Vought F4U Corsair

After several hours of taxi tests and days of ground engine runs, on 29 May 1940 the yellow-and-silver-painted XF4U-1 was ready for its first flight at the Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Stratford, Connecticut. Lyman A. Bollard Jr, the chief of flight rest at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft, would he at the controls. Bullard took the fledgling fighter up to 10,000ft (300m) while executing some very basic standard manoeuvres such as turns, and he cycled the gear and flaps a few times. He then headed away from the airfield to carry out a couple of stalls and to test the cruise power ability. The flight lasted 38min and went mainly without a hitch, although flutter had briefly attacked the elevators, and the spring trim tabs had shimmied off in flight. This had made the aircraft vibrate badly, though it had not prevented Bullard from returning safely to the airport in full control. These were no more than the usual niggling little problems associated with most new aircraft, and indeed others began to manifest themselves during the two-month flight-test programme.

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Britain's Fleet Air Arm in World War II

What was titled the Royal Naval Air Service in 1912 had already been experimenting with aircraft in various ways, but with the emphasis on floatplanes rather than wheeled designs. However, around 1912 a Cdr. Samson had already demonstrated the viability of take-offs from warships, when he flew a Short S27 off several warships with adapted foredecks. The operation of floatplanes was regularly indulged in by the Royal Navy, up to and including World War 1. Many were flown directly from their parent warship using recoverable wheel-trolleys that allowed for an easier take-off than was possible when taking off from the sea. On return, the vessel's derrick would lift the aircraft back on board. The sizeable wingspan of some of the floatplanes dictated the need for their wings to be folded in order for their proper stowage on board. (During 1913 the cruiser HERMES had conducted experiments involving the fore-going principles that proved their viability; this warship was sunk shortly after World War I began).

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Kagero Topshots No. 11042 - MiG-23 MF

Although MiG-21 was considered a very modern aircraft back in the 1960s, in as early as in 1964 Mikoyan and Gurevitch's design bureau commenced works on its successor. The first prototype of the new aircraft, MiG-23, was test flown on June 10, 1967. In July it had been presented to the public. After this test, the aircraft was code named Flogger by NATO. Factory tests were accomplished in July 1968. Shortening run-ways and landing runs as well as avionics were tested amongst others. The works were continued on the prototypes which followed. The wings were made larger and stronger, the nose flaps were added, and the anti-stall system was installed. These changed the leading edge angle to 18.4-74.4 degrees. Since the beginning of 1972 the following in-flight tests were carried out. The series production started that very year. The experiences gathered from the military used aircrafts and the command's needs resulted in the production of the development versions of the aircraft. It was, amongst others, equipped with new turbojets. There were modifications introduced to the outside look: the wings', fin's and rudder's shapes were altered. The undercarriage was raised and the construction strengthened. And at the same time the aircraft's weigh was reduced. The updated accessories were being installed. There were pylons fitted to the moving elements to enable mounting the variety of latest armaments. MiG-23 could carry, apart from the on-board 23mm GSz-23 cannon, air-to-air, guided and not-guided missiles, and bombs.

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Hurricane in Foreign Service

