Name: Skunk Works, Lockheed, And Kelly Johnson | Making Aviation History | Part 1 @Dronescapes
Uploaded: 2024-10-22T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Skunk Works, Lockheed, And Kelly Johnson | Making Aviation History | Part 1

Skunk Works, Lockheed, And Kelly Johnson | Making Aviation History | Part 1

DroneScapes 2024-10-22 | Skunk Works, Lockheed, And Kelly Johnson | Making Aviation History | Part 1

AVIATION ODDITIES | Aircraft Innovation And Research Pioneers | Strange Planes Series

DroneScapes 2024-05-08 | A look inside different contemporary designs for planes and flying machines such as the Convair XF2Y Sea Dart, the General Airborne Transport XCG-16, The Miles Libellula, or the Avrocar.In a little over a century, the aviation industry has gone from learning to fly, to learning to fly faster, learning to fly further, learning to fly heavier planes, and now to having 100,000 plus commercial flights occurring around the world every day.Aviation has truly been at the forefront of innovation to become one of the safest and most reliable modes of transportation in the world today.
Learn about the Vought XF5U, and Project Hummingbird, or explore the lesser-known Doak VZ-4.The video presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the variety of innovations related to aviation.
From ancient times onwards, flight has been a measure of scientific progress, a symbol of wealth and status, and a catalyst for interpersonal and international competition. It is a field that has, for the majority of its history, been pioneered largely by the dedication of individuals rather than corporations or governments. The history of aviation is incredibly broad and complicated, so much so that its entirety couldn’t be easily contained in any single written source.

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One Hundred Years A Hero | From The Doolittle Raid To The Air Commandos: Richard Cole

DroneScapes 2024-05-07 | The story of Colonel Richard E. Cole. His participation in the Doolittle Raid, as co-pilot of the first B-25 Mitchell medium bomber (Aircraft Number One) that raided Tokyo after Pearl Harbor, to flying C-47 Skytrains to transport supplies from Burma to China over the dangerous Himalayan mountains known as The Hump, to being a volunteer for Project 9 of Air Commandos.

Richard Eugene Cole (September 7, 1915 – April 9, 2019) was a United States Air Force colonel. During World War II, he was one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo, Japan, on April 18, 1942. He served as the co-pilot to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle in the lead airplane of the raid by sixteen B-25 bombers, which for the first time took off from an aircraft carrier on a bombing mission.
Cole remained in China after the raid until June 1943 and served again in the China Burma India Theater from October 1943 until June 1944. He later served as operations advisor to the Venezuelan Air Force from 1959 to 1962. He retired from the Air Force in 1966 and became the last living Doolittle Raider in 2016.

Cole enlisted as an aviation cadet in the United States Army Air Forces on November 22, 1940, in Lubbock, Texas.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in July 1941 and rated as a pilot, when he was awarded his pilot wings at Randolph Field, Texas, on July 12, 1941. His first assignment was as a B-25 Mitchell pilot with the 34th Bomb Squadron of the 17th Bomb Group at Pendleton, Oregon, in July 1941.
Cole was assigned as the co-pilot of the first B-25 Mitchell medium bomber (Aircraft Number One), plane # 40–2344, for the famous "Doolittle Raid" in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor after two other pilots became ill. The raid was daring not only because of the intended targets, the Japanese homeland and its capital, Tokyo, but because the pilots trained to take off in a B-25 bomber from the deck of an aircraft carrier, something neither the designers of the B-25 nor the aircraft carrier, ever envisioned. Cole was co-pilot in the first bomber to depart the deck of the USS Hornet during the mission, and it was piloted by the leader of the raid, then-Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, giving him, and the plane, the very least amount of runway available.
On April 18, 1942, Doolittle and his B-25's four crewmembers, took off from the Hornet, reached Tokyo, Japan, bombed their target, then headed for their recovery airfield in China. Doolittle and his crew bailed out safely over China when their B-25 ran out of fuel after flying 2,500 miles (4,000 km). By then, they had been flying for about 13 hours, it was nighttime, the weather was stormy, and Doolittle was unable to locate their landing field in Quzhou. He and his crew linked up after the bailout and were helped through Japanese lines by Chinese guerrillas and American missionary John Birch.

B-25 General characteristics

Crew: 5 (one pilot, navigator/bombardier, turret gunner/engineer, radio operator/waist gunner, tail gunner)
Length: 52 ft 11 in (16.13 m)
Wingspan: 67 ft 7 in (20.60 m)
Height: 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m)
Wing area: 618 sq ft (57.4 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 23017; tip: NACA 4409R
Empty weight: 19,480 lb (8,836 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 35,000 lb (15,876 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-2600-92 Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) each
Performance

Maximum speed: 272 mph (438 km/h, 236 kn) at 13,000 ft (4,000 m)
Cruise speed: 230 mph (370 km/h, 200 kn)
Range: 1,350 mi (2,170 km, 1,170 nmi)
Service ceiling: 24,200 ft (7,400 m)
Armament
Guns: 12–18 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and 75 mm (2.95 in) T13E1 cannon
Hardpoints: 2,000 lb (900 kg) ventral shackles to hold one external Mark 13 torpedo
Rockets: racks for eight 5 in (127 mm) high-velocity aircraft rockets (HVAR)
Bombs: 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) bombs

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Boeing Starliner Manned Launch | Boeing Long-Awaited 1st Launch Attempt | LIVE Broadcast

DroneScapes 2024-05-07 | Two Astronauts launch aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft as one of the final steps on the road to certification.
They have reached the final hours before a long-awaited launch attempt aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, marking the first crewed mission of the brand-new spacecraft.
Starliner, which the aerospace giant designed to rival SpaceX’s prolific Crew Dragon capsule, is set to take off for its inaugural crewed test run from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Weather or technical issues can always force a rocket launch to scrub all the way up until the countdown clock strikes zero, but the forecast for this evening is as good as it gets. Weather officials have said there’s only a 5% chance that clouds, winds, or storms will interrupt tonight’s takeoff.
This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could be the final major milestone before NASA deems Boeing’s spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner would join SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in NASA’s push to collaborate with private industry partners, expanding the United States’ options for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.
Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6 (0234 UTC Tuesday, May 7) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The two NASA astronauts aboard, flight commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth. After a one-week stay docked to the International Space Station, the Starliner and crew will land under parachutes in the western United States.

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Boeing Starliner Manned Launch SCRUBBED | Boeing Long-Awaited Launch Attempt

Lockheed YF 12/SR 71. A Rare Film Of The Developement Of The Blackbirds Interceptor Version

DroneScapes 2024-05-05 | Rare footage about the development of Lockheed/Skunk Works YF-12 and the SR-71 Blackbird (interceptor Version).
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by both the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.
Just do a sr71a blackbird speed check!
The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. At one point, a bomber variant of the aircraft was under consideration, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking airborne radar, and a photo camera; the SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 designation has been attributed to lobbying efforts by USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay, who preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation over simply RS (Reconnaissance, Strategic). The aircraft was introduced to operational service in January 1966.

During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters) to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action. During 1988, the USAF retired the SR-71 largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. NASA was the final operator of the type, retiring their examples in 1999. Since its retirement, the SR-71's role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72 is under development by Lockheed Martin, and scheduled to fly in 2025. The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu". As of 2021 the SR-71 continues to hold the official world record it set in 1976 for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12.
The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying air-breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
Aspect ratio: 1.7
Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 l) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20J or JT11D-20K) afterburning turbojets, 25,000 lbf (110 kN) thrust each
JT11D-20J 32,500 lbf (144.57 kN) wet (fixed inlet guidevanes)
JT11D-20K 34,000 lbf (151.24 kN) wet (2-position inlet guidevanes)
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,910 kn (2,200 mph, 3,540 km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 3.32[N 5]
Ferry range: 2,824 nmi (3,250 mi, 5,230 km)
Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (26,000 m)
Rate of climb: 11,820 ft/min (60.0 m/s)
Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.44
Avionics
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of mission equipment

Itek KA-102A 36–48 in (910–1,220 mm) camera
SIGINT and ELINT equipment in the following compartments
A - nose radar
D - right chine bay
E - electronics bay
K - left forward mission bay
L - right forward mission bay
M - left forward mission bay
N - right forward mission bay
P - left aft mission bay
Q - right aft mission bay
R - radio equipment bay
S - left aft mission bay
T - right aft mission bay

More Aviation Icons @ youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBI4gRjPKfnNx3Mp4xzYTtVARDWEr6nrT

0:00 Introduction
1:47 January 25, 1966
5:14 Winter, 1957
9:45 Spring, 1958
12:59 March, 1959
24:05 December 22, 1964
33:55 March 21, 1968
36:18 August 26, 1981
42:55 March 6, 1990

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#blackbird #aircraft #SR71

Korean War. Vice Admiral Jerry Miller Remembers And Criticizes The Conflict Beginning The Early Days

DroneScapes 2024-05-04 | In 1950, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung ordered the North Korean People's Army across the 38th Parallel. Within a day, North Korea's tanks roll to the perimeter of Seoul—forcing the evacuation of the government. Vice Admiral Jerry Miller talks about the early days of the Korean War.
In order to get into naval aviation, Admiral Miller took a long route. He enlisted in the Navy in 1936 and served in the fleet for two years before getting an appointment to the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in late 1941. He then spent two years of wartime duty in the light cruiser USS Richmond (CL-9) before he could go to flight training. He didn't get an opportunity for wartime air combat. After the war, he went to postgraduate school at Stanford University and continued his flying career. Throughout his aviation experiences, he placed particular emphasis on night-time flight operations.

During the Korean War, he served on the staff of Rear Admiral E. C. Ewen, Commander Task Force 77, and then commanded a fighter squadron. During a mid-1950s tour in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Miller was instrumental in the installation of computers and reorganizing the distribution of enlisted personnel. After commanding a carrier air group, he was sent to Omaha, Nebraska, to work with the Air Force in joint strategic target planning. In the early 1960s, he commanded the ammunition ship USS Wrangell (AE-12) and the attack aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42). In discussing the latter, he stresses Mediterranean operations and the role of the commanding officer as leader.

The concluding volume picks up his story when he was serving as an aide to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Horacio Rivero, during which time he indoctrinated the admiral in naval aviation. In his next duty, as Director of the Aviation Plans Division in OpNav, Miller played a role in the knockdown of the controversial F-111B program. He also pushed for the purchase of RA-5 reconnaissance aircraft, a decision he subsequently came to regret. He concedes he was given little role in the Vietnam War but did participate in a satisfying electronic silence naval exercise off Korea.

Following duty as Assistant DCNO (Air), he became Commander Second Fleet and observed what he felt were the negative effects of Z-grams. Miller considers his Second Fleet duty to have been perfect preparation for his subsequent tour as Commander Sixth Fleet. Facets covered by this service were dealings with the Soviet ships in the Mediterranean, racial tensions, and the deterioration of discipline and appearance among the fleet's sailors. Miller sought to reverse the trend resulting from Z-grams and says he considered the possibility Admiral Zumwalt would fire him for his efforts. In his final tour, Admiral Miller was Deputy Director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff in Omaha, and he made it a project to familiarize U.S. civilian and military leaders with operational plans for nuclear war. Throughout his narrative, Miller's strong leadership style is evident, and he offers opinions on the application and failure of leadership skills.

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WW2 Threat Against the U.S. | Nazi Germany Amerikabomber, The Plot to Bomb The United States

DroneScapes 2024-05-03 | Amerikabombers. Nazi Germany plan to bomb the United States. Part 1
The Amerikabomber (English: America bomber) project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the United States (specifically New York City) from Germany, a round-trip distance of about 11,600 km (7,200 mi). The concept was raised as early as 1938, but advanced plans for such a long-range strategic bomber design did not begin to appear before Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring until early 1942. Various proposals were put forward, but these plans were all eventually abandoned as they were too expensive, too reliant on rapidly diminishing materiel and production capacity, and/or technically infeasible.

According to Albert Speer's book, Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Adolf Hitler was fascinated with the idea of New York City in flames. In 1937, Willy Messerschmitt hoped to win a lucrative contract by showing Hitler a prototype of the Messerschmitt Me 264 that was being designed to reach North America from Europe. On 8 July 1938, barely two years after the death of Germany's main strategic bombing advocate, Generalleutnant Walter Wever, and eight months after the Reich Air Ministry awarded the contract for the design of the Heinkel He 177, Germany's only operational heavy bomber during the war years, the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief Hermann Göring gave a speech saying, "I completely lack the bombers capable of round-trip flights to New York with a 4.5-tonne bomb load. I would be extremely happy to possess such a bomber, which would at last stuff the mouth of arrogance across the sea." Canadian historian Holger H. Herwig claims the plan started as a result of discussions by Hitler in November 1940 and May 1941 when he stated his need to "deploy long-range bombers against American cities from the Azores." Due to their location, he thought the Portuguese Azores islands were Germany's "only possibility of carrying out aerial attacks from a land base against the United States." At the time, Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar had allowed German U-boats and navy ships to refuel there, but from 1943 onwards, he leased bases in the Azores to the British, allowing the Allies to provide aerial coverage in the middle of the Atlantic.

Requests for designs, at various stages during the war, were made to the major German aircraft manufacturers (Messerschmitt, Junkers, Focke-Wulf, and the Horten Brothers) early in World War II, coinciding with the passage of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom in September 1940. Heinkel's bid for the project occurred sometime shortly after February 1943, by which time the RLM had issued the Heinkel firm the airframe type number 8-277 for what essentially became its entry.

The Amerikabomber project plan was completed on April 27, 1942, and submitted to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring on May 12, 1942. The 33-page plan was discovered in Potsdam by Olaf Groehler, a German historian. Ten copies of the plan were made, with six going to different Luftwaffe offices and four held in reserve. The plan specifically mentions using the Azores as a transit airfield to reach the United States. If utilized, the Heinkel He 277, Junkers Ju 390, and the Messerschmitt Me 264 could reach American targets with a 3-tonne, 5-tonne, and 6.5-tonne payload, respectively. Although it is apparent that the plan itself deals only with an attack on American soil, it is possible the Nazis saw other interrelated strategic purposes for the Amerikabomber project. According to military historian James P. Duffy, Hitler "saw in the Azores the ... possibility for carrying out aerial attacks from a land base against the United States.

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Pratt & Whitney, From The SR-71 J58 Engine, To The F119 Of the F-22 | Full Documentary

DroneScapes 2024-05-02 | The history of Pratt & Whitney, starting with the secret project "Suntan", to the J58 turbojet that powered Skunk Works SR-71/A-12 Blackbird, to the F119 turbojet, all the way to space.
The video covers 40 years, from the mid-50s to the end of the 90s, some of the most remarkable times of this U.S.-based company.
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second-largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries worldwide.
In April 1925, Frederick Rentschler, an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical, was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own. His social network included Edward Deeds, another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother Gordon Rentschler, both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest machine tool corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded the board of Niles Bement Pond that their Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool (P&WMT) subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut, should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, George J. Mead, and colleagues, all formerly of Wright Aeronautical. Conceived and designed by Mead, the new engine would be a large, air-cooled, radial design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones. World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good return seemed available, P&WMT saw the post-war aviation industry, both military and civil (commercial, private), as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. It lent Rentschler US$250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, the 425 horsepower (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the U.S. Navy qualification test in March 1926; by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation. The R-1340 powered the aircraft of Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, and many other record flights.

The R-1340 was followed by another very successful engine, the R-985 Wasp Junior. Eventually, a whole Wasp series was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria.

