Thursday, December 19

Aircraft Digest

Gulfstream G650: the most luxurious flying
10Aug By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

Gulfstream G650: the most luxurious flying

Much like the 747. The Gulfstream G650 is an air icon. Even if it’s only relatively new. The Gulfstream G650 is the world’s most luxurious aircraft. It costs $69.5 million. But is it worth it? The standard G650 costs $69.5 million. The ER version costs $71.5 million. The aircraft consists of many luxury items. A bed chamber. An entertainment room. A full kitchen. A bar. And luxury dining and seating areas.  How was the Gulfstream G650 brought into being? The G650 has become Gulfstream’s premier flagship. Gulfstream wanted a larger, faster and more expensive jet to enter the market. In May 2005, Gulfstream launched an internal project. In March 2008, it was revealed to the public.  The wing design was completed in 2006. In 2008, it completed 1,400 hours of wind tunnel testing. On 26 S...
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A380: ‘SuperJumbo’
3Aug By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

A380: ‘SuperJumbo’

A few weeks ago we talked about the Boeing 747. This week, it’s their rivals turn... with Air France announcing that all of their A380 will be retired by 2022.  The 747 is well known for its nickname ‘Queen of the Skies’ or the ‘Jumbo Jet’. But the A380 is much bigger than the 747, hence it was dubbed the ‘Superjumbo’ by the media. Airbus built the A380 as direct competition to the Boeing 747 monopoly. How was the A380 brought into being? Airbus saw that Boeing enjoyed a sort of monopoly with its 747. It was the only ultra-high capacity airliner (UHCA). Airbus tasked a team of engineers under the leadership of Jean Roeder to begin development in secret.  However, the A380 project had not been the first to attempt to challenge the 747. The MD-12 was. The MD-12 was a double deck aircraft th...
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Yakovlev Yak-3: The WWII Fighter Everyone Forgets…
27Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

Yakovlev Yak-3: The WWII Fighter Everyone Forgets…

In recent years, the Yakovlev Yak-3 has been eclipsed by its Soviet, British, German, American and Japanese counterparts. However, during WWII, surviving a Yak-3 was a miracle! Both during and after the war, the Yakovlev Yak-3 was revered all around the world as one of the best fighter aircraft of its time. Today, few have heard of it, so why is that? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Pre Yak-3 Prior to the Yak-3, Yakovlev Design Bureau, the aviation manufacturer headed by Alexander Yakovlev had just introduced the Yakovlev Yak-1. This aircraft was one of the most advanced monoplanes in the Soviet Union. At the time, the Soviets and Nazi Germany had just signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, ensuring peace between the two nations. However, Stali...
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24Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

RIAT 2019: It’s been unforgettable…

Last weekend saw the world-renowned RIAT 2019 airshow. It was perfect- it was sunny and warm, and the aircraft performances were amazing. There are few events in the aviation industry that can rival the drama, intensity and spectacles of RIAT 2019. Many spectacular aircraft took flight over the weekend, including: The Spanish Navy EAV-8B Harrier; The British Airways 747 flight with the Red Arrows display team; and several German, Italian, and British Typhoons. As well as many static aircraft, including: Gulfstream G550, a US Marine Corps CV-22B Osprey, as well as Canadian, Jordanian and British C-130 Hercules just to name a few (see the full list here). (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Despite the heavy rain on the Friday, the aircraft were great- m...
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747: the most luxurious ‘Queen of the Skies’
20Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

747: the most luxurious ‘Queen of the Skies’

The Boeing 747 is affectionately known as the ‘Queen of the Skies’. It's been transporting businessmen; holiday goers and school sports teams for over 50 years! Yet the 747 wasn’t meant to last for 50 years... The 747 was meant to be a hold-the-time aircraft. Fulfilling orders whilst the Boeing 2707 was in development. With the 747 being dropped in favour of the supersonic 2707. Since its first flight in 1969, more than 1,500 747's have been produced, with around 512 still in use. Over the 50 years of production many variants have been made. The original 747-100 was capable of transporting 490 passengers. Then the 747-200. Was highly customised. Especially into cargo and freight variants. 747-300 was introduced to carry a higher number of passengers. This variant saw an extended hump. ...
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De Havilland Comet: The First Jet Airliner You’d Never Want to Fly on
17Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

