Civil Aviation
Avro C102 Jetliner
The Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner, the first jet transport in North America, flew for the first time just four years after the end of World War II on August 10, 1949. The prototype could fly at 500 mph at a time when the comparable American airliner of the day, the piston-engined Douglas DC-6, cruised at 315 mph. No less an aviation luminary than Howard Hughes would mount an ill-fated effort to have the Jetliner license-built in the U.S. for his airline, TWA. The first American jetliner, the Boeing 367, would not take flight for another five years, and the first American jetliner to be commercially successful, the Boeing 707, would not enter service until 1958.
Beechcraft Staggerwing
Finally succumbing to years of lobbying by Mrs. Claus, Old Saint Nick reluctantly retired his beloved Sleigh, and began the search for a new mount to take him round the world on Christmas Eve with the help of Marvin, an ingenious Elf with an unusual snow globe…
Boeing 247
Williams Brothers’ kit features a complete cockpit and cabin interior and authentic period decals. The Boeing 247 is widely regarded as the first modern airliner, featuring innovations such as de-icing boots for the wing leading edges and fully enclosed engine nacelles. It dominated American commercial air traffic for a full year, yielding in 1934 to the Douglas DC-2.
Boeing Model 314 Clipper
The Boeing 314 was America’s answer to the luxurious British Short Empire flying boats, and saw brief commercial service in the Summer of 1939.
Minicraft’s kit is a re-issue of the Airfix mold, and features detailed engines and markings for this last of the pre-WWII Clippers.
Curtiss Condor
The Curtiss Condor was the last biplane airliner built in the United States and a stop-gap venture intended to keep Curtiss Aircraft financially viable at a critical period in its history. Glencoe’s Condor is a re-issue of a 1954 ITC kit, featuring detailed engines and American Airlines markings.
De Havilland DH.88 Comet
Airfix’ venerable kit of the winner of the1934 MacRobertson intercontinental Air Race remains popular but screams out for retooling of its ancient 1957 molds. The DH 88 was a direct ancestor of the de Havilland Mosquito of World War II.
Dewoitine D.333
The Dewoitine D.333 was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane operated by Air France in the early to mid-1930’s. It was developed from the D.332, a cutting edge prototype airliner which crashed on the final leg of a record-setting round trip flight to Saigon in Southeast Asia on January 15, 1934. Powered by three Hispano-Suiza 9V radial engines, the Dewoitine D.333 had a cruising speed of 155 mph and a passenger cabin seating 10 in two rows of five chairs along either side of a central aisle, each chair featuring an adjustable back allowing passengers to recline and even sleep, if they were able. The D.333 soon replaced its predecessor as the pride of Air France, a modern airliner able to carry passengers long distances in relative comfort.
Handley Page HP 42
Designed to meet a 1928 Imperial Airways specification for a new airliner to serve the European, Middle East, and Far East routes during the 1930’s, the Handley Page Heracles class airliners made an outstanding contribution to civil aviation in the years leading up to World War II. The first HP 42, G-AAGX “Hannibal” made its maiden flight on November 14, 1930. This fleet of aircraft would ultimately log 7 million miles of travel by 1937, and had an unblemished safety record until a plane went missing over the Gulf of Oman in 1940.
Heinkel He 178
Heinkel He 178 V-2 by Special Hobby 1/72 scaleKit No. SH 72192Cost: $18.00Decals: One version - for 1939 prototypeComments: Engraved panel lines, resin wheel inserts, acetate film insert for instrument panel, photo-etch details, single piece canopy History The...
Hughes H-1B Racer
On September 13, 1935, flying his purpose-built H-1 racer, Howard Robard Hughes Jr. set a new world speed record of 352 mph (567 kph) at Santa Ana, California. The H-1, also known as the Hughes H-1B, was designed with two sets of wings. A short set was built with a span of 7.6 meters (25 feet), designed to achieve maximum speed for the record flight. A separate long set of wings with a span of 9.2 meters (31 feet, 9 inches) was built to provide maximum lift in addition to speed for tackling the transcontinental flight that Hughes would attempt and conquer just 16 months later on January 19, 1937. Flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds, Hughes set a new speed record for transcontinental flight.
Junkers F.13
Designed and built in Germany during the closing months of World War I, Junkers F.13 was the first all-metal monoplane airliner and a truly modern aircraft for its time. Junkers’ first commercial airplane, it featured a cockpit accommodating two pilots and a fully enclosed, heated cabin seating four passengers in seats fitted with seatbelts, a never-before-seen innovation on motor cars, and used mainly on combat aircraft up to that time. It flew for the first time on June 25, 1919.
Lockheed Orion Model 9
The Lockheed Orion was an all-wood monoplane airliner that entered service in 1931, and seated six passengers. It was the first airliner with retractable landing gear, and with a top speed of 220 mph, was nearly 100 mph faster than contemporaries such as the Ford Tri-Motor.
Macchi Castoldi MC 72
The Macchi Castoldi M.C. 72 is the aircraft that set the absolute world speed record of 440 mph for racing seaplanes in 1934, a record which stands to this day, nearly ninety years later. First flown on July 16, 1931, the M.C. 72 was specifically designed to beat the British Supermarine S.6B in the 1931 Schneider Cup race. But its revolutionary Fiat V-24 engine, almost too hot to handle, was prone to catch fire in flight and forced a withdrawal from the race. For three years, Macchi’s engineers continued to perfect it until it was ready to for the attempt to set a new world speed record, achieving a speed that front-line military aircraft would not reach for another ten years.
Piper PA 47
The Piper PA-47 “Piper Jet” was an effort by Piper Aircraft to produce a single-engined very light jet (VLJ) and help fill a niche market for such aircraft. Its primary competition was the Cessna Citation line and Eclipse Aerospace EA500. The PA-47 never made it into serial production despite having secured 180 pre-orders from various international customers. Spiraling development costs combined with an economic downtown forced its cancellation in 2008.
Ryan M-1
The Ryan M-1 kit was a one-off issued by an American model company called Greenbank in 1971, and features good exterior detail and fabric-over-frame effects. Operated as an air mail plane in the mid to late 1920’s, the M-1 formed the basis for Charles Lindbergh’s highly modified Ryan NYP — the Spirit of St. Louis.