Life
How plane’s windshield protected pilots
Like everything else around the cockpit of the FHC’s Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, the plane’s canopy is heavy and…
Life
A vivid example of why some warbirds are rare
This photo tells a little bit about why some warbirds are so rare. We have all seen the…
Life
Plane’s construction could be a lifesaver
Part of what gives the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt much of its “Jug-like” shape is the fighter’s maze of…
Life
F-84 traces its lineage to a Thunderbolt
It’s that nagging question that you have always been afraid to ask: Did the F-84 start life as…
Life
New tracks for FHC’s Sherman tank
Last week the Flying Heritage Collection changed the tracks on its M4A1 Sherman tank. It was a relatively…
Life
Tank’s turret poses a challenge
This week, the FHC staff is removing the turret from the M4A1 Sherman tank.
Life
Diaphragms allow for undisturbed airflow
The WWII-era P-51 Mustang is a marvel of design. The plane’s efficient wing allowed it to fly great…
Life
What are those mystery compartments on P-40?
The little compartments on the bottom of the P-40’s wings have always confounded us. The little alcoves are…
Life
Soviets used ramming technique when out of ammo, outnumbered
The Polikarpov I-16 is a solid little machine. You only have to be involved in pushing it around…
Life
Leveling lugs keep a plane balanced
When conducting weight and balance calculations on an airplane, you want the machine to rest at flight attitude.…
Life
Unique engineering on plane’s canopy
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190’s canopy rails are not parallel. They taper inward as they extend toward the tail.…
Life
Preparing Hellcat for first flight in decades
The Hellcat is days away from flying for the first time in decades. A test pilot is expected…
Life
G-Symbols helped identify Navy carrier planes
By 1945, there were gaggles of Navy carrier planes seemingly everywhere in the skies over the Pacific. To…
Life
For a rare plane, call on the best mechanic
When your Honda needs a tune-up, what do you do? There are a million Hondas out there and,…
Life
Hellcat’s paint scheme will honor local ace
The FHC’s Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat goes into the paint shop on Valentine’s Day. The Glossy Sea Blue fighter…
Life
German fighters packed a wallop
When you are hunting big game, you need a big gun. The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet carried two…
Life
A tank rolls out at Paine Field
The tower at Paine Field got a strange call today. How often does the driver of an M4A1…
Life
1940s mechanics would have loved a laser pointer
Flying Heritage Collection staffers rolled the B-25J Mitchell outside on a foggy morning to take some fuel out…
Life
Armored ‘coffin seats’ protected B-25J pilots
The FHC’s B-25J is from block 25. Some 1,000 of them were built at the Fairfax Bomber Plant…
Life
Pilots found P-47’s cockpit shockingly roomy
While the size of the average man stayed about the same, the size of the average fighter plane,…