The Junkers G.38 was a workhorse transport aircraft of the Second World War that saw heavy use in paratrooper and glider roles. It was used by Hitler’s elite forces, including the SS, as well as by the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe in general. The G.38 was developed to meet a need for a transport aircraft that could be used for long-range and heavy-lifting operations.
The G.38 was designed and built by Junkers Flugzeugwerke from 1935-1937. It had an airframe made of welded steel tubing, with riveted aluminum skinning over the main fuselage and wings. The G.38 had two main engines; one mounted in the nose, and one mounted in the rear fuselage. It also had two 7mm MG 131 machine guns mounted on top of the wing, along with a fixed forward firing 20mm MG FF cannon mounted underneath the nosecone. The G.38 was very large and heavy, weighing around 10 tons empty, with a loaded weight of 20 tons. It had a wingspan of around 48 feet, with an overall length of 27 feet 9 inches, making it quite large even for its day. The PlaneHistoria website contains more interesting facts and knowledge. https://planehistoria.com/pioneers/junkers-g-38
Introducing the SEPECAT Jaguar - a jet trainer turned nuclear attacker. The Jaguar was designed in the 1960s as a jet trainer. But as with many aviation projects, they grow in scope and become more expensive. This Anglo-French venture eventually became a supersonic tactical nuclear-capable aircraft.
It ended up being a huge success and despite aircraft being built from 1968 – 1981, it is still in service with the Indian Air Force, some 50 years later. Many other nations also bought the Jaguar with exports heading to Oman, Ecuador, and Nigeria too. Even though she had humble origins, it has been used in many major conflicts including the 1990 Gulf War. Visit our website to know more information. https://planehistoria.com/modern-day/sepecat-jaguar
Edgley EA-7 Optica – The Flying Eye | Plane Historia
The Edgley EA-7 Optica is a small, agile, and heavily armed series of spacecraft for reconnaissance and fighter escort duties.
The EA-7 started out as the F-7A and F-7B, the successor to the A-7 Corsair II and B-7 Avenger respectively. The F models were intended to fill the role of an all-weather, low-cost strike aircraft, while the B model was designed to fulfill the requirements of a fleet replacement for the A...
Douglas X-3 Stiletto – The Flying Shoe
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a series of experimental, VTOL aircraft developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It would have been the first practical VTOL aircraft, and represented the technical limit for the aircraft at the time.
The first X-3 was released in 1945 – with only one prototype being built. The airframe was a large single-seat, low-wing monoplane with an unconventional tailplane arrangement. The prototype X-3 used a four-stroke radial engine. After testing the...
The Antonov An-225 Mriya, which means Dream in English, is a heavy strategic cargo aircraft. It is the largest and heaviest fixed-wing plane in the world. The Mriya was developed for long-range and heavy payloads. The An-225 was first flown in 1988 and first flew commercially in 1989. The An-225 can carry up to 225,000 kg of payload over 6,000 nautical miles. There are only two An-225 planes in the world, with one based in Russia and one in Ukraine....
In December of 1942, the infamous Victor Bomber was flown by a team of engineers from Bell Aircraft to an Air Force base at Clinton Field in North Carolina. The aircraft was built for the US Army Air Forces as a transport plane, but it was never mass-produced. Instead, it was used mostly by the Army Air Forces’ 456th Bomb Group during World War II. Unlike most bombers of its time, the Victor bomber was designed to be flown by...
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – The Plane Designed to Leak | PlaneHistoria
Do you know about the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – the Plane Designed to Leak? PlaneHistoria provides the history of the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, which was designed and built by Lockheed from 1964 to 1989. An all-black aircraft, it was used for reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union, North Vietnam, and other areas of interest around the globe.
Moreover, it was built to withstand extreme pressure and heat. And it did just...