Ford Trimotor
The Ford Trimotor is a civil transport aircraft manufactured by Ford. It was nicknamed as Tin Goose.
The Ford Trimotor’s maiden flight was on June 11, 1926 and was introduced in 1929. Between 1926 and 1933, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were built, including 79 of the 4-AT variant and 117 of the 5-AT variant, plus some other experimental aircraft. There are over 100 airlines of the world flying the Ford Trimotor. Notable pilots such as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart have flown the Ford Trimotor.
Other notable accomplishments and feats of the Ford Trimotor were the first commercial flight from the United States to Mexico City and the first commercial flight over the Canadian Rockies. In 1936, it suffered damage on landing and was grounded and remained for decades at Carcross Yukon. In 1956, the wreck was salvaged and preserved. In the mid 1980s, Greg Herrick took over C-1077 and began restoring it. As of 2006, C-1077 is brought to flying condition and was restored to its December 1927 appearance. As of 2007, there are 18 Ford Trimotors that exist and six of which are in flying condition. Other Ford Trimotors are on display in museums, including the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washignton, D.C., the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Henry Ford Museum and the San Diego Air and Space Museum. There’s a total of 199 Trimotors built. Primary users and operators of the Ford Trimotor are the United States Army Air Corps, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and over 100 airlines operate the Trimotor.
The Ford Trimotor has a crew of 3 and a seating for 8 passengers. It has a maximum speed of 150 mph and a range of 550 mi. It incorporates 3 Pratt & Wasp C 9-cylinder radial engines.
E-3 Sentry
AV-8 Harrier
T-37 Tweet
The Cessna T-37 Tweet is a small, twin-engine jet primarily used by the USAF for training undergraduate pilots, undergraduate navigator and tactical navigator students in fundamentals of aircraft handling, and instrument, formation and night flying. The T-37 Tweet military trainer aircraft first flew in October 1954.
The twin engines and flying characteristics of the T-37 give student pilots the feel for handling the larger, faster T-38 Talon or T-1A Jayhawk later in the undergraduate pilot training course. The instructor and student sit side by side for more effective training. The cockpit has dual controls, ejection seats and a clamshell-type canopy that can be jettisoned. The T-37 has a hydraulically operated speed brakes, tricycle landing gear and a steerable nose wheel. Six rubber-cell, interconnected fuel tanks in each wing feed the main tank in the fuselage.
The T-37 Tweet is still in active service with the U.S military. A total of 1,269 T-37s were built, and 419 remain in the U.S. Air Force inventory. All were repainted in a distinctive dark blue and white to help formation training and to ease maintenance.
Specifications (T-37 Tweet)
Type: Trainer aircraft
Manufacturer: Cessna Aircraft Co.
Crew: Two, student pilot and instructor pilot
Engine: Two Continental J69-T-25 turbojet engines with 1,025 pounds (461.25 kilograms) of thrust
Length: 29 feet, 3 inches (8.9 meters)
Width: 33.79 feet (10.30 m)
Height: 9 feet, 2 inches (2.8 meters)
Empty Weight: 3.869 lbs (1.755 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 6,625 pounds (2,981 kilograms)
Wingspan: 33 feet, 8 inches (10.2 meters)
Speed: 315 mph (Mach 0.4 at sea level)
Ceiling: 35,000 feet (10.6 kilometers)
Range: 460 miles (400 nautical miles)
Armament: T-37B, none; T-37C has provisions for external armament
S-2 Tracker
The Grumman S-2 Tracker, previously known as the S2F, was the first single airframe, anti-submarine warfare aircraft to enter service with the US Navy. Its predecessor, the AF-2 Guardian, was the first aircraft system for ASW, using two airframes, one with the detection gear, and the other with the weapons.
Grumman produced 1,185 Trackers. Another 99 aircraft carrying the CS2F designation were manufactured in Canada under license by de Havilland Canada. US-built versions of the Tracker were sold to various nations, including Australia, Japan and Taiwan.
In the late 1980s and early 90s, Conair Aviation of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada took possession of retired US and Canadian Trackers and converted them into Firecats. The Firecats were made in two variants, a piston engine Firecat and a turboprop-powered Turbo Firecat.
Specifications (S2 Tracker)
Wingspan: 70 ft
Length: 42 ft
Range: 920 mi
Maximum Speed 288 mph
Service Ceiling 17,717 ft
Armament: 2 x homing torpedoes; 6 x underwing hardpoints for torpedoes
T-37 Tweet
S-2 Tracker
Hindenburg
The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a German zeppelin, named after Paul von Hindenburg, the president of Germany from 1925 to 1934. During its second year of service, it was destroyed by a fire while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937.
