I certainly wasn't expecting the first aviation outing of 2019 to feature one of the rarest airworthy jets in the world. While the sight of a flying Gloster Meteor in the traditionally quiet early January was a welcome treat, it was most definitely bittersweet in that it would mark the final touchdown of a UK … Continue reading Gloster Meteor NF11 G-LOSM/WM167 Final Flight – Bruntingthorpe 5th January 2019
In this penultimate part of the Aero Engines series, I take a look at a small selection of the very first steps into jet power that spread from the early days of World War 2 right through to the early 1950s. By the late 1930s things were starting to move in the jet design world. … Continue reading Aero Engines of History Part 5 – Dawn of the Jet Age
As well as the long running Curtiss series which has formed much of the recent Warbird Tails reflection, I also wanted to focus in on a number of unsung types that narrowly missed their chance to have time to shine and enter production. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127965535@N04/34660976833/in/dateposted-public/ I previosuly took a look at the XF5F Skyrocket, the aerial … Continue reading Gloster F.5/34 – What Might Have Been
The first part of this what if series took a little imagination, it saw two German WW1 fighters in hypothetical combat. This made for an interesting, if unlikely comparison. https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/21876035834/in/photolist-zk7piC-zZwPrh-AeQMUf-Ai7NU6-zZCuVr-AfXgiG-Ai7LYn-Ah8YQB-zZt3LE-Ai2ML4-Ah3SPP-Ah3S3Z-AeKgmw-Ah3suB-AhLtvg-ztvJDZ-tYPJMd-qdzF62-p6fbS9-f89gyT-f6R6bT-tJGM5k-u1LMY3-rPNKL3-s7c8dd-rdo5WJ-qY4Jx1-qY3FTd-rfCxvp-qBU2jz-nA16fD-ngytqN-ngyiaZ-ny429x-n1cmXr-fZRxeh-fZRLae-fZRgEk-fZRaiw-fZR6y9-fFdwYQ-evXUep-ecv18k-dYR3Zq-dYKmex-dYR3XC-dYKmdK-dYKmen-cykASj-cykARd Todays situation is one that was much more likely to come to pass and would have presented the first jet against jet dogfight in history. … Continue reading Warbird Tails What If – ME262 Vs Gloster Meteor
This May marks 75 years since an eccentric looking little aircraft coded W4041/G took to the skies for the first time. It surely would have grabbed plenty of attention to anyone giving this new machine a passing glance as it was missing something fairly crucial; the propellor. As early as 1941 Britain had seen its … Continue reading Britain’s First Jet: The Gloster E28/39
The first part in this new Jet age series begins with the first allied operational Jet; The Gloster Meteor. Early Days One can't look at the early days of Jet aircraft in Britain without mentioning Sir Frank Whittle, who had pioneered jet powered flight during the second world war, culminating with the first flight of … Continue reading Cold War Jets Part 1: Gloster Meteor
With 2014 about to draw to a close I couldn’t resist the temptation of putting together one more list of highlights of the year. I’ve been lucky this year to attend a number of impressive airshows and tick a few boxes off the bucket list! In no particular order… Flight in Commemorative Air Force B24 … Continue reading Warbird Tails “Best of” 2014
This weeks Warbird Story takes a look at the Gloster Gladiator. Regarded by many as the aircraft that marks the end of the old biplanes and in many ways bridged the gap to the fighters of the late 30s: Britain’s aviation industry in 1934 still had the same core concepts as it did during the … Continue reading Gloster’s Go-Between: The Gladiator
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