Douglas X-3 Stiletto (NACA Photo) The Douglas X-3 Stiletto is a 1950s United States experimental jet aircraft with a slender fuselage and a long tapered nose, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its primary mission was to investigate the design features of an aircraft suitable for sustained supersonic speeds, which included the first use of … Read more
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (Master Sgt. David Kujawa, Air National Guard Photo) Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II departs after completing air-to-air refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker while over Michigan, 2013. The A-10 is assigned to the 107th Fighter Squadron and the KC-135 to the 171st Air Refueling Squadron at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. … Read more
Curtiss C-46 Commando (USAAF Photo) Curtiss C-46 Commando (Serial No. 44-78108) with a partatrooper preparing to exit. Landing gear down. The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name “Condor III” but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 … Read more
Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter-interceptor, and the company’s last aircraft project. Designed as a replacement for the Second World War–era propeller-driven P-61 Black Widow night/interceptor aircraft, the XF-87 lost in government procurement competition to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. The loss of the … Read more
Convair B-36 Peacemaker (RCAF Photo via Chris Charland) Convair B-36H Peacemaker (Serial No. 52-1356), 11th Bombardment Wing, Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, Texas, intercepted by a pair of CF-100 Mk. 5’s from No. 428 “Ghost” AW (F) Squadron. CF-100 Mk. 5 (Serial No. 18580), coded HG-580, RCAF Station Uplands, Ontario. (City of Ottawa Archives, Photo CA040731) Convair … Read more
Convair B-58 Hustler (USGOV-PD Photo) Convair XB-58 Hustler in flight (Serial No. 55-0660). The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC). To achieve the high … Read more
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger (USAF Photo) Convair F-102A-75-CO Delta Dagger (Serial No. 56-1281), 31st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Alaska, 1965. The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was aninterceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraftmanufacturer Convair. A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the firstoperational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter operated by theUnited States … Read more
Convair NB-36H Peacemaker (USAF Photo) Convair NB-36H Peacemaker experimental aircraft (s/n 51-5712) and a Boeing B-50 Superfortress chase plane during research and development taking place at the Convair plant at Forth Worth, Texas (USA). The NB-36H was originally a B-36H-20-CF damaged at Carswell Air Force Base, also at Forth Worth, by a tornado on 1 September … Read more
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
Bell X-5 (USAF Photo) The Bell X-5 was the first aircraft capable of changing the sweep of its wings in flight. It was inspired by the untested wartime P.1101 design of the German Messerschmitt company. In contrast with the German design, which could only have its wing sweepback angle adjusted on the ground, the Bell engineers … Read more
