The first time we used hydrogen for civil aviation, it all ended rather badly, since then when you ever mention hydrogen-powered flight the first thing many people think of is the Hindenburg, but the times they are a-changing and with the pressure to find new non-fossil fuels for aircraft, will …
What Happened to the Soviet Supersonic Jump Jets?
When you think of vertical take of and landing aircraft other than helicopters, probably the first ones that spring to mind is the now-retired Harrier Jump jet and the much more recent Lockheed F-35B and this might make you wonder why there haven’t been more of them around. Well, what’s …
What Happened to the Flying Wing?
They are some of the most unusual aircraft of the past 80 years, responsible for sightings of UFO’s across the US and became the most expensive plane ever built and all from the principle that they are the most aerodynamic of any plane design and yet they fell into obscurity …
What happened to the British aircraft industry?
The British aircraft industry from the later part of WW1 up until the 1950’s was one of biggest in the world with a large number manufacturers building some of the most iconic planes of the time as well as creating groundbreaking technologies like the jet engine and onboard radar. So …
Merlin – The Engine that Won the War
Now it may sound like a bit of a bold claim that one engine helped change the course of world war 2 but when you look at the evidence you will see that it has a lot of validity, but it wasn’t the only good engine around at the time, …
The Rise and Fall of the British Rocket Jet Fighter – The SR-177
During the 1950s NATO faced a new threat from Soviet Union, western intelligence believed they were building a fleet of supersonic nuclear bombers that could fly higher and faster than anything NATO had including it’s interceptors. The UK’s response was to create a groundbreaking fighter that not only would outperform …
How Dangerous are Jet Contrails & Rocket Exhaust ?
The sight of contrails above us in the skies is a common one, especially in the developed world since the advent of the jet engine and at around same time we have had a much less prevalent but equally potent kind of exhaust from rocket engines but just how dangerous …
What happened to the Ekranoplan? – The Caspian Sea Monster
In 1967, whilst the U.S’s first spy satellite ‘Corona’ was busy photographing the Soviet Union, something unusual was spotted. It looked like a massive plane, but its wings were too short, it also sported the Soviet Navy Flag on it fuselage, so what was it? Maybe an unfinished aircraft or …
TSR.2 – The Plane Shot Down by its Own Government
Its said that Modern aircraft have four dimensions – span, length, height, and politics. The TSR.2 was a world-beating jet bomber, which “got the first three right”, but ultimately fell foul of the last one. In 1957 British aviation was flying high, it was producing the most advanced jets in …
V Bombers – Vulcan, Victor & Valiant – The Last British Bombers
It took just 11 years to go from the first flight of the Lancaster Bomber in 1941 to the first flight of the VX770, the prototype Vulcan bomber in 1952. Yet the difference between them could hardly be greater, the Vulcan along with the Victor and Valiant was a new …