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Morane Saulnier MS 760 Paris
The Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris was a French four- or six-seat jet trainer and liaison aircraft entering service with the Aeronavale in 1959. Based on the earlier side-by-side seating two-seat trainer, the MS.755 Fleuret, but adding an additional row of two seats, the Paris was flown by the French military until 1997. Although it would later be used as a liasion aircraft, the French Navy primarily employed it as a military trainer for future Super Etendard and F-8 Crusader pilots, preparing them with IFR and all-weather training to operate what were then (early 1960’s) the Aeronavale’s front-line fighters in fleet service.
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B-58 Hustler
When it entered service in March 1960, the Convair B-58 Hustler was the world’s first supersonic bomber, capable of exceeding Mach 2. Powered by four big General Electric J-79 turbojets, the B-58 claimed nearly 20 world speed and altitude records. The B-58 could fly in “on the deck” at nearly Mach 1, hit its target, then exit at altitude with a Mach 2 dash. Serving with Strategic Air Command from 1960 to 1970, it could be airborne 5 minutes from a ground alert.
Culver PQ-14B
The PQ-14 and its older and smaller sibling, the Culver PQ-8 Red Fox, played key roles in preparing the nation’s anti-aircraft gunners-in-training (Army/Navy/Marines) for combat during and after World War II. These diminutive, radio-controlled aircraft trained an entire generation of gunners to help the U.S. emerge victorious in the air war.
F-14D Tomcat
Originally developed as a carrier fighter with a heavy emphasis on the fleet defense role, over its 30-plus year career from initial deployment in 1974, the F-14 Tomcat evolved into a multi-role aircraft capable of attack and reconnaissance missions. A two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fleet defense interceptor serving the U.S. Navy from 1974 to 2006, it stymied critics who predicted it would be retired upon the introduction of the F/A-18 Hornet in 1983.
Fiat G.55 Centauro
The Fiat G.55 was an excellent mid- to late-war interceptor and a serious contender for Italy’s best fighter of World War II. The most telling fact about the G.55 is that the German Luftwaffe, which held quality military hardware in high regard, adopted it in limited numbers once Italy surrendered to the Allies in the Fall of 1943. Whether in German or Italian hands, it threatened Allied bomber formations and was certainly a match for the likes of the P-51 Mustang.
Focke Wulf Fw190F-8
The Fw 190 proved to be a lethal fighter throughout WWII, evolving into a powerful “F” model employed as a dedicated fighter-bomber or “Jabo.” The Luftwaffe immediately threw the aircraft into combat, using it for close air support of Wehrmacht ground troops under pressure from the Red Army on the Eastern Front as the war progressed.
Junkers F.13
Designed and built in Germany during the closing months of World War I, the Junkers F.13 was the first all-metal, cantilever-wing monoplane airliner and a truly modern aircraft for its time. Providing air passenger service starting in 1919, Junkers’ (and possibly the world’s) first commercial airplane featured a cockpit accommodating two pilots and a fully enclosed, heated cabin seating four passengers in the same comfort to be found in automobiles of the day.
Lavochkin La-250
The Lavochkin La-250 was a high-altitude, long-range interceptor prototype intended to be a dedicated, missile-armed weapons system that would blast enemy strategic bombers from the sky before they could reach their targets. It had an identical mission profile as its contemporaries, the Canadian CF-105 Arrow and the American XF-108 Rapier.
Boeing RB-47H
The RB-47H was the recon version of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and entered service in August 1955. Through 1969, RB-47H crews flew thousands of dangerous “ferret” missions. Flying in radio silence at night near or inside the border of the Soviet Union and other communist nations, they collected vital intelligence about air defense radar networks.
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This Day in Aviation History
October 6, 1983
First flight of the Bell Helicopter Company Model 406. subsequently designated the OH-58D Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter.