fast

monoplanes. In September 1911 he

world speed record

set a

killed

flight,

War

during a demonstration

but his

company went on

some of France's

build
I

one of

month he

these planes. Later that

was

in

fighters

best

to

World

under the leadership

of Henri Deutsche de

la

Meurthe.

a significant contribution in

devising

new

construction methods.

1939 Northrop formed his own

independent company, Northrop

In

Aircraft,

where he remained

director until

the

XB-35

as a

1952 and designed

flying-wing

aerospace research

and in 1975 he
was appointed chief scientist of the
base's Aero Propulsion Laboratory.
laboratories there,

Technical College, London. In 1906

he became chief product designer

for a large electrical

company, but
aviation.

manufacturing

his true love

He experimented

was
with

models and worked with Jose Wiess

on his tailless airplanes before

FREDERICK HANDLEY
PAGE
1885-1962
SIR

aircraft

an

electrical engineer at

first

aircraft

company

really successful

Type E of 1911, was

followed by the famous O/400 and

V/1500

in

Cheltenham, England, and trained

as

own

his

airplane, the

manufacturer

was born

up

1909. His

Finsbury

giant

bombers of World War

In the interwar years the

company

bdmbers, and then produced the

Hampden and
during World

Halifax bombers

War

II.

After the

war

Handley Page continued to produce

notable designs, such as the Hastings
transport and the Victor

jet

bomber,

but HP's refusal to merge his

company

bomber.

precipitated

its

collapse in 1970.

JOHN DUDLEY NORTH

1893-1968
British aircraft engineer

and designer

John North was originally a marine

engineering apprentice, but his

apprenticeship

was

transferred to

JOHN KNUDSEN NORTHROP'S

XB-3S FLYING-WING BOMBER

159

AVIATION INNOVATORS

POTEZ

25

PERCY SINCLAIR PILCHER

1867-1899
was

British pioneer Percy Pilcher

born

England, and served

in Bath,

in the

Royal Navy from 1880 to

1887.

He

then found

work

in the

shipbuilding industry

and

as an assistant

Glasgow
which
time he became fascinated by
lecturer at

University, during

pioneering
In

flights of

1895 Pilcher

the

Lilienthal.

built his first

hang-

which was moderately

glider, the Bat,

He

successful.

Otto

quickly followed this

by building the Beetle, the Gull, and

Hawk, which was flown

then the

Eynsford

Kent

in

Hiram Maxim

1897; but

in

in

triplane into

was completed, and before

Hawk

flown, the
Pilcher

September 30, 1899.

two days

injuries

He

in less time.

Dassault. Potez and Bloch designed

and marketed an improved

1916 formed SEA

propeller,

attain

d'Etudes Aeronautiques) to build

killed

aircraft.

1898,

an aeronautical engineer

it

it

up to 1941, Nikolai
Polikarpov graduated from St.

He worked on

Il'ya

aircraft until 1918,

the former

to

engineer. In

was

Duks

1916.

in

Mouramets
when he joined

1926 he became director

of the department of experimental

Factory 25. In 1929 Stalin accused

on

him of sabotaging

died of his

later.

in

an

air crash in

flying to Russia

Alaska while

with humorist

the Soviet aviation

program. Arrested along with

his

in

The company's

(Societe

finances

collapsed in 1919, but Potez then

formed Aeroplanes Henry Potez,

which

Will Rogers in 1935.

built

many

successful designs,

including the Potez 25 military two-

plant as chief

aircraft construction at State Aviation

collapsed while

was demonstrating

same airplane
The next year he began

the flight solo in the

he met Marcel Bloch,

and supercharged engines to

high-altitude flight. Post was

machine

after this

Soviet

I,

the future founder of Avions Marcel

Petersburg Polytechnic Institute as

He

small gasoline engine.

install a

all

and reconnaissance

making

French aviation officers during

World War

(usually

which he planned

However, shortly

Post capped this in 1933 by

The creator of almost

fighter, trainer,

15 hours, 51 minutes.

and

he designed a

glider,

in 8 days,

suits

influenced by Octave Chanute's

multiplane

POLIKARPOV
1892-1944

Serving as a technical assistant to

experimenting with pressure

there in 1896.

Hawk

completed the circumnavigation

aircraft built

after Pilcher joined

continued flying the

under tow)

at

with navigator Harold Gatty and

NIKOLAI NIKOLAYEVICH

HENRY CHARLES ALEXANDRE

POTEZ
1891-1981
Born

in

The

firm

was nationalized

in

1936 and became part of Societe

Nationale de Constructions Aeronautiques du Nord, with Potez as

Meaulte, France, Henry

Potez designed his

seater.

first

airplane in

from the

entire design team, he created the 1-5

1911

fighter in the prison design office at

Ecole Superieure d'Aeronautique.

after graduating

head of the group. In 1953 he

founded the Societe des Avions

et

Moteurs Henry Potez, which was

taken over by Sud-Aviation

in

1967.

State Aviation Factory 39. Released

RHEINHOLD PLATZ
1886-1966
Born

in

Construction Bureau before forming

Brandenburg, Germany,

in

Reinhold Platz played a key role

in

the success of the Fokker airplane

company.

Platz learnt the technique

the

skill in

in

He persuaded Anthony

1912.

Fokker to adopt

a steel-tube

fuselage structure that

and

strength

design bureau in 1937.

produced by Polikarpov's

bureau included the 1-16 monoplane

NB

and the

bomber. The

bureau was closed after

N.

The

combined

lightness with ease of

The two men developed

working relationship that

OKLAH OMa

WILEY POST
1898-1935
first

man

world, Wiley Post was born in Texas,

and learned mechanics

a close

Kansas. While working

produced Fokker's outstanding range

the

war

War
Platz

fighters.

was

in

For

much

of

charge of the

workshop, tasked with making and

testing the aircraft parts. Promoted
to designer in 1916, he remained

with Fokker

until

instrumental

in

1931, and was

developing Fokker's

interwar monoplane airliners.

160

around the

to fly solo

construction.

of World

\A

his death.

factories

before joining Fokker Aeroplanbau

in

own

fighter

1904, and taught

many European

his

Aircraft

of autogenous welding in a Berlin

oxygen factory

1933, Polikarpov was the chief

landplane designer for the Central

he

an eye

lost

"SisSsi

at school in
in

in a drilling

an

oilfield

^yaJtff^i-

^.\

accident

and used the insurance money to

buy an
fly.

airplane. After learning to

Post became the personal pilot of

F.C. Hall, a rich oilman,

who

in

1931 offered to back an attempt on

an around-the-world
Hall's

flight.

Flying

Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae,

Post set off on June 23 that year

WILEY POST WITH LOCKHEED VEGA WINNIE MAE

AVIATION INNOVATORS
model

ZYGMUNT PULAWSKI
1901-1931
Born

one of

in Lublin,

Zygmunt

Poland,

Pulawski designed his

Warsaw

also entered a design for a two-seat

army-support biplane

War

in the

models. This machine

tested at Brooklands, but

until

He

Technical University.

his

achieved brief tentative hops

first aircraft,

the S.L.3 glider, while studying at

the

1907 Roe began

aircraft, in

building a full-size biplane based on

1924

it

when
was not

1910 that Roe began to make

own

design. Later that year he

formed A.V. Roe

&

Co., soon

Hamburg

in

before he

became involved in aviation.

1914 he joined the
Zeppelin works at
Friedrichshafen, where he

1917 he

large seaplanes. In

was transferred

to Zeppelin's

Staaken plant as a designer,

1919 he succeeded

and

design competition, and tied for

renamed Avro. With the appearance

of the Type 504 in 1913, which was

fourth place. This enabled Pulawski,

used both as a bomber and a trainer

chief designer. In this role he

upon graduation

during World

Polish

Ministry combat aircraft

his technical

1925, to further

in

education

where he worked

in

France,

War

flourished, eventually

for Louis Breguet.

one of

growing into

When Armstrong

manufacturers.

through the Polish military pilots

Siddeley acquired a controlling

school and in 1928 joined the

new

interest in

Avro

was

remarkable E.4/20 four-engined

monoplane

After

airliner.

receiving a doctorate in 1921,

Rohrbach founded the Rohrbach

1928, Roe bought

in

Alexander Baumann as

all-metal

Britain's greatest aircraft

Returning to Poland, he passed

in

Prof.

responsible for producing the

the business

I,

In

met Claude Dornier and worked

on

significant flights, in a triplane of

his

shipyard

Metallflugzeugbau

1922. In

in

Panstwowe Zaklady Lotnicze (PZL

into S.E. Saunders,

- "State Aviation Factory"). His

Saunders-Roe and was noted for

its

on the construction of

He remained

its

Germany imposed by

the Treaty of

Versailles, he also set

up Rohrbach

first

which became

design for PZL, the P.l interceptor

flying-boat designs.

monoplane, had a highly original

wing design and was very advanced

president until his death in 1958.

for

time. Subsequent developments

its

of this aircraft produced a successful

series of fighters that

culminated

in

Metall-Aeroplan

ADOLF KARL ROHRBACH

1889-1939

the highly maneuverable P-1 Is, with

which the Polish Air Force valiantly

German

faced the

German Luftwaffe

Pulawski never lived to see

died on

March

in

1939.

this.

He

21, 1931, while

order to overcome the restrictions

pioneer of all-metal aircraft,

designer Adolf Rohrbach

earned a diploma

in

shipbuilding at

aircraft in

Co A/S

in

Copen-

hagen, Denmark. These companies

produced

a range of

Rohrbach's

landplanes and flying boats up

1934,

until

company

when Weser took

the

ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT

Rohrbach was

over.

retained as technical director.

and was forced

Darmstadt Technical University and

worked

for the

Blohm

&

amphibious aircraft he
had designed - the aircraft suffered

airplanes as a

testing a light

a control

malfunction and crashed.

ALLIOTT

VERDON

ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT
1873-1932
A

pioneer of both airships and

planes, Alberto

born

in

in

air-

Santos-Dumont was

but conducted his

France. Inspired by

gas balloons during a family

1877-1958
Born

in Brazil

experiments

VERDON ROE

Paris in 1891, he

visit to

took up ballooning

himself in 1897 and embarked on

Manchester,

weapon

war

of

in

had nothing further to do with

SIR

ROE

ALLIOTT

flying.

Europe, he returned to Brazil and

)ry

SIR

up

to give

Depressed by the development of

Voss

no

aviation.

He

killed himself in 1932.

RAYMOND SAULNIER
1881-1964
One

of France's most distinguished

aircraft designers,

Raymond

Saulnier

graduated as an engineer from the

Ecole Centrale in Paris

was then drafted

Following

in

1905 and

into the artillery.

and

England, the aircraft

dirigible construction, building

manufacturer Alliott

fewer than 12 lighter-than-air flying

a trip to Brazil, he joined the Bleriot

company as an engineer in 1908.

Here he worked on several aircraft

Roe was

the founder

machines by 1907. During

of Avro.

He began

period he

his

career as an apprentice
to the Lancashire

and

won

Deutsch prize

No.

Yorkshire Railway

of

this

the 100,000-franc
in

1901 by

flying his

6 airship from the Paris suburb

St.

Cloud

to circle the Eiffel

Locomotive Works.

Tower. In 1905 he also began

After studying marine

designing heavier-than-air powered

engineering at King's

airplanes.

College, London, he

in his

worked

canard

as an engineer

for the British

and South

the

No.

first

On November
\4bis^ a

(tail-first)

powered

12, 1906,

cumbersome

biplane, he
flights in

made

Europe.

African Royal Mail Co.

His most successful aircraft were

and

a pair of diminutive

in

the automobile

industry before seizing

work on an

high-wing

monoplanes, the No. 19 and

its

ambitious "Gyropter" for

development, the No. 20 Demoiselle

- the world's first light airplanes.

G.L.O. Davidson

In

the chance to

An

in

1906.

enthusiastic builder of

191 0, at the age of 37, Santos-

Dumont developed

multiple sclerosis

this military service

designs, including the original

Bleriot

XI monoplane

in

which

Louis Bleriot carried out his epoch-

making cross-Channel flight in

1909. That same year he left Bleriot,
formed the Societe des Aeroplanes

and designed and built a

monoplane of his own. His company
went bankrupt in 1910. After a brief
Saulnier,

association with Gabriel Borel, he

formed Morane-Saulnier with the

Morane brothers in 1911. This

company established its reputation
with a series of high-performance
Saulnier-designed monoplanes,

which served

in

World War

I.

161

AVIATION INNOVATORS
LOUIS

AND LAURENT SEGUIN

1869-1918, 1883-1944
The Seguin

in

895,

when

France. Ten years

in Paris,

when

later,

company

it

the Societe des

Gnome. That

year,

field

motor

Moteurs

which

used

radially

had never been applied to

aircraft.

The

Seguins'

first

later

became Republic
and general

airplanes

went

Published

in

a bestseller,

1942, Seversky's book

and

in

Power proved

1945 he was

rotative

American Secretary of War.

for

into production the

following year. These engines were

exceptional power-to-weight ratios

for their time

1872-1917, 1875-1932,
1883-1969
manufacturers of a string of

I.

ALEXANDER PROKOFIEFF
DE SEVERSKY
founder and promoter of

power, Alexander Seversky was

born into a wealthy Russian family

He

graduated

1914, and then studied

engineering at the Military School of

Sebastopol. In 1915

he joined the Baltic Sea Naval Air

and

lost a leg after

forced to ditch his

damaged

century under the umbrella of

Bombardier of Canada.

