Airpower back issues from September 2006:
The 'dumbing up' of America's Airlines.(travelling on a bad weather day)(Editorial)
Sep 01, 2006; ... It's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting in a brand new Sikorsky S-76B jet helicopter flying over the Canarsie section of Brooklyn at 140 knots and looking down at literally acres of taillights on the Belt Parkway 1,000 feet below. Giddy with the satisfaction that I'm beating all those poor ...
Instrument panel in the buff.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Editor Mike Machat's creative talent as an artist is reflected in the photo on page 38 of the July 2006 AIRPOWER entitled "A fist full of throttles" showing crew worksheets and forms stuck into the narrow space behind the throttle quadrant. It demonstrates how pilots find niches here and ...
Albert ball saga continues.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I keep in touch with the Albert Ball family. I received a sad email from them stating that the old gentleman who did the work on all the Ball material for my article in the July 2005 issue of AIRPOWER passed away in an RAF hospital. His ...
Catch-22 for the F-20.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... After reading the June 2006 WINGS article "TIGERSHARK" by Wayne Peterson, it reminded me of one of my favorite aviation author's who really put the whole F-20 saga into perspective. Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist had a chapter in his book Vulture's Row, coincidentally called ...
Douglas mystery surprise.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Regarding the reply of Jon Proctor in your July 2006 AIRPOWER, I think most of his observations concerning his slide may be true including the "round corners" of the windows he is using to identify the plane in question as a DC-2. However, having now looked at 75-100 pictures of DC-2s and ...
Not always another dawn.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Reading your Tribute To A Legend about Scott Crossfield in the July issue of AIRPOWER reminded me of a discussion I had with him a few years ago. Scott and I were members of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots and attended one of their symposiums in Los Angeles. My first book, Cheating ...
Little rascals.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Author Dennis Jenkins has done another excellent job with his history of the RASCAL program (July 2006 AIRPOWER). However, the story goes awry in the details of the B-47/RASCAL operational history. He correctly states that Boeing modified 30 B-47Bs into DB-47Bs in the EBB TIDE program but ...
Jaunty Alouette or Djinn?(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... I enjoyed the article about the world's first jet powered helicopter, the SUD Aviation Alouette. I was under the impression, however, that the SUD Djinn actually preceded the Alouette. The Djinn (see above photo) I remember quite vividly because as a youngster attending an airshow at ...
Brabazon engine count.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Enjoying WINGS as usual, I found a minor error in a caption for the Rotol ad showing the Brabazon. The caption writer notes its "four engines". The Brabazon actually had 8 engines turning 4 groups of counter-rotating propellers. While at first glance the 4 spinning propellers are obvious, ...
That navy lingo.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Greatly enjoyed the R.G. Smith article in the April 2006 WINGS. Only those of your readers who have been long time subscribers to the maritime press such as US Naval Institute's Proceedings know how pervasive and influential his great artwork has been. The ship in the foreground ...
Cold war destroyers.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... I very much enjoyed reading the Douglas RB-66 article by Warren Thompson in your May issue of AIRPOWER. Here is some stuff about the B-66: First, the '66 only resembled the A3D Skywarrior externally. It was somewhat heavier, had a different engine configuration, landing gear, crew ...
And speaking of artwork ...(Letter to the editor)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Wow! Your cover painting for the June issue of WINGS is a knockout! However, I remember seeing a very similar-looking painting on display at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Museum near Cape Canaveral, Florida, except that the ground was at the top of the painting not below the airplane as ...
Flying the 'Mig-28': the making of "Top Gun".(Personal account)
Sep 01, 2006; ... August 1985. Two gray F-14 Tomcats are on station in military airspace over the Pacific, 60 miles southwest of San Diego. I'm in a group of five aircraft 10 miles east of them: three single-seat F-5Es and a two-seat F-5F all painted black and in tight formation, with a Lear Model 25 loose ...
Plowshares into swords: a classic case of chicken or egg.(commercial aircraft innovations)
Sep 01, 2006; ... When you think about it, Wilbur and Orville's Wright Flyer would have to be considered the first 'commercial' aircraft converted for use by the military armed forces. From that first small step on the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903 to the first Wright 'B' Flyer delivered to ...
Flying aboard "Air Force Two".(Washington-New York Shuttle)
Sep 01, 2006; ... This was definitely a different kind of trip. From the very beginning, one could tell this wasn't going to be the typical Washington-New York Shuttle with 125 tired sweaty passengers stuffed into a well-worn Eastern DC-9. Yes, we were indeed traveling from Washington D.C. up to New York's ...
Testing Death--Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry.(Brief article)(Book review)
Sep 01, 2006; ... TESTING DEATH--Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry By George J. Marrett, Foreword by D. Kenneth Richardson ISBN 0-275-99066-4, Hardbound with full-color dustjacket, 6-3/8"x 9-1/2", 204 pages with 20 black-and-white photos. Published by Praeger Security ...
B-17 at War--The at War Series.(Brief article)(Book review)
Sep 01, 2006; ... B-17 AT WAR--The AT WAR Series By Bill Yenne ISBN 0-7603-2522-7, Softbound with full-color cover, 8-1/4" X 10-5/8", 128 pages with 20 color and 80 black-and-white photos and 10 diagrams. Published by Zenith Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN ....
The General Aviation Handbook--A Guide to Postwar General Aviation Manufacturers and Their Aircraft.(Brief article)(Book review)
Sep 01, 2006; ... THE GENERAL AVIATION HANDBOOK--A Guide to Postwar General Aviation Manufacturers and their Aircraft. By Rod Simpson ISBN 1-85780-222-5, Softbound with full-color cover, 8-1/2" x 11 ", 350 pages with 500 color and black-and-white photographs and 60 data tables ....