Warbird | International Aviation HQ

What is a Warbird? A Brief History of Warbirds

3Oct

By Alexander PaskNo Comments

History

What is a Warbird? A Brief History of Warbirds

Warbirds are some of the most favored airshow acts. Their ability to combine the aircraft of the past and the technology of the present attracts thousands of spectators from all around the world! Aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Grumman F8F Bearcat, North American P-51 Mustang and Yakovlev Yak-3 are also considered to be warbirds. But what exactly makes a warbird so special? And why are they so prized (and expensive)? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); What Are Warbirds? Warbirds are any type of former military aircraft that are now in the hands of private individuals. They are commonly used as airshow display as well as airworthy museum displays. The term originates in the 1950's when WWII-era aircraft had be...

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...

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...

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...