IGOR IVANOVICH SIKORSKY

1889-1972
pioneer of rotary

Igor Sikorsky

was born

in

Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the

Russian Empire. After graduating

from Kiev Polytechnical

he built his

Institute,

helicopters in 1908

first

their failure led

him

he was
aircraft

1911-12 won the

a competition

first

prize in

sponsored by the

Russian armed forces and he was

made

designer at the

new

aviation

department of the Russo-Baltic

Wagon Works.

In

in

THOMAS SOPWITH

SIR

1911 Sikorsky

conceived a large four-engined

first

the Il'ya

and company founder

"Tom" Sopwith was born in London.

British pilot

flew in 1913 and sired

Mouramets bombers of

Trained as a

civil

engineer, he took

up ballooning

balloons at a factory in Paris, France,

revolution, Sikorsky emigrated to the

the end of that year he had set

belonging to Edouard Surcouf. They

US, where he founded the Sikorsky

British distance

then returned to England and set up

Aero Engineering Corp

two brothers were constructing

their

own

balloon factory. In 1908

the third brother, Horace, joined the

on airplane construction.

Service,

still

survived at the end of the twentieth

World War I. After the Bolsheviks

took power in "Russia in the 1917

Academy

in

The Short Brothers company

which

business and together they

Aeronautics

flying boats built for

airplane, the Bolshoi Baltiiskiy,

began

from the Imperial Russian Naval

in

Empire

Imperial Airways in the late 1930s.

1897
when Eustace and Oswald bought a
balloon and learned to fly it. By 1900
the

1894-1974

Georgia.

184 seaplane of 1915-18 and the

successful aircraft, the Short brothers'

interest in aviation

in Tbilisi,

1888-1989

notable of these being the Type

and 1910, but

HORACE LEONARD, ALBERT

EUSTACE, AND HUGH
OSWALD SHORT

British

radiators.

air

THOMAS OCTAVE
MURDOCH SOPWITH

SIR

to turn to airplanes. His S-6 of

extremely successful as they had

A company

marine airplanes, the most

flight,

appointed special consultant to the

and did not need

They continued to be
developed throughout World War

for

evolved into the P-47 Thunderbolt.

a full-size

Gnomes

designs. In particular.

An important

engines were built in 1908, and

seven-cylinder 50-hp

own

Short Brothers gained a reputation

manager he oversaw the production

of the P-35 fighter, which later

Victory Through Air

had been

and motorcycles, they

in cars

America. In 1921

new bombsight, and

Aviation). As president

disposed cylinders revolved around

a stationary crankshaft,

in

its

up the Seversky Aero

Corp (which

Laurent told

for the developing

in

as vice-chairman of the

rights to set

of aviation." Although similar

rotary engines,

US

used the $50,000 that the American

government paid for the patent

to

Louis that they should design a

"rotative

to the

he developed a

build small automobile engines,

naming

to the rank

of commander. In 1917 he was sent

decide to stay

his

half-brother, Laurent, joined him,

they reorganized the

and rose

artificial leg,

Russian Naval Aviation Commission.

The Russian Revolution made him

Louis Seguin founded an engine

manufacturing business

bombs exploded. He returned

its

to the front within a year, flying with

an

brothers' involvement in

engine design began

and

the Short brothers

to build six
license.

War

in a

flying boats, in

1910

in

airplanes.

By

new

and duration records

Howard Wright

biplane. After

establishing his reputation as a top

After building several successful

amphibians and

fly

1939

sporting pilot, he set up the Sopwith

he reverted to designing helicopters,

Flying School at Brooklands in 1912.

1909

eventually achieving practical flights

He

In

were contracted

Wright biplanes under

company had become

well established

1923.

taught himself to

1906 and

embarked

By the outbreak of World

their

in

in

and was building

in his

VS-300, from which

a great

family of helicopters evolved.

Sikorsky retired

in

1957 but

remained an engineering consultant

to the

company

until his death.

then embarked on aircraft design

and construction, founding the

Sopwith Aviation Company, which
produced

its first

airplane in 1913.

victory by a Sopwith Tabloid in

Trophy contest
was followed by the production
of a string of famous World

the 1914 Schneider

War

fighters,

Strutter,

the

war

such as the

I'A

Pup, and Camel. After

the

company went

into

voluntary liquidation. Sopwith

then formed the H.G.

Hawker

Engineering Co., renamed

Hawker

Aircraft Ltd in 1933,

by which time Sopwith was

joint

the

managing

director.

When

company became Hawker

Siddeley Aircraft in 1935, he

was

in overall control.

retired as

chairman

in

He
1963,

but retained the honorary

IGOR IVANOVICH SIKORSKY FLYING HIS VS-300

162

position of president.

AVIATION INNOVATORS

SUKHOI SU-24 VARIABLE-GEOMETRY FIGHTER

ELMER AND LAWRENCE

BURST SPERRY
1860-1930, 1892-1923
DR.

In

1913 American engineer Elmer

stabilizer for aircraft. In the

year, his

same

son Lawrence took a job at

the Curtiss flying school

and was the

project engineer for the installation

his

work.

Elmer Sperry subsequently invented

the directional gyro, gyro horizon,

and

His son also

drift indicator.

a reputation as a designer.

World War

Sperry developed a gyroscopic

on with

father to carry

won

During

He

on

then went on to develop the

Messenger biplane
During

European

sales tour in

recovered, he

in the

his

English

was never found.

WILLIAM BUSHNELL STOUT

1880-1956
Stout studied

engineering at the University of

Minnesota.

He became

aviation

editor of the Chicago Tribune in

1912 and then founded the magazine

Aerial Age.
the

US

He was

a consultant to

Board

Aircraft Production

War

during World
the

war

his

I,

and

after

Stout Engineering

and

built

the Bjtu'ing, a cantilever

developed a twin-engined,

monoplane for the

US Navy and wrote to 100

all-metal

businessmen asking each of

them
help

to contribute

him

set

Airplane Co.

$1,000 to

up the Stout Metal

Among

contributed was Henry Ford,

bought the company

left

the

company

in

who
who

those

1925. Stout

before the

first

Tri-Motor monoplanes appeared

Ford
in

Sukhoi reopened
Stalin died.

carried

1847. Although the

in

fly,

on the work

after

departure for America.

tested an

in

1953 when

Henson's

He

built

and

improved Henson-type

as "the lightest

proportion to

steam engine

its

power"

KURT WALDEMAR TANK

1898-1983
Aircraft designer Kurt

in

born

at the

1868 Aeronautical Exhibition held

in

Tank was

Bromberg-Schwedenhohe,

Germany. He

left

school at 17 to

World War I, and after the

war he worked at the Ohrenstein &:

London's Crystal Palace.

fight in

PAVEL OSIPOVICH SUKHOI

1898-1975

Koppel locomotive works. He then

studied electrical engineering at
Berlin Technical

High School,

Responsible for designing a range of

where he was

notable Soviet aircraft, Pavel Sukhoi

Akaflieg, the Berlin Academicals

was born
at

in Belorussia

Moscow

and studied

University and

Moscow

founder of the

Flying Group, which designed, built,

and flew

gliders. In

1924 he joined

Higher Technical School. After the

Rohrbach

1917 Russian Revolution he served

in the Red Army, then joined the
Central Aero- and Hydrodynamic

to fly the following year. At the

Institute in 1920.

There he worked

as a junior designer

under Andrei

Engineering Laboratories

designed the

producing the Sky Car monoplane.

it

line of successful jet

fighters ensued, including the

monoplane in 1848, and a triplane

model in 1868 - neither of which
managed to achieve sustained
powered flight. The triplane's
engine, however, won a 100 prize

in

The bureau

Stalin in 1949, but

variable-geometry Su-24.

Stringfellow

Tupolev before leading the team that

1929,

long-distance aircraft.

Henson's large model airplanes, one

1928, but he resurrected the Stout

in

range of fighters and record-breaking

of which was tested near Chard,

failed to

own

1939, which developed a

was closed by

Laboratories constructed

monoplane. Stout then

in

ingenious light steam engines for

model

in Illinois, "Bill"

manufacturing experience as

Somerset,

boat hands-off. The

Born

1840s. Relying

a lacemaker, he designed

after the war.

the system in Paris, France, by flying

LAWRENCE SPERRY

Experimental Construction from

1936. Sukhoi opened his

in the

He

types.

then led design at the Factory for

bureau

1923 he ditched

his

became involved with

Stringfellow

ANT

developed several

England, John

experiments

Channel; although the plane was

prompted

Sheffield,

undercarriage and a flying bomb.

he devised a retractable

system there. In 1914 he demonstrated

success of these trials

Born near

Aeroplane Construction, where he

William Henson's aeronautical

of his father's gyro-stabilization

a Curtiss flying

Department of Experimental

JOHN STRINGFELLOW
1799-1883

ANT-5

fighter. In

1932

he became head of Brigade 3 of the

as a designer,

and

learnt

end

work with Willy

Messerschmitt at BFW, but stayed
for only 18 months before joining

of 1929 he

left

to

the Focke-Wulf Fluzeugbau in

Bremen. There he was appointed

technical director in 1933. Notable

Tank designs included the Fw 200

163

AVIATION INNOVATORS
GABRIEL

AND CHARLES

VOISIN

1880-1973, 1888-1912
An

architectural student turned

engineer, Gabriel Voisin

in

was born

Lyons, France. His involvement

in aviation
kites. In

began with an

interest in

1904, inspired by a lecture

given by French pioneer Ferdnand

Ferber,

who had

experimented with

crude Wright-type gliders, he learned

to

fly.

He

piloted French aviation

patron Ernest Archdeacon's glider

and then became the engineer

in

Archdeacon's firm, Le Syndicat

de I'Aeronautique. In 1906, with
his brother Charles, he set

PULQUI

II

JET FIGHTER DESIGNED BY KURT TANK

the world's

Condor and

the

great fighters of

Fw

190, one of the

World War

II.

By

1942 Tank was head of Focke-Wulf.

Postwar he emigrated to Argentina,

where he designed the Pulqui

fighter, first

flown

in

II jet

1950. In the

mid-1950s he went to India and

ANDREI NIKOLAYEVICH
TUPOLEV
1888-1972
born

at

went

with no

was

Moscow

lateral control,

company went on

the

Pustomanzov, near Kalinin,

Russia. In 1908 he

powered Voisin
cumbersome box-

first

biplanes were
kites

true airplane

first

The

factory.

Soviet designer Andrei Tupolev

ALFRED VICTOR VERVILLE

1890-1970

a family of

pusher biplanes. After

Charles Voisin died in a car crash

1912, Gabriel

up Aeroplanes

In 1914, after seeing a Curtiss pilot

in

Higher Technical School, where he

give a daredevil display, Detroit-born

G. Voisin. During World

HF-24 Marut supersonic

studied engineering under Nikolai

French-Canadian "Fred" Verville

company

Zhukovskii. In 1911 he was arrested

the

for revolutionary activities, but he

joined Curtiss at

pushers.

New

was

fighter.

to

JUAN TERRY TRIPPE

1899-1981

resumed

Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan Am,

factory the following year. In

was born

in

New

Yale University
a

bomber

in

Jersey.

1917

became an engineer

He

to

left

become

US Navy,
World War

pilot in the

returned there after

and graduated

in

his studies in

Duks

at the

1918

he was a cofounder of the Central

Aero- and Hydrodynamics

but

He headed

on metal

1922. After a

1914 and

the

1922

state

Institute.

committee

aircraft construction, and

1924 formed the Department of
Aviation, Hydroaviation and

left

Hudson Motor Company and

Hammondsport,
York. There he contributed to

famous

early designs including the

Jenny

trainer.

Returning to Detroit,

aircraft,

Gabriel Voisin then concentrated

on automobile manufacture.

he worked for the Fisher Body Co.,

entered World

US

but after the

I

he was loaned to the

US

War

Air

Service Engineering Division at

in

McCook

Experimental Construction. In 1931

RICHARD TRAVIS WHITCOMB

1921Born

Field,

Ohio, as a designer.

the Chief Administration of the

to study Allied fighter programs.

He won an exclusive contract

from the Cuban government to

Aviation Industry. Arrested in 1937,

Impressed by the work of

during the Stalinist purges, Tupolev

designer Louis Bechereau, Verville

carry mail, and set up Pan American

worked

returned to

Massachusetts,

prisons" until his release in 1943.

designed

then engaged by

From 1944 he managed

Plane),

from which evolved the

VCP-R

racer,

route.

Airways

(later

Pan Am) as AVCO's

operating subsidiary

in

1927.

He

as a designer in "special

the Soviet

was Pan Am's president until 1968.

The airline's rapid growth was largely
due to Trippe's leadership and to his

copy of the Boeing B-29, and

adroit business practices.

that continues today.

World War
long

line

II

his

after

bureau produced a

of military and

civil aircraft

Pulitzer Race. In

up with the R-3 monoplane, an

'RfW:^^

with

won
was

formed, producing

In

and CW-3

commercial

aircraft.

1927 he

up

Aircraft, but this

set

into

liquidation in 1932. Verville then

164

NACA

He was
(National

work

at

Langley Laboratory

its

on problems relating to supersonic

flight. In 1954 he was awarded the
and

Trophy

for his discovery

verification of the area rule of

to

become

the

US

Air Force's

first

operational supersonic aircraft.

followed this

in the

He

1960s with the

development of NASA's

supercritical

wing, which enabled airplanes to

Verville

company went

returned to government service.