George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its R-1690 Hornet. It was basically "a bigger Wasp".

In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the federal government of the U.S. banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River as United Aircraft Corporation, with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became United Technologies.

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Vietnam War Combat Aircraft, Bombers, Helicopters, And Rescue Planes | Rare Exclusive Footage

DroneScapes 2024-04-30 | A documentary about the role of military aircraft during the Vietnam War, from the F-105 Thundechief to the Boeing B-52 Bomber and the MiG-21

The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was a major conflict of the Cold War. While the war was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, the North was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the South was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies, making the war a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. It lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. military involvement ending in 1973. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries officially becoming communist states by 1976.

After the fall of French Indochina with the 1954 Geneva Conference on 21 July, the country gained independence from France but was divided into two parts: the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam, while the U.S. assumed financial and military support for South Vietnam. The Viet Cong (VC), a South Vietnamese common front under the direction of the north, initiated a guerrilla war in the south. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), also known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), engaged in more conventional warfare with the U.S. Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces. North Vietnam invaded Laos in 1958, establishing the Ho Chi Minh Trail to supply and reinforce the VC . By 1963, the North had sent 40,000 soldiers to fight in the South U.S. involvement increased under President John F. Kennedy from just under a thousand military advisors in 1959 to 23,000 by 1964.

Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to increase U.S. military presence in Vietnam, without a formal declaration of war. Johnson ordered the deployment of combat units for the first time and dramatically increased the number of American troops to 184,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. The U.S. also conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam and continued significantly building up its forces, despite little progress being made. In 1968, North Vietnamese forces launched the Tet Offensive. Though it was a tactical defeat for them, it was a strategic victory, as it caused U.S. domestic support for the war to fade. By the end of the year, the VC held little territory and was sidelined by the PAVN. In 1969, North Vietnam declared the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. Operations crossed national borders, and the U.S. bombed North Vietnamese supply routes in Laos and Cambodia. The 1970 deposing of the Cambodian monarch, Norodom Sihanouk, resulted in a PAVN invasion of the country (at the request of the Khmer Rouge), and then a U.S.-ARVN counter-invasion, escalating the Cambodian Civil War. After the election of Richard Nixon in 1969, a policy of "Vietnamization" began, which saw the conflict fought by an expanded ARVN, while U.S. forces withdrew in the face of increasing domestic opposition. U.S. ground forces had largely withdrawn by early 1972, and their operations were limited to air and artillery support, advisors, and materiel shipments. The Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 saw all U.S. forces withdrawn The accords were broken almost immediately, and fighting continued for two more years. Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, while the 1975 spring offensive saw the Fall of Saigon to the PAVN on 30 April, marking the end of the war. North and South Vietnam were reunited on 2 July the following year.

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Hans Von Ohain. His jet engine powered the first jet flight in 1939 #VonOhain #aviation #jetengine

DroneScapes 2024-04-30 | Hans Von Ohain. His jet engine powered the first jet flight in 1939 #VonOhain #aviation #jetengine

Fighting Soviet MiGs during the Vietnam war. #militaryaircraft #aviation #aircraft

DroneScapes 2024-04-28 | Fighting Soviet MiGs during the Vietnam War.
FULL VIDEO: youtu.be/kIoA3S_ICPw
#militaryaircraft #aviation #aircraft

Boeing B-47 Stratojet Strategic Bomber | Rare Original Documentary | Upscaled Footage

DroneScapes 2024-04-27 | A rare Boeing B-47 Stratojet documentary and upscaled footage detailing the B-47 program.
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The primary mission of the B-47 was as a nuclear bomber capable of striking targets within the Soviet Union.

Development of the B-47 can be traced back to a requirement expressed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1943 for a reconnaissance bomber that harnessed newly developed jet propulsion. Another key innovation adopted during the development process was the swept wing, drawing upon captured German research. With its engines carried in nacelles underneath the wing, the B-47 represented a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern jet airliners. Suitably impressed, in April 1946, the USAAF ordered two prototypes, designated "XB-47"; on 17 December 1947, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. Facing off competition such as the North American XB-45, Convair XB-46 and Martin XB-48, a formal contract for 10 B-47A bombers was signed on 3 September 1948. This would be soon followed by much larger contracts.

During 1951, the B-47 entered operational service with the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), becoming a mainstay of its bomber strength by the late 1950s. Over 2,000 were manufactured to meet the Air Force's demands, driven by the tensions of the Cold War. The B-47 was in service as a strategic bomber until 1965, at which point it had largely been supplanted by more capable aircraft, such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The B-47 was also adapted to perform a number of other roles and functions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, and weather reconnaissance. While never seeing combat as a bomber, reconnaissance RB-47s would occasionally come under fire near or within Soviet air space. The type remained in service as a reconnaissance aircraft until 1969. A few served as flying testbeds up until 1977.

The B-47 arose from an informal 1943 requirement for a jet-powered reconnaissance bomber, drawn up by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) to prompt manufacturers to start research into jet bombers. Boeing was among several companies to respond to the request; one of its designs, the Model 424, was basically a scaled-down version of the piston-engined B-29 Superfortress equipped with four jet engines. In 1944, this initial concept evolved into a formal request-for-proposal to design a new bomber with a maximum speed of 550 mph (480 kn; 890 km/h), a cruise speed of 450 mph (390 kn; 720 km/h), a range of 3,500 mi (3,000 nmi; 5,600 km), and a service ceiling of 45,000 ft (13,700 m).

In December 1944, North American Aviation, Convair, Boeing, and the Glenn Martin Company submitted proposals for the new long-range jet bomber. Wind tunnel testing had shown that the drag from the engine installation of the Model 424 was too high, so Boeing's entry was a revised design, the Model 432, with the four engines buried in the forward fuselage.

In May 1945, the von Kármán mission of the Army Air Forces inspected the secret German aeronautics laboratory near Braunschweig.
General characteristics

Crew: 3
Length: 107 ft 1 in (32.64 m)
Wingspan: 116 ft 0 in (35.36 m)
Height: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m)
Wing area: 1,428 sq ft (132.7 m2)
Aspect ratio: 9.42
Airfoil: NACA 64A(.225)12 mod (BAC145)
Empty weight: 80,000 lb (36,287 kg)
Gross weight: 133,030 lb (60,341 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 221,000 lb (100,244 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0148 (estimated)
zero-lift drag coefficient area: 21.13 ft2 (1.96 m2)
Powerplant: 6 × General Electric J47-GE-25 turbojet engines, 7,200 lbf (32 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 607 mph (977 km/h, 527 kn)
Cruise speed: 557 mph (896 km/h, 484 kn)
Combat range: 2,013 mi (3,240 km, 1,749 nmi) with 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) bombload
Ferry range: 4,647 mi (7,479 km, 4,038 nmi) with underwing tanks
Service ceiling: 40,500 ft (12,300 m)
Rate of climb: 4,660 ft/min (23.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 93.16 lb/sq ft (454.8 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.22
Armament
Guns: 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M24A1 autocannon in a remote-controlled tail turret with
Bombs: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) of ordnance, including:
2 × Mk15 nuclear bombs (3.8 megaton yield each), or
4 × B28 nuclear bombs (1.1–1.45 megaton yield each), or
1 × B41 nuclear bomb (25 megaton yield), or
1 × B53 nuclear bomb (9 megaton yield), or
28 × 500 lb (227 kg) conventional bombs

#b47 #stratojet #aircraft

Blackbird, The Record Breaking Aircraft #militaryaircraft #history #aviation

DroneScapes 2024-04-27 | Blackbird, The Record-Breaking Aircraft.
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by both the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.
Just do a sr71a blackbird speed check!
The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. At one point, a bomber variant of the aircraft was under consideration, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking airborne radar, and a photo camera; the SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 designation has been attributed to lobbying efforts by USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay, who preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation over simply RS (Reconnaissance, Strategic). The aircraft was introduced to operational service in January 1966.

During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters) to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action. During 1988, the USAF retired the SR-71 largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. NASA was the final operator of the type, retiring their examples in 1999. Since its retirement, the SR-71's role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72, is under development by Lockheed Martin and scheduled to fly in 2025. The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu". As of 2021 the SR-71 continues to hold the official world record it set in 1976 for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12.
The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying air-breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
Aspect ratio: 1.7
Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 l) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20J or JT11D-20K) afterburning turbojets, 25,000 lbf (110 kN) thrust each
JT11D-20J 32,500 lbf (144.57 kN) wet (fixed inlet guidevanes)
JT11D-20K 34,000 lbf (151.24 kN) wet (2-position inlet guide vanes)
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,910 kn (2,200 mph, 3,540 km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 3.32[N 5]
Ferry range: 2,824 nmi (3,250 mi, 5,230 km)
Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (26,000 m)
Rate of climb: 11,820 ft/min (60.0 m/s)
Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.44
Avionics
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of mission equipment

Itek KA-102A 36–48 in (910–1,220 mm) camera
SIGINT and ELINT equipment in the following compartments
A - nose radar
D - right chine bay
E - electronics bay
K - left forward mission bay
L - right forward mission bay
M - left forward mission bay
N - right forward mission bay
P - left aft mission bay
Q - right aft mission bay
R - radio equipment bay
S - left aft mission bay
T - right aft mission bay

More Aviation Icons @ youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBI4gRjPKfnNx3Mp4xzYTtVARDWEr6nrT

0:00 Introduction
1:47 January 25, 1966
5:14 Winter, 1957
9:45 Spring, 1958
12:59 March, 1959
24:05 December 22, 1964
33:55 March 21, 1968
36:18 August 26, 1981
42:55 March 6, 1990

#militaryaircraft #SR71 #aviation

War In the Pacific | WW2 Veteran Pilots Share Their Stories | The U.S. Against Imperial Japan

DroneScapes 2024-04-26 | The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theater, was the theater of World War II that was fought in eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War.

The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back to 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously attacked American military bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines and invaded Thailand and the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and, to a lesser extent, by the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. The Japanese achieved great success in the initial phase of the campaign but were gradually driven back using an island-hopping strategy. The Allies adopted a Europe-first stance, giving first priority to defeating Nazi Germany, but still managed to bring to bear the vast industrial might of the United States. The Japanese had great difficulty replacing their losses in ships and aircraft, while American factories and shipyards produced ever-increasing numbers of both. Fighting included some of the largest naval battles in history and massive Allied air raids over Japan, as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japan surrendered unconditionally on 15 August 1945 and was occupied by the Allies. Japan lost its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific and had its sovereignty limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies.

In Allied countries during the war, the "Pacific War" was not usually distinguished from World War II, or was known simply as the War against Japan. In the United States, the term Pacific theater was widely used. The US Armed Forces considered the China Burma India theater to be distinct from the Asiatic-Pacific theater during the conflict.

Japan used the name Greater East Asia War, as chosen by a cabinet decision on 10 December 1941, to refer to both the war with the Western Allies and the ongoing war in China. This name was released to the public on 12 December, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving their independence from the Western powers through the armed forces of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident (日支事変, Nisshi Jihen) into the Greater East Asia War. During the Occupation of Japan (1945–52), these terms were prohibited in official documents (although their informal usage continued). The war became officially known as the Pacific War. The Fifteen Years' War is also used, referring to the period from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945.

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Favorite Aircraft And Testing Over 400 Airplanes | Eric Winkle Brown Memoires

DroneScapes 2024-04-24 | Testing WW2 German aircraft, the transition between piston engines and jet engines, advancing modern aviation, and his favorite aircraft. The Eric Brown Tapes, the test pilot who set incredible records and contributed to key aviation innovations.
Eric Winkle Brown's lost rare interviews. TAPE 5.

Learn about flying the Messerschmitt Me 262, the Messerschmitt Komet Me 163, and the beloved F-4 Phantom, or the De Havilland Mosquito.
Eric "Winkle" Brown flew 487 Different Aircraft. Eric Brown is also the pilot who interrogated Hermann Göring in exchange for an aircraft.
Listen to his incredible life story.

PART 1: youtu.be/L3UP9d2D9_Q
PART 2: youtu.be/7lxPmYJYFh4
PART 3: youtu.be/XjHdliLSBPg
PART 4: youtu.be/szs4NwCVpIg
PART 5: youtu.be/p_XvRbxktIg

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN (21 January 1919 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

Brown holds the world record for the most aircraft carrier deck take-offs and landings performed (2,407 and 2,271 respectively) and achieved several "firsts" in naval aviation, including the first landings on an aircraft carrier of a twin-engined aircraft, an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, a jet aircraft, and a rotary-wing aircraft.

He flew almost every category of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircraft: glider, fighter, bomber, airliner, amphibian, flying boat, and helicopter. During World War II, he flew many types of captured German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft, including new jet and rocket aircraft. He was a pioneer of jet technology in the postwar era.

Brown was born in Leith, near Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. His father was a former balloon observer and pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Brown first flew when he was eight or ten when he was taken up in a Gloster Gauntlet by his father, the younger Brown sitting on his father's knee.

In 1936 Brown's father took him to see the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hermann Göring had recently announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, and Brown and his father met and were invited to join social gatherings by members of the newly disclosed organization. At one of these meetings, Ernst Udet, a former World War I fighter ace, was fascinated to make the acquaintance of Brown senior, a former RFC pilot, and offered to take his son Eric up flying with him. Eric eagerly accepted the German's offer and after his arrival at the appointed airfield at Halle, he was soon flying in a two-seat Bücker Jungmann. He recalled the incident nearly 80 years later on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs
You talk about aerobatics – we did every one I think and I was hanging on to my tummy. So, when we landed, and he gave me the fright of my life because we approached upside-down and then he rolled out just in time to land, he said to me as I got out of the cockpit, slapped me between the shoulder-blades, and gave me the old WW1 fighter pilots' greeting, Hals- und Beinbruch, which means broken neck and broken legs but that was their greeting. But he said to me, you'll make a fine fighter pilot – do me two favors: learn to speak German fluently and learn to fly.

During the Olympic Games Brown witnessed Hitler shaking hands with Jesse Owens.

In 1937, Brown left the Royal High School and entered the University of Edinburgh, studying modern languages with an emphasis on German. While there he joined the university's air unit and received his first formal flying instruction. In February 1938 he returned to Germany under the sponsorship of the Foreign Office, having been invited to attend the 1938 Automobile Exhibition by Udet, by then a Luftwaffe major general. He saw the demonstration of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 helicopter flown by Hanna Reitsch before a small crowd inside the Deutschlandhalle. During this visit, he met and got to know Reitsch, whom he had also briefly met in 1936.

On returning to the United Kingdom then at war, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve before subsequently joining the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, where he was posted to 802 Naval Air Squadron, initially serving on the first escort carrier, HMS Audacity, converted and thus named in July 1941. He flew one of the carrier's Grumman Martlets. During his service on board Audacity, he shot down two Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol aircraft, using head-on attacks to exploit the blind spot in their defensive armament.

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#aircraft #aviation #history

A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthog | History, Controversy And Unknown Facts | Full Documentary

DroneScapes 2024-04-21 | FULL DOCUMENTARY: Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" attack aircraft: the untold story, the history, and things you might not know about one of the most loved and most hated aircraft in history.
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a World War II-era fighter bomber effective at attacking ground targets, but commonly referred to as the "Warthog" or "Hog". The A-10 was designed to provide close air support (CAS) to friendly ground troops by attacking armored vehicles, tanks, and other enemy ground forces; it is the only production-built aircraft designed solely for CAS to have served with the U.S. Air Force. Its secondary mission is to direct other aircraft in attacks on ground targets, a role called forward air controller-airborne; aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10.

