A Brief History On May 29, 1940, the F4U Corsair made its first flight, an event that spurred us to offer a list of the “10 Greatest Fighter Planes” on May 29, 2014. This year we counter that with listing 10 of the most under-appreciated, under-rated fighter planes of all time, planes that served well but did not get much press or credit for their contribution, or are often mentioned with caveats about being obsolete or with some deficiency or another. Here we attempt to list the best of that lot. Digging Deeper 10. Mikoyan and Gurevich MiG-17. A follow…
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A Brief History On May 29, 2004, President George W. Bush dedicated the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial is between the Washington and Lincoln memorials, east of the Reflecting Pool. Digging Deeper The memorial is located on the former site of the Rainbow Pool, and covers 7.4 acres. The memorial incorporates a fountain, 2 arches (one marked “Atlantic” and the other marked “Pacific”) and 56 granite pillars (17 feet tall) inscribed with the name of each of the 48 states that existed at the time of the war plus Alaska (territory), Hawaii…
A Brief History On May 27, 1958, the McDonnell Aircraft (later McDonnell Douglas) F-4 Phantom II naval interceptor made its first flight. Designed as a carrier airplane to defend the fleet against Soviet supersonic bombers, the concept was to create an interceptor that could climb rapidly and fly fast enough to catch bombers before they got close enough to attack the fleet. Digging Deeper Prior to entering service in 1960, the F-4 proved its concept by setting 15 aviation records for such things as speed and altitude. Designed to shoot down bombers rather than dogfight with fighters, the F-4 was…
A Brief History On May 25, 1738, a treaty was finally signed, ending the war between Maryland and Pennsylvania known as The Conojocular War, or Cresap’s War. Digging Deeper The war had started in 1730 over boundary disputes, and escalated over the next few years to the point where military forces became involved in 1736 and 1737. The treaty, ordered by King George II, had ended the shooting war, but the boundary dispute lasted all the way until 1767 when the Mason-Dixon Line became recognized as the boundary. The colonial governments of Pennsylvania and Maryland became embroiled in the dispute…
A Brief History On May 24, 1940, Ukrainian born Igor Sikorsky flew the first successful single rotor helicopter in history, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 (untethered flight). Within 2 years, his Sikorsky R-4 became the first mass produced helicopter in the world. Digging Deeper Sikorsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1889 back in the days of the Russian Empire. He was of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian origin, and became a noted aviation pioneer while a Russian subject. Some of his early Russian accomplishments included design and flying of the first multi-engine fixed wing aircraft, the Russky Vitas (1913) and the Ilya…