Institute,

1943.

Convair's suitably modified F-102

the 1924 Pulitzer Race. In 1925

the Airster

in

aerodynamic flow, which enabled

retractable

the Buhl-Verville Aircraft Co.

to

Collier

a low, cantilever

wing and

Worcester Polytechnic

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics)

1922 he followed

undercarriage, which

American inventor

in Illinois,

Richard Whitcomb graduated from

winner of the 1920

aircraft

7&

SPAD

McCook Field and

the VCP (Verville Chasse

"

J^i

the

The company's last aircraft

night bomber of 1920;

competing on the Key West-Havana

AVCO

BN4

the

he was appointed chief engineer of

business he became head of

War

some 10,000

mostly sturdy but primitive

(Aviation Corporation of America),

forays into the airline

set

delivered

The Bureau of Aircraft Production

then assigned him to the Lockhart
Mission, which was sent to France

number of

but

to develop

design of the Hindustan Aeronautics

led

up Les

Freres Voisin at Billancourt, Paris,

cruise faster at a given

power

setting

or to carry a heavier payload at the

same speed. He also invented the

eponymous winglets that, attached

AVIATION INNOVATORS
unwind the main

to wingtips,

wingtip vortices, decreasing the drag

of the

AIR

wing by about 14 percent.

COMMODORE

FRANK WHITTLE
1907-1996

SIR

Frank Whittle was a pioneer of

Born

aircraft.

he joined the

jet

Coventry, England,

in

RAF

(Royal Air Force)

as an apprentice in 1923. In

1926 he

RAF

College,

won

a cadetship at the

Cranwell, and trained as a

pilot.

Two

years later he wrote a thesis on the

possibilities of rocket

propulsion

and gas-turbine-driven

propellers.

Whittle pursued his flying career in

RAF, eventually becoming a

the

pilot,

while

test

spare time he

in his

conceived a gas-turbine engine that

produced a propelling
idea, he patented

In

it.

went to Cambridge
a

1936 the Power

indifference the
It

E. 28/39,

it

made

its

and

it

official

WU engine was run

was

left

Gloster

fitted to the

fly in

Britain

maiden

Cranwell on
Whittle

Despite

his engine.

which became the

airplane to

in

company was

Jets

up to develop

1939.

ORVILLE WRIGHT

May

Power

WRIGHT BIPLANE) AND WILBUR WRIGHT

successful airplane, the Flyer.

WILBUR AND ORVILLE

WRIGHT
1867-1912, 1871-1948

made

the

first

War

It

powered, sustained,

and controlled

flights at Kitty

Hawk,

the factory built 37,000

II

and

fighters,

1940 Yakovlev was

in

made Deputy Commissar

of the

Aviation Industry. Postwar his

Inspired by the pioneering flights of

North Carolina, on December 17,

1903. They improved upon this

Otto Lilienthal, the Wright brothers,

design with the Flyer

III, built in

aircraft, including tactical jets,

who were

1905, which was the

first

bicycle makers,

embarked

on aviation experiments

first jet

when

in

1899. Working as
designers, scientists,

flight at

15, 1941.
Jets

(IN

1934 Whittle

University, taking

financial difficulties

in

Although

Mechanical Sciences, and

first in

set

jet.

Ministry rejected the

Britain's Air

engineers, builders,

when

and

test pilots,

powered

was fully controllable

and capable of making repeated

bureau produced a wide variety of

helicopters,

and

transports.

jet

airplane that

prolonged

Wilbur's flight

flights.

demonstrations

in

France

in

1908

revolutionized European aviation,

but marketing the invention proved

GENERAL CHARLES ELWOOD

YEAGER
1923One

of the world's great

was nationalized in 1944,

in 1 946 became technical

they carried out

glider flights

even harder than creating

on engine production

and windtunnel

lengthy courtroom patent battles

Virginia, graduated

interfered with further developments.

in

After Wilbur died of typhoid in

Army

1912, Orville sold his manufacturing

the Eighth Air Force's 357th Fighter

and

adviser

and design

at the Air Ministry.

tests to

He

RAF

the world's

left

the

emigrated to the

in

1948, and

US

in

1976.

develop
first

truly

and patent

it,

and

rights in 1915, but

went

on advising and experimenting.

test pilots,

"Chuck" Yeager was born

1941, and enlisted

US

in the

Air Corps. Assigned to

Group,

flying P-51

claimed 13

1945 he became

Wright

from

aircraft

Me

262

jet.

a test pilot at

Dayton, Ohio; and

Field,

two years

Mustangs, he

German

1943, including an
In

West

in

from high school

later

he volunteered for

the supersonic aircraft project at

ALEKSANDR SERGEYEVICH
YAKOVLEV
1906-1989
The noted

Soviet aircraft designer

Aleksandr Yakovlev

own

first built his

gliders in the early 1920s,

and

Academy workshops.

COMMODORE

SIR

FRANK WHITTLE

Bell

XS-1.

On

October 14, 1947,

Yeager became the

first

person to

exceed the speed of sound, attaining

Mach

1.06. In

speed record

1953 he

in the

set

another

XI -A, reaching

2.44. His subsequent Air

Force career included

commanding
and

1931 he joined Nikolai Polikarpov's

a school for training astronauts

bureau as an engineering supervisor,

leading 405th Fighter

Wing

in the

Vietnam War. Yeager

retired

from

but was expelled

AIR

In

flying

the rocket-propelled air-launched

Mach

then got a job in the Zhukovskii

Air Force

Rogers Dry Lake, California,

when one

of his

designs suffered flutter and had to be

the Air Force, as a general, in 1975.

force-landed. In 1934 Yakovlev set

He became a flight consultant

Edwards Air Force Base.

up

his

own

bureau. During World

at

165

GLOSSARY
BOX SPAR A

GLOSSARY
AEROD'VNAMICS
movement

ARRESTER HOOK A

The physics of the

of objects through air or gas.

AERONAUT The

attached to

pilot of a hghter-than-

air aircraft, especially a balloon.

AFTERBURNER

additional fuel into the specially designed

some land-based and all

combat airplanes to engage

an arrester wire and thus shorten the

shaped cockpit cover.

Its

landing run.

framework allows

of a wing divided by

Control surface attached to

is

narrow; a low-aspect-ratio wing

wingtips on some early biplanes) to

short and deep.

in roll

BRAKE A

cord comprising

Elastic

dome

transparent

CABANE A

in

many

structure of braced struts

an airplane fuselage through which a

used to support

navigator can navigate by the stars,

or wing.

a load

above

a fuselage

CAMBER The

through

air

and produce

lift

propeller having a control system,

incorporating a governor and feedback,

curvature of an

AUTOGYRO A
and

propeller

AIRFOIL SECTION The outline of

flowing through

air

gun-shaped camera

its

disc

in

weaponry and

CANARD A

tail-first

distinct

modes,

airplane, or the

foreplane attached to such a machine.

from below.

aircraft capable

example vertical flight supported by a

rotor and forward flight supported by a
wing, and of converting between the two.

combat.

air

two

of flight in at least
for

in

by an unpowered

lifted

rotor free to spin under the action of the

section through an airfoil.

Rotating

opposite directions on the same axis.

airfoil

used to train pilots and gunners

rotorcraft propelled

by a horizontal thrust system such as a

or thrust.

revolutions per minute.

CONVERTIPLANE An

CAMERA GUN A

move

maintain a selected number of

section.

aircraft's flying position

as a wing,

rotor, or propeller, designed to

at the front

air entering the intake.

CONTRAROTATING

using a sextant.

ATTITUDE An

body such

assembly

of a turbojet engine that compresses the

at a given time.

solid

exhaust pipe.

CONSTANT-SPEED PROPELLER

BUNGEE

is

to reduce an

airplane's forward speed.

AIRFOIL A

into a

that automatically adjusts the pitch to

surface that can be

power

COMPRESSOR The

major transverse structural

fuselage or hull; used to

in a

strands of rubber in a braided sheath.

ASTRODOME A

extended into the airflow under manual

or hydraulic

common

BULKHEAD A

around the

aircraft's longitudinal axis.

AIR

exhaust gases and channel

them

long and

wingtip trailing edge (or between

provide control

collect the

unobscurcd all-around view.

nonpressurized sections, for example.

mean chord.

wing

high-aspect-ratio

cylinders of a radial engine. Used to

minimal

the pilot an

separate compartments or pressurized and

ratio of the span

its

tubular ring

connecting the exhaust ports of the

teardrop-

GYRO

See

HORIZON.
ASPECT RATIO The

and/or other occupants, such

COLLECTOR RING A
clear,

member

thrust. Also called reheat.

AILERON

aircraft.

BUBBLE CANOPY A

letpipe of a turbojet to provide

augmented

as a gunner. Usually restricted to smaller

which the wing Icading-

structure to

pilot

and trailing-edge structures are attached.

strong hook

HORIZON

space occupied by a

box

carrier-based

ARTIFICIAL

Device that injects

COCKPIT A

spar consisting of front

and rear webs connected by upper and

lower booms or sheets, forming a strong

COUNTER-ROTATING

Rotating

in

opposite directions on separate axes in

AIRFRAME The assembled

an

aircraft, including

structure of

system components

AUTOMATIC pilot/autopilot

CANTILEVER WING A wing whose

Airborne electronic system that

structure does not require external struts

the

same

plane.

forming an integral part of structure and

automatically stabilizes an aircraft

or bracing wires; rigidly attached at one

COWL(ING) Covering

influencing strength, integrity, or shape.

about

end only.

other parts of aircraft, often using hinged

three axes, restores

its

to

it

its

or removable panels.

original flightpath after a disturbance,

ALCLAD

Trade name of rust-resistant

aluminum/duralumin

and,
to

alloy.

in its

make

modern form, can be

CAR A

preset

passenger- or engine-carrying

CRESCENT WING

nacelle suspended beneath an airship.

the aircraft follow a desired

CARBURETOR An

Allies The nations united against the

all-moving tail plane a

incidence

tail

variable-

plane that serves as the

primary control surface

in pitch;

air

airborne power generation system, other

internal

than propulsion or

as electrics, hydraulics, air conditioning,

supporting leg

II

ment

aircraft capable of

from one to the

the

wing meets the

volume of

in

gas to maintain

lifting

flow.

Not

inflatable rubber "boots,"

CHAFF

wing

fore-and-aft

angle at which a wing or tailplane

attached to the fuselage,

Braced structural members

extending forward or

aft

tail

aircraft's horizontal axis.

Not

BOWDEN CABLE A

of wings to

surfaces.

form of control with

a cable sliding within

is

in relation to

an outer

known

DELTA WING A wing having

triangular planform; after the similarly

or

shaped Greek character.

DIHEDRAL

to confuse detection systems.

planes
1.

On

a flying-boat hull or

seaplane float, the extreme side

member

Angling of wings or

upward from root

to tip

tail

when

seen from head on, to achieve lateral

stability.

running approximately parallel to the

keel.

2. In

supersonic aircraft, a sharp

fuselage

lateral

extremity of the

and merging into the wing.

CLEAN Term
BOXKITE A form

of kite having

two or more superimposed

confused with angle of attack.

break away. There are also thermal and

DIRECT-INJECTION ENGINE An engine

in

which the

fuel

is

injected directly into

each cylinder.

sleeve.

the

to be

which can be

chemical systems.

Radar-reflective particulate

edge forming the

ANGLE OF INCIDENCE The

Central portion of

structure.

matter sized to match

CHINE

BOOMS

carry forcplanes or

incidence.

Mechanical system uses

flying surfaces.

the enemy, and released by an aircraft

angle at which

to be confused with angle of

of removing ice

accretions from the leading edges of

supersonic intake.

suspected wavelengths being used by

BIPLANE A fixed-wing aircraft having

two superimposed wings.
local undisturbed air-

the

inside an airship envelope that can

pressure.

ANGLE OF ATTACK The

in

center of circular or semicircular

fuselage or

Advanced medium-range

air-to-air missile.

its

pulsated, causing the ice to crack and

Flexible gas-tight compart-

be inflated to compensate for variation

other.

at

of a wheel).

Streamlined body

CENTER-SECTION

operating from land and water, and of

and crossing

DEICING Means

term for the

by wires

center.

pilot of a heavier-than-air aircraft.

BALLONET

AMRAAM

(i.e.,

CENTERBODY

aircraft's altitude.

transferring

swivel around the

rigid

at the extremities of the

structural frame

CASTOR, TO To

pressurization, etc.

Instrument for measuring

AMPHIBIAN An

anchored

engines, used to

lift

AVIATOR Pre-World War

an

CROSS-BRACED Held

in

combustion engines.

generate power for airborne systems such

alternative to separate elevators.

ALTIMETER

planform shape

apparatus for mixing

with fuel vapor for combustion

AUXILIARY POWER UNIT (APU) An

avionics, main-engine starting,

an

Wmg

resembling waxing or waning moon.

trajectory.

German and .\ustro-Hungarian forces in

World War I, and against the Axis forces
in World War II.

over engine or

surfaces

used to denote the lack of

drag-inducing attachments or projections

on

wing or

DIRIGIBLE An

airship. Originally

a dirigible balloon, the

word meaning

capable of being guided.

fuselage.

joined by side curtains; also applied

ANHEDRAL The downward

wing or

166

tail

slope of a

plane from root to

tip.

to early biplanes with a similar

COAXIAL

structure.

axis.

