Mitsubishi A6M Zero — The Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. or MHI) A6M Zero was a long range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The …

Henry Farman III Biplane — The Farman III, also known as Henry Farman 1909 biplane, was an early French pusher biplane, designed and built by Henry Farman in 1909, and considered a significant step in the history of aviation. Design & Development Henry Farman’s first aircraft had been bought from the Voisin brothers in 1907. Soon after his first flights …

Helicopter — A helicopter (informally known as a “chopper”) is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed …

Hawker Hurricane — The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for the Royal Air Force (RAF). 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 …

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger — The Grumman TBF-1 Avenger was one of World War II’s most effective torpedo bombers. The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was a torpedo bomber, developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps and used by a large number of air forces around the world. It entered service in …

Gotha G.V — The German World War I Gotha G.V., with a range of more than 800 km (500 mi) and speed less than 160 km/h (100 mph), carried six 50-kg (100-lb) bombs. The Gotha G series was a family of heavy bombers used by the Luftstreitkrafte (Imperial German Air Service) during the First World War. There were five basic …

Ford Trimotor — The Ford Trimotor (also called the “Tri-Motor”, and nicknamed “The Tin Goose”) was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced. Although it was designed …

Fokker E-III — The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the Eindecker (monoplane) fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Design & Development The E.III was basically an E.II fitted with larger, newly designed wings that had a slightly narrower chord aircraft …

Fokker D-VII — The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft. The Armistice ending the war specifically required Germany to surrender all D.VIIs to the …

F-86 Sabre — The North American F-86 Sabre (sometimes called the Sabrejet) was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America’s first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War. Considered one of the best and most important …