http://acepilots.com/airplanes Photos and summaries of historical aircraft Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:52:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/american/model-p47/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/american/model-p47/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 20:40:09 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=622 made for me by my friend Fred Olds]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/american/model-p47/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/spad-svii/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/spad-svii/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:28:47 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=552 The famed American volunteers of the French Lafayette Escadrille were flying the SPAD VII in February 1918 at the time they transferred to the U.S. Army Air Service, becoming the 103rd Aero Squadron. Several other U.S. units also used the SPAD VII, although most American Expeditionary Force (AEF) fighter squadrons were equipped with the improved version, [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/spad-svii/feed/ 1 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/supermarine-spitfire/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/supermarine-spitfire/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:35:08 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=581 Probably the most famous British aircraft of all time, the great fighter played a secondary role in the Battle of Britain to the less glamourous Hawker Hurricane. But the Spitfire’s elegant looks, excellent handling characteristics, and huge production give it a unique place in aviation history. There was a bit of happenstance in the Spitfire’s [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/supermarine-spitfire/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-delage-29/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-delage-29/#comments Thu, 15 May 2008 18:05:15 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=538 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 [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-delage-29/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/morane-saulnier-l/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/morane-saulnier-l/#comments Sat, 10 May 2008 14:24:11 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=536 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 at [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/morane-saulnier-l/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-28/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-28/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 02:38:34 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=532 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 [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-28/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-17/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-17/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 19:23:08 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=529 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 [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1910/nieuport-17/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1940/mitsubishi-a6m-zero/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1940/mitsubishi-a6m-zero/#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 20:38:59 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=520 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; their [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/era/1940/mitsubishi-a6m-zero/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/bristol-m1c/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/bristol-m1c/#comments Sat, 03 May 2008 19:45:54 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=501 One of the fastest planes of its time, the Bristol M.1C monoplane fell victim to official concern about its stability and the perceived hazards of its high landing speed. There seemed to be an official distrust of monoplanes by the British authorities, and the M.1 was much-delayed. Finally some were sent to the Middle East [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/bristol-m1c/feed/ 0 http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/airco-dh5/ http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/airco-dh5/#comments Sat, 03 May 2008 19:29:29 +0000 Stephen http://acepilots.com/airplanes/?p=499 An unusual-looking biplane with a reverse stagger of the wings, the upper being set back just aft of the cockpit, to allow better visibility for the pilot. The idea was to combine the superior performance of a tractor biplane with the unobstructured pilot’s forward view of a pusher type. In May, 1917, No. 24 and [...]]]> http://acepilots.com/airplanes/country/british/airco-dh5/feed/ 0