Rotating around

common

DOPE

Liquid, usually having a nitro-

cellulose or cellulose-acetate base, applied

GLOSSARY
to hihnc to t.uitcn

make

it,

it, .iiid

strfiijitlicn

FLAP Movable

surface forming part

GILLS Adjustable hinged

of leading or trailing edge of an airfoil

airtight.

It

and able

DOUBLE-DELTA WING A

wing

delta

having two angles of sweephack to

downward

to hinge

rearward on tracks to

its

move

flow of cooling

having

FLIGHTDECK The
flight

crew on

indicating an aircraft's angle of drift,

component

of

i.e.,

enable

in
it

Inflatable bags

lift

when

it

to

Ailerons that

interaction of

flaps are lowered, to increase

hut preserve lateral control.

measured along a

high-frequency

owing

allowed to develop

it

The angle

that the

longitudinal axis of an airplane's fuselage

makes with

to the

is

ground when the machine

the

FLY-BY-WIRE A

flight control

system

that uses electrical signaling instead of

copper, magnesium, and manganese.

mechanical control linkages.

with pronounced

Electronic flight instrumentation

system. Provides primary flight and

airplane with a

watertight hull enabling

it

to operate

almost entirely of
control surface
(i.e.,

with

In

containing the

an airship, the vessel

the airframe structure

used to

or no

is

horizontal airfoil

1.

Housing of airplanes

The

provision of such

charged for the

fee

airflow over the wing.

of a pre-curcd

composite sandwich material used for

and other areas of

fuselage
trailing

It

and optical system

in

Light secondary structure added

to the airframe before covering to

its

performance, attitude, and combat status

is

or tailplane, or at the

down

a wingtip, to increase

directional stability.

LANDPLANE An

high on the

FORWARD-LOOKING INFRARED
enhancement
low-light and

lever

arm attached

to a control

which the control cables from

for

HORN BALANCE A

bulkhead

employed behind an engine

barrier

fire

from

War

pilots,

so-called because of the "fuggy"

built

up

HOT-AIR ENGINE A
runs on hot

line of

event of engine failure,

minimum and

increase a

airplane's

maneuver

preventing the

2. the

fuselage of a flying boat.

gas-carrying body of a rigid airship.

LONGERON

aircraft

exceeding

a .\lach

a fuselage or

The

from high altitude against land

many

radars.

LOW WING A

5.

wing mounted low on

the

fuselage.

INLINE ENGINE An engine

row or

or

in several

in

which the

such rows, as

in a

W configuration.

MACH NUMBER

The

ratio of true air-

speed to the speed of sound

surrounding

INTEGRAL FUEL TANK Tank

as part of aircraft structure,

air.

in

the

This varies with altitude,

and temperature.

included

and coated

MEDIUM BOMBER A
bomber

with sealant.

Gravity.

Principal longitudinal

members of

number

aft

of an airplane.

Generally, any engine

or clutter background that interferes

with

HYPERSONIC Having

damage owing

to the propeller

LIQUID-COOLED

cooled by liquid, including water, but

ability to destroy low-level hostile

cylinders are in either a single fore-and-

FUSELAGE Main body

combat

and improve handling.

LOOK-DOWN SHOOT-DOWN

inside them.

engine from suffering possible further

that

category of

was unfortunately defined

quite differently by different air forces,

GEODETICS
or extension

Extensions projecting forward

piston engine that

air.

spreading into the airframe.

FLAME DAMPER Shroud

front edge of a

or other airfoil.

hull structure.

HULL L The

"g"

tail,

LEADING-EDGE ROOT EXTENSIONS

structural

Fleece-lined leather thigh

to present a

and prevent an engine

the

balance area on a

surface's hinge line.

"windmilling."

fire-resistant

in

water/alcohol or glycol mix.

control surface, proiecting forward of the

night operations.

flight in the

Control

usually restricted to cooling by a

the cockpit are attached.

Infrared vision

atmosphere that

wing, rotor,

lift

fuselage.

surface, to

FUG BOOTS

LEADING EDGE The

density,

FIREWALL A

airplane designed or

equipped to operate from land.

(LERX)

into the cockpit.

thereby reducing their drag to an

vertical or inclined airfoil, usually

on

at night

projected into the pilot's line of sight,

HORN A

with their edges facing into the

edge of a wing root.

at the rear or

when landing

visibility.

improve

external shape.

absolute

FIN

poor

of the wing root leading edge, which

FULLY FEATHERING PROPELLER A

fairing leading along a

fin

in

light, usuallv in the

wing leading edge, used

which

aircraft's

look

slats,

large

aircraft.

from

LANDING LIGHT A

rolling plane.

propeller with blades that can be turned

FILLET

to give a bluff

leading edge to a high-speed wing.

facilities.

or adjustable, and can have

boots worn by World

airliner floors

hangars. 2.

information concerning the

upper surface of a wing, from front to

commercial

in

electronic

the nose or forward

and aiming system

FiBRELAM Trade name

down and forward

to swing

or

horizon.

artificial

Leading-edge flap

forming part of wing undersurfacc, hinged

to assist the pilot

Also called

thereby avoiding the need for him to

(FLIR)

vertical surface across the

rear, to direct

unit,

such as a rocket.

LATERAL CONTROL

and thereby

said to be "faired."

FENCE A

any form of reaction-propulsion

attitude in relation to the horizon ahead.

HIGH WING Wing mounted

reduce drag. Anything thus covered

to describe

applicable to an aircraft propelled by

aircraft nose or

flaps, or elevators.

streamline any projections or junctions

in

little

lifting gas.

light superstructure

flight

can be fixed or retractable, nonmoving,

FORMER
FAIRING A

with

takeoff and low-speed handling.

functions of elevators and ailerons.

ENVELOPE

wmg,

fuselage of an airplane to improve

control surfaces,

tailless aircraft,

Primary cockpit

HEAD-UP DISPLAY (HUD) An

FOREPLANE A

on

little

tip.

fuselage.

mounted on
especially

airplane consisting

up

and down).

ELEVONS Wing

JET Commonly used

instrument that indicates the aircraft's

HANGARAGE
FLYING WING An

ray tubes.

to govern aircraft in pitch

in

barrel.

from water.

navigation information on color cathode-

ELEVATOR Movable

dihedral or even anhedral to the

GYRO HORIZON

to dural.

FLYING BOAT An

EFIS

gun

KrEUGER FLAP
GULL WING A wing

aluminum with small percentages of

Sometimes ahbreviated

firing as

parked.

can

tear an airframe apart.

alloy of

mounted

from

whose

dihedral from the root, changing to

DURALUMIN Wrought

it

a turbojet-propelled aircraft, but

aerodynamic and aero-

elastic forces. If

line

device that

the aircraft's propeller blade passes

front of the

plane passes through the Earth's center.

GROUND ANGLE
oscillation of a structure

drot)p

Distance

on water.

to float

FLUTTER The dangerous

to crosswind.

DROOPING AILERONS

surface,

an airframe or attached to

motion due

its

machine gun to prevent

between two points on the Earth's

housed

unit.

interrupts the firing of a rigidly

car of an airship.

Great Circle distance

a large aircraft.

FLOTATION BAGS

the lateral

The

area occupied by the

aircraft structure while in flight.

DRIFT INDICATOR An instrument

main spars of each wing

INTERRUPTER GEAR A

speeds.

GONDOLA

retarding force acting on

In a multiplane,

the external vertical struts linking the

of traditional instruments.

covering on upper and lower surfaces.

DRAG The

featuring

electronics displays using screens in place

thereby reduce approach and landing

DOUBLE-SURFACED WING Wing

colliding.

INTERPLANE STRUTS
GLASS COCKPIT A cockpit

and drag and

lift

synchronized to prevent the blades from

air.

alter the wing's

camber, cross-section, and area to

enhance low-speed

leading edge.

or

flaps at the rear

of engine cowlings, used to control the

Basketwork-like metal

framework system devised by

Dr. Barnes

INTERMESHING ROTORS

Helicopter

either using

bomb

load or range as the

The type was

so developed

rotors having independent axes but

criterion.

during 1920-50 that the numerical values

to an exhaust pipe to prevent visual

Wallis of Vickers that did not need a

whose planes of

detection at night.

stress-bearing covering.

therefore have to be mechanicalK

rotation overlap.

They

became meaningless.

167

GLOSSARY
MID-WING A wing

inoiiiitcd

midway up

PLANFORM An

MONOCOQUE A

three-dimensional

structure, such as a fuselage, with

all its

PLANING BOTTOM

Faired smooth

by Royal Aircraft Factory

surface on the underside of a float or

flymg-boat

structure or bracing.

PLEXIGLAS Trade name of

skin

its

fixed-wing airplane

having a single wing.

hence the name.

SAILWING 1. A limp fabric wing, used

on some hang gliders, that adopts a

RAMJET A

lifting profile

engine similar to a

jet

in

a suitable relative

in

by the vehicle's speed through the

mounting

gun

atmosphere. The vehicle cannot start

gun(s), 1916-30s, using ring-mounted

from

elevating U-shaped frame.

blown moldings

blisters.

POD

Nacelle to house an engine, either

but needs to be accelerated

rest,

to the ramjet's operating speed by other

2.

having such a wing.

aircraft

SCARFF RING Standard

its

for

British cockpit

hand-aimed machine

Named

after

inventor.

means, such as assisted takeoff aboard

on the fuselage or on the wing of an

airplane; hence "podded."

another

SCOUT World War

aircraft.

term for a single-

seat fighter aircraft.

National Advisory Committee

NASA

Aeronautics (US; renamed

1.

The

left

an

side of

looking forward from the

RAMP DOORS Movable

aircraft,

An

2.

rear.

engine intake ramps of

doors inside the

jet

SEAPLANE An

aircraft that

control air flow to the engines.

opening or aperture, such as those

enable

airplane with floats to

to operate

it

from water.

provided for guns.

1958).

REACTION CONTROL VALVES

NACA

only

such as cockpit panels and canopies and

transparent, used for

PORT
for

An

wind.

turbojet but with

aircraft's position fixed.

NACA

rudders and elevators.

no mechanical
compressor or turbine. Compression of
the incoming air is accomplished entirely

a family of

MOVING-MAP

DISPLAY A cockpit
display in which a topographical, radar,
infrared, target, or other form of map is
projected optically on screen with the

flight-control

surfaces combining the functions of

England,

in

hull.

acrylic-acid resin plastics, especially

MONOPLANE A

RUDDERVATORS Movable

Streamline-section flying

drawn steel, used to brace

biplane and multiplane wings. Developed

wires of

and the underlying

frames and stringers, and with no interior

strength in

RaFWIRES

shape when

i)b|ect's

viewed from above.

the fuselage.

POWERED CONTROLS A

system

reducing annular cowling for radial

which

power-

engines.

operated.

COWLING A

special drag-

aircraft controls are

aircraft, supplied
air bled

from

SEMI-MONOCOQUE A

Small

VTOL

nozzles at the extremities of

in

with hot, high-pressure

a jet engine

structure in

which the loads are carried partly

and used

by the frame and stringers and partly by

the skin.

to

control the aircraft's attitude and

NACELLE A

fabric,

wood, or metal

POWERPLANT The

permanently

installed

enclosure, usually streamlined, that

prime movers responsible for propulsion,

contains crew, engines, gun positions,

including propellers and drive

or any other drag-inducing parts of

where applicable.

an

mechanism

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (US).

used

system of cross-bracing

which was applied to

gliders

North Atlantic Treaty

Organization.

REFLECTOR GUNSIGHT A

which the

in

Subject to acceleration

the vertical plane in the opposite-to-

in

pilot or other

weapon-aimer

airplane operated from a capital ship;

PRESSURE SUIT An all-enclosing

garment worn by pilots and aircrew

down.

or other vessel with a catapult launching

of

RIB Primary structural member of

system.

maintaining correct wing profile.

is

which the

maintained by the

pressure of the gas and air ballonets

to a cabin or

which the pressure

in

is

maintained at or above a selected

regardless of

how

high the aircraft might

ascend, for the comfort of

PROPELLER A
airplane propelled

by wings that flap or oscillate.

its

occupants.

radial blades

rotating

hub with

helical

which provide thrust

to

held above the

PUSHER An

airplane in which the

ROTARY ENGINE An
combustion engine

in

PARK-BENCH AILERONS

seen to "push" the aircraft rather than

is

struts

above the wing

trailing edge; so called

"pull"

See also

it.

I.

Movement

in

the vertical plane.

distance a propeller

through the

air in

would advance

one revolution.
the nose or

Cotton, later widely adopted.

it,

thereby cooling themselves and doing

the need for a flywheel

and therefore

is

is

and

attached

SIDE-CURTAINS Fixed

vertical surfaces

between the wings of early biplanes and

triplanes.

TRACTOR.

ROTATING-WING AIRCRAFT
in

which

lift is

Aircraft

derived from rotary

SIDESLIP The tendency for an airplane

to slide

inward

in

an incorrectly

balanced turn. Also a deliberately

lifting surfaces.

pyramidal structure of
posts used as an anchorage

for bracing or control wires.

2.

strut used to carry engines or

weapons

faired

ROTOR A
("blades")

provide

system of rotating

RADIAL ENGINE An

engine in which the

around

loss of airspeed.

to

SINGLE-SURFACE WING A wing having

only one surface, either above or below
generic term for

aircraft that derive their

rotors, including helicopters

lift

from

ribs.