In early June 1942 a whole fighter division equipped entirely with Hurricanes, 235 IAD became part of 8 VA (8th Air Army). The unit was commanded by Lt. Col. I. D. Podgorniy. It comprised 46, 191, and 436 IAP. On 25 June it was joined by 180 IAP equipped with 20 Hurricanes. All those regiments, apart from 191 IAP, have been trained at Ivanovo. In order to facilitate rapid conversion to the British equipment, 3 British pilots and 16 fitters were present at Ivanovo. When moving to the front line, the division was largely equipped with aircraft fitted with the Soviet armament, or Mk IIC aircraft. It entered combat north of Kharkov. During the first five days of fighting the entire unit claimed 29 aircraft shot down. The largest number of victories was claimed by 436 IAP (20 kills), it was commanded by Major A. B. Panov. Apart from air combats and air defence, the regiments were also tasked with ground attack duties. During these missions Hurricane caused substantial losses among the enemy, as well as sustaining severe losses themselves. On 16 July 12 Hurricanes of 191 IAP destroyed a motorised column on the road Velikiy Burluk-Noviy Oskol. In heavy fighting, with constantly changing unprepared landing grounds, the Hurricanes started to wear out rapidly. For example 436 IAP changed airfields no less than 12 times within 2 months. On 22 July 1942 two surviving Hurricanes of 191 IAP were handed over to a neighbouring unit. Two days later also 46 and 180 IAP were sent back for replenishment at Ivanovo. All the surviving and serviceable aircraft were assembled in 436 IAP. On 1 August 1942 8 VA had a total of 11 Hurricanes, of which only 3 combat-ready. During the rapid retreat of the Russians, all remaining Hurricanes were destroyed by own ground personnel at Kalch-on-Don airfield. Between 13 June and 30 July 1942 pilots of 235 IAD claimed 69 enemy aircraft destroyed. During that period the regiments lost 54 Hurricanes in combat and in accidents.

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Flugzeug Profile 01 - Arado Ar 240

Die Arado Ar 240 (Projektbezeichnung E-240) entstand aufgrund einer Ausschreibung des Reichsluftfahrtministeriums. Die Entwürfe für dieses Kampfflugzeug wurden Ende 1938 beim RLM eingereicht. Arado erhielt am 2. April 1939 einen ersten Auftrag über drei Versuchsmuster. Die Entwicklungsarbeiten begannen unter der Leitung von Professor Walter Blume und Dipl. Ing. Wilhelm van Nes. In den Messerschmitt-Werken liefen zur gleichen Zeit die Arbeiten an der Me 210, welche für die gleichen Einsatzaufgaben ausgelegt wurde. Noch bevor die Arado Ar 240V-1 zum Erstflug startete, wurde der Auftrag erhöht, und zwar auf zehn V-Muster und eine nicht festgelegte Anzahl von Vorserienflugzeugen. Größere Schwierigkeiten, die bei den beiden ersten Prototypen auftraten, waren auf das Überhitzen der Triebwerke zurückzuführen. Dieses Problem konnte aber durch Änderung der Triebwerksverkleidung und dem Einbau von zusätzlichen Ölkühlern unter den Triebwerksgondeln gelöst werden. Weitere gravierende Änderungen betrafen die Zelle, wo die Verlegung der Kabine in den Bugbereich erforderlich wurde. Der Grund für die Verlegung der Kabine in den Bugbereich war das unstabile Flugverhalten um alle drei Achsen, wodurch das Flugzeug schwierig zu fliegen war. Diese Auslegung kam dann ab der Ar 240V-3 zur Durchführung. Auch die Fernsteuerungsanlage für die rückwärtige Bewaffnung mußte bis zu ihrer Funktionstüchtigkeit mehrmals überarbeitet werden. Die Arado Ar 240 war in ihren Grundzügen bestimmt kein schlechter Entwurf. Da höchste Leistung als Ziel gesetzt war, gab es bei der Entwicklung und Produktion erhebliche Probleme. Um dieses Ziel mit den vorhandenen Mitteln und Techniken erreichen zu können stieß man oft in Grenzbereiche vor.

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F-105 Thunderchief in Detail & Scale

