Aircraft photos

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"I forgot to attach the ladder"

The design of the first airplanes was not particularly convenient. So it is here — aviator Louis Paulhan from France has to strain to climb into his plane. Farman III was tall, tall. But this biplane with a pusher propeller and an additional elevator in front flew well. He inspired many European engineers to build similar airplanes. They were even called "Farman-type aircraft".

The picture was taken during one of the first air shows in the world — the International Air Show in Los Angeles (California, USA). It took place from January 10 to January 20, 1910 at Dominguez Field. The plan was invited to participate and arrived with 2 Farman III biplanes and 2 Blériot monoplanes. The Wright brothers tried to ban him from flying in court (allegedly French airplanes violated their patent for ailerons). But Louis Paulhan still flew and won a prize of $ 19,000 (546,000 modern dollars).

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Friedrichshafen FF-33J onboard 931. Interned in the Netherlands, followed by an onboard V-1.

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"Cover for bombers"

Among the cover fighters, whose task was to protect bomber groups during long-range raids, there were very interesting specimens. So, in 1916, the designer of the Vickers Limited company, Richard Leonard Howard-Flanders, designed the Vickers F. B. 11 biplane. In addition to covering bombers, it was also considered as a fighter of airships.

The highlight of the Vickers F. B. 11 was the shooter's seat, located in a separate cabin on the upper wing. This made it possible not to worry about synchronizing the machine gun with the propeller. Alas, this fighter did not go into the series. Tests have shown that there is little practical benefit from such a design. During one of the flights, the first prototype of the F. B. 11 crashed and they did not restore it. The second prototype remained unfinished.

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"Inanimate testers"

Two men pull mannequins with parachutes attached to them out of the car to load them into the plane. USA, 1936. These are employees of Irvin AirChute Co. Founded in 1919 by Leslie Leroy Irvin, this company has become the world's largest manufacturer of parachutes in 20 years. Its products were supplied to 45 countries. All new models of parachutes were previously tested by such inanimate testers.

The aircraft is a Ryan B-1 Brougham. The Ryan Aeronautical company began producing this high-altitude aircraft in 1927. It cost then from 5750 to 9700 dollars, depending on the engine (today it is 90,402 and 152,505 dollars, respectively). Interestingly, it was after testing the B-1 Brougham, Charles Lindbergh ordered Ryan Aeronautical to build an aircraft for his flight across the Atlantic-the famous Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis".

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This Tuesday, the first 2 Pilatus PC-21 TCB arrived for the Spanish Air Force (in Spain they will receive the designation E. 27) produced by the Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft.

The contract for the purchase of 24 new RS-21 turboprop training aircraft was signed in November 2019.

The contract value was 204.75 million euros. The RS-21 aircraft should replace the CASA C-101EV Aviojet jet combat training aircraft of the Spanish production of the 1980s at the Spanish Air Force Academy as the main stage of training. The Swiss PC-21 became the winner following the results of the tender, which also involved Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop aircraft(USA), Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano(Brazil) and KAI KT - (South Korea).

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"River airfield"

In 1923, a new airline, Aeroexpress Rt, started operating in Hungary. It was founded by Count Andre Jankovich-Busan and the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Flugzeug-und Motorenwerke AG. Permits were obtained for flights on the routes Budapest-Szekesfehervar-Nagykanizza-Zagreb, Budapest-Prague and Budapest — Bucharest.

It is expected that the airline's fleet consisted of Junkers F 13 aircraft. In the photo, three of the six seaplanes that Aeroexpress Rt had are bobbing on the waves of the Danube. A river airfield was set up next to the Gellért Hotel on St. Gellert Square. The bridge in the background was named Franz Josef (today the Freedom Bridge). This airfield was operated for a short time — by 1930, the Aeroexpress Rt airline was recognized as unprofitable and stopped its work.

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Exactly 20 years ago, the US Air Force conducted the first UAV airstrike in history. It happened in Afghanistan

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Ki-2-Ia

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Japanese pilot during the battles for Qingdao in 1914

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Happy 100th Birthday! Col. Bud Anderson turns 100 years old today. Flying "Old Crow", his P-51D Mustang he became a triple ace during WWII with 16+ kills to his credit. He is the highest scoring living American fighter ace.

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With the tail raised and the stops placed under the wheels, there is a prototype of the Fokker B.II fighter (aka Fokker M 10 Z). Austria Hungary, Stanislav (today - Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), spring 1916. The picture was taken during field tests of the aircraft by the Air Force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Judging by the pilot sitting in the cockpit in his usual uniform and the engine not running, I assume that the synchronized 7.92 mm Bergmann LMG 15nA machine gun was being tested.

Interestingly, the aircraft with b/n 03.61 was the second prototype of the Fokker M 10. If the first one was a two-seat reconnaissance/training aircraft, then our Fokker was a single-seat fighter. The differences also affected the design of the wings ? on the double wings, two pairs of racks were connected on each side, but on the single version only one pair. After the tests, Austria-Hungary ordered 22 aircraft of this type from Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. All of them were delivered without weapons and were used for training.

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Sergeant-technician Nikolai Krylov suspends a rocket under the wing of the fighter I-153 "Chaika".

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The world's first pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin learned to fly at the Saratov DOSAAF Aero Club, USSR in 1954-55. The main training aircraft of the aero clubs in those years was the Yak-18, which replaced the UT-2. In the first photo, the future cosmonaut is just standing on his wing. Has Gagarin's first plane survived? Yes. On May 21, 1961, just a month after the flight of the first man into space, the Saratov Aero Club donated to the local history Museum the very Yak-18 that Yuri Gagarin flew.

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The world's first pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin learned to fly at the Saratov DOSAAF Aero Club, USSR in 1954-55. The main training aircraft of the aero clubs in those years was the Yak-18, which replaced the UT-2. In the first photo, the future cosmonaut is just standing on his wing. Has Gagarin's first plane survived? Yes. On May 21, 1961, just a month after the flight of the first man into space, the Saratov Aero Club donated to the local history Museum the very Yak-18 that Yuri Gagarin flew.

Excellent photo !