Generally, most wings are double-

surfaced.

and

SINGLE-ACTING Control

a pilot tube.

the crankshaft.

PITOT TUBE An open-ended tube facing

mto the line of flight which records

RADOME

covering over radar or other antenna,

airspeed on a cockpit instrument by

usually with mechanical scanning.

RUDDER Movable

means of

Contraction of "radar dome."

effecting control in yaw.

autogyros.

operate

ROTORHEAD
Aerodynamic protective

is

lift.

ROTORCRAFT A

externally.

without a significant

airfoils

whose primary purpose

cylinders are disposed radially

168

one-piece flying

by British pilot Sidney

crankcase and cylinders rotate about

wMig of an airplane that incorporates

air pressure.

SiDCOT SUIT A warm

suit invented

all

PITOT PROBE A probe on

Horsepower

an engine output shaft.

induced maneuver to lose height

PYLON

two or more

PITCH
2. The

at

crankshaft remains stationary and the

because they

resemble small park benches.

Shaft horsepower.

positioned at the rear of the

fuselage or nacelle(s),

Ailerons

fuselage.

internal

which the

or geared to the crankcase.

propeller

SHP

on the

measured

away with

drive an aircraft.

fuselage on a pylon and/or struts.

mounted on

between the high- and mid-wing

RIGID An airship in which an internal

framework gives the hull its shape.

water radiator. The propeller

PARASOL WING A wing

SHOULDER WING A wing mounted

and

level

within.

ORNITHOPTER An

trailing edges,

positions

cockpit

envelope's shape

and

The wings

PRESSURIZED Applied

fighter

either an aircraft carrier, or a cruiser

joining leading

airship in

surface.

SHIPBOARD FIGHTER A

maintain the bodily functions.

NON-RIGID An

main

once on the ground to help slow an

wearer's body under suitable pressure to

downward.

the

multiplanes.

inverted flight, or in a pushover from a

are bent

movable

bracing system for biplanes and

or "g," as in an aircraft in sustained

steep climb into a steep dive.

auxiliary

surface added to a control surface to

move

wing, usually running fore and aft and

gravity,

SERVO-TAB An

reduce the pilot workload required to

unpressurized aircraft, which keeps the

normal sense usually imposed by

form and

support the loads.

REVERSIBLE-PITCH PROPELLER A
propeller whose pitch can be reversed
aircraft

NEGATIVE "g"

gunsight

by

Octave Chanute and became the standard

NATO

airship with a rigid keel

to help maintain the envelope's

views the target.

engineering, notably in

in civil

bridges,

SEMI-RIGID An

low airspeeds.

which the aiming marks are projected as

bright points on a glass screen through

aircraft.

Pratt truss a

trajectory at

to

The hub of

a rotorcraft,

which rotor blades are attached.

in

only. Single-

move

downward

acting ailerons

when

surfaces that

one direction
only

the pilot operates the control,

and

are otherwise held level by the airflow

control surface

over the wing or by bungee or spring

restrainers.

GLOSSARY
SINK RATE The rate of descent of an
unpowered lifting body, especially a
glider, in free fall.

SKIDS Runners used instead

of, or

STRESSED SKIN A form of semimonocoque structure in which the skin

(usually metal) makes an important

of the propulsive thrust, usually by

contribution to the stiffness of the structure

TILT-ROTOR An

and bears

addition to, wheels in an airplane

proportion of the

a significant

undercarriage. Sometimes added to

SLAT Movable portion

is

to

STRUT

of a wing leading

main

recessed against the

surface in cruising flight, but

lifts

1.

away

lower wings of a biplane.

The

2.

compressor driven

crankshaft, step-up gears, or an

the cylinders of an internal

airfoil

through which the airflow

combustion

power

engine, especially to boost

lift.

special

NASA-

SPAR(s) Main spanwise structural

designed wing that enables airplanes to

member(s) of a wing, which

cruise faster at a given

to

carries the ribs

which the covering

is

components

to carry a heavier

power

payload

setting or

at the

same

attached.

Faster than the speed

of sound.

plate positioned

between the fuselage and the

of a

jet

engine, to

VECTORED THRUST

Tube-launched, optically

air intake

smooth the flow of

air

distance between the wheels

aircraft's trajectory.

by symmetrical diagonal members

measured

arranged

in a

from the

front.

center-to-center.

TRACK-WHILE-SCAN A

zig-zag pattern

WIDEBODY Commercial

produced by two simultaneous scans

aircraft with

planes, usually one vertically

of airflow

TRACTOR An

airplane in which the

through the compressor of a turbojet

propeller

engine.

fuselage or nacelle(s),

is

divided into three multiseat ranks.

such as

positioned at the front of the

and

is

seen to

work

air

is

Hence

to tip.

TRAILING EDGE Rear edge

SWING-WING Applied to an airplane

whose wing may be pivoted fore and aft

TRAINER Any

tractor engine. See also

flow past an object under

test to assess its

aerodynamics or behavior.

PUSHER.

WINGLETS Upturned

wingtip or added

auxiliary airfoils above and/or

of airfoil.

in flight

to vary the angle of

aircraft used to train

below a

wingtip which increase the wing's

the tip vortices

pilots or aircrew.

and recovering the energy

lost therein.

sweep

TRANSONIC

variable-geometry.

from subsonic to supersonic

SPONSON

TACHOMETER

TRIM TAB A

In the region of transition

WING WARPING The

projection from the

wing

speed of a rotating shaft, such as an

trailing

to

engine crankshaft.

whose setting is adjustable, used to hold

the main surface in the desired neutral
position for trimmed flight.

provide stability on the water instead

of wingtip floats.

TAIL PLANE

The external
on

2.

fixed auxiliary surface

fuselage undercarriage housings

at rear of fuselage providing stability in

transport aircraft.

pitch,

and to which the elevators are

often attached.

SPREADER BAR A

rigid

main undercarriage

legs.

member

TESTBED A mounting,

mounted

which an item

is

An

used

are either further forward or behind the

to as a "flying testbed."

Relative positioning of

aircraft so

cither

aircraft itself,

multiplane wings, so that the upper wings

is

on the

upon

for testing.

TRIPLANE An

STALL The point at which the airflow

breaks away from an airfoil and lift is lost
due to the change

open, joined

the angle of the

airplane having three

happen

biplane.

TROUSERS

YAW

the legs

Streamline fairings around

and wheels of nonretractablc

its

rigidity,

such as a simple

Undercarriage with two or more

pairs.

in

a variety of combinations.

TURBOJET The
turbine.

a compressor,

combustion chamber, and turbine, the

last

taking off just sufficient energy to drive

the compressor.

to

simplest form of gas

Comprising

Most

of the energy

measures and electronically records

high velocity through a nozzle to propel

thermal radiation emitted by objects,

the aircraft.

rear.

system that

remains

in the gas,

which

is

expelled at

usually on infrared wavelengths, and

produces displays or printouts.

TURBOPROP A
extra turbine

long, streamlined shallow

its

undercarriages.

causing loss of thrust.

right side of an air-

Rotation of an aircraft around

vertical axis.

THERMAL-IMAGING A

surface aligned with the airflow.

maintain

panel, or the superimposed wings of a

compressor blades of a gas turbine engine,

looking forward from the

Applied to any structure

which uses tensioned wire bracing to

TETRAHEDRAL KITES

Kites composed
numerous small tetrahedrons
(triangular pyramids) with two sides
acting as lifting surfaces and the others

STARBOARD The

WIRE-BRACED

superimposed wings.

TRUCK

of

also

the same.

flight control surface

wooden-girder fuselage, a two-spar wing

wheel

"negative stagger," in the latter case).

Can

wings, instead of by
is

sometimes referred

lower wings (called "backstagger," or

surface to the airflow.

edge of a

its

ailerons; the effect

linking

ground or on an

in

small hinged portion in the

form

hull of a flying boat, taking the

of a short, buoyant, thick

Instrument for indicating

lateral control of

an airplane by torsion of the outer

flight.

trailing edges of

STRAKE A

device in which a fluid

driven through a duct to

"traction," pulling the aircraft along.

SWEEP, SWEEPBACK The angling back

of an airplane's flying surfaces from root

usually increase drag.

craft,

transport

an internal cabin width

sufficient for passenger seating to be

and one horizontally, allowing a target

according to velocity. Also called

STAGGER

seen

radar/

electronic countermeasures scan

two

when

efficiency in cruising flight by reducing

SPOILERS Hinged or otherwise movable

surfaces on the upper rear surface of a
wing which reduce lift when open and

truss structure in

which upper and lower spars are joined

or trucks of the main undercarriage,

into the engine.

1.

Propulsive thrust

axis can be rotated to control the

WARREN GIRDER A

in

SPLITTER PLATE

control/regulate incoming air flow.

WINDTUNNEL A
fairing

SWING-

to be accurately tracked.

SURGE Gross breakdown

SPINNER A domed, streamlined

See

tracked, wire-guided missile.

retractable undercarriages.

covering the hub of a propeller.

on two

projecting aft from the wings.

WING.

whose

TOW MISSILE

in

SUPERSONIC

SPATS Teardrop-shaped streamline

fairings around the wheels of non-

booms

Applied to an airplane

surfaces carried

its tail

ramps, doors, and other devices to

and rear spars joined by strong upper

and lower skins.

TRACK The

SUPERCRITICAL WING A

structural

structural

at

high altitudes.

accelerates at high angles of attack to

with

VARIABLE-GEOMETRY INTAKE/iNLET
An intake/inlet for a jet engine, with

or rotary engine.

TORSION BOX The main

density of the air or mixture supplied to

and other secondary

movement caused by

basis of a wing, consisting of the front

airfoil.

prevent breakaway and loss of

Twisting

leg of

an undercarriage.

by

TWIN-BOOM

flight.

a rotating unit such as a propeller, rotor,

in a fuselage, for

exhaust turbine, which increases the

a slat,

forward

between the longerons

be a fixed portion of an

and

in

gas turbine engine for

VARIABLE-GEOMETRY

SUPERCHARGER A

main

it

TORQUE

moving forward and down to create a

slot between itself and the wing. Can also

the

and

then be swiveled through 90 degrees

power

TURBOSHAFT A

delivering shaft power.

aircraft with rotors

to take off vertically

it

means

engine.

forming part of a structural framework;

aerodynamic force or hydraulically,

SLOT A gap between

jet

member

rigid bracing

example, or between the upper and

by

at high angles of attack either

that allow

may

flight loads.

wingtips to prevent damage.

edge that

of swivelling nozzles on a

THRUST VECTORING

Controlling an

airplane's trajectory by rotating the axis

gas turbine engine with

power geared down

to drive

a propeller. Originally called a propeller-

turbine.

169

INDEX

TX TA
1

NDKa
;

Alenia, 133

^V^

American

AH-FS Cobra

Airlines,

Page numbers
illustrations

in italics refer to

unaccompanied by

^
A
r\

text.

American Export

Bell,

Airlines,

65

Bennett, Floyd, 146-7

Billing,

Antei, 137

box-kites,

HMS,

Argus,

Wright brothers, 26

AEG

Arlandes, Marquis

G.IV, 50

Armee de

N.I, 56

Armstrong Whitworth A.W.ll

Aerial Experiment Association

Company,

Aerial Transit

Dirigible

No.

