RapidFireWeb Bell X-22A (US Army Photo) Bell X-22A V/STOL Research Airplane (Serial No. 151521), currently in the Niagara Aerospace Museum, Niagara Falls, New York, on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation. The Bell X-22 is an American V/STOL X-plane with four tilting ducted fans. Takeoff was to selectively occur either with the propellers tilted vertically … Read more
California Warplane Survivors Acampo, Lodi Parachute Center. (Bernd das Brot Team Photo) Douglas DC-3 (Serial No.). Alameda (Alan Wilson Photo) (kb7ywl Photo) Douglas A-4C Skyhawk (BuNo. 148610), USMC, mounted on a pylon in front of Encinal High School. Alameda Naval Air Museum, 2151 Ferry Point Road, 94501. (510) 522-4262. The historic legacy of the Alameda … Read more
Boeing X-32 (USAF Photo) Boeing Joint Strike Fighter X-32B demonstrator lifting off on its maiden flight from the company’s facility in Palmdale, California, 18 September 2000. The Boeing X-32 is a concept demonstrator aircraft that was designed for the Joint Strike Fighter competition. It lost to the Lockheed Martin X-35 demonstrator, which was further developed … Read more
Boeing B-47 Stratojet (USAF Photo) Boeing B-47B rocket-assisted take off. Black smoke from engines indicates water-methanol injection is in use. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The primary … Read more
Bell P-63 Kingcobra The Bell P-63 Kingcobra is an American fighter aircraft that was developed by Bell Aircraft during the Second World War. Based on the preceding Bell P-39 Airacobra, the P-63’s design incorporated suggestions from P-39 pilots and was superior to its predecessor in virtually all respects. The P-63 was not accepted for combat … Read more
Historic Photos of California Warplanes (Bill Larkins Photos) Douglas O-38E, California National Guard. ca 1939. (USAAF Photo) North American Mustang Mk. IA (Serial No. 41-37416)on a test flight from NAA’s Inglewood, California facility in October 1942. (USAAF Photo) North American NA-73 Mustang Mk. I, RAF (Serial No. AL958) being test-flown at Inglewood, California, in October … Read more
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (USAF Photo) A U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52F-70-BW Stratofortress (s/n 57-0162, nicknamed “Casper The Friendly Ghost”) from the 320th Bomb Wing dropping Mk 117 750 lb (340 kg) bombs over Vietnam. This aircraft was the first B-52F used to test conventional bombing in 1964, and later dropped the 50,000th bomb of the “Arc … Read more
Bell P-39 Airacobra (USMC Photo) US Army Air Force 67th Fighter Squadron P-400s probably on arrival at Guadalcanal on 27 August 1942. This photo includes another plane facing the camera in the background at the right, which is usually missing in published photos. This fourth plane also has the shark-mouth like the three other planes readily … Read more
Boeing B-50 Superfortress (USAF Photo) Boeing B-50D-95-BO Superfortress (Serial No. 48-096). This is a Boeing photo shoot over Puget Sound, Washington-converted to EB-50D standards as mothership for the Bell X-2 flight test program, 1948. The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted … Read more
Boeing P-26 Peashooter (USAAC Photo) Boeing P-26A Peashooter, 17th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group flying from Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1939. The Boeing P-26 “Peashooter” is the first American production all-metal fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane to enter squadron service with the United States Army Air Corps. Designed and built by Boeing, the prototype first … Read more
