Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2020 in Flight Journal

That thrilling engine rumble of vintage warbirds! Gravity-defying aerobatics! The sheer speed and precision of modern jet fighters! Now add all that to the opportunity to get up close and personal with aviation’s finest. As most Flight Journal readers know, airshows offer a unique combination of exhilaration with an appreciation of our aviation history. In this issue, “Aviation’s Living History” highlights some of the outstanding airshows around the country. These great American aviation exhibitions go back to 1910, when the first major airshow in the United States took place at Dominguez Field, just south of Los Angeles. Recall that Wilbur and Orville Wright first flew in 1903, and just seven years later, airplanes had literally and figuratively taken off! The 1910 Dominguez Aviation Meet was highly successful, and it profoundly…

Every year, hundreds of airshows and flight demonstrations take place across the United States, showcasing the glory of aviation’s past. With so many choices available to enthusiasts wishing to see history come alive and take wing, we decided to provide our readers with a highlighted selection of museums and private organizations that preserve, restore, and fly classic military aircraft from every era since the dawn of fight. Some operate out of a home location, but many tour around the country to airshows—national and regional—bringing that glorious history to us. Some even offer rides in these exquisitely restored and preserved warbirds. This is by no means a comprehensive list—or even a ranking in the conventional sense. Rather, we’re offering a cross-section of some of the collections that maintain airworthy warbirds so…

The Bf 109 is, without a doubt, the most satisfying and challenging aircraft I have ever flown. So how does it fly and how does it compare with other WW II fighters? To my eye, the aircraft looks dangerous, both to the enemy and to its own pilots. Its “difficult” reputation is well-known, and right from the outset, you are aware that it needs to be treated with a great deal of respect. As you walk up to the 109, you are at first struck by its small size, particularly if it is parked next to a contemporary American fighter. Closer examination reveals a crazy-looking, knock-kneed undercarriage, a very heavily framed, sideways-opening canopy with almost no forward view in the three-point attitude, a long rear fuselage and tiny tail surfaces.…

In this special report from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., Patrick Sherman of the Roswell Flight Test Crew sits down with curator Roger Connor to talk about the museum’s rapidly expanding collection of modern uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). When he was designing the xenomorph for Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979 science fiction-horror classic Alien, Swiss artist H.R. Giger omitted one feature shared by virtually every macroscopic life form on Earth: eyes. Interviewed later about his work, Giger said, “We came to the conclusion that a creature without eyes, driven by instinct alone, would be far more frightening. That’s why I painted a second version of the alien that has no eyes.” When the word “drone” burst into the public consciousness during the wars in Afghanistan…

The Bf 109 came about in very strange circumstances. On February 26, 1935, when the clandestine Luftwaffe officially came into being, it had already issued a requirement for a single-seat, high-speed fighter. This had been sent to three established aircraft manufacturers but not to Professor Willy Messerschmitt’s company. Nevertheless, Messerschmitt was eventually invited to submit a design, probably owing to the intervention of famous WW I ace Ernst Udet and the influence of Rudolf Hess, who was a lifelong friend of Willy Messerschmitt. A NEW FIGHTER COMPANY FOR A NEW LUFTWAFFE The Messerschmitt design was the unique Bf 109—a cantilevered, low-wing monoplane built of metal with a flush-riveted, stressed skin. The oval-section, monocoque fuselage had an enclosed cockpit; the single-spar wing had automatic leading-edge slats, and the inboard portions of…

The 15th U.S. Army Air Force was created on October 30, 1943, to support the Allied Air Forces in their efforts to destroy Axis industries and communications and to break the morale of the German people. Located in Italy, it could easily reach targets in Southern France, the Balkans and Central Europe. Its most known and fearsome targets became the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti and oil refineries and industrial parks around Vienna in Austria. The refineries in Upper Silesia in Northern Europe (now Poland) became the third most visited target and spread fear among the aircrews because of its strong antiaircraft artillery. The first Fifteenth AF raid on those refineries was flown on Friday, July 7,1944. A stream of 189 5th Bomb Wing (BW) B-17s attacked the refinery IG…

A precision flight squadron made up of six WW II vintage North American SNJ-2s, the world-famous GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team performs exciting flight maneuvers at many top airshows across the country. One of the most widely recognized airshow teams, the Skytypers have been thrilling crowds for decades, and can often be seen in GEICO commercials with an airsick GEICO gecko flying backseat! The History The Skytypers began operation in 1932, when a little-known beverage company hired Andy Stinis (pictured here) to perform skywriting to promote its product. That company was Pepsi-Cola, and for the next 22 years the company used skywriting as its best mass advertising medium. In 1946, Andy developed what he called “skytyping,” a faster, more advanced method of skywriting using multiple aircraft to create more complex…

Recently, senior editor Gerry Yarrish had an experience of a lifetime when he was able to fly backseat with Nick Ziroli Jr. in his beautiful AT-6 Texan. It was during formation flight training, and being based out of the American Airpower Museum at the Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, the flight took place mainly over Long Island Sound. Nick flew his training flight along with his wingman Craig Sampson and their half-hour flight included station-keeping, close-in tight formations and maneuvers like 360-degree and 180-degree turns, tight 45-degree banking turns, as well as lazy eights and hard breakaways. After their series of training flights were successfully completed and logged in, Nick and Craig received their certifications (and their Texan Formation Patches) from commanding officer and flight leader of the GEICO…