54

1,

Defiant, 86

Blackburn, 32

Overstrand, 70

II,

Brancker, Air Marshal Sir William

32

Sefton, 146, 148

Blackburn, Robert, 32, 145

Astra Triplane, 37

Bleriot,

28

Breese, Vance, 73

Aerocar, 130

Atlantic Ocean,

Aeroflot, 102, 126

Attacker, 83

165 airliner, 56
XI monoplane, 30-1

Aerospatiale, 128

Autogiro, 13

XII monoplane, 20

14T6;s, 56

Avery, William, 147

Spad 33, 57

763 Deux-Ponts, 100

Warrant

Agello,

Officer,

76

14,48,59

Airacomet, 96

Avion 111,25, 144

Airbus Industrie, 128-9

Avro, 32

Bleriot, Louis, 145-6,

500, i5

A300B, 17

504, 12, 33

A310, 17

Lancaster bomber, 14, 7S, 89

A310-300, 128

Lancastrian

flies

airliner, 15,

A319, 128

Manchester bomber, 89

Type

E,

No.1,37

158

Breguet, Louis, 146, 148, 161

across English Channel, 10,

100

Blitz jet

bomber, 96

Bloch, Marcel, 146, 160

BOAC

Vulcan bomber, 105

de Havilland Comet, 102

A340, 129

York bomber, 15

Vickers Armstrong

flying

wing proposal, 141

49

aircraft carriers, 12,

Air France, 100, 103

307
377

R
D

Concorde,

BAG VG

1 1

Air Inter, 129

10 K.2

Balbo, Air Marshal Italo, 64, 144

56-7

15,

109

Baldwin,

KW,

110-11

fighter,

70

Air Union, 56

Baumann, Alexander, 161

Aknm, USS, 55

Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, 90

Albatros DV, 39, 41

Bearcat, 2-3

Albatross (de Havilland), 69

Bechereau, Louis, 149, 156, 164

Model 221, 108

Model 247, 73, 108
Model 299, 88
Model 314, 14,65
Model 707, 16, 103, 136
Model 727, 17, 109, 164
Model 737, 17
Model 747, 17, 126
Model 747-400, 112-13, 127
Model 757/767, 17
Model 767, 127
Model 777, 17, 108
Monomail, 108

Alcock, Sirjohn, 58, 59, 144

Beech, Walter, 147

P-26, 14, 80

jet,

15-16, 102-3

large interwar,

68-9

balloons, 8, 9

Barnwell, Captain Frank

piston-engined, 100-1

Bat Boat, 48

turboprops, 15-16, 102-3

Bat glider, 23

wide-bodied, 17, 126-7

Batten, Jean, 144-5

Battle light

air mail, 1

airships, 8, 12,
air

54-5

shows, 120

144

bomber, 80

Battle of Britain (1940), 14, 86-7,

90

Airspeed Ambassador, 101

bat-winged

170

S.,

aircraft,

25

British

17,

118-19

116-17

Airways

Concorde, 118

British

British

Electra,

74

and Colonial Aeroplane

Company,
108, 146

E-3 A Sentry, 136

F4B-3

145

i,

Lockheed Model lOA

Stratofortress, 16,

B&W seaplane,

137

Aerospace (BAe)

Concorde,

Sea Harrier, 115

100

B-247, 13-14

in-flight

refueling tankers,

airliners

Stratocruiser,

B-52G

seaplane, 108, i46

42-3, 49

76

Harrier, 17, 115,

Stratoliner, 14

B-47, 16, 109

B&cW

USA,

Eurofighter Typhoon, 133

B-29 Superfortress,

Airbus A320, 128

first,

VCIO, 103

B-17 Flying Fortress, 14, 88, 92-3

Airbus A300, 127, 128

fighter,

British

Boeing, 108-9

Airco D.H.2, 12

E2B
Type
90

A330-300, 129

A3XX, 129

Boxkite, 33

Britain, Battle of (1940), 14, 86-7,

Boeing Model 314, 65

33

Bristol

Bulldog, 71

11,30, 161

A320,

17, 128

Breguet

Deperdussin company, 149

A300, 127, 128

74

Boulton Paul

Bishop, William Avery, 12

Mercury

Ensign, 69

Army

(AEA), 145, 149

PAir, 81

14-15, 79, 86-9,

II,

& Maine Airways,

Boston

Birkigt,
d', 8

12,39,50-1

Borel, Gabriel, 28, 146, 158, 161

Mark, 145
Bishop, Ronald Eric, 145

12

I,

World War
92-3

11,29

132-3

aircraft,

World War

tractor biplanes, 28

Archdeacon, Ernest, 164

Ader, Clement, 9, 10, 25, 144

104-5

jet aircraft,

modern

82

biplanes

helicopter, 123

Bolshoi Baltiskiy, 32

Gold War, 16

Noel Pemberton, 82, 145

Billing P.B.9 scout,

108, 146

E.,

Hauptmann Oswald, 146

Boelcke,

bombers

Lawrence Dale, 145

Antoinette monoplanes, JO, 11,

Antonov, Oleg, 144

Flight Lt. M.J., 76

Bellanca, Giuseppe Mario, 145

ANT-6, 14
32

helicopter, 122

Boeing, William

Bell,

Antonov An-22

124-5

Alexander Graham, 145, 149

Angel Technologies, 141

Apache

Adam,

helicopter,

P-59 Airacomet, 96

73

American Airways, 68

CH-47 CJimook

Vertol

Bell

127

Alitalia,

33,

42

South American Airways

Corporation, 100

Brown, Lt Arthur Whitten, 58, 59,

144
Bulldog, 71

Bulman, Paul W.S., 146

Byrd,

Commander Richard

Evelyn, 146-7

^^

c
v..

Camel, 12,40,48

Camm,

Sir

Sydney, 147

Campbell Black, Tom, 76

INDEX

mm

Canberra, 105

R3C-2, 63

Diapason, 36

Capper, Col. John, 54

seaplanes, 63, 749

dirigibles, 8, 9

Sparrowhawk, 55

Do 17Z medium

Caproni Ca 42

50

rriplanc,

Caravelle, 15, 103

cargo planes,

CASA,

Curtiss,

Glenn H.,

11, 145,

149

149

i^

Caudron, Gaston, 147

Cayley, Sir George,

8,

147

Do
Do

Do

Cesar, 36

Daedalus, 8

Cessna, Clyde, 147

Daily Mail, 30, 48, 59

Chadwick,

Roy, 147

Sir

Home"

"Chain

"Dam

86

Dark

Chamberlain, Neville, 73

Chance-Vought F4U Corsair,

FH-227, 45

X, 64

Farman, 34-5

C-47, 15

DC-1, 73
DC-2, 14

Chanute, Octave, 23, 147, 160

Mirage, 16

DC-3,

Chicago, 58

Mirage IVA, 104

DC-4, 15

Super Mystere, 16

DC-7C

helicopter, 122

Swordfish, 53
Fairey, Sir Richard, 151

Falcon 900, 131

Dassault, Marcel, see Bloch,

CIA, 106

bomber, 80

Long-range Monoplane, 77

149-50, 161

Star, 141

Fairey
Battle light

Douglas

Busters", 89

Dassault

15,

95

Chinook

F-27, 45

17Z, 80

Dornier, Professor Claude,

Daimler-Benz, 133

radar, 14,

Fabre, Henri, 37, 151

AlO Thunderbolt, 132

17, 14

DoJII Wal ("Whale"), 65

scries" fighters, 16

Fairchild

Dornier

n
LJ

Caudron, Rene, 28, 29, 147

Dolphin, 49
Doolittle, Lt.-Gen. James, 63, 77,

128, 133

"Century

bomber, 80

34

his,

2/2 monoplane, 35

14,

72

biplanes,

R16, 151

F60

Seven Seas, 101

HE

DC-8, 103

Goliath, 13

34

biplane,

III

Clark, Colonel Virginus E., 147-8

Davidson, G.L.O., 161

Douglas, Donald Wills, 150, 159

HE20, 34
MF.2 seaplane, 35
MF.7 "Longhorn",

Coanda, Henri, 148

Davis, David, 150

Dragonfly, S

MFll

Defiant, 86

Dufaux, Armand and Henri, 150

de Havilland

Du Temple

Cierva, Juan de

Cobham,
Cobra

la,

13,

Daum, Franz

147

Alan, 58, 59, 148

Sir

124-5

helicopter,

Comet,

Cochran, Jacqueline, 148

Cody, Samuel Franklin,

Cold War,

Coleoptere,

1,

54, 148

104

16,

14

Columbia IV, 55

Combe,

Flight Lt.,

Comet,

15,

Concorde,

17,

14,

World

von, 152

15, 16, 102, 136

72

Cruiser, 58

(de la Croix), Felix, 9,

Condor II biplane, 68
Condor (Focke-Wulf Fw 200), 69
Consolidated B-24 Liberator,
14-15, 88

Convair

Farman, Maurice, 34-5, 151

Farnborough

D.H.60Moth, 13
D.H.82A Tiger Moth, 130

Fedden,

1^

F
t
Earhart, Amelia, 150

G.50

Eastern Air Lines, 74

fighters

Mosquito, 15

Eastern Air Transport, 68

Moth, 130

Edwards,

Sir

modern

74-5

Electra,

Ellehammer, Jacob Christian

Hansen, 10,24, 150

Delagrange, Leon, 11, 149

B-58 Hustler, 16

Delta Dart, 16

Empire Class monoplanes, 14

F- 106 Delta Dart, 16

Deperdussin

engines

racing monoplanes,

XFY-1, 114

1,

28

Gnome

24-5

rotary engines,

seaplane, 62

piston engines, 100-1

Type C, 28

steam power,

Deperdussin, Armand, 149

turbofan engines, 17

Desert Storm, 138

turbojet engines,

Costes, Captain Dieudonnc, 148

Deutsch de

Croydon

jets,

17

la

Meurthe, Henri, 37,

159

Airport, 14

Deutsche Airbus, 128

Cunningham, Group Captain

Deutsche Flugzeugwerke

John, 149
Curtiss, 32

Condor

11

biplane, 68

P-40, 15
pusher, 2

R.ll, 51

English Channel,

Arm, 95

Venom, 97
Supermarine Attacker, 83

96-7
1,

Fleet Air

Flettner,

30

Flyer,

Anton, 151-2

10,27

Flyer III, 10

"Flying Bedstead",

Lightning, 16

flying boats, 11,

Ensign, 69

Dewoitine

Eole, 9,

World War

Esnault-Pelteric, Robert, 10, 151

D.500,

Etrich,

Doktor

14

64-5

obsolescence, 15, 99

25

D.332, 69
14, 71

46-7

World War II, 14,79,82-7,

90-1, 94-5

Canberra, 105

Deux-Ponts, 100

D. 520, 81

39, 40-3,

de Havilland Sea Vampire, 99

English Electric

Cuckoo, 12

I,

de Havilland D.H.I 12 Sea

24-5

9,

Corsair, 15, 95

corporate

132-3

aircraft,

World War

Fighting Falcon, 133

gasoline engines, 9,
1

Freccia, 81

Cold War, 16
jet aircraft, 104-5

George, 150

B-36, 16

Cornu, Paul, 148

115

D.H.121 Trident, 17

monoplanes, 29

show, 120

CR.32, 71

Eagle, 133

149, 152

air

Roy, 151

156, 164
Fiat,

Sir Geoffrey,

Sir

Ferber, Captain Ferdinand, 10, 22,

D.H.112Sea Venom, 97
D.H.112 Venom, 97, 99

de Havilland,

Model 240, 101

Model 340, 101

34-5, 151,

11,

D.H.50J biplane, 59

Vampire, 99, 149

Constellation, 15, 98, 101

Type Coupe Michelin, 35

Farman, Henry,
159

25, 150

D.H.91 Albatross, 69

118-19

34, 35

"Shorthorn", 34

D.H.34, 57

D.H.88 Comet, 76

77

16,76, 102, 136

1,

DST,

Marcel

Cierva C.8L Autogiro, 13

Igo,

M,

Eurofighter Typhoon, 133

I,

12,39

"Flying Flea", 130

Flying Fortress, 14,
flying wings, 141,

88,92-3

159

171

INDEX

Goodyear advertising

Focke-Wulf

Fw 190, 15, 84, 94

Fw 200 Condor, 69
Fokker, Anthony

Herman Gerard,

55

Gordon Bennett
Gotha

13,

44-5
70, 45

race,

29

Gouge,

45

D.VII, 12, 40, 44,

46-7

152

Greek myths,

(Tri-motor), 59, 60,

147, 150

VTOL

Johnson, Clarence Leonard, 155

Korean War, 16

A.50 Junior, 66

F13, 67

II,

15

G38, 66

Henson, William Samuel,

8,

154,

163
Hercolite

104-5

114-15

World War

Grumman
4-5

aircraft,

16,

Johnson, Amy, 144, 155, 158

invention of, 13

Hellcat, 15

Tigercat,

first

122-3

Grosvenor House, 76

F7F

F.XXII, 68

15-16, 102-3

and bombers,
jets, 15, 96-7

fighters

June Bug, 145, 149

Junkers, 13, 66-7

F6 Hellcat, 15

51

jet aircraft

airliners,

helicopters, 8,

Greif ("Griffon"), 89

44

Javelin, 16

Heinkel, Ernst, 153, 159

11,

152-3

44, 45

Executive Jet 100, 45

Jatho, Karl, 10

He 70G, 72
He 111 medium bomber, 14, 86
He 177Greif ("Griffon"), 89
He 178, 96

Graf Zeppelin, 55
Grahame-White, Claude,

D.VIII, 45
E.III eindecker, 12,

Sir Arthur,

22

Heinkel

G.V., 12

100,45
Dr.l tnplane, 44,

glider,

Hawks, Frank, 72, 150

Heinemann, Edward H., 153

bomber, 50

G.III

J1

Nimrod MR.2, 136

Hawk

USS Akron, 55
USS Macon, 55

128

Siddeley,

Kestrel, 115

Gorbunov, V.P, 156

Fokker Aviation Company,

F.VIII,

airships,

Goodyear-Zeppelin

44, 152

FVIIb-3m

Hawker

Goliath bomber, 13

Johann, 152

Fill,

Hawker, Harry George, 48, 153

Goering, Hermann, 46

Focke, Doktor Heinrich Karl

I,

67

J.1,67
J.IO, 66

Phenomenon, 37

'

