Posted: Mar 08, 2010 3:17 am
A few in no particular order:
The SE5a:
Deadly in the hands of some of the famous aces of the first world war. The more famous Sopwith Camel has overshadowed it in the public imagination but the SE5a was one of the few aircraft at the time it flew that was really a match for what it was up against.
The Grumman F6F:
Im a fan especially of naval aircraft and this one made a large contribution to the war effort over the pacfic. (the pictured aircraft represents perhaps the most famous Hellcat in which Dave McCampbell scored 9 victores in a single sortie with his wingman Ens Roy Rushing scoring 6)
The B17:
Needs no introduction really. Rugged almost beyond belief. Any plane that can bring its crew home despite looking like this is special.
close up
And another example of a fortress that just about got back
Finally a bit of adifferent one
The North American Aviation X-15
The fastest plane ever built. (Sure the Shuttle is faster but its not at top speed in the atmosphere)
Mach 6.72 on a good day top speed of 4,519mph was reached. Flights only lasted a few minutes from launch with at most 120 seconds being powered flight. It hurled men upto 67 miles high, 354,000 feet making Joe Walker the 1st civilian in space and the 1st man to go into space twice. Several other pilots earned USAF Astronaut wings. Ironically one of the only X-15 pilots not to qualify for either set was a young aviator by the name of Neil Armstrong.
The SE5a:
Deadly in the hands of some of the famous aces of the first world war. The more famous Sopwith Camel has overshadowed it in the public imagination but the SE5a was one of the few aircraft at the time it flew that was really a match for what it was up against.
The Grumman F6F:
Im a fan especially of naval aircraft and this one made a large contribution to the war effort over the pacfic. (the pictured aircraft represents perhaps the most famous Hellcat in which Dave McCampbell scored 9 victores in a single sortie with his wingman Ens Roy Rushing scoring 6)
The B17:
Needs no introduction really. Rugged almost beyond belief. Any plane that can bring its crew home despite looking like this is special.
close up
And another example of a fortress that just about got back
Finally a bit of adifferent one
The North American Aviation X-15
The fastest plane ever built. (Sure the Shuttle is faster but its not at top speed in the atmosphere)
Mach 6.72 on a good day top speed of 4,519mph was reached. Flights only lasted a few minutes from launch with at most 120 seconds being powered flight. It hurled men upto 67 miles high, 354,000 feet making Joe Walker the 1st civilian in space and the 1st man to go into space twice. Several other pilots earned USAF Astronaut wings. Ironically one of the only X-15 pilots not to qualify for either set was a young aviator by the name of Neil Armstrong.