Following on from yesterday's closing post for the Warbird Tails 2018 advent calendar I wanted to take some time this evening to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and hope that you have all had a great day. I certainly have with a fair few aviation themed gifts that will no doubt provide further … Continue reading Merry Christmas 2018 from Warbird Tails
As the New Year approaches, it's almost impossible to avoid getting a little nostalgic for years gone by. Whether that be family, friends or passions in life, special days from the past will always come to the fore again. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/45897699191/in/album-72157702137798501/Over the last few years since starting this website I've learnt to not take anything in this … Continue reading Warbird History: A Shared Experience
New Spitfires joining the worldwide population are still an incredibly regular occurrence which is a great testament to those involved in resurrecting these classic fighters. 2018 saw a real resurgence in one of the most elegant variants of the iconic fighter, the Mk V. While none of the aircraft featured were technically "new" restorations, a … Continue reading Airshow Moment 6 – Five Vs “Baby Spit” Revival
I've always been a big fan of World War 2 aircraft, which won't be of a surprise to any of you. Over the past few years though, the fascinating journey of technology that First World War development of aircraft started to become a real source of interest for me. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/45219947974/in/photostream/ As you'll know from my … Continue reading Warbird Stories: Simply Sopwith
As the year draws to a close it is time for a look back at a number of individual moments from airshows across the season that I feel deserve a more detailed report than the original event reviews allowed. This gives the chance to share more photographs from specific displays and expand on the significance … Continue reading Airshow Moments 2018 1 – Anniversary Avros – Anson & Lancaster at Old Warden
The Percival Provost (commonly known as “Piston Provost” thanks to its well known jet powered development) first flew in February 1950 and was designed as a training aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The Provost featured all metal construction and a tailwheel configuration. A notable change from the iconic trainers of the interwar and war … Continue reading In Profile: The Percival Piston Provost
Continuing on from the previous post based around the P-47 operations manual and how a new pilot would have been expected to approach that type. This post adds to the Curtiss series of this site with an insight into how a new pilot would approach the P-40. It should be noted that though this post … Continue reading Learning the Legends – Flying the Curtiss P-40 “By the Book” – WW2 Pilots Notes Review
The de Havilland Canada Chipmunk is well loved by pilots and considered to be one of the finest flying machines every built. The original Chipmunk design is now over 70 years old, with the type first taking to the skies in May 1946. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/45944034981/in/dateposted/ The Chipmunk was designed, developed and initially manufactured in Canada with … Continue reading Aircraft Profile: de Havilland Canada Chipmunk
2018 (or early 2019) looks set to see the third airworthy Mosquito to emerge from the incredible talented team at AvSpecs in New Zealand. It's hard to even conceive that six or seven years ago we had been without that iconic shape and sound in the sky for over a decade. With KA114 now being … Continue reading Mosquito Revival
This time 73 years ago saw an historic feat take place on Royal Navy carrier HMS Ocean. Ocean, which was originally completed in November 1945, clearly missed out on any wartime service. However, it did have the honour of being the last carrier to operate the Fairey Swordfish before retirement. It also saw the early … Continue reading First Jet Carrier Landing Anniversary – December 1945
