SHELTON CRUSADER STREAMLINE CABIN PLANE
YEARS AHEAD of its 1933 design, the Crusader Streamline Cabin Plane of Thomas Shelton was a philosophical precursor to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. I came upon this fascinating aircraft … Continue reading
MILLER TEXAS GEM
FORMULA ONE—whether on the ground or in the air—is replete with high technology and innovation. One of my favorites of Formula One air racers is Jim Miller’s Texas Gem N74M. … Continue reading
ONE NINER RIGHT
DID THE earth move for you too? On July 24, 2014, my home field, John Wayne Santa Ana Airport, SNA, will change its busiest runway from One Niner Right to … Continue reading
DIANA BARNATO WALKER
LIKE FATHER, like daughter. Or at least if the metrics are a love of the good life, of adventure—and of things that go fast and make plenty of noise. Diana … Continue reading
De HAVILLAND DRAGON RAPIDE
THE DRAGON Rapide may well be my favorite aeroplane. And of Dragon Rapides and their World War II Dominie siblings, my favorite livery is that of G-ADDD, an aircraft of … Continue reading
U.S. AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION—WWII
A MOTIVATED workforce, techniques of mass production—and even some topographical deception—played important roles in U.S. aircraft production during World War II. In Picture History of World War II American Aircraft … Continue reading
ACE OF ACES
AIR COMBAT simulations are fun. Here’s a classic approach that doesn’t require the Internet, or a computer, or even electricity. The Ace of Aces: WWI Air Combat Game series is … Continue reading
TATIN-PAULHAN AÉRO-TORPILLE
IMAGINE ATTENDING the 1911 Paris Salon de l’Aéronautique and coming upon the Tatin-Paulhan Aéro-Torpille! The two names would have been familiar. Louis Paulhan had just returned from a triumphal 7-month … Continue reading
DUNNE FLYING WINGS
WE’D CALL them “flying wings,” but the first of their type were termed “tailless aeroplanes.” British Lieutenant John William Dunne, ex-His Majesty’s Wiltshire Regiment, experimented with a tailless glider in … Continue reading
RENÉ COUZINET, AIRCRAFT DESIGNER
FRENCH AIRCRAFT designer René Couzinet was only 23 when, in 1928, he devised a three-engine low-wing monoplane specifically for transatlantic mail service. The effort was an early example of crowd-funding, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 