My aviation tribute thread

C

Cypress

Well-known member
Yes, I am a geek for beautiful aircraft.

The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, other popular names include the "Brisfit" or "Biff". Although the type was intended initially as a replacement for the pre-war Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c reconnaissance aircraft, the newly-available Rolls-Royce Falcon V12 engine gave it the performance of a two-seat fighter.

Despite a disastrous start to its career, the definitive F.2B version proved to be an agile aircraft that was able to hold its own against opposing single-seat fighters; its robust design ensured that it remained in military service into the 1930s. Many surplus aircraft were registered for civilian use, and dedicated civilian versions proved popular. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_F.2_Fighter
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The Kalinin K-7 was a heavy experimental aircraft designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. It was of unusual configuration, with twin booms and large underwing pods housing fixed landing gear and machine gun turrets. In the passenger version, seats were arranged inside the 2.3-meter thick (7 ft 7 in) wings. The airframe was welded from KhMA chrome-molybdenum steel. The original design called for six engines in the wing leading edge, but when the projected loaded weight was exceeded, two more engines were added to the trailing edges of the wing, one right and one left of the central passenger pod.
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The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their air wings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II
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The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5. Civilian models were uses as bush planes in the Canadian wilderness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Model_F
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The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force.[2] It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird
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Cypress said:
Beauty, eh??!

Holy smoke, I really do love the German Triplane.
Something really appealing about all those old pre-1930 planes at the dawn of aviation -- to me anyway.
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Same here. I used to build models of them when I was a kid. My dad hung them from the ceiling in my room. Used to lay in bed in the morning and dream I could fly in one. Yeah, I was a nerd. lol
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Same here. I used to build models of them when I was a kid. My dad hung them from the ceiling in my room. Used to lay in bed in the morning and dream I could fly in one. Yeah, I was a nerd. lol
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I spotted a biplane flying in the skies over Canton Ohio the other day. Pretty kewl.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Wouldn't it be so cool to fly in one, especially the open cockpit type?
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It sure would. Super maneuverable. The one I spotted the other day was flying so slowly, it was practically hovering.

I built Guillow's balsa and paper model planes when I was a kid. They could actually fly. You could use rubber band power, or tiny internal combustion engines. They still make them. If I ever get to retire, maybe I'll take it up again, lol.

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My favorite as a kid.
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ThatOwlWoman said:
Same here. I used to build models of them when I was a kid. My dad hung them from the ceiling in my room. Used to lay in bed in the morning and dream I could fly in one. Yeah, I was a nerd. lol
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What a geek!
Just kidding. Nothing nerdy about that at all. I used to spend countless hours putting those model airplanes together when I was a kid (sniffing the glue fumes might explain my brain damage - j/k) , and anytime my father and I passed the hobby store, I would beg him to buy me another model airplane kit.

It is a lost art, I tell ya!
 
Cypress said:
What a geek!
Just kidding. Nothing nerdy about that at all. I used to spend countless hours putting those model airplanes together when I was a kid (sniffing the glue fumes might explain my brain damage - j/k) , and anytime my father and I passed the hobby store, I would beg him to buy me another model airplane kit.

It is a lost art, I tell ya!
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The shellac used to coat the tissue paper on balsa/paper models was actually called "airplane dope". Lol.

We had a little hobby store right in our little residential neighborhood, I was a regular customer.
 
The Stearman 4 is an American commercial biplane that was manufactured in the 1920s by Stearman Aircraft.
They were marketed at the time as fast and luxurious executive transports and mail planes. The aircraft's rugged construction helped it survive heavy handling and loads, and thirteen remained on the U.S. Civil Register in 1965. Several were operated as crop dusters, with their forward mail compartment converted into a hopper. Many later passed to private owners of veteran planes and are airworthy or in museums. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearman_4
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Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG 3
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. In about two years of operations, she was the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first of two female fighter pilots who have earned the title of fighter ace and the holder of the record for the greatest number of kills by a female fighter pilot. She was shot down near Orel during the Battle of Kursk as she attacked a formation of German aeroplanes.
Litvyak served in the 437 IAP aerial regiment equipped with Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG 3s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Litvyak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov_LaGG-3
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countryboy said:
It sure would. Super maneuverable. The one I spotted the other day was flying so slowly, it was practically hovering.

I built Guillow's balsa and paper model planes when I was a kid. They could actually fly. You could use rubber band power, or tiny internal combustion engines. They still make them. If I ever get to retire, maybe I'll take it up again, lol.

My favorite as a kid.
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Those are so much cooler than the crappy balsa play planes we got as kids! They'd fly maybe 2-3 times then fall apart.
 
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