70 years ago next month, on the 8th May, the Second World War in Europe came to an end. While air power had become an important factor during the Great War, this was the first major conflict where it had been a key component right from the start. When thinking about the Second World War … Continue reading Storch VS Cub – Final Days of WW2
On the 1st December 1910, Glen Curtiss founded the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and with that, a long line of aircraft design and production began. One of the earliest designs to come out of the company was the Curtiss Pusher. Built in a similar fashion to the Wright Flyer, the aircraft was a busy picture of … Continue reading The Curtiss Aeroplane Company
This weeks Warbird Stories features the unsung hero of the Battle Of Britain: The Hawker Hurricane: Tomorrow marks 79 years since the prototype Hurricane, K5083 first flew from Brooklands airfield in Surrey. Building on the success of the Fury line of Hawker bi-planes, featuring similar steel tube construction with fabric covering. It used the now … Continue reading 79 Years Young: The Hawker Hurricane UK Survivors
Another story from my American trip earlier this year: this time from Pennsylvania. On the weekend of the 6th/7th/8th of June the Reading based Mid Atlantic Air Museum hosted their Second World War weekend and airshow. With Friday billed as a practice and pleasure flight day and Saturday and Sunday full shows, the event provided … Continue reading Mid Atlantic Air Museum: Reading World War Two Weekend June 6th-8th 2014
The 14th October this year marked the 76h anniversary of the first flight of the Curtiss P-40, which took place in 1938 at Buffalo, New York. It was to become an important Second World War fighter, though often forgotten in favour of its more famous cousins. The P-40 was used in a number of theatres, most … Continue reading Curtiss Reunion – The UK’s Curtiss Hawks
Home to some of the most important and historical airframes in the country, the RAF Museum’s London site at Hendon always provides an interesting visit. With the airshow season over I had been thinking about visiting the museum, as I hadn’t been for over a year. As luck would have it I spotted a link … Continue reading Event Review – RAF Museum Hendon Open Cockpits Evening
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
Its an idea that has been thrown along for as long as I can remember, it seemed simple enough, there are two flying Lancasters in the world, why not get them together? While on paper it sounds easy, there is the small issue that a rather large ocean separates them. Unlike their smaller warbird cousins … Continue reading When Vera Came To Stay: The Lancaster Tour 2014
Warbird Tails 