The A-10 was intended to improve the performance and firepower of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Its airframe was designed for durability, with measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of titanium armor to protect the cockpit and aircraft systems, enabling it to absorb damage and continue flying. Its ability to take off and land from relatively short runways permits operation from airstrips close to the front lines, and its simple design enables maintenance with minimal facilities.

The A-10A single-seat variant was the only version produced, though one pre-production airframe was modified into the YA-10B twin-seat prototype to test an all-weather night-capable version. In 2005, a program was started to upgrade the remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration, with modern avionics for use with precision weaponry. The U.S. Air Force had stated the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II would replace the A-10 as it entered service, but this remains highly contentious within the USAF and in political circles. With various upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10's service life can be extended to 2040; the service has no planned retirement date as of June 2017.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 506 sq ft (47.0 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
Gross weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)
CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
Anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,700 kg)
Fuel capacity: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg) internal
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 381 kn (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean
Cruise speed: 300 kn (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 kn (138 mph, 220 km/h) at 30,000 lb (14,000 kg)
Never exceed speed: 450 kn (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mark 82 bombs
Combat range: 220 nmi (250 mi, 400 km) CAS mission, 1.88 hour loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knots (58 mph; 26 m/s) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
Wing loading: 99 lb/sq ft (482 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.36
Armament
Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with 1,174 rounds
Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19×/7× Hydra 70 mm/APKWS rockets, respectively)
6× LAU-131 rocket pods (each with 7× Hydra 70 rockets)
Missiles:
2× AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense
6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
Bombs:
Mark 80 series of unguided 'iron' bombs or
Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
BLU-1, BLU-27/B, CBU-20 Rockeye II, BL755 and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (A-10C) or
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser
Other:
SUU-42A/A Flares/infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or
AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or Litening targeting pods or
2× 600 US gal (2,300 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loiter time.
Avionics
AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs (currently the Pave Penny is no longer in use
Head-up display (HUD)
Anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi; 467 km) with sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat.

#a10 #warthog #a10warthog

Vietnam Assault Helicopters | Memories And Rare Original Combat Audio. Veteran Vance Gammons

DroneScapes 2024-04-20 | "Welcome Home" is a new series about the Vietnam War.
This video contains interviews with Vietnam Veteran Vance Gammons and a rare audio tape with compelling recordings of combat missions.
Vance Gammons was the Company Commander of the 335th Assault Helicopter Company in an era like no other: the Vietnam War. At the time, none of the Cowboys--as they were called then and today knew what would become of their lives if they were lucky enough to survive their time in the country.
The original "Cowboys" of A Company, 82nd Aviation Battalion arrived in South Vietnam on 1 May 1965. In September of 1966, A/82nd was redesignated the 335th Aviation Company (Airmobile Light,) and eventually the 335th Assault Helicopter Company. The first A/82nd patches are extremely rare, but I'm obtaining a drawing of the original design. The Cowboys spent over 30 months in direct combat support of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, an association that culminated in the battles around Dak To from June to December of 1967. During that time period, the Cowboys were awarded the PUC, The MUC w/ 1 OLC, and three RVN Gallantry Crosses w/Palm.

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John Boyd: The Pilot Who Changed the Art of Air Warfare. Watch Rare Upscaled Tactic Footage

DroneScapes 2024-04-18 | The biography of an air legend. John Boyd: The Pilot Who Changed the Art of Air Warfare. Additionally, we present rare and upscaled combat tactics footage found in the vaults of the National Archives.
John Richard Boyd (January 23, 1927 – March 9, 1997).
During the 1950s, John Boyd dominated fighter aviation in the U.S. Air Force. His fame came on the wings of the quirky and treacherous F-100; the infamous "Hun." Boyd was known throughout the Air Force as "Forty-Second Boyd," because he had a standing offer to all pilots that if they could defeat them in simulated air-to-air combat in under 40 seconds, he would pay them $40. Like any gunslinger with a name and a reputation, he was called out many times. As an instructor at the Fighter Weapons School (FWS) at Nellis AFB, he fought students, cadre pilots, Marine and Navy pilots, and pilots from a dozen countries, who were attending the FWS as part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Pact.

He never lost.

Boyd was famous for a maneuver he called "flat-plating the bird." He would be in the defensive position with a challenger tight on his tail, both pulling heavy Gs, when he would suddenly pull the stick full aft, brace his elbows on either side of the cockpit, so the stick would not move laterally, and stomp the rudder. It was as if a manhole cover were sailing through the air and then suddenly flipped 90 degrees. The underside of the fuselage, wings, and horizontal stabilizer became a speed brake that slowed the Hun from 400 knots to 150 knots in seconds. The pursuing pilot was thrown forward, and now Boyd was on his tail radioing, "Guns. Guns. Guns."

The myth of "Forty-Second Boyd" still rankles AF fighter pilots. They say there is no "best" pilot and that everyone has a bad day. But if they went through Nellis in the late 1950s, they know Boyd had no bad days. And they cannot come up with the name of anyone who ever defeated him.

Boyd was equally famous in the classroom where he developed the "Aerial Attack Study." Until Boyd came along, fighter pilots thought that air combat was an art rather than a science; that it could never be codified. Boyd proved them wrong when he demonstrated that for every maneuver there is a series of counter maneuvers. And there is a counter to every counter. Afterward, when fighter pilots attacked (or were attacked), they knew every option open to their adversary and how to respond.

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Rocket Power Takeoff Explained. B-29 Superfortress RATO/JATO Early Trials And C-130 Fat Albert

DroneScapes 2024-04-16 | Rocket Power Takeoff Explained. B-29 Superfortress RATO/JATO Early Trials.
Rocket power plant planning and development. B-29 R.A.T.O. B-29.
Power Plant laboratory as project officers discuss the problem of rocket power on aircraft.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress and the Enola Gay story. The aircraft is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.

One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $45 billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29's advanced design allowed it to remain in service in various roles throughout the 1950s. The type was retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 of them had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the Washington until 1954.

Three of the Silverplate B-29s modified to drop nuclear bombs survive. The Enola Gay (nose number 82), which dropped the first atomic bomb, was fully restored and displayed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum near Washington Dulles International Airport in 2003. The B-29 that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, Bockscar (nose number 77), is restored and displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. The third is the 15th Silverplate to be delivered on the last day of the war in the Pacific. It is on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, posed with a replica of the Mark-3 "Fat Man" nuclear bomb.

General characteristics

Crew: 11 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Bombardier, Flight Engineer, Navigator, Radio Operator, Radar Observer, Right Gunner, Left Gunner, Central Fire Control, Tail Gunner)
Length: 99 ft 0 in (30.18 m)
Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.05 m)
Height: 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Wing area: 1,736 sq ft (161.3 m2)
Aspect ratio: 11.5
Airfoil: root: Boeing 117 (22%); tip: Boeing 117 (9%)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0241
Frontal area: 41.16 sq ft (3.824 m2)
Empty weight: 74,500 lb (33,793 kg)
Gross weight: 120,000 lb (54,431 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 133,500 lb (60,555 kg)
135,000 lb (61,000 kg) combat overload
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled turbo supercharged radial piston engines, 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) each
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers, 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) diameter
Performance

Maximum speed: 357 mph (575 km/h, 310 kn)
Cruise speed: 220 mph (350 km/h, 190 kn)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 3,250 mi (5,230 km, 2,820 nmi)
Ferry range: 5,600 mi (9,000 km, 4,900 nmi)
Service ceiling: 31,850 ft (9,710 m)
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 16.8
Wing loading: 69.12 lb/sq ft (337.5 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.073 hp/lb (0.120 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns:
10× .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2/ANs in remote-controlled turrets. (omitted from Silverplate B-29s)
2× .50 BMG and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail position (the cannon was later removed)
Bombs:
5,000 lb (2,300 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at high altitude
12,000 lb (5,400 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at medium altitude
20,000 lb (9,100 kg) maximum over short distances at low altitude
It could be modified to carry two 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bombs externally.
The Silverplate version delivered the first atomic bombs.

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JET AGE: Triumphs And Failures. The Early Battle For Air Dominance: Boeing Vs. De Havilland

DroneScapes 2024-04-13 | The early battle for air dominance after WW2. The Jet Age revolution of post WW2.
De Havilland against Boeing, Tupolev, and many other aviation innovators.
The De Havilland Comet became the first passenger jet airliner in the world, initially powered by Frank Whittle's turbojet, the British inventor who, contrary to popular belief, had a working turbojet before Germany in April 1937.
Some initial mistakes are reminiscent of today's issues with companies like Boeing, who also had initial teething problems, just like De Havilland's notorious issue with their Comet.
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design, four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wing roots, a pressurized cabin, and large windows. It offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin for the era and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952.

Within a year of the airliner's entry into service, three Comets were lost in highly publicized accidents after suffering catastrophic mishaps mid-flight. Two of these were found to be caused by structural failure resulting from metal fatigue in the airframe, a phenomenon not fully understood at the time; the other was due to overstressing of the airframe during flight through severe weather. The Comet was withdrawn from service and extensively tested. Design and construction flaws were ultimately identified, including improper riveting and dangerous stress concentrations around square cut-outs for the ADF (automatic direction finder) antennas. As a result, the Comet was extensively redesigned with structural reinforcements and other changes. Rival manufacturers heeded the lessons from the Comet when developing their aircraft.

Although sales never fully recovered, the improved Comet 2 and the prototype Comet 3 culminated in the redesigned Comet 4 series, which debuted in 1958 and remained in commercial service until 1981. The Comet was also adapted for various military roles such as VIP, medical, passenger transport, and surveillance; the last Comet 4, used as a research platform, made its final flight in 1997. The most extensive modification resulted in a specialized maritime patrol derivative, the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, which remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 2011, over 60 years after the Comet's first flight.

The Comet was involved in 25 hull-loss accidents, including 13 fatal crashes, which resulted in 492 fatalities.[186] Pilot error was blamed for the type's first fatal accident, which occurred during takeoff at Karachi, Pakistan, on 3 March 1953 and involved a Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet 1A.[82] Three fatal Comet 1 crashes were due to structural problems, specifically British Overseas Airways Corporation flight 783 on 2 May 1953, British Overseas Airways Corporation flight 781 on 10 January 1954, and South African Airways flight 201 on 8 April 1954, led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet. After design modifications were implemented, Comet services resumed on October 4, 1958, with Comet 4s.

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A-37 DRAGONFLY | Cessna Light Attack Aircraft | Things You Might Not Know

DroneScapes 2024-04-12 | The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly is an American light attack aircraft. Developed from the T-37 Tweet primary trainer, which earned it the nickname,
“Super Tweet” served with the US Air Force throughout the Vietnam War. The aircraft also saw extensive flight time outside the United States and is currently flown by six air forces in South America.

It was developed during the Vietnam War in response to military interest in new counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft to replace aging types such as the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. A formal United States Air Force (USAF) evaluation of the T-37 Tweet primary trainer for the COIN mission was conducted in late 1962, after which it was concluded that it could be modified to perform the role effectively. The attack-orientated A-37 was directly derived from the T-37, roughly doubling in all-up weight and engine thrust to permit considerable quantities of munitions, along with extended flight endurance and additional mission avionics. The prototype YAT-37D performed its maiden flight in October 1964.

While test results were positive, a production contract was not immediately forthcoming until an uptick in combat intensity and aircraft losses became apparent. An initial batch of 25 A-37As were deployed to Vietnam under the "Combat Dragon" evaluation program in August 1967, flying from Bien Hoa Air Base on various missions, including close air support, helicopter escort, FAC, and night interdiction. The type proved effective in the theater, leading to the USAF issuing a contract to Cessna for an improved Super Tweet, designated the A-37B, in early 1967. It was primarily operated over South Vietnam, as well as in neighboring Laos and Cambodia, typically flying close air support missions in coordination with US ground forces. The A-37 proved to be relatively low-maintenance and accurate and suffered relatively few combat losses.

Following the end of the conflict, the USAF's A-37Bs were transferred from the Tactical Air Command (TAC) to TAC-gained units in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. The type was assigned to the FAC (Forward Air Control) role and given the designation OA-37B. The type was eventually phased out in the 1980s and 1990s, replaced in the FAC mission by the more formidable Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II in American service. Various international operators in many South American countries also operated the A-37; it saw active use during the Salvadoran Civil War. Over 200 aircraft were also supplied to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF), and numerous A-37Bs were captured by North Vietnamese forces near the conflict's end.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2
Length: 28 ft 3+1⁄4 in (8.617 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 10+1⁄2 in (10.935 m) (over tip tanks)
Height: 8 ft 10+1⁄2 in (2.705 m)
Wing area: 183.9 sq ft (17.08 m2)
Aspect ratio: 6.2:1
Airfoil: NACA 2418 (modified) at root, NACA 2412 (modified) at tip
Empty weight: 6,211 lb (2,817 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 14,000 lb (6,350 kg)
Fuel capacity: 507 US gal (422 imp gal; 1,920 L) usable internal fuel (including tip tanks)
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric J85-GE-17A turbojet, 2,850 lbf (12.7 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 507 mph (816 km/h, 441 kn)
Cruise speed: 489 mph (787 km/h, 425 kn) (max. cruise)
Stall speed: 113 mph (182 km/h, 98 kn) at maximum landing weight, wheels and flaps down
Never exceed speed: 524 mph (843 km/h, 455 kn)
Combat range: 460 mi (740 km, 400 nmi) (with maximum payload)
Ferry range: 1,012 mi (1,629 km, 879 nmi) (with 4× 100 US gal (83 imp gal; 380 L) drop tanks
Service ceiling: 41,765 ft (12,730 m)
Rate of climb: 6,990 ft/min (35.5 m/s)
Armament
Guns:
1 × 7.62 mm (0.300 in) GAU-2B/A minigun in nose with 1500 rounds
Provision for SUU-11/A gun pods under wings
Hardpoints: 8 with a capacity of inner four: 860 lb (390 kg), two intermediate: 600 lb (270 kg), two outer: 500 lb (230 kg)
Rockets: LAU-3/A rocket pods
Missiles: AIM-9 Sidewinder
Bombs:
250 lb (110 kg) Mark 81, 500 lb (230 kg) Mark 82 or 750 lb (340 kg) M117 bombs
BLU-32B or BLU-1C/B fire bombs
CBU-12, CBU-22 or CBU-24 cluster bombs
SUU-14 bomb dispenser

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F-14 Tomcat: Designed For Superiority | Grumman Rare Original Footage Of The Pitch For The Aircraft

DroneScapes 2024-04-11 | Rare and upscaled color footage of the presentation of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

The F-14 flew on December 21, 1970, and was first deployed in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, and tactical aerial reconnaissance platform into the 2000s. The Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod system was added in the 1990s, and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions.

In the 1980s, F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War, where they saw combat against Iraqi warplanes. Iran claimed their F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war (only 55 of these confirmed, according to historian Tom Cooper), while 16 Tomcats were lost, including seven losses to accidents.

The Tomcat was retired by the U.S. Navy on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several retired F-14s have been put on display across the US. The F-14 remains in service with Iran's air force, having been exported to Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty in 1976.

Beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. Navy sought a long-range, high-endurance interceptor to defend its carrier battle groups against long-range anti-ship missiles launched from the jet bombers and submarines of the Soviet Union. They proposed a Fleet Air Defense (FAD) aircraft with a more powerful radar and longer-range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II to intercept enemy bombers and missiles at very long range. Studies into this concept led to the Douglas F6D Missileer project of 1959. Still, this large subsonic aircraft appeared unable to defend itself once it fired its missiles, and the project was canceled in December 1961.