De Havilland Comet: The First Jet Airliner You’d Never Want to Fly on

In 1952, British aircraft manufacturer de Havilland shocked the world. They released the de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner. This single aircraft revolutionized the aviation industry, with it never being the same again! Despite this, you would never want to fly on a Comet! But why exactly is that? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Pre-Comet Prior to the Comet, jet aircraft were only relatively new. In 1930, Frank Whittle had invented the jet engine. These engines were first used on military fighter jets, designed during WWII, although entering fairly late. All commercial aircraft prior to the Comet had been piston-driven, with the most common long-range airliner being the Lockheed Constellation. Other long range aircraft like th...
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15 Smallest Aircraft in The World!
13Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

15 Smallest Aircraft in The World!

Since 1903, When the Wright Brothers built the first working airplane, people have been trying to develop the smallest aircraft as well as the largest aircraft. Many of these aircraft are available to the general public, whilst others were built solely for the purpose of gaining the title of "Smallest aircraft in the world", where others were simply experimental aircraft. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 15. CubCrafters XCub If you were expecting that the XCub would've been developed by Piper, so did I. However, the XCub was instead developed by CubCrafters, based on the Piper PA-18 Super Cub's design (from the 1940's)! Unlike the PA-18 it traces its heritage from, the XCub can't land on water as it cannot be converted into a seaplane (as o...
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F-35: America’s super jet
6Jul By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

F-35: America’s super jet

The Lockheed Martin F-35 is the United States Air Force’s newest and most powerful aircraft, is it the United States most significant aircraft yet? The Lockheed Martin F-35 is the United States' premier fighter aircraft, it was originally developed from the Lockheed Martin X-35 (pictured below). The development of the F-35, at the time called the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as they hadn’t given out a contract for the development at the time. The development began in 1992, the two main contenders for the JSF contract were the Lockheed Martin X-35 and the Boeing X-32 (pictures below), the final design was chosen based on the X-35.  Boeing X-32B on display at Patuxent Naval Air Museum Lockheed Martin X-35 on a test flight  The X-35 was then christened as the F-35 Lightning II, it was design...
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Eurofighter Typhoon: The aircraft Europe collaborated on
29Jun By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

Eurofighter Typhoon: The aircraft Europe collaborated on

As per our poll on Instagram on Wednesday, the Typhoon was chosen over the F-35 Lightning II for Aircraft Digest this week. The Eurofighter Typhoon II is a new fighter aircraft introduced to service in the British RAF in April 2006, it was meant to replace the Tornado, Harrier and Sea Harrier, it was a joint effort between the major aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Why was the Eurofighter project started? The aircraft was developed as a counter to the Mig-29, as the Western European nations saw that the Mig-29 was more manoeuvrable than any aircraft currently in service with those nations at the time, manufactured by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, it was first flown on the 27 March 1994, and flew into service in 2006. It initially saw some di...
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Harrier: The Best British Jet?
22Jun By Christopher HarrowNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

Harrier: The Best British Jet?

So a few days ago, I was speaking with some former British Royal Air Force and United States Air Force pilots. And they were talking about how they missed the the BAE Systems and McDonnell Douglas Harrier jets of the past. Rather than this ‘American crap’ as one of the former RAF Pilots said (referring to the new F-35 Lightning II). The RAF pilots then started wining about how they detest the new F-35 that replaced the Harrier. So was it really as good as they say it was? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Beginning It was originally developed by the UK-based aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960’s. Hawker Siddeley is now part of BAE Systems so it is sometimes called the BAE Harrier. It emerged as the only successful V/STOL (Vertica...
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