As this book is released and begins to appear on the bookshelves of aviation enthusiasts, the "Thud" will be disappearing from the skies over America. As this is written, only a handful of F-105s remain, and they are all scheduled for a final flight to the "bone-yard" in the very near future. Hopefully, museums will preserve a number of these machines for future generations of airplane lovers to see, and others will become gate guards and display aircraft at air bases. Certainly the Thunderchief deserves appropriate preservation. Of all the "Century Series" of fighters, it saw more combat, and served this nation more admirably in war than any of the others. It was entirely an American aircraft, serving only in the colors of the United States. Of all the other "Century Series" fighters, only the F-106 Delta Dart has served only in the United States Air Force. All others have been exported to at least one foreign country. Of the many F-105 pilots this author has known, most with combat experience, all loved this aircraft. They had admiration for its ruggedness and durability, its bomb-carrying capability, and most of all, its capability to leave the target area and "go home at the speed of light!" The Thunderchief was designed to deliver a nuclear weapon at supersonic speed - a mission it never was called upon to perform. Instead, it delivered more conventional bombs to Route Pac 6, and "Downtown Hanoi" than any other fighter. In doing so it suffered the greatest number of losses over any other aircraft, but considering the number of missions flown, the loss rate was not so high. It also was used as a "Wild Weasel" aircraft, to attack enemy air defense missile sites, a role in which it proved very adapt, and for which it received a great deal of publicity.

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Coastal Command in Action 1939-1945

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Coastal Command consisted of only 183 aircraft. Of these, 135 were Avro Ansons, a reliable aircraft but one with inadequate armament, low bomb-carrying capacity and insufficient range. Only nine were Lockheed Hudsons, chosen as the main replacement for the Ansons. There were sixteen Short Sunderlands, but others were in production to replace the fifteen obsolescent Saro London or Supermarine Stranraer flying boats still in service. However, the anti-submarine bombs which the aircraft carried were almost useless, even if they scored a direct hit, and depth charges which could be dropped from the air were not yet designed. The anti-shipping strike force consisted merely of twelve Vickers Vildebeests, an obsolete torpedo-carrying biplane, although Bristol Beauforts were being built to replace these. Such an inadequate force was not quite so ridiculous as it may seem in retrospect. Germany's North Sea coastline was short and the main enemy threat was believed to come from surface raiders and U-boats. Defence against the Kriegsmarine was considered to be the province of the powerful Royal Navy, backed by its Fleet Air Arm. I he duties of Coastal Command were perceived as reconnaissance, convoy escort and submarine spotting, with an occasional foray against enemy warships.

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Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War

The first Imperial Defense Policy was promulgated on 4 April 1907 and provided a general basis for Japanese defense planning for the next fifteen years. This secret document listed Russia as first among potential enemies, followed by the United States and France. The concept was based on the technical experiences of the Russo-Japanese War, as welt as on a treatise on defense by Commander Sato Tetsutato, an instructor at the Naval Staff College. The Imperial Defense Policy contained specific force-level goals, directing that the Imperial Navy include a battle fleet centered around "a squadron of eight battleships and a squadron of eight armored cruisers of the most modern design and less than eight years of age." The goal of two eight-ship squadrons in the batde fleet (8—8 fleet) was revised on 31 March 1912 to specify battle cruisers rather than armored cruisers. The concept of the 8-8 fleet can be traced to plans for 4-4 and 6-6 fleets dating from the 1890s. The development of a core of modern capital ships was a central goal of the Imperial Navy throughout the early part of this century. Despite the importance of the 8-8 fleet in naval circles, however, the ambitious project was hampered by financial and political difficulties and encountered numerous restructurings and delays. When these problems seemed at last to have been overcome during World War I, the plan's realization was precluded once and for all when the Washington Treaty of 1922 halted the construction of capital ships.

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Railroad Model Craftsman 04 2009

It was many years ago that I was putting the finishing touches on several work car kits I had bought and assembled. I thought they looked pretty good: nice, new 40-foot wood sheathed cars with gray paint and black decal lettering and assorted windows. The big hook (which was me) placed them on the track next to some of my other work cars, older style, 36-footers with truss rods and arch bar trucks. The thought was that my Susquehanna Northern had relegated to work train service some more-modern, heavier capacity wooden freight cars than the older, smaller cars with truss rods, some of which were still being used in revenue service. Thirty-six foot cars still in service? Happily, I did remember driving down New York City's West Side Highway and seeing 36-foot reefers unloading big slabs of meat at several distributors' lockers where the platforms and doors were designed for 36-foot. cars. This explains why some of my non-revenue equipment were 40-foot bunk and kitchen cars, while 36 foot boxcars and reefers were still in service. Work equipment on the real roads is not as common as it was in the days before good roads and motor trucks. Today, tractors and other construction equipment by John Deere, Caterpillar and others have mostly replaced the old work cars of yesteryear. Mechanized spike and track laying equipment has largely replaced the track gangs of yesteryear, and there are whole trains with special cars to pick up the track and ballast, clean it and re-lay it as the train moves along at a walking pace.

