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AAHS Journal, Vol. 49, No. 2 - Summer 2004 Table of Contents
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Flying
Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: Project FICON Section 4: Systems &
Operations
On August 1, 1950, the
Headquarters of the U. S. A. F. issued Development Directive A-6-1
authorizing the Air Materiel Command to initiate project MX-1602. The
project was dubbed Fighter Conveyor, which was contracted as FICON. |
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At 5:02 p.m. on November 7, 1959, a delta wing Convair
B-58A Hustler
supersonic bomber - flying at 35,000 feet and twice the speed of sound
approached the small farming community of Duncan, Oklahoma, on a south-
westerly heading. As Duncan drew near, Raymond Fitzgerald, the company
test pilot at the aircraft’s controls, took his feet off the Hustler’s
rudder pedals and slowly placed them solidly on the cockpit floor.
Communicating via intercom with third station flight test engineer Donald Siedhof
to verify that the aircraft’s special data recording/transmitting
equipment was functioning properly, he simultaneously checked to make sure
the aircraft was trimmed and in level flight. Moments later - after
acknowledging radio contact with a ground monitoring team at Convair in
Ft. Worth, Texas - he purposefully reached over with his gloved left hand
and tripped a switch activating a cut-off valve that controlled the fuel
flow to the Hustler’s number four engine. It was the last formal
act he would ever complete. |
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Boeing Model 40 and Its Descendants;
The Boeing Model 40 was powered
by a single 400 hp water-cooled World War One Liberty V- 12 engine. It was
built for the Post Office Department as a replacement for the de Havilland
As that were in use. Only one was built, msn 775. The first flight was on
July 7, 1925. The Post Office purchased the single Model 40 built, but did
not order any production aircraft. The aircraft had to be built to the
government’s specifications that required a Liberty engine. The Douglas M
series won the U.S. Post Office contract for a sailplane with orders for
50 copies. |
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"Flying Coffin" and "Pearl of the
Sky"; the worst and at the same time best fighter aircraft of WWII
When you hear someone say, "the best fighter aircrew of WWII,'' your
thoughts immediately go to the
Spitfire, the Focke-Wulf FW-190 or the P-51 Mustang with the
equally well known pilots like Gabresky Galland, Malan, Steinhoff and
Bader. No one will name the Brewster Buffalo and its highest scoring ace
Hans Wind. It is the only aircraft that is mentioned in two books with the
title "The Worst Fighter of the War". |
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By the first of June 1944,
everyone in the military forces of half a dozen countries in the United
Kingdom knew the Allied invasion of the continent was coming, and very
soon. The French coastal population knew it, and so did the Germans.
Fortunately, Allied deception tactics had been successful, and the Germans
did not know the vital where and when. |
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Waco
Cabin Aircraft, Part 1, 1931 to 1935, the Early Years
In 1931, Waco introduced a series of cabin biplanes that were improved
in design and performance in each of the following ten years. A. Francis
Arcier, Chief Engineer and
Designer at the Waco Aircraft Company, had successfully designed and
produced the aviation industry’s highest performance open-cockpit biplane
- the 1931 QCF-Z. The new cabin Waco
was to be an all-weather, all-purpose aircraft and a companion to the
popular Model :T.'' The new cabin
design was to have performance characteristics typical of Waco
open-cockpit planes and carry four people. |
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"Kindsvater
Remembers" The Luftwaffe JG 27 Squadron Kindsvater, Proficient Pilot,
Craftsman, Machinist, and a German Historian have been working on the
restoration of his historic Me-109-C4K for eleven years. He has
accomplished this feat for the most part by himself, with some support
from a few friends and especially the 376 EAA Group in near by Fresno,
California. Harold along with his wife Linda lives comfortably in the
country near Clovis, California. They have a lovely home that overlooks
Harold’s hangar and small dirt airstrip (about 2000 ft). His hangar
contains a machine shop where he also manufactures propellers for
highspeed boats of all sizes. Harold also owns and flies his Me-108 Taifun, another very
rare airplane he also had restored. When he is not busy restor ing or
flying one of his aircraft, he flies a club (California Warbirds loc)
owned P-51D "Strawboss #2" based at the Hollister Airport in
California. Harold also owns and flies a Beach Bonanza, when he has
time. Harold keeps very busy and he loves to fly. |
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For about a month
in the fall of 2000, the skies over Virginia and North Carolina were
witness to a strange birds a state-of-the art F-16C-30 in World War 11
markings. |
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