Featured Kit
Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the Autumn of 1916. A single-seat fighter of World War I, it was initially superior to enemy competitors but quickly became obsolete due to the rapid pace of fighter development at the time. Its good flying characteristics and maneuverability won favor among pilots. Officially designated the “Sopwith Scout,” it picked up the nickname “Pup” due to the fact that it resembled the 1½ Strutter but had smaller dimensions. The name “Pup” was never officially recognized, but it stuck.
Among the major combat successes of the Sopwith Pup fighters were the destruction of the Zeppelin LZ 23 airship by B.A. Smart, no small feat since Zeppelins were the instruments of night bombing raids killing British civilians far from the front lines for the first time in modern warfare.
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Arado Ar 234C-3 with V-1
On October 25, 1944, Arado submitted four proposals to tow or carry the Fieseler Fi 103 flying bomb (the V-1) with the Ar 234C. The final design mounted a V-1 atop the Ar 234C-3 in a “Huckepack” (“Piggyback”) configuration. This weapon would have devastated England, but never got beyond prototype stage by the time the war ended.
Curtiss SO3C Seamew
The Curtiss SO3C Seamew flew for the first time on October 6, 1939. Developed by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation as a replacement for the SOC Seagull as the United States Navy’s standard floatplane scout, its poor flight performance and maintenance record led to its early withdrawal from service after only a few months aboard Navy cruisers.
De Havilland Chipmunk T.10/T.20
The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a two-seat, single engine primary trainer aircraft, designed to replace the DH.82 Tiger Moth, and it attracted immediate air force interest. Simple to operate and easy to maintain, it was very popular with flying schools around the world and was adopted by the RAF as its standard trainer.
Grumman F3F-2
The highly maneuverable Grumman F3F served as the Navy and Marine Corps’ premier fighter of the late 1930’s. The last bi-plane fighter deployed by either service, the rugged, stubby-looking fighter served from 1936 to 1941. Highly maneuverable and prized as dogfighters, they nonetheless became obsolete when the Navy switched to monoplanes.
F4U-4B Corsair
Vought designed the F4U Corsair around the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine to build a superb fighter. The F4U-4B was a late WWII refinement of earlier versions successfully operated by the Navy and Marine Corps. Introduced in June 1945, it saw little action in WWII but came into its own during the Korean War as a fighter-bomber.
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.
Dassault Mirage IV A
The Mirage IV was a supersonic strategic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft built by Dassault Aviation. It entered service with the French Air Force in October 1964 and was, until 1971, the sole nuclear delivery vehicle of the Force de Frappe, or Nuclear Strike Force, and the only aircraft in Europe able to hold a speed of Mach 2 for over 30 minutes.
Kyushu J7W1 Shinden
Japan’s J7W1 Shinden was the only World War II fighter featuring a canard design that any combatant ordered into production. A pusher design with a rear-mounted, six-bladed propeller, the Shinden (“Magnificent Lightning”) was heavily armed with four 30mm cannon, but flight testing began on August 3, 1945, 11 days before Japan’s surrender.
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October 6, 1983
First flight of the Bell Helicopter Company Model 406. subsequently designated the OH-58D Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter.