When the aircraft was introduced
The first non-stop flight from America to Europe was accomplished in 1919 by the Vickers “Vimy” Bomber, a bi-motored Rolls-Royce airplane, piloted by Captain John Alcock and navigated by Lieut. Arthur W. Brown.
The trip started at St. Johns, Newfoundland, at 12.13 P.M., New York time, on Saturday, June 14, 1919 and 16 hours and [...]
The year 1919 was memorable in the history of aviation for the first successful flight across the Atlantic, achieved by aviators of the United States Navy using NC flying boats, jointly developed by the United States Navy and the Curtiss Engineering Corporation, the N in the designation standing for navy and the C for Curtiss. [...]
In 1920, the Nieuport-Delage Ni-D 29 was the fastest airplane in the world. Designed by the Nieuport firm for the French Aviation Militaire in 1918, the Ni-D 29 appeared too late for combat in WWI. Following its record-breaking performance in the 1920 Gordon Bennett Trophy race, when it flew 168 miles per hour, it was [...]
How do you fire a machine gun through the arc of a spinning propeller? Early in 1915, aviators engaged in the First World War wanted to solve that problem. Obviously, the bullets of the machine gun would smash a propeller to bits. So far in the war, German, French, and British airmen had fired [...]
This late variant of Nieuport’s biplanes was used mainly by American pilots, notably Eddie Rickenbacker, the French having switched over to Spads.
The Type 28 looked quite different from the earlier Nieuports: it had a longer, rounded fuselage; it dispensed with the sesquiplane configuration (and the associated V struts); and it had rounded, not angular wingtips. [...]
The most successful of the Nieuport biplanes of WWI, flown by the French, British, Americans, Italians, and Russians. Often referred to in contemporary sources as the “15 meter” Nieuport (based on its total wing surface).
During the summer of 1916, many months after the appearance of the Fokker, the French produced the Nieuport 17, armed with [...]
Early in World War Two, American fliers thought they were facing a “wonder weapon,” in the Pacific: Japan’s A6M2 Zero, the main fighter plane of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It flew rings around the Brewster Buffalo’s, the Bell P-39’s, and (to a lesser extent) the Grumman F4F Wildcats. The Zero pilots were superb; [...]
With a distinctive large spinner, the Morane-Saulnier N looks, at least to the modern eye, better than the Parasol Type L, it met with much less success.
While the Type N was a graceful-looking aircraft, with an advanced, aerodynamic design, it was not easy to fly due to its stiff controls (using wing warping instead [...]
The B.II, a two-seater reconnaissance plane, was the first airplane that established Albatros’ reputation, and was the forerunner of many successfaul craft from that manufacturer. Designed by Ernst Heinkel, it set an altitude record of 14,765 feet early in its career. It was produced in large numbers in the first half of the war.
The seating [...]
The A.E.G. B.II only saw service in the early months of the war, after which more modern types replaced it. It’s follow-on version, the A.E.G. C series was produced in larger numbers in 1915 and 1916, and served throughout the war.
Top Speed: n.a.
Manufacturer: A.E.G.
Year: 1914
Engine: 120 h.p.
Wingspan: 42 feet 7 inches
Weight: [...]