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer)
Length: 62 ft 9 in (19.13 m)
Wingspan: 64 ft 1.5 in (19.545 m)
Swept wingspan: 38 ft 2.5 in (11.646 m) swept
Height: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Wing area: 565 sq ft (52.5 m2) wings only
1,008 sq ft (94 m2) effective area including fuselage
Airfoil:
Grumman (1.74)(35)(9.6)-(1.1)(30)(1.1) root
Grumman (1.27)(30)(9.0)-(1.1)(40)(1.1) tip
Empty weight: 43,735 lb (19,838 kg)
Gross weight: 61,000 lb (27,669 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 74,350 lb (33,725 kg)
Fuel capacity: 16,200 lb (7,348 kg) internal fuel; 2 × optional 267 US gal (222 imp gal; 1,010 l) / 1,756 lb (797 kg) external tanks
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F110-GE-400 afterburning turbofans, 16,610 lbf (73.9 kN) thrust each dry, 28,200 lbf (125 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.34 (1,544 mph, 2,485 km/h) at altitude
Range: 1,600 nmi (1,800 mi, 3,000 km)
Combat range: 500 nmi (580 mi, 930 km)
Service ceiling: 53,000 ft (16,000 m) plus
g limits: +7.5
Rate of climb: 45,000 ft/min (230 m/s) plus
Wing loading: 96 lb/sq ft (470 kg/m2)
48 lb/sq ft (230 kg/m2) effective
Thrust/weight: 0.92 at gross weight (1.07 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)
Armament
Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled rotary cannon, with 675 rounds
Hardpoints: 10 total: 6× under-fuselage, 2× under nacelles, and 2× on wing gloves with a capacity of 14,500 lb (6,600 kg) of ordnance and fuel tanks, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 7x LAU-10 rocket pods (for a total of 28 rockets)
Missiles: AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles:
Bombs:
JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs)
Paveway series of laser-guided bombs
Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs
Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster munition
Other:
Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS)
LANTIRN Targeting System (LTS) pod (AN/AAQ-14)
2× 267 US gal (1,010 l; 222 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
Avionics
Hughes AN/APG-71 radar
AN/ALR-67 radar warning receiver
AN/AAS-42 infrared search and track, AAX-1 TCS
AN/ASN-130 Inertial navigation system
Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) upgrade

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Fighting MiG Fighters In Vietnam. Vietnam Ace And TOPGUN Instructor Duke Cunningham

DroneScapes 2024-04-10 | Flying the F-4 Phantom, Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll shot down their first North Vietnamese MiG on January 19, 1972. They scored their second MiG kill on May 08, 1972. On May 10, 1972, they became the first American fliers to qualify as Aces in the Vietnam War when they shot down three MiGs in a single action. In addition to becoming the first Vietnam Aces, the two became the first Team of Aces, the first to score a triple kill over Vietnam, and the first U.S. all-missile Aces.

Cunningham joined the United States Navy in 1967. During his service, Cunningham and his Navigator/Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) "Irish" Driscoll became the only Navy aces in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom II from aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64). He and Driscoll recorded five aerial victories against North Vietnamese MiG-21 and MiG-17 aircraft between January and May 1972, including three kills in one flight (earning them the Navy Cross).

In the final engagement, Cunningham downed a MiG-17, supposedly piloted by "Colonel Toon", a mythical North Vietnam Air Force fighter ace loosely based on a North Vietnamese pilot from the 921st Fighter Regiment named Nguyen Van Coc.
Van Coc retired from the Vietnamese People’s Air Force in 2002.

While returning to the carrier after the final shoot-down, Cunningham and Driscoll were forced to eject from their F-4 over water near Nam Dinh, but they were rescued by Navy helicopter.

Here is a bit of the story...As they approached the coast at 10,000 feet, Cunningham spotted another MiG-17 heading straight for them. He told Driscoll to watch how close they could pass the MiG's nose so he could not double back as quickly to their six o’clock. While this tactic worked against A-4s in training at Miramar, it was a near-fatal mistake. ... A-4s didn’t have guns in the nose.

F-4 General characteristics

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 5 in (11.7 m)
Width: 27 ft 7 in (8.4 m) wing folded
Height: 16 ft 5 in (5 m)
Wing area: 530 sq ft (49.2 m2)
Aspect ratio: 2.77
Airfoil: NACA 0006.4–64 root, NACA 0003-64 tip
Empty weight: 30,328 lb (13,757 kg)
Gross weight: 41,500 lb (18,824 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 61,795 lb (28,030 kg)
Maximum landing weight: 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Fuel capacity: 1,994 US gal (1,660 imp gal; 7,550 L) internal, 3,335 US gal (2,777 imp gal; 12,620 L) with 2x 370 US gal (310 imp gal; 1,400 L) external tanks on the outer wing hardpoints and either a 600 or 610 US gal (500 or 510 imp gal; 2,300 or 2,300 L) tank for the center-line station.
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric J79-GE-17A after-burning turbojet engines, 11,905 lbf (52.96 kN) thrust each dry, 17,845 lbf (79.38 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,280 kn (1,470 mph, 2,370 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 2.23
Cruise speed: 510 kn (580 mph, 940 km/h)
Combat range: 370 nmi (420 mi, 680 km)
Ferry range: 1,457 nmi (1,677 mi, 2,699 km)
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)
Rate of climb: 41,300 ft/min (210 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 8.58
Wing loading: 78 lb/sq ft (380 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.86 at loaded weight, 0.58 at MTOW
Takeoff roll: 4,490 ft (1,370 m) at 53,814 lb (24,410 kg)
Landing roll: 3,680 ft (1,120 m) at 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Armament
E-model has a 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan cannon mounted internally under the nose, 640 rounds
Up to 18,650 lb (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, TV- and laser-guided bombs, rocket pods, air-to-ground missiles, anti-ship missiles, gun pods, and nuclear weapons. Reconnaissance, targeting, electronic countermeasures and baggage pods, and external fuel tanks may also be carried.
4× AIM-9 Sidewinders on wing pylons, Israeli F-4 Kurnass 2000 carried Python-3, Japanese F-4EJ Kai carry AAM-3.
4× AIM-7 Sparrow in fuselage recesses, upgraded Hellenic F-4E and German F-4F ICE carry AIM-120 AMRAAM, UK Phantoms carried Skyflash missiles
6× AGM-65 Maverick
4× AGM-62 Walleye
4× AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-78 Standard ARM
4× GBU-15
18× Mk.82, GBU-12
5× Mk.84, GBU-10, GBU-14
18× CBU-87, CBU-89, CBU-58
Nuclear weapons, including the B28EX, B61, B43 and B57

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Grumman F-14 Tomcat | A Brief History Of The Iconic Aircraft | Upscaled

DroneScapes 2024-04-09 | A brief history of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, including some rare and unseen upscaled footage.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project collapsed. The F-14 was the first American Teen Series fighter, designed to incorporate air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War.

The F-14 flew on December 21, 1970, and was first deployed in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, and tactical aerial reconnaissance platform into the 2000s. The Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod system was added in the 1990s, and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions.

In the 1980s, F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War, where they saw combat against Iraqi warplanes. Iran claimed their F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war (only 55 of these confirmed, according to historian Tom Cooper), while 16 Tomcats were lost, including seven losses to accidents

The Tomcat was retired by the U.S. Navy on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several retired F-14s have been put on display across the US. The F-14 remains in service with Iran's air force, having been exported to Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty in 1976.

Beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. Navy sought a long-range, high-endurance interceptor to defend its carrier battle groups against long-range anti-ship missiles launched from the jet bombers and submarines of the Soviet Union. They proposed a Fleet Air Defense (FAD) aircraft with a more powerful radar and longer-range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II to intercept enemy bombers and missiles at very long range. Studies into this concept led to the Douglas F6D Missileer project of 1959. Still, this large subsonic aircraft appeared unable to defend itself once it fired its missiles, and the project was canceled in December 1961.

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer)
Length: 62 ft 9 in (19.13 m)
Wingspan: 64 ft 1.5 in (19.545 m)
Swept wingspan: 38 ft 2.5 in (11.646 m) swept
Height: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Wing area: 565 sq ft (52.5 m2) wings only
1,008 sq ft (94 m2) effective area including fuselage
Airfoil:
Grumman (1.74)(35)(9.6)-(1.1)(30)(1.1) root
Grumman (1.27)(30)(9.0)-(1.1)(40)(1.1) tip
Empty weight: 43,735 lb (19,838 kg)
Gross weight: 61,000 lb (27,669 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 74,350 lb (33,725 kg)
Fuel capacity: 16,200 lb (7,348 kg) internal fuel; 2 × optional 267 US gal (222 imp gal; 1,010 l) / 1,756 lb (797 kg) external tanks
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F110-GE-400 afterburning turbofans, 16,610 lbf (73.9 kN) thrust each dry, 28,200 lbf (125 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.34 (1,544 mph, 2,485 km/h) at altitude
Range: 1,600 nmi (1,800 mi, 3,000 km)
Combat range: 500 nmi (580 mi, 930 km)
Service ceiling: 53,000 ft (16,000 m) plus
g limits: +7.5
Rate of climb: 45,000 ft/min (230 m/s) plus
Wing loading: 96 lb/sq ft (470 kg/m2)
48 lb/sq ft (230 kg/m2) effective
Thrust/weight: 0.92 at gross weight (1.07 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)
Armament
Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled rotary cannon, with 675 rounds
Hardpoints: 10 total: 6× under-fuselage, 2× under nacelles, and 2× on wing gloves with a capacity of 14,500 lb (6,600 kg) of ordnance and fuel tanks, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 7x LAU-10 rocket pods (for a total of 28 rockets)
Missiles: AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles:
Bombs:
JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs)
Paveway series of laser-guided bombs
Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs
Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster munition
Other:
Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS)
LANTIRN Targeting System (LTS) pod (AN/AAQ-14)
2× 267 US gal (1,010 l; 222 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
Avionics
Hughes AN/APG-71 radar
AN/ALR-67 radar warning receiver
AN/AAS-42 infrared search and track, AAX-1 TCS
AN/ASN-130 Inertial navigation system
Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) upgrade

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AVIATION ODDITIES | Aircraft Innovation And Research Pioneers | Episode 3

DroneScapes 2024-04-07 | ➤➤ AVIATION ODDITIES PART 1: youtu.be/wjc_kH147u0
➤➤ AVIATION ODDITIES PART 2: youtu.be/wfXErlnOjo4

A look inside different aircraft designs and flying machines such as the X-24 Wingless Aircraft, M2-F1 Lifting Body, the Northrop M2-F2, and the Amazing Bartini Beriev VVA-14. Learn the secrets behind the Ryan X-13 Vertijet, the Dragonfly, or the HL-10.
In a little over a century, the aviation industry has gone from learning to fly to learning to fly faster, to learning to fly further, to learning to fly heavier planes, and now to having 100,000 plus commercial flights occurring worldwide every day. Aviation has indeed been at the forefront of innovation, and it has become one of the world's safest and most reliable modes of transportation today.
The video presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the variety of innovations related to aviation.
From ancient times onwards, flight has been a measure of scientific progress, a symbol of wealth and status, and a catalyst for interpersonal and international competition. It is a field that has been primarily pioneered by the dedication of individuals rather than corporations or governments for most of its history. The history of aviation is extensive and complicated, so much so that its entirety couldn’t be easily contained in any single written source.

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Experimental Flight Test Center At Edwards Air Force Base. Rare, Unclassified Footage

DroneScapes 2024-04-07 | Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

A brief history of Edwards Air Force Base, one of the most secretive military installations in the world.
The air base also manages the notorious Area 51 site.
Welcome to our deep dive into the iconic Edwards Air Force Base.
Edwards Air Force Base, situated in the heart of California's Mojave Desert, has been the epicenter of aerospace breakthroughs for decades. This video takes you on an enthralling journey through its storied past, groundbreaking present, and the exciting future of aviation and space exploration.
Dive into the rich history of Edwards AFB, starting as a remote bombing range in the 1930s. Discover how it evolved into a premier flight testing center, setting the stage for countless aviation milestones.
Journey through the golden age of flight testing. Witness the daring feats of legendary pilots as they push the boundaries of speed and altitude. From the Bell X-1’s supersonic flight to the space shuttle landings, experience the moments that cemented Edwards’ legacy.
Explore the cutting-edge technologies developed at Edwards. Get an inside look at how cutting-edge research in aerodynamics, propulsion, and materials science shapes the future of air and space travel.
Meet the heroes behind the cockpits. Learn about the rigorous training programs that mold the world’s best test pilots and engineers, preparing them for challenges beyond our atmosphere.
Discover Edwards AFB’s collaborations with NASA, private aerospace companies, and international partners. See how these joint efforts are propelling humanity further into the cosmos.
Envision the future as Edwards continues to be at the forefront of aerospace innovation. From hypersonic travel to interplanetary missions, the possibilities are as limitless as the skies above.

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Upscaled video and audio.
Original video courtesy of: facebook.com/airforcetestcenter

#EdwardsAirForceBase #aviation #engineering

A-10 THUNDERBOLT II Warthog | The Untold Story. Part 2: Deployment & Controversy

DroneScapes 2024-04-05 | Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" attack aircraft: the untold story, the history, and things you might not know about one of the most loved and most hated aircraft in history.
PART 2: Deployment And Controversy.

PART 1: youtu.be/lI8EwlRpOOo

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a World War II-era fighter bomber effective at attacking ground targets, but commonly referred to as the "Warthog" or "Hog". The A-10 was designed to provide close air support (CAS) to friendly ground troops by attacking armored vehicles, tanks, and other enemy ground forces; it is the only production-built aircraft designed solely for CAS to have served with the U.S. Air Force. Its secondary mission is to direct other aircraft in attacks on ground targets, a role called forward air controller-airborne; aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10.

The A-10 was intended to improve the performance and firepower of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Its airframe was designed for durability, with measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of titanium armor to protect the cockpit and aircraft systems, enabling it to absorb damage and continue flying. Its ability to take off and land from relatively short runways permits operation from airstrips close to the front lines, and its simple design enables maintenance with minimal facilities.

The A-10A single-seat variant was the only version produced, though one pre-production airframe was modified into the YA-10B twin-seat prototype to test an all-weather night-capable version. In 2005, a program was started to upgrade the remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration, with modern avionics for use with precision weaponry. The U.S. Air Force had stated the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II would replace the A-10 as it entered service, but this remains highly contentious within the USAF and in political circles. With various upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10's service life can be extended to 2040; the service has no planned retirement date as of June 2017.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 506 sq ft (47.0 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
Gross weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)
CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
Anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,700 kg)
Fuel capacity: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg) internal
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 381 kn (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean
Cruise speed: 300 kn (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 kn (138 mph, 220 km/h) at 30,000 lb (14,000 kg)
Never exceed speed: 450 kn (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mark 82 bombs
Combat range: 220 nmi (250 mi, 400 km) CAS mission, 1.88 hour loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knots (58 mph; 26 m/s) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
Wing loading: 99 lb/sq ft (482 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.36
Armament
Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with 1,174 rounds
Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19×/7× Hydra 70 mm/APKWS rockets, respectively)
6× LAU-131 rocket pods (each with 7× Hydra 70 rockets)
Missiles:
2× AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense
6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
Bombs:
Mark 80 series of unguided 'iron' bombs or
Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
BLU-1, BLU-27/B, CBU-20 Rockeye II, BL755 and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (A-10C) or
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser
Other:
SUU-42A/A Flares/infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or
AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or Litening targeting pods or
2× 600 US gal (2,300 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loiter time.
Avionics
AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs (currently the Pave Penny is no longer in use
Head-up display (HUD)
Anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi; 467 km) with sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat.