F8F Bearcat, 2-i

Hercules flying boat, 154

Ju52, 15

44

F-14 Tomcat, 17

Hercules freighter, 136

Ju 52/3m, 14, 67

M.IV, 44

Gudkov, M.I., 156

Herring, Augustus, 23, 147

Ju 86 bomber, 67

M.I, 44

Guggenheim, Daniel, 153

Hindenburg, 54

Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, 66, 86

Spin monoplanes, 44

Guryevich, Mikhail, 153, 158

Hinkler, Herbert John Louis, 154

Ju 88 bomber, 66, 87

Tri-motor, 59, 60, 147, 150

Hiroshima, 15

Ju 160

VFW,

Hispano-Suiza engines, 12

Ju 188 bomber, 66

F27

45

Friendsliip,

M.III,

Foiland,

128

Henry

Phillip,

Hitler, Adolf,

152

Ul
n

Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor, 60-1

Ford, Henry, 163
Frost,

Edward

P.,

Ju 388 bomber, 66
Junkers, Professor Hugo, 60, 66,

Horten, Reimar and Walter, 154

155

Hughes H-4 Hercules ("Spruce

Goose"), 154

Hahn, Max, 159

Hughes, Howard Robard, 73,

Halifax bomber, 14, 88

Hall,

^mm

EC,

HALO

c^
V3

^
K
i^

154

160

Hunter, 16, 104

(high-altitude long

Hurricane, 14,81,86,87

operation) aircraft, 141

Hampden,

67

Ju 288 bomber, 66

73

Horikoshi, Jiro, 154

24

airliner,

Hustler, 16

81

Galaxy, 137

Handasyde, G.H., 147

Hydravion, 37

Kamov, Nikolai, 158

Gamma, 72

Handley Page, 13,32

hydroairplane, 37

Kartveli, Alexander, 155

gasoline engines, 9

Halifax bomber, 14, 88

Gatty, Harold, 160

H.P.42, 68

Gayford, Squadron Leader O.R.,

H.P.52 Hampden, 81

Kellett,
I

Gee Bee Super

Sportster,

1
1

0/ll,57

77

O/400, 12, 51, 57

General Dynamics
F-16 Fighting Falcon, 133

Type E monoplane, ii

Icarus, 8

F-111, 17

Victor bomber, 105

Ilyushin

Giffard, Henri, 8, 9,

Handley Page,

54

11-76,

hang

gliders

Hargrave, Lawrence, 11, 153

gliders, 9, 22,

22-3

Harrier, 17, 115,

Gloster

116-17

Komet, 15
Koolhoven, Frederik, 156

154

Armstrong Whitworth

Hawker, 146, 147

A.W27

Gladiator, 71

Ensign, 69

Javelin, 16

Huntei; 16, 104

Handley Page H.P42, 68

Meteor, 15, 97

Hurricane, 14, 81, 86

long-distance flights, 58, 59

172

rotary engines,

Tempest

16, 97, 105

L
^

Imperial Airways

Hart, 70

Gnome

Korean Wai;

137

Ilyushin, Sergei Vladimirovich,

Hart, 70
1

Knowler, Henry, 152

pioneers, 8,

44, 52

11-86-300, 126

131

Gladiator, 71

Wright brothers, 26-7

KLM,

11-2/10 Shturmovik, 15

Sir Frederick, 33,

145, 159

Givaudan, Claude, 37

Squadron Leader, 77

Kingsford Smith, Charles, 59, 155

Fokker EXXII, 68

O/IO, 57

77

Series 2,

94

Izakson, Aleksandr, 158

Lambert, Comte Charles de, 26

Lancaster bomber, 14, 78, 89

Lancastrian

Lanchester, Doctor Frederick

airliner, 15,

William, 156

100

INDEX
Langley, Samuel Pierpont, 9, 10,

25, 156

Me

Messerschmitt

Noonan,

MiG-23, 17
MiG-27, 17

Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, 66

262, 96

Fred, 150

North American Aviation, 74

Latecoere 521, 65

Mikoyan, Artyem, 152, 158

F-86 Sabre, 16, 97, 105

Lavochkin, Syemyen, 156

military aircraft

F-lOO Super Sabre, 16, 104

Lebaudy

Patrie,

M
IVI

54

Wk

Lebaudy, Pierre and Paul, 54

LeBris, Jean-Marie, 156

interwar years, 70-1

modern
8, 9,

M.39, 63

Le Rhone engines, 12

M.52, 63

Levavasseur, Leon, ]0, 156

MC.72, 76

130-1

Lilienthal, Otto, 156, 160,

Lt.

Commander

bomber, 133

Manly,

15^

C-5 Galaxy, 137

Ogilvie, Alec,

Hiram

DC-10,

F-104

F-4

138-9

126

Model 10 Electra, 74-5

Model 14 Super Electra, 73

Stevens, 9, 25,

Phantom

II,

ornithopters, 8, 9,

tractor monoplanes,

Overstrand, 70

Morane-Borel-Saulnier, 33
16,

F-15 Eagle, 133

Morane, Robert Charles, 158, 161

FH-1 Phantom, 157

Morane-Saulnier, 45

Harrier GR.5, 116

Morane Type

MD-11,

Mortimer Singer

127, 129

McDonnell, James Smith, 157

Memphis

Moth,

T-33, 4

Mercury

13,

(Bullet),

prize,

41

48

Pacific

Il'ya,

Palm, Mr., 44

32, 154, 160,

Pan American Airways/Pan Am,

14

Mozhaiskii, Aleksandr

Airbus A300, 127

Fedorovich, 9,24, 159

Mercury seaplane, 65

Mussolini, Benito, 144

Boeing Model 314, 65

Bf 109, 14

Mustang, 15, 94

Boeing 727, 164

Lockheed, Allan Haines, 157, 159

Bf 109E, 90-1

Myasishchyev 3M, 16

Boeing 747, 112

Lockheed Martin

Bf 109G, 86

U-2 spyplane,

16,

Messerschmitt

106

Vega (Winnie Mae), 160

Dark

Star,

Me
Me

F-22 Raptor, 17, 140

tandem-wing designs, 141

Loening, Grover Cleveland, 157

London Aerodrome,
Haines

Mignet, Henri, 130

Louse), 130

56

Ciel (Sky

72

86

bomber, 96

Focke-Wulf

Fw

190

fighter,

84

MiG-19, 16

MiG-21.

16,

Patrie,

105, 134, 136

M1G-2IF-I3. 134-5

Therese, 149

Peltier,

Pemberton-Billing, 82

Orleans, 58

Nicholetts, Flight Lt G.E.,

77

fighter; 12,

40

17,

RB.9

scout,

82

Petlyakov, Vladimir; 89
Pfalz D.III,

40

Phantom, 157

Nieuport, Edouard de, 159

Nighthawk,
:

54

Paulhan, Louis, 152

New

biplanes, 12

104

17

Pateras Pescara, Marquis. 122

Nelson, Lt Erik, 58

17

MiG-17, 16

Luftwaffe

NATO,

Nieuport

Mikoyan and Guryevich

MiG-15, 16, 97

Airbus A340, 129

Blitz jet

Nagasaki, 15

Mignet H.M.14 Pou Du

Battle of Britain, 14,

parasails,
1

microlights, 17, 131

74

137

i>i

Meteor, 15, 97

Lufthansa, 14

Blitz services,

N
i^ I

262, 15, 96

Electra,

Panavia GR.l Tornado, 17,121,

163

Loughhead, see Lockheed, Allan

N.I,

Lockheed Model 10

163 Komet, 15

Messerschmitt, Willy, 90, 158,

long-distance flights, 58-9

AEG

Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor, 60

Bf 110, 87

141

!>?>,

145, 159

162

32

Ocean, 59

Page, Sir Frederick Handley,

130

Mouramets,

92

Belle,

Mosquito, 15

Apache, 123

SR-71A, 106-7

11,

24

^
P
w

Morane, Leon, 146, 158, 161

105

SR-71, 16

17

metal monoplanes, 72-3

Montgolfier brothers, 8

17, 126

AH-64A

97

Star,

27

Ohain, Dr. Hans von, 159

French pioneers, 28

McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co

P-38 Lightning, 15, 16

^^

vy

Sir

74

(Zerol, 15, 94

Raiden, 15

monoplanes
Bleriot, 30-1

AV-8B, 17

17,

Airlines,

Secundus, 54

Monomail, 108

Constellation, 15, 9S, 101

F-117A Nighthawk,

Kitlli

Clippers, 14

C-130 Hercules, 136

Starfighter, 16

Northwest

Mollison, James Allan, 155, 158

McCurdy, J.D., 145

McDonnell Douglas

Lockheed

Mitchell, Reginald Joseph, 62, 82,

J2M

157, 160

Martin, 157

XB-35 Flying-wing bomber, 159

Northrop, John Knudsen, 157, 159

B-10, 14,71

Maxim,

Lippisch, Professor Alexander

.\ir

Vehicle (UCAV), 140

Mirage, 16, 104

A6MReisen

CM., 25

Martin, 32

131

Uninhabited Combat

Mitsubishi

Manchester bomber, 89

Lindbergh, Charles, 58, 59, 148,

TriStar,

Spirit stealth

Gamma, 72

83, 84, 158

Macon, USS, 55

165

death, 9, 10

P-80 Shooting

B2-A

136-7

Mil V-12 helicopter, 123

gear, 12,

K.K., 48, 152

Lightning (Lockheed P-38), 15

aircraft,

see also bombers; fighters

Mackenzie-Grieve,

Lightning (English Electric), 16

TriStar,

Grumman

B-2 bomber, 17

Mil, Mikhail Leontyevich, 158

40

Liberator, 88

L-1011

support

machine-gun interrupter

Levine, Charles A., 145

gliders, 9, 22,

132-3

Lerget engines, 12

light aircraft, 17,

Northrop

aircraft,

"stealth" technology, 17

Macchi

156

North, John Dudley, 159

104-5

16,

jets,

Le Creusot, 62

Leonardo da Vinci,

P-51 Mustang, 15, 94

12

history, 11,

138-9

Nimrod MR.2, 136

Phantom
Picat

du

II,

16,

Breuil,

105
Marquis, 37

Pierson. R.K., 150

173

INDEX
Pilcher, Percy Sinclair, 157,

160

death, 9

Chinook

piston-engined airliners, 100-1

Howard, 62

Polikarpov 1-16, 14, 80

Polikarpov, Nikolai Nikolayevich,
14, 158, 160, 165

Post, Wiley,

160

146, 160

Pou Du
Pratt

bombers, 73

Command, 87

fighters, 71, 80, 81,

Sparrowhawk, 55

Gloster Gladiator, 71

Sea Harrier,

Sperry, Dr. Elmer

Gloster Meteor, 97

Sea Lion

63

Hawker Hart, 70
Hawker Hurricane,
Hawker Tempest V

HC Mk

Puma

Henry Charles Alexandre,

Spanish Civil War, 14

C.W.A., 76

Scott,

SEA, 146, 160

Series 2,

94

Mk V,

64-5

1,

Spirit

Farman ME2, 35
Wright Model B, 26
Sea Vampire, 99

123

Sea

84

Spitfire,

Venom, 97

Seguin, Louis and Laurent, 11, 162

Selfridge, Lt. T.E., 11,

145

Starfighter, 16

Supermarine Walrus, 83

Seversky, Alexander Prokofieff de,

stealth aircraft

li

World War

I,

Short brothers, 11, 151,

World War

II,

operation

(HALO)

aircraft,

141

Pulawski, Zygmunt, 161

jet fighter,

II

HC Mk

lb4

helicopter, 123

Pup, 48, 49

S.C.I, 115

Short-Mayo Composite
Singapore

reconnaissance planes, 141

Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)

flying boat,
14,

89

Stratofortress, 16,
Stratoliner, 14

Felixstowe F.2A flying boat, 12

CH-53 Super

Stringfellow, John, 8, 154, 163

Stallion helicopter.

