xplanes

[xplanes]

the Bell 207, a proof-of-concept (✿◠‿◠) cUtE GuNsHiP (✿◠‿◠) demonstrator, 1963

[xplanes]

a photo by LIFE magazine photographer Al Fenn, showing part of the control room of the NACA Lewis Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel

this seems to be part of a collection/assignment for the special "Air Age" issue of the magazine, 18th June 1956 - but it looks like this photo never made it to print:

[xplanes]

[xplanes]

[xplanes]

a model of the Douglas Model 1265 asymmetric composite/parasite bomber concept, 1951. featuring a jettisonable central pod

looks sufficiently crazy, but the plan was that the 1265 itself could be launched from something even bigger..

the Douglas Model 1240 carrier concept - shown here with various payloads - was to carry the Model 1265

(in the middle is another parasite bomber - the 1251-A - which was intended to dock back with the carrier aircraft)

[xplanes]

“Head on view of the [Douglas] XTB2D-1 [Skypirate] with Model 828060 Superhydromatic dual rotation propellers. Fore propeller was 14' 1" diameter, aft propeller was 14' 3" diameter.”

[xplanes]

"James Mollison's Bellanca 28-90 Flash "The Dorothy" over Brooklyn after leaving for a transatlantic flight from Floyd Bennett field, N.Y. October 22, 1936"

[xplanes]

the Rubik R-31 Dupla (“Double”) - an unsuccessful Hungarian side-by-side seat training glider, 1983 - being stroked and reassured by its owner

the designer - Ernő Rubik - had a son - also called Ernő Rubik - who had somewhat more success with a cube that he invented…

[xplanes]

absolute scenes here from the aeronaut Henri de la Vaulx - in his “crash-suit” - used to test the Victor Tatin monoplane behind him in November 1907.

It came in useful when the machine crashed on the 18th, after a 70m flight

[xplanes]

[xplanes]

a textbook melty-melty drippy-drippy landing from this TBM Avenger

[xplanes]

the Stewart Puffin ultralight - the closest I have to what is basically an egg with wings. just like a real egg, it never flew..

(via POPULAR MECHANICS, Jan 1981)

[xplanes]

I DO like how Tumblr still has all my Draft posts from 2009 💖

[xplanes]

killer art from Yoshiyuki Takani (高荷 義之), for the 1996 PlayStation port of arcade shooter “Strikers 1945”

[xplanes]

“The windscreen of a Beaufighter..after a direct hit from a 13mm explosive cannon shell from a FW.200..it failed to penetrate the safety glass; the pilot was temporarily blinded by the fine glass particles and dust, but he suffered no other injury”

[xplanes]

sup!?

[xplanes]

Hi Andrew - it's a long shot, but I don't suppose you remember anything about the book you got this from? We have friends at Piha who would love to track down a copy (or even better, the original) you tumblr /post/84971161/before-being-posted-overseas-during-the-second

Hi Wilbur! I'm really sorry for this reply being FOUR YEARS late - I stopped using Tumblr a long time ago, as I was expecting it to go under.. To answer your question, I think it was this book https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Piha-History-Images-Auckland-New-Zealand/30499698948/bd ..but I can't be 100% sure. It was definely a photo book of Piha, rather than one about aviation or wider NZ history.. Hope this helps (and I hope to return to NZ and Piha somewhere down the line..) Andrew