The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

Ukrainian-American inventor and aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky was originally from Kyiv and emigrated to the United States in 1919. During the 1920s and 1930s he designed and built a number of amphibians, among which were:

- The twin-engine Sikorsky S-39, which first flew in 1928. 101 were built.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-38

-- The smaller single-engine S-39, which first flew in 1929. 21 were built.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-39

-- The more modern twin-engine S-43, purchased by airlines and the Navy, which designated it as the JRS (JR = utility transport; S = Sikorsky). The JRS was still in service at the beginning of WWII.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-43

Some of these Sikorsky amphibians were used as "air yachts" by wealthy individuals.

Within a few years, though, Sikorsky's attentions turned to inventing and producing the first practical American helicopters.

The final photo is of a Sikorsky JRS that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 and has been preserved in its original scheme.

[Llarry]

Igor Sikorsky was an aircraft designer of many talents. During the World War I era, he designed and built heavy bombers for the Russian Air Force. He emigrated to the U.S. and by 1919 turned his considerable talents to other aviation innovations. He had been trying to work out a practical helicopter early on, but in the meantime designed amphibians and flying boats.

The Sikorsky S-42 (and its progenitor, the S-40) were among the largest flying boats of the early 1930s and were used by Pan American Airways with the name Clipper. 10 were built.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-42

By the late 1930s he was making progress with his helicopter experiments; his Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 is considered the first American helicopter. It first flew in 1940.

https://en.wikipedia.org/Vought-Sikorsky_VS-300

By 1942, Sikorsky had further developed the concept and 131 examples of his R-4 (USAAF designation = R for Rotary; Navy designation HNS = HN Helo Trainer; S = Sikorsy) were produced during the war. The UK Royal Air Force and Royal Navy bought 52 of the total as the Hoverfly. The R-4 was very limited in payload, crude and difficult to fly, but it was a start and it established the pattern for most of today's helicopters with a single large main rotor and a smaller rear anti-torque rotor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_R-4

[Llarry]

A very long narrowbody airliner: The Douglas DC-8 Series 61. The DC-8-61 was stretched to 187.3 feet in length. The Boeing 707 was the 800-pound gorilla of the four-engine jet airliner market, but Douglas sold some of these, too.

Very few DC-8s are still in service carrying cargo -- none of the long ones like this.

[Llarry]

While Sikorsky was the first to fly a viable helicopter in the USA, Piasecki was not too far behind and with Frank Piasecki's tandem rotor design, his helicopter's useful load was greater. The Piasecki XHRP (X = experimental, HR = helicopter transport, P = Piasecki) first flew in 1945 and the production HRP flew in 1947. The Marine Corps was particularly interested, having just experienced the bloody amphibious assaults of World War II, and began experiments as soon as they could get their hands on the HRP. The Marines formed a test squadron, HMX-1, to test the new concept of helicopter assaults. (HMX-1 morphed over the years into the current squadron that transports the president of the U.S. by helo.)

From those early tandem rotor beginnings have come a whole line of twin-rotor helicopters, culminating in today's heavy-lift H-47 Chinook.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_HRP_Rescuer

Note that the first photo of the 1945 prototype has five persons on board; Sikorsky couldn't touch that capability for several more years.

[hubbahubba]

Back in May of 2014, we lived in San Marcos, CA. This particular fire got within a quarter mile of our home. I had snapped this pic just before evacuating, and sent to a friend. I had forgotten I took it, and a few days ago he sent it back to me. I figure this is a good spot for it.

[Llarry]

Aircraft instrument panels have evolved a lot in the past several decades. Through the 1970s, the panels used round dials and individual switches -- that type of panel is now known as "steam gauges" as if they belonged to an old steam locomotive.

Starting in the 1970s, the manufacturers started putting multifunction displays in panels; these had buttons around the periphery to control the display or functions. Often some old-fashioned round dials were present as well to reassure the doubtful in case the screens went dark. As time went on, pilot confidence in the new systems increased and these backup gauges disappeared.

The latest generation instrument panels have large flat panels with touch controls; these are configurable in various ways. The F-35, for instance, has single large 20" wide x 8" high panoramic display flat panel.

Almost all these modern aircraft have heads-up displays (HUDs) that also give the pilot(s) critical information and many modern military aircraft also have information display within the pilot's helmet visor.

Photos: (in order)
-- F-104
-- B707
-- Early F-15
-- F-16
-- Late F-16
-- B787
-- F-35

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Llarry

A very long narrowbody airliner: The Douglas DC-8 Series 61. The DC-8-61 was stretched to 187.3 feet in length. The Boeing 707 was the 800-pound gorilla of the four-engine jet airliner market, but Douglas sold some of these, too.

