January 31, 2011 - Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer •
Photo: 1943
The Privateer was externally similar to the Liberator, but the fuselage was longer to accommodate a flight engineer's station, and had a tall single vertical stabilizer rather than the B-24's twin tail configuration. The defensive armament was also increased to 12 .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in six turrets (two dorsal, two waist, nose and tail), with the B-24's belly turret being omitted. Turbosuperchargers were not fitted to the engines since maritime patrol missions were not usually flown at high altitude.

January 30, 2011 - Vought F7U Cutlass •
Photo: 1954

January 29, 2011 - Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 •
Although largely overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60% of the RAF's air victories in the battle, and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War. First flight 1935.

January 28, 2011 - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum •
Photo: June 2003 - German Luftwaffe MiG-29 fires AA-10 "Alamo" short-burn air-to-air missile.
The MiG-29, along with the Sukhoi Su-27, were developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. First flight 1977.

January 27, 2011 - Grumman G-44 Widgeon
Photo taken by Bill Bailey. From Bill: "This shot of N63350 was taken (from another Widgeon) in Oct, 1992 on it's 1st flight after a 13 month rebuild following a landing accident.
The location was Western Washington and that's Mt. Rainier in the background. I helped rebuild that airplane from the recovery of the wreck on the Eastern side of the state to the 1st flight."

The Widgeon was originally designed for the civil market. It is smaller, but otherwise similar to Grumman's earlier G-21 Goose, and was produced from 1941 to 1955. The aircraft was used during World War II as a small patrol and utility machine. First flight 1940.

January 26, 2011 - Grumman F-14D Tomcat (2 of 2) •
Same exact jet as yesterday's photo.

January 25, 2011 - Grumman F-14D Tomcat (1 of 2) • VIDEO
Photo: July 2006. An F-14D Tomcat, aircraft number 100, makes a near supersonic fly-by above the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program following the collapse of the F-111B project. First flight 1970.

January 24, 2011 - Aviation cadet at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas
Photo: August 1942

January 23, 2011 - Douglas A-1H Skyraider •
The Skyraider became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after a French World War 1 fighter. The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career and inspired a straight-winged, slow-flying, jet-powered successor, the A-10 Thunderbolt II ("Warthog").

January 22, 2011 - Grumman G-21 Goose (2 of 2)

January 21, 2011 - Grumman JRF-5 Goose (G-21 variant) (1 of 2) •
Photo 1942
The Grumman G-21 Goose amphibious aircraft was designed as an eight-seat "commuter" plane for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman’s first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft and its first aircraft to enter commercial airline service. During World War II, the Goose became an effective transport for the US military. First flight 1937.

January 20, 2011 - Ultralight Trike against Mount Rainier • VIDEO
Photo June, 2007

January 19, 2011 - Handley Page Hampdens • VIDEO
With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane raid on Cologne. The newest of the three medium bombers, the Hampden, known as the "Flying Suitcase" because of its cramped crew conditions, was still unsuited to the modern air war and, after operating mainly at night, it was retired from Bomber Command service in late 1942. First flight 1936.

January 18, 2011 - Vickers Wellington •
It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the 2nd World War, before being displaced as a bomber by the larger four-engine "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster.

January 17, 2011 - Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley Mk.V •
Photo: A Royal Air Force Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V bomber from No. 78 Squadron in flight, circa 1940.
The Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the 2nd World War (the others were the Vickers Wellington (October 9, 2010 and January 18, 2011 archives) and the Handley Page Hampden (January 19, 2011 archive). It took part in the first RAF bombing raid on German territory, and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive until the introduction of four-engined "heavies". First flight 1936.

January 16, 2011 - Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (2 of 2) •
A C-141 leaves a contrail over Antarctica.

January 15, 2011 - Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (1 of 2) •
A C-141 Starlifter aircraft, better known as the Hanoi Taxi, flies over its soon-to-be new home at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force adjacent to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, December 13, 2005.
The C-141 replaced the C-124, shown in yesterday's archive (January 14, 2011).

January 14, 2011 - Douglas C-124 Globemaster II •
Unloading during Korean War.
The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force Military Air Transport Service (MATS) during the 1950s and early 1960s until the C-141 Starlifter entered service. First flight 1949.

January 13, 2011 - Vought F4U Corsair

January 12, 2011 - Boeing 737-400 • VIDEO
Transaero Boeing 737-400 takes off from London Heathrow Airport. The undercarriage wheels are exposed in flight, there are no covers. The 737-400 was launched in 1985 as a stretched 737-300, primarily for use by charter airlines.

January 11, 2011 - Aermacchi MB-339
More info/photo on plane at the January 11, 2011 archive: WheelsADay.com

January 10, 2011 - North American B-25 Mitchell
Photo by Gerry Clarke

January 9, 2011 - Republic P-47N Thunderbolt •
1940's -- Republic P-47N Thunderbolt flies its first combat mission--a sweep over Western Europe. Used as both a high-altitude escort fighter and a low-level fighter-bomber, the P-47 quickly gained a reputation for ruggedness. Its sturdy construction and air-cooled radial engine enabled the Thunderbolt to absorb severe battle damage and keep flying.

January 8, 2011 - Convair F-106B Delta Dart • 6th Day of Century Series
Similar to the F-102, it was designed without a gun, or provision for carrying bombs, but it carried its missiles in an internal weapons bay for clean supersonic flight.

January 7, 2011 - Republic F-105D Thunderchief • 5th Day of Century Series
The Mach 2 capable F-105 bore the brunt of strike bombing over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War, and has the dubious distinction of being the only US aircraft to have ever been removed from combat due to high attrition rates.

January 6, 2011 - Lockheed F-104G Starfighter • 4th Day of Century Series
The F-104 featured a radical wing design. Most jet fighters of the period used a swept-wing or delta-wing planform. This allowed a reasonable balance between aerodynamic performance, lift, and internal space for fuel and equipment. Lockheed's tests, however, determined that the most efficient shape for high-speed, supersonic flight was a very small, straight, mid-mounted, trapezoidal wing.

January 5, 2011 - Convair F-102 Delta Dagger • 3rd Day of Century Series • VIDEO
The F-102 used an internal weapons bay to carry both guided missiles and rockets.

January 4, 2011 - McDonnell F-101A Voodoo • 2nd Day of Century Series
While the Voodoo was a moderate success, it may have been more important as an evolutionary step towards its replacement in most roles, the F-4 Phantom II, one of the most successful Western fighter designs of the 1960s. The Phantom would retain the twin engines, twin crew for interception duties, and a tail mounted well above and behind the jet exhaust.

January 3, 2011 - North American F-100D Super Sabre • 1st Day of Century Series
Using the F-100 "buddy system" for in-flight refueling.

January 2, 2011 - Supermarine Seafire F XVII
Photo: July 2006. The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers.

January 1, 2011 - Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI
Photo: Duxford, September 2006.