Boulton Paul Defiant I

Boulton Paul Defiant

CountryUK
RoleTwo-seat fighter, night fighter, trainer
First flight11 August 1937
Built1064

The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a “turret fighter”, without any forward-firing guns, a concept successfully used in the First World War-era Bristol F.2 Fighter and also implemented by the Royal Navy’s Blackburn Roc. In combat, the Defiant was found to be reasonably effective at its intended task of destroying bombers but was vulnerable to the Luftwaffe’s more manoeuvrable, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. The lack of forward-firing armament proved to be a great weakness in daylight combat and its potential was realised only when it was converted to night fighting. It was supplanted in the night fighter role by the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito. The Defiant found use in gunnery training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue. Among RAF pilots it had the nickname “Daffy”.

Source: Boulton Paul Defiant on Wikipedia

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Views : 4380

Hawker Nimrod MK.II

Hawker Nimrod

CountryUK
RoleNaval fighter
First flight14 October 1931
Built92

The Hawker Nimrod was a British carrier-based single-engine, single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft. The Nimrod had an overall similarity to the Fury: it was a single-seater biplane with an open cockpit, fixed undercarriage and guns firing through the propeller. Its unswept, constant chord, round-tipped wings had an unequal span and strong stagger, the latter partly to enhance the pilot’s view. It was a single bay biplane braced with outward-leaning N-form interplane struts, with the upper plane held a little above the upper fuselage by cabane struts. The fabric-covered wings had metal spars and spruce ribs and carried balanced ailerons only on the upper wings.

Source: Hawker Nimrod on Wikipedia

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Views : 2493

Ford M151 Mutt

M151 1/4-ton 4×4 utility truck

CountryUSA
Role1/4 ton truck/personnel transport, four wheel drive
Producted1959–1982
Built100000+

The Truck, Utility, 1/4-Ton, 4×4, M151 (M151) was the successor to the Korean War M38 and M38A1 jeep Light Utility Vehicles. Commonly referred to as a “jeep” or “quarter-ton”, it was produced from 1959 through 1982 and served in the Vietnam War. The M151 had a monocoque design making it roomier than previous jeep designs, and incorporated an independent suspension with coil springs. It has since been replaced by the larger AM General HMMWV in most utility roles in frontline use. With some M151A2 units still in U.S. military service in 1999, the M151 series achieved a longer run of service than that of the WW2 MB/GPW, M38, and M38A1 series combined.

Source: M151 on Wikipedia

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Views : 11054

Heinkel He 219

Heinkel He 219

CountryNazi Germany
RoleNight fighter
First flight6 November 1942
Built300

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (“Eagle-Owl”) was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar, also used on the Ju 88G and Bf 110G night fighters. It was also the first operational military aircraft to be equipped with ejection seats and the first operational German World War II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear. Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect on the strategic night bombing offensive of the Royal Air Force; but, only 294 of all models were built by the end of the war and these saw only limited service. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow was the leading night fighter ace on the He 219. Modrow was credited with 33 from 34 night air victories on the type.

Source: Heinkel He 219 on Wikipedia

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Views : 5545

Dornier Do.335

Dornier Do.335

CountryNazi Germany
RoleFighter-bomber
First flight26 October 1943
Built37

The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (“Arrow”) was a World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. The two-seater trainer version was also called Ameisenbär (“anteater”). The Pfeil’s performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique “push-pull” layout and the much lower aerodynamic drag of the in-line alignment of the two engines. It was Germany’s fastest piston-engined aircraft of World War II. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant that only a handful were delivered before the war ended.

Source: Dornier Do.335 on Wikipedia

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Views : 6462

Tupolev Tu-22MO

Tupolev Tu-22M

CountrySoviet Union
RoleStrategic bomber/Maritime strike
First flight30 August 1969
Built497

The Tupolev Tu-22M (Russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau. According to some sources, the bomber was believed to be designated Tu-26 at one time. During the Cold War, the Tu-22M was operated by the Soviet Air Force (VVS) in a strategic bombing role, and by the Soviet Naval Aviation (Aviacija Vojenno-Morskogo Flota, AVMF) in a long-range maritime anti-shipping role.[2] Significant numbers remain in service with the Russian Air Force, and as of 2014 more than 100 Tu-22Ms are in use.

Source: Tupolev Tu-22M on Wikipedia

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Views : 4516

Douglas A-4F Skyhawk

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

CountryUSA
RoleAttack aircraft, fighter, aggressor aircraft
First flight22 June 1954
Built2960

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single seat subsonic carrier-capable attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy’s pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk is a relatively lightweight aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg) and has a top speed of more than 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h). The aircraft’s five hardpoints support a variety of missiles, bombs and other munitions. It was capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II-era Boeing B-17 bomber, and could deliver nuclear weapons using a low-altitude bombing system and a “loft” delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the Pratt & Whitney J52 was used. Skyhawks played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War. Sixty years after the aircraft’s first flight in 1954, some of the 2,960 produced (through February 1979) remain in service with several air arms around the world.

Source: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk on Wikipedia

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Views : 18133

Heinkel He 100 D-1

Heinkel He 100

CountryNazi Germany
RoleFighter
First flight22 January 1938
Built25

The Heinkel He 100 was a German pre-World War II fighter aircraft design from Heinkel. Although it proved to be one of the fastest fighter aircraft in the world at the time of its development, the design was not ordered into series production. Approximately 19 prototypes and pre-production examples were built. None are known to have survived the war. The reason for the He 100 failing to reach production status is mostly unknown. Officially, the Luftwaffe rejected the He 100 to concentrate single-seat fighter development on the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Following the adoption of the Bf 109 and Messerschmitt Bf 110 as the Luftwaffe’s standard fighter types, the Ministry of Aviation (the Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM) announced a “rationalization” policy that placed fighter development at Messerschmitt and bomber development at Heinkel.

Source: Heinkel He 100 on Wikipedia

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Views : 5203

De Havilland Vampire FB.6

de Havilland Vampire

CountryUK
RoleFighter aircraft
First flight20 September 1943
Built3268

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Work on the aircraft began during the Second World War as a largely experimental aircraft suitable for combat that harnessed the groundbreaking innovation of jet propulsion; it was quickly decided to opt for a single-engine, twin-boom aircraft equipped with the Halford H.1 turbojet engine (later the de Havilland Goblin). Originally ordered as an experimental aircraft only, the decision to mass-produce the aircraft as an interceptor for the Royal Air Force (RAF) was finalised in May 1944.

Source: de Havilland Vampire on Wikipedia

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Views : 5066

Dassault Mystere IVA

Dassault Mystere

CountryFrance
RoleFighter-bomber
First flight23 February 1951
Built171

The Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber. After the success of the Ouragan, Dassault was working on a more advanced machine based on it, which would take to the air in early 1951 as the MD.452 Mystère I. The first prototype Mystère I was essentially an Ouragan with a 30-degree swept wing and modified tail surfaces. Two further prototypes followed, powered by the Rolls-Royce Tay 250 centrifugal-flow turbojet, an improved version of the Rolls-Royce Nene, built under license by Hispano-Suiza, and rated at 28.0 kN (6,300 lbf) thrust.

Source: Grumman F6F Hellcat on Wikipedia

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Views : 2871