[caption id="attachment_29684" align="alignnone" width="1065"] One of the two AGO S.I, this would be one of the first dedicated “tank busting” aircraft built. (Otto, AGO and BFW Aircraft of WWI)[/caption] The AGO S.I was an armored, heavily armed ground attack aircraft designed to fill the requirement for the German Luftstreitkräfte  their S type plane; a dedicated…

[caption id="attachment_28075" align="alignnone" width="1116"] Side view of the Boulton Paul P.105C. This was the single-seat fighter version of the aircraft, armed with four 20mm cannons. (Boulton Paul Archive Photos)[/caption] The Boulton Paul P.105 was a concept for a multi-purpose, single-engine aircraft that was designed to fill a number of carrier based roles. To do so,…

[caption id="attachment_27168" align="alignnone" width="1328"] An example of a production Sopwith Snipe. This would be one of the best aircraft the RAF would field in the later stages of the First World War, and is the aircraft the Salamander would be based on. (Pilots and Planes)[/caption] The Sopwith Salamander was a dedicated ground attack aircraft, at…

[caption id="attachment_21800" align="aligncenter" width="1171"] A flight of five No.101 Squadron Overstrands. (Boulton Paul Aircraft Since 1915)[/caption] The Boulton Paul P.75 Overstrand was a two-engined biplane that became the RAF’s mainstay bomber aircraft in the early to mid 1930s. The Overstrand was an improvement upon the earlier P.29 Sidestrand biplane bombers after the type recieved several…

[caption id="attachment_16101" align="alignleft" width="400"] Two B-Class blimps during a training exercise. Two spherical observation balloons can also be seen. [US National Archives][/caption]The First World War was one that saw considerable technological breakthroughs, with many different ideas coming to fruition for the first time or previously small endeavors in weapons now being used in large numbers.…

[caption id="attachment_15499" align="alignleft" width="216"] R.H Upson outside of the Goodyear Hangar in Akron, 1917 [US National Archives][/caption]Ralph H. Upson was a pioneer in balloon and airship development in America in the early 1900s. In 1913, using his own airship design, he would win the International Balloon Race. Upson was an employee of the aeronautics division…

The L.W.F. Engineering Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded in 1915 by Edward Lowe Jr, Charles F. Willard, and Robert G. Fowler, with the company name being an acronym of their last names. The three had worked in the aviation industry before forming the company, with each using the experience they had learned to…

[caption id="attachment_14931" align="alignleft" width="242"] The S-II stage of the Saturn V. [James Vaughan- Flickr][/caption]The race to the moon in the 1960s between the United States and Soviet Union introduced a number of challenges upon the growing aerospace industry. The task at hand was one of the biggest endeavors in human history, requiring manpower, materials, logistics,…

[caption id="attachment_14813" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Chessborough J H Mackenzie-Kennedy in front of the Kennedy Giant in 1917. (The Imperial War Musuem Footage)[/caption] In 1904, at the age of 18, Chessborough J. H. Mackenzie-Kennedy would leave his home country of Britain and move to Russia. The allure of developing his own aircraft firm in a place where…

The immediate post Second World War aviation industry was an incredibly interesting time. Many new radical concepts were being tested, with jet engines, helicopters, and many other advanced designs coming to light. Although not extensively discussed, many different types of lighter-than-air aircraft designs were also tested, but many of these have been either lost or…