#a10 #warthog #a10warthog

Declassified Rare Color Footage Of The F-105 Thud Thunderchief Development Program

DroneScapes 2024-04-04 | Declassified rare color footage of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, aka "thud," followed by an interview with a Vietnam veteran who was shot down in Vietnam and was held prisoner in the infamous Hanoi Hilton camp.

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The F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it was the only American aircraft to have been removed from combat due to high loss rates. It was originally designed as a single-seat, nuclear-attack aircraft; a two-seat Wild Weasel version was later developed for the specialized Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role against surface-to-air missile sites. The F-105 was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews.

Interviews with Veteran Pilots and Republic F105 Thunderchief War Stories, such as fighting the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 In Vietnam.

Dave Waldrop grew up in Nashville, TN and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1964 with a BS degree. From there he attended Air Force flight training at Laughlin AFB, TX. Upon graduation from flight training, Dave went to Nellis AFB Las Vegas Nevada where he checked out in the F-105 Thunderchief. On completion of his training, he was assigned to Yokota AFB, Japan. In May 1967 Dave volunteered for temporary duty in SE Asia and was sent to Takhli Air Base, Thailand. After flying 45 missions, Dave was released and was to return to Yokota, but instead, requested to be reassigned to Korat AFB, Thailand which needed experienced F-105 drivers due to having experienced some heavy losses. In December 1967, Dave completed his combat tour and returned to Yokota AFB, Japan with 105 combat missions in the F-105 including 49 over Hanoi.

Prisoner in Vietnam. The Dewey Wayne Waddell story of how he ended up being a prisoner at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Dewey Wayne Waddell was taken captive after his F-105 Thunderchief was shot down by Vietnamese communist fighters in 1967, and he was released many years later, in 1973.
North Vietnam’s treatment of American airmen shot down and captured over North Vietnam was a subject of controversy and concern throughout the Vietnam War.

General characteristics

Crew: 1 (F-105F: 2)
Length: 64 ft 4+3⁄4 in (19.628 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 11+1⁄4 in (10.649 m)
Height: 19 ft 8 in (5.99 m)
Wing area: 385 sq ft (35.8 m2)
Aspect ratio: 3.18
Airfoil: root: NACA 65A005.5; tip: NACA 65A003.7
Empty weight: 26,855 lb (12,181 kg)
Gross weight: 35,637 lb (16,165 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 52,838 lb (23,967 kg)
Fuel capacity: 770 US gal (640 imp gal; 2,900 l) in three flexible fuselage tanks + 390 US gal (320 imp gal; 1,500 l) weapon-bay tank, with provision for 1x 650 US gal (540 imp gal; 2,500 l) or 750 US gal (620 imp gal; 2,800 l) centerline drop tank and 2x 450 US gal (370 imp gal; 1,700 l) underwing drop tanks; Total maximum fuel 2,810 US gal (2,340 imp gal; 10,600 l)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: CD 0.0173
Drag area: 6.65 sq ft (0.6 m2)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney J75-P-19W afterburning turbojet engine, 14,300 lbf (64 kN) thrust 26,500 lbf (117.88 kN) with afterburning and water injection
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,210 kn (1,390 mph, 2,240 km/h) / Mach 2.1 at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
Combat range: 676 nmi (778 mi, 1,252 km)
Ferry range: 1,917 nmi (2,206 mi, 3,550 km)
Service ceiling: 48,500 ft (14,800 m)
Rate of climb: 38,500 ft/min (196 m/s)
Time to altitude: 35,000 ft (10,668 m) in 1 minute 42 seconds
Lift-to-drag: 10.4
Wing loading: 93 lb/sq ft (450 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.74
Armament
Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling cannon, 1,028 rounds
Hardpoints: 5 total: 4 × under-wing, 1 × centerline pylon stations plus an internal bomb bay with a capacity of up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of ordnance, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
LAU-32/LAU-59 rocket pods with 7 x FFARs each
Missiles:
AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-surface missiles
AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles
Bombs:
M117 and Mark 80 series of general-purpose bombs
M118 demolition bombs
Nuclear weapons B28, B43 stored internally and B57, B61
Cluster munitions of various types, including CBU-24
Avionics
NASARR R-14A radar
AN/ASG-19 Thunderstick fire control system
AN/ARN-85 LORAN (AN/ARN-92 in Thunderstick II-modified aircraft)

#fighteraircraft #vietnamwar #f105

Rare Footage Of The Aim-54 Phoenix Missile And F-111 Aardvark Development Program

DroneScapes 2024-04-02 | Rare color footage of the Hughes Aim-54 Phoenix Missile development program, and the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.
The AIM-54 Phoenix is an American radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile (AAM), carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only operational launch platform.

The Phoenix was the United States' only long-range air-to-air missile. The combination of Phoenix missile and the Tomcat's AN/AWG-9 guidance radar meant that it was the first aerial weapons system that could simultaneously engage multiple targets. Due to its active radar tracking, the brevity code "Fox Three" was used when firing the AIM-54. The act of the missile achieving a radar lock with its own radar is known under brevity as 'Going Pitbull'.

Both the missile and the aircraft were used by Iran and the United States Navy. In US service both are now retired, the AIM-54 Phoenix in 2004 and the F-14 in 2006. They were replaced by the shorter-range AIM-120 AMRAAM, employed on the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet—in its AIM-120D version, the latest version of the AMRAAM just matches the Phoenix's maximum range.

The AIM-54 has been used in 62 air-to-air strikes, all by Iran during the eight-year Iran–Iraq War.Following the retirement of the F-14 by the U.S. Navy, the weapon's only current operator is the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
Since 1951, the Navy faced the initial threat from the Tupolev Tu-4K 'Bull' carrying anti-ship missiles or nuclear bombs.

Eventually, during the height of the Cold War, the threat would have expanded into regimental-size raids of Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22M Backfire bombers equipped with low-flying, long-range, high-speed, nuclear-armed cruise missiles and considerable electronic countermeasures (ECM) of various types. This combination was considered capable of saturating fleet defenses and threatening carrier groups.

The Navy would require a long-range, long-endurance interceptor aircraft to defend carrier battle groups against this threat. The proposed Douglas F6D Missileer was intended to fulfill this mission and oppose the attack as far as possible from the fleet it was defending. The weapon needed for interceptor aircraft, the Bendix AAM-N-10 Eagle, was to be an air-to-air missile of unprecedented range when compared to contemporary AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. It would work together with Westinghouse AN/APQ-81 radar. The Missileer project was cancelled in December 1960.

In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy made the next interceptor attempt with the F-111B, and they needed a new missile design. At the same time, the USAF canceled the projects for their land-based high-speed interceptor aircraft, the North American XF-108 Rapier and the Lockheed YF-12, and left the capable AIM-47 Falcon missile at a quite advanced stage of development, but with no effective launch platform.

The AIM-54 Phoenix, developed for the F-111B fleet air defense fighter, had an airframe with four cruciform fins that was a scaled-up version of the AIM-47. One characteristic of the Missileer ancestry was that the radar sent it mid-course corrections, which allowed the fire control system to "loft" the missile up over the target into thinner air where it had better range.

The F-111B was canceled in 1968. Its weapons system, the AIM-54 working with the AWG-9 radar, migrated to the new U.S. Navy fighter project, the VFX, which would later become the F-14 Tomcat.

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Restoring A British De Havilland Mosquito And A Look At The History Of The Wooden Wonder

DroneScapes 2024-03-31 | The De Havilland Mosquito is one of WWII's most iconic British aircraft. The ‘Wooden Wonder’, as it was called, due to its frame being made almost entirely out of wood, participated in a wide range of operations throughout the war, from the transport of valuable cargo across enemy-held airspace to high-precision bomb raids on prisons and Gestapo headquarters. If you needed to get in, wreak havoc, and get out fast, the ‘Mossie’ was your weapon of choice.

‘We believe that we could produce a twin-engine bomber which would perform so well that little defensive equipment would be needed’.
Geoffrey de Havilland - September 1939
Photos Courtesy Lewis Air Legends, Bradley Wentzel.

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. It was unusual because its frame was constructed mostly of wood, nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, nicknamed it "Freeman's Folly", alluding to Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who defended Geoffrey de Havilland and his design concept against orders to scrap the project. In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.

Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito's use evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. It was also used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation as a fast transport to carry small, high-value cargo to and from neutral countries through enemy-controlled airspace. The crew of two, pilot and navigator, sat side by side. A single passenger could ride in the aircraft's bomb bay when necessary.

The Mosquito FB Mk. VI was often flown in special raids, such as Operation Jericho (an attack on Amiens Prison in early 1944), and precision attacks against military intelligence, security, and police facilities (such as Gestapo headquarters). On 30 January 1943, the 10th anniversary of Hitler being made chancellor and the Nazis gaining power, a morning Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station while Hermann Göring was speaking, taking his speech off the air.

The Mosquito flew with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other air forces in the European, Mediterranean, and Italian theatres. The Mosquito was also operated by the RAF in the Southeast Asian theatre and by the Royal Australian Air Force based in the Halmaheras and Borneo during the Pacific War. During the 1950s, the RAF replaced the Mosquito with the jet-powered English Electric Canberra.

By the early to mid-1930s, de Havilland had built a reputation for innovative high-speed aircraft with the DH.88 Comet racer. Later, the DH.91 Albatross airliner pioneered the composite wood construction used for the Mosquito. The 22-passenger Albatross could cruise at 210 mph (340 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,400 m), faster than the Handley Page H.P.42 and other biplanes it was replacing. The wooden monocoque construction not only saved weight and compensated for the low power of the de Havilland Gipsy Twelve engines used by this aircraft but also simplified production and reduced construction time.

General characteristics

Crew: Two: pilot, bomb aimer/navigator
Length: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Wingspan: 54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)
Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m)
Wing area: 454 sq ft (42.2 m2)
Airfoil: RAF 34 (modified)
Empty weight: 14,300 lb (6,486 kg)
Gross weight: 18,100 lb (8,210 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 76 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) driving the left propeller
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 77 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) fitted with a blower for cabin pressurization, driving the right propeller
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers
Performance

Maximum speed: 415 mph (668 km/h, 361 kn) at 28,000 ft (8,500 m)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km, 1,100 nmi)
Service ceiling: 37,000 ft (11,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,850 ft/min (14.5 m/s)
Wing loading: 39.9 lb/sq ft (195 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.189 hp/lb (0.311 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, 4 x 20 mm Hispano cannons
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
Avionics
GEE radio-navigation

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CONVAIR NX-2 CAMAL, The Story Of The Secret Post WW2 Atomic Powered Bomber Plane

DroneScapes 2024-03-30 | The history of Convair NX-2 Camal, a secret project to develop an atomic-powered bomber.
Convair's NX-2 (designated Model 54 in-house) proposed powering the subsonic, ultra-long endurance jet bomber (about the size of a B-52) with either Pratt & Whitney indirect air cycle nuclear engines or General Electric direct air cycle nuclear engines.

The U.S. Nuclear Propulsion Program (or Manned Nuclear Aircraft Program) began in May 1946. This after Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation, received the first formal study contract. The objective, is to determine the feasibility of nuclear energy for the propulsion of aircraft. The Fairchild project known as the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) began at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN.

Work at Oak Ridge proved building a nuclear aircraft was feasible and defined the major approaches to the program. As a result, the Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) joined forces in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) Program. In 1951, they contracted with the General Electric (GE) Company at Evendale, Ohio to, “…develop a nuclear aircraft propulsion system through an exacting research, development, design and component-test program on reactors, materials, shielding and an over-all nuclear power plant.” 1

At the time, there appeared to be two design concepts for a “nuclear” aircraft: the Direct-Air-Cycle and the Indirect. General Electric elected the Direct-Air-Cycle2 due to the perceived simplicity, flexibility, adaptability, and ease of handling. General Electric quickly developed high-temperature, compact, lightweight reactors and shields required for aircraft flight. The GE Company also believed their new technology had applicability to aerospace and ground power systems. In the 1950s, nuclear reactors were approximately the size of two railroad cabooses stacked on one another, and the performance requirements for aircraft nuclear power plants were much more
schematic.

The objective of the ANP Program expanded to include the demonstration of nuclear-powered flight. Still, in 1952, the Air Force decided that direct nuclear cycle engine developments were progressing well and began construction of a power plant for the Convair B-36 flight testing and targeted 1956 for the first flight. In 1953 the Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson abruptly canceled the B-36 experimental flight program, Wilson, a skeptic, contended “that experimental “proof-of-principle” flights were worthless unless they were performed by a prototype for as an actual weapon systems.”4 The money slated for the project was for a weapons system so, the prototype requirements leaned in this direction.

Though the B-36 experiment halted, Air Force leaders managed to keep GE’s direct cycle developments moving forward and Pratt and Whitney continued their progress. Pratt and Whitney used a pressurized water, indirect cycle engine which failed to progress (see below schematic). Pratt and Whitney changed gears and began working with Oak Ridge on a molten salt circulation fuel reactor, still using the indirect cycle nuclear turbojet concept. Pratt and Whitney remained behind GE in developments throughout the testing and experimentation.

Though Air Force leaders canceled developments for a B-36 nuclear-powered aircraft, a Convair B-36, designated as the NB5-36H and specially refitted to contain a fully operational nuclear reactor however, the NB-36H did not use the reactor for propulsion.

In 1958, the Air Force introduced a new mission requirement in an attempt to keep the ANP Program alive. Known as CAMAL (continuous airborne alert, missile launching, and low-level penetration), it was a rehashing of a nuclear weapons system aircraft.8 During the summer of 1959, Dr. Herbert F. York, Director of Defense Research and Engineering in the Pentagon, and other Department of Defense research officials pushed a reorientation of the ANP Program project. These officials called for the development of a useful nuclear turbojet capable of installation in and flown on a Convair Model 54 (the NX-2)

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The Doolittle Raid: Full Documentary | The B-25 Raid Over Tokyo In Retaliation For Pearl Harbor

DroneScapes 2024-03-29 | The Doolittle Raid. A full 3-hour documentary about the famous raid against Japan.
The Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo, and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks. It served as retaliation for the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and provided an essential boost to American morale. The raid was planned by, led by, and named after Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle (later a Lieutenant General in the US Army Air Forces and the US Air Force Reserve).

Under the final plan, 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers, each with a crew of five, were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. There was to be no fighter escort. After bombing military and industrial targets in Japan, the B-25 crews were to continue westward to land in China.

The raid on Japan killed about 50 people and injured 400, including civilians. Damage to Japanese military and industrial targets was minimal, but the raid had significant psychological effects. In the United States, it raised morale; in Japan, it raised fear and doubt about the ability of military leaders to defend the home islands, but the bombing and strafing of civilians also steeled Japanese resolve to gain retribution, and this was exploited for propaganda purposes.[4] It also pushed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plans to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific. This attack turned into a decisive defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the US Navy in the Battle of Midway. The consequences were most severely felt in China, where Japanese reprisals caused the deaths of 250,000 civilians and 70,000 soldiers.

Of the 16 USAAF crews involved, 14 complete crews of five returned to the United States or to US forces elsewhere, except for one who was killed in action.[5][6] Eight aviators were captured by Japanese forces in Eastern China, and three of these were later executed. All but one of the B-25s were destroyed in crashes, while the 16th landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. Because the Soviet Union was not officially at war with Japan, it was required, under international law, to intern the bomber's crew for the duration of the war, and their B-25 was confiscated. However, within a year, the crew was secretly allowed to leave the Soviet Union under the guise of an escape, and they returned to the United States, or US units elsewhere, by way of Allied-occupied Iran and North Africa.