Stuka dive-bomber, 66, 86

123

Mouromets

biplane, 32

Rozier, Frani^ois Pilatre de, 8

R-4, IS

R-planes, 51

S-6 IN helicopter, 122

14,

138

86

Raptor, 17, 140

Sikorsky, Igor Ivanovich, 32, 162

Silver Dart,

Ryan

Skyways, 100

NYP

monoplane, 59

X-13

Vertijet,

Smith,

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 15,

95

Rockwell B-1 bomber, 17

AUiott Verdon, 10-11,

c
D

IM

35 Draken

fighter,

105

B.,92

Sally

Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring

Santos-Dumont, Alberto,

11, 28,

SAS, 103

Royal Aircraft Factory, 12, 27

Saulnier,

Sopwith Camel, 12, 40

Royal Air Force (RAF), 38

BAe Harrier GR. 5, 116

86-7

Boulton Paul Overstrand, 70

42

Strutter,

49

Raymond,

28, 145, 146,

Attacker, 83
S.5 racing seaplane, 83

S.6B, 62

Sea Lion

63

III,

Spitfire, 14, 82, 86,

Spitfire

Mk

V,

Camel, 12,40,48

Spitfire

PR

Mk

Cuckoo, 12

Stranraer, 83

Pup, 48, 49

Swift, 82

Sopwith-Wright hybrid, 48

Walrus, 83

Triplane, 45,

158, 161

RE.8, 12

14

Tabloid seaplane, 48, 62

161

Rorbach, Adolf Karl, 161

174

Supermarine Aviation Works, 82-3

1

Bat Boat, 48

Saab, 67

Rogers, Will, 160

Rig, 114

C.450 Coleoptere,

5R1 Dolphin, 49

Sabre, 16, 97, 105

33, 147, 161

fighter,

Superfortress, 15, 109

Solar

Richthofen, Baron Manfred von, 45

R2B

Super Electra, 73

58

Wings Pegasus XL-Q, 131

Sopwith Aviation Company, 48-9

^m

R.E.R, 151

Bristol

Lt. Keith,

SNECMA

Su-24, 17

Sukhoi, Pavel Osipovich, 163

Smith, Capt. Ross, 58

1

103

Su-27, 132

145

Smith, Lt. Lowell H., 58

114

Regia Aeronautica, 71

Battle of Britain,

15,

Sukhoi

Rumpler, Edmund, 32

record breakers, 76-7

Sir

Sud-Aviation SE.210 Caravelle,

Rumpler Flugzeugwerke, 151

reconnaissance aircraft, 16

Reims aviation week,

110-11

Bolshoi Baltiskiy, 32

II,

100

Stratocruiser,

H'ya

World War

Stranraer, 83

Sikorsky, 32

Royal Netherlands Air Force, 105

stealth aircraft, 17,

bomber, 14, 89

Stout, William Bushnell, 60, 163

58

Shturmovik, 15

Qantas, 98, 100

radar

steam power, 9

A\ TO 504, 12

Sopwith Pup, 49

101 airship, 55

flying

Stirling
I

bomber,

Stirling

Sopwith Pup, 49

163

Lockheed F-1 17A Nighthawk,

17, 138-9

62

boat, 65

42

Nieuport 17 scout, 12

>^

Royal Canadian Air Force, 83

Royal Flying Corps

54

17

fighters,

Royal Australian Air Force, 83

Bristol F.2B fighter,

.^^ P^

97

Star,

Empire Class monoplanes, 14

15

bombers, 17, 133

162

12,51

XIX, 95

"Spruce Goose",

Stalin, Joseph,

Proteus high-altitude long

Roe,

84-5

Staaken R.VI, 12

136

Shooting

79,

Mk

Seven Seas, 101

Vickers Wellesley bomber, 77

V,

PR

Sentry,

private planes, 17, 130-1

11

Mk

Spitfire

Supermarine Swift, 82

"V-bombers", 105

Puma

Spitfire

Supermarine Stranraer, 83

Prevost, Maurice, 29, 62

Pulqiii

bomber, 133

14,82,86,87

Whitney Wasp Junior, 75

Pratt trusses,

and Lawrence

of St. Louis, 59

Spirit stealth

Ciel (Sky Louse), 130

&

90

Burst, 163

137

helicopter,

Short Stirling bomber, 89

Spitfire

III,

seaplanes,

87

81, 86,

in-flight-refuelling tankers,

Potez25, 160
Potez,

Tiger

Sea Dragon helicopter, 123

Fighter

Rheinhold, 160

Platz,

D.H.82A

Moth, 130

gliders, 22, 23, 131

Pixton,

Schreck, Louis, 36

helicopters, 122

de Havilland

Sopwith,

Sir

49

Thomas Octave

Murdoch, 48, 162

87

84-5

XIX, 95

Super Mystere, 16
Super Sabre,

16,

104

supersonic aircraft, 16

Concorde,

i, 17,

118-19

"sound barrier", 96

Super Stallion helicopter, 123

SB bombers, 14

South African Airways, 101

Super

Scaled Composites, 141

Southern Cross, 59

support

Schneider, Jacques, 62

Soviet Air Force, 95, 132

Surcouf, Edouard, 161

Schneider Trophy, 11, 13,48,

Sowter Barnwell, Captain Frank, 42

swept-wing

SPADS.XIII, 12,41

Swift, 82

Savoia Marchetti S.55, 64

62-3, 76, 82, 83

VC

10, 137

aircraft, military,

jets,

16

136-7

INDEX
swing-wing
Swissair,

16-17

aircraft,

128

Vertiiet,

United States Air Force (USAF)

Verville, Alfred Victor,

Boeing 707, 136

Swordfish, 5^

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, 110

Convair B-36 bomber, 16

bombers, 14-15, 79, 86-9, 92-3

V.C.I Viking, 100

II,

105

reconnaissance planes,

Thuau,

Victor,

A 10),

132

Wellesley bomber, 77

Flyer

10, 103,

B,

Type A, 26

Vietnam War, 105, 124

Wright, Howard, 162

Viking, 100

Wright, Wilbur and Orville, 145,

United States Army, 124

Vimy bomber, 13, 51, 58, 59

Vimy Commercial, 13, 56

United States

Army

Air Force

152, 157, 165

Chanute and, 147

powered

Viscount, 5, 15, 102

first

Lockheed P-38 Lightning, 15

VisionAire, 140

gliders, 22,

Lockheed P-80 Shooting

Star,

97

United States Defense Advanced

"Tin Goose", 60

Research Projects Agency, 141

United States Marine Corps, 95,

Tornado, 17, 121, 137

tractor biplanes,

II,

15

Navy

Vought F4U
70

Tri-Motor (Ford), 60-1

McDonnell Douglas F-4

VTOL

Trippe, Juan Terry, 164

Phantom

Vulcan, 105

Sikorsky

II,

fighter,

105

MH-53E

Sea Dragon

114-15

Vultee, Gerard, 73, 159

VS-44 seaplane, 65

Pe-8, 89

World War

11,

Yak-9, 15,95

United States Strategic Air

Command, 110

\A/
Wallace,

Tu-104, 15, 102

vV

Tu-160, 17

96-7

airliners,

15-16, 102-3

Typhoon, 133

flying

bombs, 15,97

Valiant, 105

jet,

140

aircraft

Air Vehicle

helicopter,

66

7
^

G.

Puma

HC
Zeppehn,

123

Whitcomb, Richard

Travis,

164-5

White, Ted, 92

C'ommodore

Sir

Wibault-Penhoet 283.T12, 73

vertical takeoff

wide-bodied

VTOL

and landing, see

aircraft

LZ 129

Hindenhurg, 54

Staaken

R.III,

51

Zeppelin, Count von,

149-50

8,

Zhukovskii, Nikolai, 164

Wibault, Michel, 73

Venom,

Versailles, 8

149

Zero, 15,94

Frank, 165

Vedrines, Jules, 149

97, 99

12,

Graf Zeppelin, 55

Westland Dragonfly, 5

Whittle, Air

"V-bombers", 105

106

Seiji,

83

Conrad, 108, 146

Mk

Varig, 103

Combat

33

^_

Commander

Westland/Aerospatiale

Vampire, 99, 149

swing-wing

Yoshihara,
Lt. S.N.,

Wels, Franz, 151

variable-geometry aircraft see

11
v^

Peril",

York bomber, 15

Wellesley bomber, 77

Vantage business

(UCAV), 140

Dwane, 147

Westervelt,

VI

turbofan engines, 17

16,

("Chuck") Elwood, 165

Webster, Flight

Tupolev, Andrei, 154, 163, 164

U-2 spyplane,

Yeager, General Charles

Walrus, 83

m m

turbojet engines,

165

"Yellow

Tu-95, 16

Uninhabited

Tu-16, 16

Tu-144, 17

Yakovlev, Aleksandr Sergeyevich,

United States Signals Corps,

Tu-114, 102

jr

Yak-36, 114

15

SB bombers, 14

Tu-22M, 132

and experiments, 10

Yakovlev

Vought F4U Corsair, 95

ANT-6, 14

turboprop

aircraft, 16, 17,

Vultee V-IA, 73

123

helicopter,

Tupolev

trials

149

Wulf, Georg, 152

Corsair, 95

Vought-Sikorsky VS-44, 65

Boeing F4B-3

126

military aircraft,

Voisin, Gabriel, 10, 11,29, 145,

26-7

Voss, Lt. Werner, 45

55

airships,

troop carriers, 136

legal case against Curtiss,

Voisin, Charles, 11,29, 145, 164

Trident, 17

TriStar, 17,

aircraft, 10,

26-7

164

United States

War

126

Airlines,

Voisin box-kite biplane, 34

123

28

transport aircraft. World

Vnukovo

26

Model H, 27

137

105

CurtissP-40, 15

Tomcat, 17

R),

26

79,95
Tigercat, 4-5
Moth, 130

(Model

10

III,

Model

racer

27

Thunderbolt (Republic P-47B), 15,

Tiger

82-7, 90-1, 94-5

United States Air Service, 58

stealth technology,

37

Thunderbolt (Fairchild

Baby Wright
Flyer, 10,

Victor,

14,86-7,90

Wright

Viscount, 5, 15, 102

VC

Sabre, 104

Taylor, Molt, 130

58, 59

Vickers Armstrong

F-1 00 Super

II,

fighters, 14, 79,

Vimy bomber, 13, 51,

Vimy Commercial, 56

North American

Their

14-15,79-95

Valiant, 105

North American F-86 Sabre, 105

in

posters, 3^'

World War

Lockheed F-1 17A Nighthawk,

Taube monoplane, 32

Men

40-3, 46-7

Battle of Britam,

Phantom

Flying Machines, 33

50-1

12, 39,

fighters, 39,

FB.5 Gunbus, 41

Tank, Kurt, 94, 152, 163-4

Those Magnificent

bombers,

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, 137

McDonnell Douglas F-4

94

12-13, 39-51, 53

1,

CCIO, 17

tandem-wing designs, 141

Series 2,

1,

aircraft carriers, 12

Vickers

138

164

115

Lockheed SR-71 A, 107

Tempest

14

F-22 Raptor, 140

Tabloid seaplane, 48, 62

VFW-Fokker VAK 191B VTOL,

Swiss Air Force, 97

^HH

World War

United Airlines, 127

airliners, 17,

126-7

Wiess,Jose, 159

Winnie Mae,

60

175

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Author's acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following for their assistance
and cooperation in the preparation of this volume:
Michael Oakey, Tony Harmsworth, and Lydia Matharu of
Aeroplane Monthly; Michel Ledet of Avions Magazine; Bill
Gunston; Kim Hearn of the Flight Collection; Alex Imrie;
Carol Reed and Debra Warburton of Flight International;
Richard Simpson of the RAF Museum; Alex Revell; and
the staff of TPR Photographic Laboratories Ltd. Finally,
and most importantly, I thank my copilot, Marilyn
Bellidori, for her amazing and often sorely tested tolerance
of my obsession with things aeronautical, and for her
unhesitating assistance whenever things seemed to be

New

Mexico; Tracy Curtiss-Taylor

at the Fighter Collection,

Maxham,

Director of the US Army

Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama; Katie McGuigan
and Tom Coe at Qantas; Sean Penn and the staff at the
Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon; EUy Sallingboe; Russell

Duxford Air

Field; Steve

Aviation

C. Sneddon and Dolly for

all

their help at the Air Force

Armament Museum, Eglin Air Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida;

Mike Stapley; Chris Thornton at Flight International magazine.
Dorling Kindersley would also
their kind permission to

like to

thank the following for

reproduce their photographs:

t?=above; ^=below; c=center; /=left; r=right; /=top

entering into an irrecoverable flat spin.

Aviation Picture Library: Austin

Mark Hamilton, Dave

Additional photography by

King,

Peter Chadwick, Peter Anderson, Martin

Cameron, James Stevenson, and Dave Rudkin.

Mike Dunning,

Brown

39b,

2tr, 31cr, 34tr,

40br, 41br, Aid, 86br, 94tr, 94c/, 97tr, 976/, 103cra, 103/?/,
I04tr, 104cr, lOStr, 105c, 108-9, ll5tr, 118-19, I19cb,

nib, \13bc,

lllcrb, \17t, 130c/, \3\tl, \3\cr, \31br,

John Stroud Collection S8tr; Stephen Piercey

101c, lOlbr; Derek Cattani 130-lc; Aviation Images: Mark
Wagner 1, 17tc, 105 br, \16cl, 117 br, I37cr, 138c/; Defence
l'64bl, \64bl;

Publisher's

acknowledgments

Dorling Kindersley would

Peter

like to

thank:

Adams, Mary Lindsay, and Nicola Munro

editorial assistance;

Adam

Powers

Emma

Picture Library: 113crb; Paolo Franzini: 76b; Imperial

for

Museum:

Ashby, Christine Lacey, and

Melanie Simmonds
Tyrone O'Dea and Simon

for design assistance;

for picture library research;

Pentelow for photography assistance; Christopher Gordon

for administration; Hilary Bird for the index. Also, a
special thanks to Philip Jarrett for access to his extensive
library of photographs.

their help with

also like to thank the following for

Crown

NASA

141cr;

Copyright Reserved: 115c/, 122-3;

Richardson 55br;
Skyscan: Colin Smedley 118-19; Peter
Society of 'British Aerospace Companies Ltd: 120; TRH
Pictures: 86-7, lilt; Northrop 133cr; Tim Senior 86/?/,
132/?/. Jacket: Aviation Images Mark Wagner (back below);
Official

1986 Mark Meyer

(spine);

Dan

Patterson (front).

All other photographs: Philip Jarrett.

photography:

Vern Blade and Robert Pepper

176

Picture Library: 140^r, 140-1, 141tl, \41br;

Picture credits

The publishers would

Vines 59tl;

RAF

War

Lockheed Martin: 139tr; Photo Link: Mike

Popperfoto: 54-5t; Reuters 114tr; Quadrant

39, 78;

at

Holloman Air Force

Base,

FRONT JACKET IMAGE: NORTH AMERICAN MUSTANG

F-6D, PHOTORECONNAISSANCE VERSION OF P-51D

"^

629.133 JARRET
Jarrett, Philip.
Ultimate aircraft

Philip Jarrett

was

assistant editor

of Aeroplane Monthly magazine

from

its

foundation

in

1973

until

1980, before serving ten years as

production editor of Flight

International magazine.

Now

freelance writer and editor, he has

produced countless

articles

and

papers on a wide variety of

aeronautical subjects, as well as lecturing on aviation
topics.

Author of Another Icarus: Percy Pilcher and the

Flight, published by the Smithsonian Institution

Quest for
in

1987, he

is

currently series editor for the authoritative

Putman History of Aircraft volumes.

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DORLING KINDERSLEY PUBLISHING,

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95 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

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ISBN: 0-7894-5961-2

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