That’s odd, the F-105 has a tail hook. It’s not for carrier operations though. Many Air Force planes have a tail hook for safety. Most… Continue reading
The Hellcat is days away from flying for the first time in decades. A test pilot is expected next week. (Let’s hope for good weather.)… Continue reading
While the size of the average man stayed about the same, the size of the average fighter plane, and its cockpit, increased during World War… Continue reading
The Polikarpov I-16 is a solid little machine. You only have to be involved in pushing it around to know that it feels like it’s… Continue reading
When you are hunting big game, you need a big gun. The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet carried two Mk 108 autocannons. Each weapon fired 650… Continue reading
The FHC’s Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat goes into the paint shop on Valentine’s Day. The Glossy Sea Blue fighter will get its complement of Insignia White… Continue reading
When your Honda needs a tune-up, what do you do? There are a million Hondas out there and, therefore, thousands of mechanics who can handle… Continue reading
By 1945, there were gaggles of Navy carrier planes seemingly everywhere in the skies over the Pacific. To keep track of who was who, the… Continue reading
The FHC’s B-25J is from block 25. Some 1,000 of them were built at the Fairfax Bomber Plant in Kansas City. One of the improvements… Continue reading
Flying Heritage Collection staffers rolled the B-25J Mitchell outside on a foggy morning to take some fuel out of its tanks. While out of the… Continue reading
The tower at Paine Field got a strange call today. How often does the driver of an M4A1 Sherman tank seek permission to cruise the… Continue reading
When conducting weight and balance calculations on an airplane, you want the machine to rest at flight attitude. On a tail-dragger, the aircraft can be… Continue reading
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190’s canopy rails are not parallel. They taper inward as they extend toward the tail. As the canopy slides backwards on these… Continue reading
Last week the Flying Heritage Collection changed the tracks on its M4A1 Sherman tank. It was a relatively simple process; akin to putting socks on… Continue reading
It’s that nagging question that you have always been afraid to ask: Did the F-84 start life as simply a jet-powered P-47? Well, sort of.… Continue reading
This photo tells a little bit about why some warbirds are so rare. We have all seen the images of post-WWII boneyards in Arizona, Alabama,… Continue reading
The little compartments on the bottom of the P-40’s wings have always confounded us. The little alcoves are 27 inches long and about 5 inches… Continue reading
The WWII-era P-51 Mustang is a marvel of design. The plane’s efficient wing allowed it to fly great distances. One addition to the wing design,… Continue reading
This week, the FHC staff is removing the turret from the M4A1 Sherman tank. In order to restore the interior to its wartime condition, a… Continue reading
Part of what gives the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt much of its “Jug-like” shape is the fighter’s maze of tubes and pipes running through its belly—from… Continue reading