Doolittle initially believed that losing all his aircraft would lead to his court-martial, but instead received the Medal of Honor and was promoted to two ranks as brigadier general.

When planning indicated that the B-25 was the aircraft that best met the mission's requirements, two were loaded aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet at Norfolk, Virginia. They were flown off the deck without difficulty on 3 February 1942. The raid was immediately approved, and the 17th Bombardment Group (Medium) was chosen to provide the pool of crews from which volunteers would be recruited. The 17th BG had been the first group to receive B-25s, with all four squadrons equipped with the bomber by September 1941. The 17th was not only the first medium bomb group of the Army Air Corps, but in early 1942, it also had the most experienced B-25 crews. Its first assignment following the entry of the United States into the war was to the U.S. Eighth Air Force.

The 17th BG, then flying antisubmarine patrols from Pendleton, Oregon, was immediately moved cross-country to Columbia Army Air Base at West Columbia, South Carolina, ostensibly to fly similar patrols off the East Coast of the United States, but in actuality to prepare for the mission against Japan. The group officially transferred effective 9 February 1942 to Columbia, where its combat crews were offered the opportunity to volunteer for an "extremely hazardous", but unspecified mission. On 19 February, the group was detached from the Eighth Air Force and officially assigned to III Bomber Command.

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AV-8B Harrier II Single-Engine Ground-Attack Aircraft: A Look At Back At The History And Innovation

DroneScapes 2024-03-28 | A look back at the innovative AV-8B Harrier II.
The Marine Corps, an integral part of the U.S. Military, is bidding farewell to a trusted companion of several decades, the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II jet. This jet has been a reliable workhorse since the 1980s, playing a critical role in countless missions. However, as the Marine Corps looks to the future, it's beginning to focus on becoming a more agile and streamlined expeditionary force. This transformation involves shifting their attention to the F-35B Lightning II, a more modern and technologically advanced aircraft. As a result, the older AV-8B Harrier II jet is being phased out, and the Marines maintaining its engines will soon complete their final assignments with this iconic aircraft. This is a significant milestone in the history of the Marine Corps, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
We are also looking back at the predecessors.
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier Jump Jet, the origin of the VTOL Vertical Take-Off and Landing, and things you might not know about it.

The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s. The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era. It was conceived to operate from improvised bases, such as car parks or forest clearings, without requiring large and vulnerable air bases. Later, the design was adapted for use by aircraft carriers.

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is the first generation version and is also known as the AV-8A or AV-8C Harrier; it was used by multiple air forces, including the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The Sea Harrier is a naval strike/air defense fighter derived from the Hawker Siddeley Harrier; it was operated by both the Royal Navy and the Indian Navy. During the 1980s, a second-generation Harrier emerged, manufactured in the United States as the AV-8B and in Britain as the British Aerospace Harrier II respectively. By the start of the 21st century, the majority of the first generation Harriers had been withdrawn, and many operators have chosen to procure the second generation as a replacement. In the long term, several operators have announced their intention to supplement or replace their Harrier fleets with the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II, designated as the F-35B.

General characteristics

Crew: 1 pilot
Length: 46 ft 4 in (14.12 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
Height: 11 ft 8 in (3.55 m)
Wing area: 243.4 sq ft (22.61 m2)
Airfoil: supercritical airfoil
Empty weight: 13,968 lb (6,340 kg)
Gross weight: 22,950 lb (10,410 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight:
Rolling takeoff: 31,000 lb (14,100 kg)
Vertical takeoff: 20,755 lb (9,415 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Pegasus F402-RR-408 (Mk 107) vectored-thrust turbofan, 23,500 lbf (105 kN) thrust
Performance

Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h)
Maximum speed: Mach 0.9
Range: 1,200 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,200 km)
Combat range: 300 nmi (350 mi, 556 km)
Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,100 mi, 3,300 km)
Rate of climb: 14,700 ft/min (75 m/s)
Wing loading: 94.29 lb/sq ft (460.4 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.948
Armament
Guns: 1× General Dynamics GAU-12 Equalizer 25 mm (0.984 in) 5-barreled Rotary cannon mounted under-fuselage in the left pod, with 300 rounds of ammunition in the right pod
Hardpoints: 6× under-wing pylon and 1x under-fuselage stations holding up to 9,200 lb (4,200 kg) of payload:
Rockets:
LAU-10 four-round Zuni pods
LAU-68 (7 round) or LAU-61 (19 round) rocket pods for Hydra 70/APKWS 70 mm rockets[62][174]
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles:
4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or similar-sized infrared-guided missiles
4× AIM-120 AMRAAM (on radar equipped AV-8B Plus variants)
Air-to-surface missiles:
4× AGM-65 E/F Maverick
4x AGM-122 Sidearm (SEAD missile used by USMC)
Bombs:
CBU-100/Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster bombs (CBUs)
Mark 81, 82, or 83 unguided bombs
GBU-12 or GBU-16 laser-guided bombs
GBU-38, GBU-32, or GBU-54 Joint Direct Attack Munitions
Mark 77 firebomb
Others:
up to 4× 300/330/370 US Gallon drop tanks (pylon stations No. 2, 3, 5, & 6 are wet plumbed)
Intrepid Tiger II electronic jammer[173]
Mk106 (6.6 lb (3 kg)) and Mk76 (31 lb (14 kg)) practice bombs
Avionics
Raytheon APG-65 radar
AN/AAQ-28V LITENING targeting pod (on AV-8B Night Attack and radar-equipped AV-8B Plus variants)

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#Aircraft #aviation #harrier

Pratt & Whitney, From The F100 turbofan That Powered The F-15 To The F-22 Raptor Engine. PART 2

DroneScapes 2024-03-26 | The history of Pratt & Whitney PART 2, from the F100 afterburning turbofan that powered the F-15 Eagle to the F119 augmented turbofan Lockheed Martin powering the F-22 Raptor.

PART 1: youtu.be/jxyydqL2NpE

The video covers 40 years, from the mid-50s to the end of the 90s, some of the most remarkable times of this U.S.-based company.
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second-largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries worldwide.
In April 1925, Frederick Rentschler, an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical, was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own. His social network included Edward Deeds, another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother Gordon Rentschler, both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest machine tool corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded the board of Niles Bement Pond that their Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool (P&WMT) subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut, should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, George J. Mead, and colleagues, all formerly of Wright Aeronautical. Conceived and designed by Mead, the new engine would be a large, air-cooled, radial design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones. World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good return seemed available, P&WMT saw the post-war aviation industry, both military and civil (commercial, private), as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. It lent Rentschler US$250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, the 425 horsepower (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the U.S. Navy qualification test in March 1926; by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation. The R-1340 powered the aircraft of Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, and many other record flights.

The R-1340 was followed by another very successful engine, the R-985 Wasp Junior. Eventually, a whole Wasp series was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria.

George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its R-1690 Hornet. It was basically "a bigger Wasp".

In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the federal government of the U.S. banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River as United Aircraft Corporation, with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became United Technologies.

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#jetengine #airplane #Pratt&Whitney

Pratt & Whitney, From Secret Project Suntan To The J58 That Powered The Blackbird, To Space. PART 1

DroneScapes 2024-03-24 | The history of Pratt & Whitney, starting with the secret project "Suntan", to the J58 turbojet that powered Skunk Works SR-71/A-12 Blackbird, to the F100 turbojet, all the way to space, PART 1.

PART 2: youtu.be/u0csHkmgYIo

The video covers 40 years, from the mid-50s to the end of the 90s, some of the most remarkable times of this U.S.-based company.
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second-largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries worldwide.
In April 1925, Frederick Rentschler, an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical, was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own. His social network included Edward Deeds, another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother Gordon Rentschler, both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest machine tool corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded the board of Niles Bement Pond that their Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool (P&WMT) subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut, should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, George J. Mead, and colleagues, all formerly of Wright Aeronautical. Conceived and designed by Mead, the new engine would be a large, air-cooled, radial design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones. World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good return seemed available, P&WMT saw the post-war aviation industry, both military and civil (commercial, private), as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. It lent Rentschler US$250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, the 425 horsepower (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the U.S. Navy qualification test in March 1926; by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation. The R-1340 powered the aircraft of Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, and many other record flights.

The R-1340 was followed by another very successful engine, the R-985 Wasp Junior. Eventually, a whole Wasp series was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria.

George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its R-1690 Hornet. It was basically "a bigger Wasp".

In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the federal government of the U.S. banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River as United Aircraft Corporation, with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became United Technologies.

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A-10 THUNDERBOLT II Warthog | The Untold Story And Things You Might Not Know | Part 1: Origins

DroneScapes 2024-03-23 | Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" attack aircraft: the untold story, the history, and things you might not know about one of the most loved and most hated aircraft in history.
PART 2: youtu.be/vmDNgGDogUo

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a World War II-era fighter bomber effective at attacking ground targets, but commonly referred to as the "Warthog" or "Hog". The A-10 was designed to provide close air support (CAS) to friendly ground troops by attacking armored vehicles, tanks, and other enemy ground forces; it is the only production-built aircraft designed solely for CAS to have served with the U.S. Air Force. Its secondary mission is to direct other aircraft in attacks on ground targets, a role called forward air controller-airborne; aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10.

The A-10 was intended to improve the performance and firepower of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Its airframe was designed for durability, with measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of titanium armor to protect the cockpit and aircraft systems, enabling it to absorb damage and continue flying. Its ability to take off and land from relatively short runways permits operation from airstrips close to the front lines, and its simple design enables maintenance with minimal facilities.

The A-10A single-seat variant was the only version produced, though one pre-production airframe was modified into the YA-10B twin-seat prototype to test an all-weather night-capable version. In 2005, a program was started to upgrade the remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration, with modern avionics for use with precision weaponry. The U.S. Air Force had stated the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II would replace the A-10 as it entered service, but this remains highly contentious within the USAF and in political circles. With various upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10's service life can be extended to 2040; the service has no planned retirement date as of June 2017.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 506 sq ft (47.0 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
Gross weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)
CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
Anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,700 kg)
Fuel capacity: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg) internal
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 381 kn (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean
Cruise speed: 300 kn (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 kn (138 mph, 220 km/h) at 30,000 lb (14,000 kg)
Never exceed speed: 450 kn (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mark 82 bombs
Combat range: 220 nmi (250 mi, 400 km) CAS mission, 1.88 hour loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knots (58 mph; 26 m/s) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
Wing loading: 99 lb/sq ft (482 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.36
Armament
Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with 1,174 rounds
Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19×/7× Hydra 70 mm/APKWS rockets, respectively)
6× LAU-131 rocket pods (each with 7× Hydra 70 rockets)
Missiles:
2× AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense
6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
Bombs:
Mark 80 series of unguided 'iron' bombs or
Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
BLU-1, BLU-27/B, CBU-20 Rockeye II, BL755 and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (A-10C) or
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser
Other:
SUU-42A/A Flares/infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or
AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or Litening targeting pods or
2× 600 US gal (2,300 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loiter time.
Avionics
AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs (currently the Pave Penny is no longer in use
Head-up display (HUD)
Anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi; 467 km) with sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat.

#a10 #warthog #a10warthog

Unforgettable WW2 Stories: Flying High With Jack And Gary Sinise On The B-17 Flying Fortress

DroneScapes 2024-03-22 | B-17 Flying fortress combat stories, narrated by Jack and Gary Sinise.
Includes other veteran memories, and the story of the North American bomber.

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry (prototype Model 299/XB-17) outperformed both competitors and exceeded the Air Corps' performance specifications. Although Boeing lost the contract (to the Douglas B-18 Bolo) because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, becoming the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88.

The B-17 was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, military and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in central, eastern and southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the Pacific War, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.

From its prewar inception, the USAAC (by June 1941, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of approximately 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, over 640 000 tons (42.6%) were dropped from B-17s. In addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft.

As of October 2019, nine aircraft remain airworthy, though none of them were ever flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of the United States' involvement in World War II.

On 8 August 1934, the USAAC tendered a proposal for a multi-engine bomber to replace the Martin B-10. The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska. Requirements were for it to carry a "useful bombload" at an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m) for 10 hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph (320 km/h).

General characteristics

Crew: 10: Pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier/nose gunner, flight engineer/top turret gunner, radio operator, waist gunners (2), ball turret gunner, tail gunner[218]
Length: 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m)
Wingspan: 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m)
Height: 19 ft 1 in (5.82 m)
Wing area: 1,420 sq ft (131.92 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 0018 / NACA 0010
Empty weight: 36,135 lb (16,391 kg)
Gross weight: 54,000 lb (24,500 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 65,500 lb (29,700 kg)
Aspect ratio: 7.57
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharger radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton-Standard constant-speed propeller
Performance

Maximum speed: 287 mph (462 km/h, 249 kn)
Cruise speed: 182 mph (293 km/h, 158 kn)
Range: 2,000 mi (3,219 km, 1,738 nmi) with 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) bombload
Ferry range: 3,750 mi (6,040 km, 3,260 nmi)
Service ceiling: 35,600 ft (10,850 m)
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
Wing loading: 38.0 lb/sq ft (185.7 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.089 hp/lb (150 W/kg)
Armament
Guns: 13 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in 9 positions (2 in the Bendix chin turret, 2 on nose cheeks, 2 staggered waist guns, 2 in upper Sperry turret, 2 in Sperry ball turret in belly, 2 in the tail and one firing upwards from radio compartment behind bomb bay)
Bombs:
Short-range missions; Internal load only (400 mi): 8,000 lb (3,600 kg)
Long range missions; Internal load only (≈800 mi): 4,500 lb (2,000 kg)
Max Internal and External load: 17,600 lb (7,800 kg)

#flyingfortress #b17 #bomber

Finding A Downed B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber

DroneScapes 2024-03-21 | The quest to find a crashed Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
Austrian Georg Reutter has spearheaded a unique initiative that unites the descendants of a B-17 crew from the tumultuous period of World War II. "The Metal Detector" is a film that chronicles the journey of these descendants as they delve into their fathers' past and explore the war's historical significance. This narrative intertwines history with personal growth, serving as a compelling watch for those interested in World War II.

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P-51 MUSTANG: Flight Characteristics | Rare Upscaled WW2 Training Film And Interviews

DroneScapes 2024-03-19 | Flight characteristics of the North American P-51 Mustang. Restored and upscaled rare training footage, interviews with legendary WW2 pilot Bud Anderson, including the P-51 walkaround, and a P-51 documentary with veteran interviews.

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.

The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants. The RAF first flew the aircraft operationally as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter bomber (Mustang Mk I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model. It transformed the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range), allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.

At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters, including North American's F-86, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.

North American Aviation (NAA) was already supplying its T-6 Texan (known in British service as the "Harvard") trainer to the RAF but was otherwise underused. NAA President "Dutch" Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, the North American B-25 Mitchell. Instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture P-40s under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have a better aircraft with the same Allison V-1710 engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40.

