Human engineering has driven aircraft to extreme speeds from early jet-powered aircraft that surpassed 600 km/h to experimental hypersonic craft reaching Mach 10-plus. Throughout aviation history, there has been no shortage of aircraft challenging conventional wisdom concerning propulsion, aerodynamics, materials, altitude and handling qualities. Most of these aircraft were built to conduct research, gain new […]
Exploring the Engineering and History of the World’s Ten Largest Aircraft
Aerospace engineering has always been about extremes, and nowhere has that been clearer than when considering airborne giants. These titanic marvels of engineering have been able to move everything from space shuttles and enormous industrial machinery to more than 600 passengers over vast distances. Size is never one thing or simply a number, it is […]
A Breakdown of the Most Capable Air Superiority Fighters of 1985
The 1980s was the last decade of real air-to-air combat. It was probably the last great decade for combat aircraft-in which tiny details of radar design, missile technology and human factors in design contributed to an aircraft that was astonishingly effective and vastly easier to fly than most of the aircraft that it was replacing. […]
Ten Outstanding Seaplanes That Served in the Second World War
Taking flight from the ocean, lakes and fjords, warfare seaplanes provided some of the most exciting moments in aviation in the Second World War. Like their fleet counterparts, they came in flying boat or floatplane form and could deliver their bombs, torpedoes and guns far from established landing strips. They played a key role in […]
Why American Fighters and Bombers Flew Bare Metal During World War II
Through the early years of World War II American military planes were coated in selected camouflage pattern for the purpose of evading aerial spotting by enemies. Olive drab, grays and other colors were utilized to blend in aircraft in their homeairfields or operating over landscapes/terrain and scenery at low altitudes. Throughout the course of WWII […]
10 Reasons the AV-8 Harrier Broke the Rules of Military Aviation and Changed V/STOL Warfare
The place the AV-8 Harrier holds in the history of military aircraft is an uncommon one. This is on account of the fact that the craft was one of the only ones to question the most obvious postulate behind the fighting machine- that any serviceable fighters or attackers must use runways. The US Marines recently […]
The 10 Largest Fighter Aircraft of the Second World War
When we think of WW2 fighter aircraft, we tend to imagine relatively small aircraft that are quick, agile and responsive. However, the war also produced a very different kind of fighter, larger twin-engine machines which although, less agile, were equipped with much longer range, much more heavy armament, a much stronger airframe and much heavier […]
10 Extreme WWII Warplane Modifications That Pushed Aircraft to the Limit
The sheer numbers of aircraft required by World War II demanded novel methods of acquiring tactical superiority with extreme haste. Given the massive production numbers of existing types, it frequently made sense to redesign the existing airframes, and avoid spending a crucial time developing from scratch. The consequence was often truly unusual designs, including attack […]
Boeing Wins the F-47 Deal: What Makes America’s Sixth-Generation Fighter So Different?
Breaking News From White House Press Briefing Boeing have been given the contract to build the world’s first 6th generation fighter jet by the United States Air Force. The deal for the Boeing F-47, codenamed the Air Dominance Fighter, was confirmed during President Donald Trump’s white house briefing today. Joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, […]
10 Infamously Flawed Royal Navy Aircraft That Failed To Deliver
Despite the Royal Navy of Britain, the creation of naval aviation was not at all simple, having difficulties such as launching the plane at sea was an innovation, aircraft on the aircraft carrier deck would run into engineering problems unlike those taking flight from the land such as how to fit take-off and landing strips […]