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Military in Scale 01 2004

Construction starts with the powered side car unit and although pretty straightforward, there are a couple of grey areas to watch out for once the main body has been assembled. It is worth mentioning here that I had almost finished the model when I came across Wings and Wheels publication on the BMW R75 in detail. This highlighted a couple of errors on the sidecar that were too late to rectify. Firstly, there were the six grab handles along the front; these are not as equally spaced as the instructions make out, and their locating marks on the body are so faint they are lost when eliminating the join lines. Secondly, the catches for the detachable equipment boxes are not positioned centrally on each side, but should be place at the edge opposite to that of the hinge. The Chassis frame is split horizontally and once the joint line has been eliminated the tow hook, motorcycle attachment points and the suspension springs and cradle can be added. Unfortunately, unlike the bike, the kit does not recreate the suspension here and we are left with a solid side car. The boot panel to which the spare wheel is mounted is designed to open and close; this is done by temporarily taping the panel in position and cementing the hinges to the body, avoiding any cement contacting the panel hinge points. Once the cement has dried, the tape is removed but with the spare wheel being quite heavy, it can result in the panel being flipped open and snapping the hinges during further construction. Isn't hindsight wonderful!

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Military Parade 05-06 1995

The Russian Air Force displayed preference to the Yak-130 project in the tender for a pilot training system, which will replace by the year 2000 the currently used fleet of the obsolete Czechoslovakian-made L-39 aircraft. Besides the Yakovlev design bureau, the Sukhoi, Mikoyan and Myasishchev firms participated in the tender which was held by the Russian Air Force in two phases from 1992 to 1994. The program will be partly funded by the government and partly from other sources. It will be carried out at both international and interstate levels and legalized by the Russian Federation government's decree and by a number of interstate agreements. The urgency of solving the task of technical re-equipment of the trainer aircraft fleet is dictated by the difficulty of maintaining the operation and logistic support of the L-39 aircraft along with the transition to mutual hard currency payments with Czechia under the conditions of a permanent budget deficit. The entry into service in the nearest future of a Russian pilot training system is expected to solve this task. What were the factors that helped the Yakovlev design bureau gain victory over such prominent rivals ? An explanation of these factors may be found in new conceptual and organizational-financial approaches to solving design tasks.

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Tiger in Action

Of the various weapons used during the Second World War, a number became famous and a few became household words, known to even those with no special interest in the weapons of war. Spitfire, Zero, Mustang, and a few others, are quickly recognized by a great number of people, even if the exact aircraft type is forgotten. In the West, there are probably only two tanks that ever reached this level of public familiarity; the American Sherman and the German Tiger. The Tiger tank became a legend, partly through the efforts of the German propaganda machine, but, more importantly, because for nearly three years it was the most feared and respected of all German tanks. For over two years, no Allied tank could match its capabilities. Its combination of armor protection, firepower, and maneuverability made the Tiger the "Queen of Battle" and, even at the end of the war, there were few Allied tanks that could challenge a Tiger on even terms. Work on the tank that would eventually emerge as the Tiger began during 1937, when the firm of Henschel und Sohn in Kassel, Germany, was directed to design a 30-33 ton tank as a replacement for the PzKpfw IV (which was just entering service). After one test vehicle was built, work was suspended on the prototype DW I (Durchbruchswagen -breakthrough vehicle) to allow Henschel to shift its assets to work on the VK.6501, a 65-ton heavy tank which was a progressive development of the pre-war Neubaufahrzeuge heavy tanks. In the event after construction of two prototypes, this project was cancelled and work was resumed on the DW I.

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