Very few DC-8s are still in service carrying cargo -- none of the long ones like this.

Loved working the DC8! Took a bit to get to 200kts, but once there it could maintain it all the way to the OM!

[hubbahubba]

Does posting from an airplane count? Columbia River below us.

[BMWGUYinCO]

"Ummmmmmmmm.....honey? Great news, I won an eBay auction...."

[Maynard]

Ikea makes airplanes?

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

"Ummmmmmmmm.....honey? Great news, I won an eBay auction...."

I'm guessing it's a Spitfire.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

I'm guessing it's a Spitfire.

Or perhaps a Hurricane? (hard to tell from this angle)

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Or perhaps a Hurricane? (hard to tell from this angle)

Good point. The shape of the canopy might suggest just that.

[Llarry]

The U.S. Navy "Fist of the Fleet" squadron, Strike Fighter Squadron 25 recently resurrected a historical tradition of the past: The toilet bomb.

In November of 1965, an Attack Squadron 25 "Fist of the Fleet" A-1 Skyraider dropped a toilet, along with other ordnance, on Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam as a joke. The did it up right with squadron markings, etc., but no explosives, of course.

Now they've fabricated a toilet bomb again -- again with squadron markings. I'm pretty sure they just mounted it to a bomb rack and never flew with it or dropped it but it's an interesting tribute to squadron lore.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

I'm guessing it's a Spitfire.

Originally Posted by Llarry

Or perhaps a Hurricane? (hard to tell from this angle)

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Good point. The shape of the canopy might suggest just that.

Inverted French flag on the vertical stabilizer (in principle non-inverted on the right hand side) + roundel of the French air force (Armée de l'Air) (though should be a red-colored roundel with a blue dot separated by white: French flag colors) + low cantilever wing: maybe a Bloch MB.151 (WW2 era) ?

[vreihen16]

The Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in NYC lifted their Concorde (G-BOAD) from the pier onto a barge yesterday, for a ride to the Brooklyn Navy Yard where it will undergo a 14-month exterior restoration. It was sad to see how bad the paint deteriorated over the 15 years (you may be old) it has been on the pier as part of the museum's collection.....

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

"Ummmmmmmmm.....honey? Great news, I won an eBay auction...."

$200!

Where do we put it?

We’ll find a place for it somewhere

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Artemis

maybe a Bloch MB.151 (WW2 era) ?

I don't want to hijack the LOL thread, so my counterpoint is in the Airplane thread.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Artemis

maybe a Bloch MB.151 (WW2 era) ?

I did some research and I believe that this airplane is Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P3717 (G-HITT)


https://warbirdaviation.co.uk/Profil...rricane-p3717/

The Bloch MB-151 had a radial engine and I was not able to find any with a rear view mirror. The "French colors" did not denote the Country of origin and also note the yellow outer roundel on the fuselage.

I stand to be corrected.

[Llarry]

In 1947, the U.S. Army Air Forces were split from the Army and became the U.S. Air Force, essentially taking all the Army's aircraft with them.

The first fixed-wing airplane to be ordered by the U.S. Army after the split was a liaison aircraft -- the Cessna L-19. The L-19 Bird Dog was based on the four-seat civilian Cessna 170 but had a slimmer fuselage with tandem seating for two and improved vision from side, rear and upper windows. The designed missions were medical evacuation and above all, battlefield observation. The L-19 could be armed with small rockets to mark targets for strike aircraft. It first flew in 1949 and a total of 3,431 of the sturdy aircraft were built through 1959. The U.S. Marine Corps also bought some as the OE (O = Observation & E = Cessna). The L-19 and OE soon saw action in the Korean war.

In the 1962 tri-service aircraft redesignation, the L-19 and OE became the O-1 and the Army, Air Force and Marines all used the O-1 during the Vietnam war. It was finally replaced by much larger and more expensive twin-engine Cessna O-2s and North American OV-10s. Quite a few O-1s still fly on the civil registry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_O-1_Bird_Dog

[Boomer 2019]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Ikea makes airplanes?

Nope - Hawker does. The fabric covered fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and rudder, as well as the multi paned canopy positively identify this as a Hurricane. The Spitfire is all aluminum with the exception of the fabric covered control surfaces, and has a single piece molded canopy.

I wonder if he got this on Bring a Trailer.

[NikMN]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

"Ummmmmmmmm.....honey? Great news, I won an eBay auction...."

Clarkson did it in old top gear episode. Not sure if it for real or staged for the show