The Hindenburg was built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1931 to a new, all-duralumin design. It was a visually striking “ship of the air”, at 804 feet long and 135 feet in diameter. It was longer than three Boeing 747s placed end to end, longer than four Goodyear Blimps end to end, and only 79 feet shorter than the Titanic. Along with its sister ship the Graf Zeppelin II, the Hindenburg was the largest aircraft ever built.
During its first year of commercial operation in 1936, the Hindenburg flew 308,323 km carrying 2,798 passengers and 160 tons of freight and mail. It made 17 round trips across the Atlantic Ocean, with ten trips to the US and seven to Brazil. In July of that year it also completed a record Atlantic double-crossing in 5 days, 19 hours and 51 minutes. The German boxer Max Schmeling returned home on the Hindenburg to a hero’s welcome in Frankfurt, after defeating Joe Louis. On August 1 the Hindenburg was present at the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
On the night of May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany for Lakehurst Naval Air Station. The ship arrived in America on May 6. At 6:25 pm local time, the Hindenburg caught fire and quickly became engulfed in flames. Thirty-six people died in the accident, which was widely reported by film, photographic, and radio media. The incident is widely remembered as one of the most dramatic accidents of modern time. The cause of the accident has never been determined, although many theories, some highly controversial, have been proposed.
C-133 Cargomaster
The C-133 Cargomaster was the second and largest turboprop transport to be accepted by the United States Air Force. It was the largest cargo plane in the Free World at the time, capable of carrying 100,000 pounds for more than 2,000 nautical miles. Conceived as an air transport for intercontinental ballistic missiles, the C-133 Cargomaster was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company between 1956 and 1961, with fifty aircraft being produced.
The Cargomaster had a spacious cargo area. For many years, it was the only aircraft capable of hauling very large or very heavy cargo. It represented 1940s technology, powered by four 3,600 horsepower radial piston engines. The C-133 made its maiden flight on April 23, 1956. Exhaustive testing, evaluation, and some design refinements eventually resulted in a combat support aircraft that served warfighters well into the Vietnam era.
In 1958, the C-133 began flying Military Air Transport Service air routes throughout the world, and two Cargomasters established transatlantic speed records for transport aircraft on their first flights to Europe. Douglas built and delivered the last aircraft in 1961. NASA used it to drop-test early space capsules and to transport a variety of space products. By 1971, shortly before the introduction of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, the Cargomaster was worn out, and all aircraft were withdrawn from service in 1971. The Air Force managed the C-133 fleet to keep as many as possible in service until the C-5 finally entered squadron service.
Specifications (C-133B)
Payload: 110,000 lb (50,000 kg)
Length: 157 ft 6 in (48.0 m)
Wingspan: 179 ft 8 in (54.8 m)
Height: 48 ft 3 in (14.7 m)
Wing area: 2,673.1 ft² (248.34 m²)
Empty weight: 109,417 lb (49,631 kg)
Loaded weight: 275,000 lb (125,000 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 275,000 lb (C-133A) / 286,000 lb (C-133B) (125,000 kg (C-133A) / 130,000 kg (C-133B))
Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney T34-P-9W turboprops, 7,500 shp (5,586 kW) each
Maximum speed: 312 kt (359 mph / 578 km/h)
Cruise speed: 280 kt (322 mph / 519 km/h)
Range: 3,560 nm with 52,000 lb (23,587 kg) payload (4,097 mi / 6,590 km)
Service ceiling: 32,300 ft (9,800 m)
Tucano
The Tucano is a turboprop basic trainer aircraft manufactured by Short Brothers.
The Tucano was developed by the British Short Brothers company as a replacement for the Jet Provost as the basic trainer for the Royal Air Force (RAF), as laid down in Air. In 1985, the Tucano was selected in preference to the Swiss Pilatus PC-9 and the British Hunting Firecracker. On February 14, 1986, the first Garrett engined Tucano first flew, and on December 30, 1986, the first production aircraft flew. In 1989, since its first deliveries to the RAF, the Tucano has been operated primarily from No 1 Flying Training School at RAF Linton-on-Ouse to provide basic fast-jet flying training to RAF and Royal Navy (RN) student pilots. The deployment is officially to 72 Squadron, 207 Squadron and 76 Squadron. Training course on the Tucano requires student pilots fly around 130 hours during their training course before progressing to the Hawk T1 aircraft at RAF Valley. The Tucano has been proven to be 70% cheaper operationally than its predecessor.
The Tucano has a crew of one to two. It has a maximum speed of 274 kn and a range of 900 nmi. It incorporates a Garrett TPE331-12B turboprop. Armament includes 1,000 lb of stores on four underwing hardpoints.