Specifications (P-51D Mustang)

3-view drawing of P-51D Mustang

Nose of P-51 Gunfighter

Wing with three .50 caliber machine guns
Data from Erection and Maintenance Manual for P-51D and P-51K, P-51 Tactical Planning Characteristics & Performance Chart, The Great Book of Fighters, and Quest for Performance

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft (11 m)
Height: 13 ft 4.5 in (4.077 m) tail wheel on the ground, vertical propeller blade
Wing area: 235 sq ft (21.8 m2)
Aspect ratio: 5.83
Airfoil: NAA/NACA 45–100
Empty weight: 7,635 lb (3,463 kg)
Gross weight: 9,200 lb (4,173 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 12,100 lb (5,488 kg) 5,490
Fuel capacity: 269 US gal (224 imp gal; 1,020 l)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0163
Drag area: 3.80 sqft (0.35 m²)
Powerplant: 1 × Packard (Rolls Royce) V-1650-7 Merlin 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, 1,490 hp (1,110 kW) at 3,000 rpm 1,720 hp (1,280 kW) at WEP
Propellers: 4-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch, 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance

Maximum speed: 440 mph (710 km/h, 383 kn)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (583 km/h, 315 kn)
Stall speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)
Range: 1,650 mi (2,660 km, 1,434 nmi) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 14.6
Wing loading: 39 lb/sq ft (190 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament
Guns: 6 × .50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 1,840 total rounds (380 rounds for each on the inboard pair and 270 rounds for each of the outer two pairs)
Rockets: 6 or 10 × 5.0 in (127 mm) T64 HVAR rockets (P-51D-25, P-51K-10 on)
Bombs: 1 × 100 lb (45 kg) or 250 lb (110 kg) bomb or 500 lb (230 kg) bomb on hardpoint under each wing

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AVIATION ODDITIES | Aircraft Innovation And Research Pioneers | Episode 2

DroneScapes 2024-03-17 | ➤➤ AVIATION ODDITIES PART 1: youtu.be/wjc_kH147u0

A look inside different aircraft designs and flying machines such as the Hughes H-4 Hercules also known as the Spruce Goose; the Ryan XV-8 Fleep, the Ryan VZ-3 Vertiplane, and the Douglas X-3 Stiletto. Learn the secrets behind Howard Hughes D-2, the North American fighter and bomber project. this was a private venture. While It never proceeded past the flight testing phase, it was the predecessor of the Hughes XF-11.
Learn about the Northrop XP-79, nicknamed the "chainsaw".
In a little over a century, the aviation industry has gone from learning to fly, to learning to fly faster, learning to fly further, learning to fly heavier planes, and now to having 100,000 plus commercial flights occurring worldwide every day. Aviation has truly been at the forefront of innovation to become one of the world's safest and most reliable modes of transportation today.
The video presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the variety of innovations related to aviation.
From ancient times onwards, flight has been a measure of scientific progress, a symbol of wealth and status, and a catalyst for interpersonal and international competition. It is a field that has been pioneered largely by the dedication of individuals rather than corporations or governments for the majority of its history. The history of aviation is extensive and complicated, so much so that its entirety couldn’t be easily contained in any single written source.

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B-52 Stratofortress Bomber | The Boeing Plane That Could Fly Without The Tail

DroneScapes 2024-03-15 | The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, high-alert, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons and has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles (14,080 km) without aerial refueling.

Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight-wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52's official name Stratofortress is rarely used; informally, the aircraft has become commonly referred to as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fucker/Fella).

The B-52 has been in service with the USAF since 1955. As of June 2019, there are 76 aircraft in inventory; 58 operated by active forces (2nd Bomb Wing and 5th Bomb Wing), 18 by reserve forces (307th Bomb Wing), and about 12 in long-term storage at the Davis-Monthan AFB Boneyard. The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was disestablished in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command (ACC); in 2010, all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept them in service despite the advent of later, more advanced strategic bombers, including the Mach 2+ B-58 Hustler, the canceled Mach 3 B-70 Valkyrie, the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealth B-2 Spirit. The B-52 completed 60 years of continuous service with its original operator in 2015. After being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, the last airplanes are expected to serve into the 2050s.

Throughout the Cold War, B-52s and other US strategic bombers performed airborne alert patrols under code names such as Head Start, Chrome Dome, Hard Head, Round Robin, and Giant Lance. Bombers loitered at high altitudes near the borders of the Soviet Union to provide rapid first strike or retaliation capability in case of nuclear war. These airborne patrols formed one component of the US's nuclear deterrent, which would act to prevent the breakout of a large-scale war between the US and the Soviet Union under the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction.

General characteristics:

Crew: 5 (pilot, copilot, weapon systems officer, navigator, electronic warfare officer)
Length: 159 ft 4 in (48.5 m)
Wingspan: 185 ft 0 in (56.4 m)
Height: 40 ft 8 in (12.4 m)
Wing area: 4,000 sq ft (370 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 63A219.3 mod root, NACA 65A209.5 tip
Empty weight: 185,000 lb (83,250 kg)
Gross weight: 265,000 lb (120,000 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 488,000 lb (219,600 kg)
Fuel capacity: 47,975 U.S. gal (39,948 imp gal; 181,610 L)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0119 (estimated)
Drag area: 47.60 sq ft (4.42 m2)
Aspect ratio: 8.56
Powerplant: 8 × Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 turbofans, 17,000 lbf (76 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 650 mph (1,050 km/h, 560 kn)
Cruise speed: 509 mph (819 km/h, 442 kn)
Combat range: 8,800 mi (14,200 km, 7,600 nmi)
Ferry range: 10,145 mi (16,327 km, 8,816 nmi)
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 6,270 ft/min (31.85 m/s)
Wing loading: 120 lb/sq ft (586 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.31
Lift-to-drag ratio: 21.5 (estimated)
Armament
Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan cannon originally mounted in a remote-controlled tail turret on the H-model, removed in 1991 from all operational aircraft.
Bombs: Approximately 70,000 lb (31,500 kg) mixed ordnance; bombs, mines, missiles, in various configurations.
Avionics
Electro-optical viewing system that uses platinum silicide forward-looking infrared and high-resolution low-light-level television sensors
ADR-8 chaff rocket (1965–1970)
LITENING Advanced Targeting System
Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod
IBM AP-101 computer

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AVRO Aircraft | The history Of The Makers Of The Legendary Lancaster Bomber Plane | Upscaled

DroneScapes 2024-03-13 | Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.

Avro was founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe at the Brownsfield Mill on Great Ancoats Street in Manchester. The company remained based primarily in Lancashire throughout its 53 years of existence, with key development and manufacturing sites in Alexandra Park, Chadderton, Trafford Park, and Woodford, Greater Manchester. The company was merged into Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963, although the Avro name has been used for some aircraft since then.

One of the world's first aircraft builders, A.V. Roe and Company was established on 1 January 1910 at Brownsfield Mill, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, by Alliott Verdon Roe and his brother Humphrey Verdon Roe. Humphrey's contribution was chiefly financial and organizational; funding it from the earnings of the family webbing business and acting as managing director until he joined the RFC in 1917 Alliot had already constructed a successful aircraft, the Roe I Triplane, named The Bullseye after a brand of braces manufactured by Humphrey. The railway arch where A.V. Roe in 1909 and achieved the first all-British powered flight still stands in Lee Valley Park on the Walthamstow Marshes. In 1911, Roy Chadwick began work as Alliott's personal assistant and the firm's draughtsman, and, in 1918, he was appointed Chief Designer.

The first Avro aircraft to be produced in any quantity was the Avro E or Avro 500, first flown in March 1912, of which 18 were manufactured, most for the newly formed Royal Flying Corps. The company also built the world's first aircraft with enclosed crew accommodation in 1912, the monoplane Type F, and the biplane Avro Type G in 1912, neither progressing beyond the prototype stage. The Type 500 was developed into the Avro 504, first flown in September 1913. A small number were bought by the War Office before the outbreak of World War I, and the type saw some front-line service in the early months of the war, but it is best known as a training aircraft, serving in that role until 1933. Production lasted 20 years and totaled 8,340 aircraft from several factories: Hamble, Failsworth, Miles Platting, and Newton Heath.

Maintaining their skills in designing trainer aircraft, the company built a more robust biplane called the Avro Tutor in the 1930s which the Royal Air Force (RAF) also bought in quantity. A twin piston-engined airliner called the Anson followed but as tensions rose again in Europe the firm's emphasis returned to combat aircraft. The Avro Manchester, Lancaster, and Lincoln were particularly famous Avro designs. Over 7,000 Lancasters were built and their bombing capabilities led to their use in the famous Dam Busters raid. Of the total, nearly half were built at Avro's Woodford (Stockport) and Chadderton (Oldham) sites, with some 700 Lancasters built at the Avro "shadow" factory next to Leeds Bradford Airport (formerly Yeadon Aerodrome), northwest Leeds.

The civilian Lancastrian and maritime reconnaissance Shackleton were derived from the successful Lancaster design. The Tudor was a pressurized but problematic post-war Avro airliner that faced strong competition from designs by Bristol, Canadair, Douglas, Handley Page, and Lockheed. With the same wings and engines as the Lincoln, it achieved only a short (34 completed) production run following a first flight in June 1945 and the cancellation of an order from BOAC. The older Avro York was somewhat more successful in both the RAF and in commercial service, being distinguished by a fuselage square in cross-section. Both Tudors and Yorks played an important humanitarian part in the Berlin Airlift.

The postwar Vulcan bomber, originally designed as a nuclear strike
aircraft, was used to maintain the British nuclear deterrent, armed with the Avro Blue Steel stand-off nuclear bomb. The Vulcan saw service as a conventional bomber during the British campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands in 1982. Several Vulcans are prized as museum exhibits.

The Avro Lancaster carried the heaviest bomb loads of the war, including the Grand Slam bomb.

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U.S. Giant Aircraft: B-36 PEACEMAKER | Convair Massive American Strategic Bomber

DroneScapes 2024-03-11 | The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft (70 m). The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km) and a maximum payload of 87,200 lb (39,600 kg), the B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.

Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress beginning in 1955. All but four aircraft have been scrapped.

The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, before the entry of the United States into World War II. At the time, the threat existed that Britain might fall to the German "Blitz", making a strategic bombing effort by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) against Germany impossible with the aircraft of the time.

The United States would need a new class of bombers that would reach Europe and return to bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least 5,700 miles (9,200 km), the length of a Gander, Newfoundland–Berlin round trip. The USAAC therefore sought a bomber of truly intercontinental range, similar to the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium's (RLM) ultralong-range Amerikabomber program, the subject of a 33-page proposal submitted to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering on 12 May 1942.

The USAAC sent out the initial request on 11 April 1941, asking for a 450 mph (720 km/h) top speed, a 275 mph (443 km/h) cruising speed, a service ceiling of 45,000 ft (14,000 m)—beyond the range of ground-based anti-aircraft fire—and a maximum range of 12,000 miles (19,000 km) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m). These requirements proved too demanding for any short-term design, far exceeding the technology of the day, so on 19 August 1941, they were reduced to a maximum range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km), an effective combat radius of 4,000 mi (6,400 km) with a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bombload, a cruising speed between 240 and 300 mph (390 and 480 km/h), and a service ceiling of 40,000 ft (12,000 m)—above the maximum effective altitude of Nazi Germany's anti-aircraft guns, save for the rarely deployed 12.8 cm FlaK 40 heavy flak cannon.

General characteristics

Crew: 13
Length: 162 ft 1 in (49.40 m)
Wingspan: 230 ft 0 in (70.10 m)
Height: 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Wing area: 4,772 sq ft (443.3 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 63(420)-422; tip: NACA 63(420)-517
Empty weight: 166,165 lb (75,371 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 410,000 lb (185,973 kg)
Powerplant: 6 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 Wasp Major 28-cylinder 4-row air-cooled radial piston engines, 3,800 hp (2,800 kW) each for take-off
Powerplant: 4 × General Electric J47 turbojet engines, 5,200 lbf (23 kN) thrust each in pylon-mounted pods outboard of piston engines
Propellers: 3-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed fully-feathering pusher propellers
Performance

Maximum speed: 435 mph (700 km/h, 378 kn)
Cruise speed: 230 mph (370 km/h, 200 kn)
Combat range: 3,985 mi (6,413 km, 3,463 nmi)
Ferry range: 10,000 mi (16,000 km, 8,700 nmi)
Service ceiling: 43,600 ft (13,300 m)
Rate of climb: 1,995 ft/min (10.13 m/s)
Armament
Guns: 1 remotely operated tail turret with 2× 20 mm (0.787 in) M24A1 autocannon
Bombs: 86,000 lb (39,009 kg) with weight restrictions, 72,000 lb (32,659 kg) normal

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WW2 | The Battle Of Stalingrad | Nazi Germanys Beginning Of The End | FULL DOCUMENTARY

DroneScapes 2024-03-10 | Operation Barbarossa and the Battle Of Stalingrad. The beginning of the end of Nazi Germany, FULL DOCUMENTARY.
The Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), was a successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies.

In the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–43), the advancing Germans were finally stopped by the Red Army in desperate house-to-house fighting. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963).
Stretching about 30 miles (50 km) along the banks of the Volga River, Stalingrad was a large industrial city producing armaments and tractors and was an important prize in itself for the invading German army. Capturing the city would cut Soviet transport links with southern Russia, and Stalingrad would then serve to anchor the northern flank of the larger German drive into the oil fields of the Caucasus. In addition, seizing the city that bore the name of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin would serve as a great personal and propaganda victory for Adolf Hitler. German war planners hoped to achieve that end with Fall Blau (“Operation Blue”), a proposal that Hitler assessed and summarized in Führer Directive No. 41 on April 5, 1942. Hitler’s goal was to eliminate Soviet forces in the south, secure the region’s economic resources, and then wheel his armies either north to Moscow or south to conquer the remainder of the Caucasus. The offensive would be undertaken by Army Group South under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. On June 28, 1942, operations began with significant German victories.

After months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, German forces (numbering now only about 91,000 surviving soldiers) surrendered at Stalingrad on the Volga.

Soviet forces launched a counteroffensive against the Germans arrayed at Stalingrad in mid-November 1942. They quickly encircled an entire German army, more than 220,000 soldiers. In February 1943, after months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, the surviving German forces—only about 91,000 soldiers—surrendered. After the victory at Stalingrad, the Soviet army remained on the offensive, liberating most of Ukraine, and virtually all of Russia and eastern Belorussia during 1943. The battle for the city of Stalingrad proved a decisive psychological turning point, ending a string of German victories in the summer of 1942 and beginning the long retreat westward. Germany proved unable to defeat the Soviet Union, which together with Great Britain and the United States, seized the initiative from Germany. Germany became embroiled in a long war, leading ultimately to its defeat in May 1945.

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AVIATION ODDITIES | Aircraft Innovation And Research Pioneers | Strange Planes Series

DroneScapes 2024-03-10 | A look inside different contemporary designs for planes and flying machines such as the Convair XF2Y Sea Dart, the General Airborne Transport XCG-16, The Miles Libellula, or the Avrocar.In a little over a century, the aviation industry has gone from learning to fly, to learning to fly faster, learning to fly further, learning to fly heavier planes, and now to having 100,000 plus commercial flights occurring around the world every day.Aviation has truly been at the forefront of innovation to become one of the safest and most reliable modes of transportation in the world today.
Learn about the Vought XF5U, and Project Hummingbird, or explore the lesser-known Doak VZ-4.The video presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the variety of innovations related to aviation.
From ancient times onwards, flight has been a measure of scientific progress, a symbol of wealth and status, and a catalyst for interpersonal and international competition. It is a field that has, for the majority of its history, been pioneered largely by the dedication of individuals rather than corporations or governments. The history of aviation is incredibly broad and complicated, so much so that its entirety couldn’t be easily contained in any single written source.

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Republic F-105 Thunderchief | The Thud Story And Vietnam War Memories

DroneScapes 2024-03-08 | The Republic F-105 Thunderchief story.
The F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it was the only American aircraft to have been removed from combat due to high loss rates. It was originally designed as a single-seat, nuclear-attack aircraft; a two-seat Wild Weasel version was later developed for the specialized Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role against surface-to-air missile sites. The F-105 was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews.

Interviews with Veteran Pilots and Republic F105 Thunderchief War Stories, such as fighting the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 In Vietnam.

Dave Waldrop grew up in Nashville, TN and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1964 with a BS degree. From there he attended Air Force flight training at Laughlin AFB, TX. Upon graduation from flight training, Dave went to Nellis AFB Las Vegas Nevada where he checked out in the F-105 Thunderchief. On completion of his training, he was assigned to Yokota AFB, Japan. In May 1967 Dave volunteered for temporary duty in SE Asia and was sent to Takhli Air Base, Thailand. After flying 45 missions, Dave was released and was to return to Yokota, but instead, requested to be reassigned to Korat AFB, Thailand which needed experienced F-105 drivers due to having experienced some heavy losses. In December 1967, Dave completed his combat tour and returned to Yokota AFB, Japan with 105 combat missions in the F-105 including 49 over Hanoi.

Prisoner in Vietnam. The Dewey Wayne Waddell story of how he ended up being a prisoner at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Dewey Wayne Waddell was taken captive after his F-105 Thunderchief was shot down by Vietnamese communist fighters in 1967, and he was released many years later, in 1973.
North Vietnam’s treatment of American airmen shot down and captured over North Vietnam was a subject of controversy and concern throughout the Vietnam War.

General characteristics

Crew: 1 (F-105F: 2)
Length: 64 ft 4+3⁄4 in (19.628 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 11+1⁄4 in (10.649 m)
Height: 19 ft 8 in (5.99 m)
Wing area: 385 sq ft (35.8 m2)
Aspect ratio: 3.18
Airfoil: root: NACA 65A005.5; tip: NACA 65A003.7
Empty weight: 26,855 lb (12,181 kg)
Gross weight: 35,637 lb (16,165 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 52,838 lb (23,967 kg)
Fuel capacity: 770 US gal (640 imp gal; 2,900 l) in three flexible fuselage tanks + 390 US gal (320 imp gal; 1,500 l) weapon-bay tank, with provision for 1x 650 US gal (540 imp gal; 2,500 l) or 750 US gal (620 imp gal; 2,800 l) centerline drop tank and 2x 450 US gal (370 imp gal; 1,700 l) underwing drop tanks; Total maximum fuel 2,810 US gal (2,340 imp gal; 10,600 l)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: CD 0.0173
Drag area: 6.65 sq ft (0.6 m2)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney J75-P-19W afterburning turbojet engine, 14,300 lbf (64 kN) thrust 26,500 lbf (117.88 kN) with afterburning and water injection
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,210 kn (1,390 mph, 2,240 km/h) / Mach 2.1 at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
Combat range: 676 nmi (778 mi, 1,252 km)
Ferry range: 1,917 nmi (2,206 mi, 3,550 km)
Service ceiling: 48,500 ft (14,800 m)
Rate of climb: 38,500 ft/min (196 m/s)
Time to altitude: 35,000 ft (10,668 m) in 1 minute 42 seconds
Lift-to-drag: 10.4
Wing loading: 93 lb/sq ft (450 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.74
Armament
Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling cannon, 1,028 rounds
Hardpoints: 5 total: 4 × under-wing, 1 × centerline pylon stations plus an internal bomb bay with a capacity of up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of ordnance, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
LAU-32/LAU-59 rocket pods with 7 x FFARs each
Missiles:
AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-surface missiles
AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles
Bombs:
M117 and Mark 80 series of general-purpose bombs
M118 demolition bombs
Nuclear weapons B28, B43 stored internally and B57, B61
Cluster munitions of various types, including CBU-24
Avionics
NASARR R-14A radar
AN/ASG-19 Thunderstick fire control system
AN/ARN-85 LORAN (AN/ARN-92 in Thunderstick II-modified aircraft)

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WW2 Germany, Wonder Weapons, High Profile Prisoners And Other Stories | The Eric Brown Tapes

DroneScapes 2024-03-06 | WW Germany, Wonder Weapons, High Profile Prisoners And Other Stories | The Eric Brown Tapes
Eric Winkle Brown's lost rare interviews. TAPE 4.
Flying the Arado 234, interrogating Hermann Göering, or the infamous Irma Grese.
Learn about flying the Messerschmitt Me 262, or the Messerschmitt Komet Me 163, and much more.
Eric "Winkle" Brown flew 487 Different Aircraft. Eric Brown is also the pilot who interrogated Hermann Göring in exchange for an aircraft.
Listen to his incredible life story.

PART 1: youtu.be/L3UP9d2D9_Q
PART 2: youtu.be/7lxPmYJYFh4
PART 3: youtu.be/XjHdliLSBPg
PART 4: youtu.be/szs4NwCVpIg
PART 5: youtu.be/p_XvRbxktIg

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN (21 January 1919 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

Brown holds the world record for the most aircraft carrier deck take-offs and landings performed (2,407 and 2,271 respectively) and achieved several "firsts" in naval aviation, including the first landings on an aircraft carrier of a twin-engined aircraft, an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, a jet aircraft, and a rotary-wing aircraft.

He flew almost every category of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircraft: glider, fighter, bomber, airliner, amphibian, flying boat, and helicopter. During World War II, he flew many types of captured German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft, including new jet and rocket aircraft. He was a pioneer of jet technology in the postwar era.

Brown was born in Leith, near Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom. His father was a former balloon observer and pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Brown first flew when he was eight or ten when he was taken up in a Gloster Gauntlet by his father, the younger Brown sitting on his father's knee.

In 1936 Brown's father took him to see the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hermann Göring had recently announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, and Brown and his father met and were invited to join social gatherings by members of the newly disclosed organization. At one of these meetings, Ernst Udet, a former World War I fighter ace, was fascinated to make the acquaintance of Brown senior, a former RFC pilot, and offered to take his son Eric up flying with him. Eric eagerly accepted the German's offer and after his arrival at the appointed airfield at Halle, he was soon flying in a two-seat Bücker Jungmann. He recalled the incident nearly 80 years later on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs
You talk about aerobatics – we did every one I think and I was hanging on to my tummy. So, when we landed, and he gave me the fright of my life because we approached upside-down and then he rolled out just in time to land, he said to me as I got out of the cockpit, slapped me between the shoulder-blades, and gave me the old WW1 fighter pilots' greeting, Hals- und Beinbruch, which means broken neck and broken legs but that was their greeting. But he said to me, you'll make a fine fighter pilot – do me two favors: learn to speak German fluently and learn to fly.

During the Olympic Games Brown witnessed Hitler shaking hands with Jesse Owens.

In 1937, Brown left the Royal High School and entered the University of Edinburgh, studying modern languages with an emphasis on German. While there he joined the university's air unit and received his first formal flying instruction. In February 1938 he returned to Germany under the sponsorship of the Foreign Office, having been invited to attend the 1938 Automobile Exhibition by Udet, by then a Luftwaffe major general. He saw the demonstration of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 helicopter flown by Hanna Reitsch before a small crowd inside the Deutschlandhalle. During this visit, he met and got to know Reitsch, whom he had also briefly met in 1936.

On returning to the United Kingdom then at war, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve before subsequently joining the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, where he was posted to 802 Naval Air Squadron, initially serving on the first escort carrier, HMS Audacity, converted and thus named in July 1941. He flew one of the carrier's Grumman Martlets. During his service on board Audacity, he shot down two Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol aircraft, using head-on attacks to exploit the blind spot in their defensive armament.

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Lockheed And Skunk Works. The History Of The Company That Gave Us The SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-22

DroneScapes 2024-03-06 | Lockheed And Skunk Works. The History Of The Company That Gave Us The SR-71 Blackbird, The U-2 Dragonlady, F-22 Raptor, and many other amazing Aircraft. Learn about Kelly Johnson, Ben Rich, and witnesses of the birth of the California company.

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The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise unrelated Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912 to 1920.

Allan Loughead and his brother Malcolm Loughead had operated an earlier aircraft company, Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912 to 1920. The company built and operated aircraft for paying passengers on sightseeing tours in California and had developed a prototype for the civil market, but folded in 1920 due to the flood of surplus aircraft deflating the market after World War I. Allan went into the real estate market while Malcolm had meanwhile formed a successful company marketing brake systems for automobiles.

On December 13, 1926, Allan Lockheed, John Northrop, Kenneth Kay, and Fred Keeler secured funding to form the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Hollywood (spelled phonetically to prevent mispronunciation). This new company utilized some of the same technology originally developed for the Model S-1 to design the Vega Model. In March 1928, the company relocated to Burbank, California, and by year's end reported sales exceeding one million dollars. From 1926 to 1928 the company produced over 80 aircraft and employed more than 300 workers who by April 1929 were building five aircraft per week. In July 1929, majority shareholder Fred Keeler sold 87% of the Lockheed Aircraft Company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In August 1929, Allan Loughead resigned.

The Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of investors headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross, and Walter Varney, bought the company out of receivership in 1932. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $40,000 ($660,000 in 2011). Ironically, Allan Loughead himself had planned to bid for his own company but had raised only $50,000 ($824,000), which he felt was too small a sum for a serious bid.

In 1934, Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was headquartered at what is now the airport in Burbank, California. His brother Courtlandt S. Gross was a co-founder and executive, succeeding Robert as chairman following his death in 1961. The company was named the Lockheed Corporation in 1977.

The first successful construction that was built in any number (141 aircraft) was the Vega first built in 1927, best known for its several first- and record-setting flights by, among others, Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, and George Hubert Wilkins. In the 1930s, Lockheed spent $139,400 ($2.29 million) to develop the Model 10 Electra, a small twin-engined transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production. Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, flew it in their failed attempt to circumnavigate the world in 1937. Subsequent designs, the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra expanded their market.

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The History Of The Flying Wing And U.S. Bomber Aircraft

DroneScapes 2024-03-06 | Learn about Jack Northrop's flying wing, its evolution, and its competitors.
Jack Northrop's brainchild lost out to the B-36 after World War II, but the low radar profile of the flying wing design made a comeback decades later in the form of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.

The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses. Designed during the Cold War, it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber is subsonic and can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as up to eighty 500-pound class (230 kg) Mk 82 JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400-pound (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.

Development started under the "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) project during the Carter administration; its expected performance was one of the President's reasons for the cancellation of the Mach 2 capable B-1A bomber. The ATB project continued during the Reagan administration but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the B-1 program. Program costs rose throughout development. Designed and manufactured by Northrop, later Northrop Grumman, the cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million (in 1997 dollars). Total procurement costs averaged $929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. The total program cost, which included development, engineering and testing, averaged $2.13 billion per aircraft in 1997.

Because of its considerable capital and operating costs, the project was controversial in the U.S. Congress. The winding-down of the Cold War in the latter portion of the 1980s dramatically reduced the need for the aircraft, which was designed with the intention of penetrating Soviet airspace and attacking high-value targets. During the late 1980s and 1990s, Congress slashed plans to purchase 132 bombers to 21. In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff, though the crew ejected safely. As of 2018, twenty B-2s are in service with the United States Air Force, which plans to operate them until 2032, when the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is to replace them.

The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) with one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a nuclear bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat dropping conventional, non-nuclear ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It later served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

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#aviation #aircraft #b2

FLYING TIGERS | Full Documentary & Legacy Episode | WW2 History Documentary | P-40 Warhawk

DroneScapes 2024-03-05 | The Flying Tigers FULL DOCUMENTARY Plus THE LEGACY Episode (4/4). Narrated by Gary Sinise.
Missions that changed the war series.
The American volunteer flyers who fought for China against the Japanese invasion were known as the ‘Flying Tigers.’ They saw their first combat on December 20th, 1941. They had originally thought this would be earlier, but various delays meant that it happened a few days after the US and Japan were officially at war.
In China’s most desperate hour, Chiang Kai-Shek turns to the United States for help. The Japanese are bombing Chinese population centers mercilessly. China’s decimated air force is powerless to stop them. Chiang dispatches his American consultant - former U.S. Army Air Corps officer Claire L. Chennault - to obtain the airplanes and pilots needed to defend China. Tex Hill resigns from his Navy Commission and volunteers.
a small group of American aviators fought in their first battle in World War II.
Their mission was unusual: They were mercenaries hired by China to fight against Japan.
They were called the American Volunteer Group and later became known as the Flying Tigers. Though only in combat for less than seven months, the group became famous at the time for its ability to inflict outsize damage on Japan's better-equipped and larger aircraft fleet.
Their victories came when Japan seemed unstoppable. The AVG was a bright spot in history when everything was bleak and black, and they have received a lot of recognition for that.
In the West, 1939 is considered the start of World War II. But in Asia, China and Japan had been at war since 1937.

China was already fighting its own civil war between the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek and Communist forces. The two sides came to a truce to fight against the Japanese. China, however, had little air power to fend off Japanese bombings.
Enter Claire Lee Chennault, a U.S. Army aviator, instructor, and tactician, once described by Time magazine as "lean, hard-bitten, taciturn." Health problems and disputes with his superiors pushed him to retire from his position with the Army Air Corps in 1937, at age 43.
But he quickly got a lucrative job offer with the Chinese Air Force, which was operating under Chiang's Nationalist government. Chennault was asked to come to survey the readiness of its fleet.
"Chiang Kai-shek thought he had 500 airplanes," says Nell Chennault Calloway, who is Chennault's granddaughter and CEO of the Chennault Aviation & Military Museum in Monroe, La. "Chennault said, 'You have 500, but you only have 91 that fly.' That's how far behind they were in aviation."
Once the war with Japan officially broke out that summer, China hired Chennault as an adviser to its air force. He became its de facto commander.
Claire Lee Chennault first went to China to survey the Chinese Air Force's readiness and stayed on to lead the creation of the American Volunteer Group.
Fox Photos/Getty Images
By 1940, after losing backing from the Soviets, China desperately needed more planes. At the time, the U.S. was not officially part of World War II. But President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was concerned about the prospect of Japan defeating China and turning its sights on the U.S.
Chennault traveled back to the U.S., pulling what strings he could to get planes. With the help of T.V. Soong, a Chinese official who was also Chiang's brother-in-law, a deal was worked out to allow China to buy 100 American-made Curtiss P-40 fighter planes.

"He managed to get Roosevelt to allow some of our military pilots — that was the original AVG — to resign their commissions in the U.S. military and go to China as mercenaries, basically, because it was against the international rules for any American military personnel to be involved in the conflict over there,".
It was neither the first time, not the last, when brave Americans have fought for the freedom of other peoples. It was Jefferson’s US Navy that took on and ultimately routed the Libyan pirates wreaking havoc on Mediterranean shipping in the early 1800s. It was US forces that tipped the balance in two World Wars, and it was a US-led coalition that liberated Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm. What was different about the Flying Tigers was that they were volunteers, fighting an enemy superior in numbers and equipment.
The Flying Tigers received many honours American and Chinese. About to celebrate their 50th reunion in 1992, they were retroactively recognized as members of the U.S. military services during the seven months in combat against the Japanese. Their team was then awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for "professionalism, dedication to duty, and extraordinary heroism." And in 1996 their pilots received the Distinguished Flying Cross and their ground crew were all awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

#Flyingtigers #veterans #WW2