Aeroplanes
Show summaries onlyPost-eclipse sunset
During the eclipse, and for some time after, several light aircraft, including one that looked like an old DC-3, flew over our camp. These were people viewing the eclipse from the air, taking off from the nearby airstrip.
This is one of the last of the light aircraft.
Sunset on the night of the eclipse.
Chisamba, Zambia. 21 June 2001.
Caproni CA20
It’s hard to know which is more fun: the Museum of Flight in Seattle or the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
I confess I’ve been more than once to both of them!
This is a Caproni CA20, the world’s first fighter aircraft. Italy, 1914. The Wright Brothers succeeded in the first powered flight in 1903. So it’s just 11 years later that the world gets its first flying machine gun.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Early passenger aircraft
The early commercial use of aircraft in the US seems to have been about carrying the mail. This early passenger aircraft could take one passenger.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
DC-3
DC-3, 1940. Everyone seems to love DC-3s (although, if I’ve never flown in one, I was too young to remember it). This one was built in 1940 for American Airlines.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair. 1945. A navy fighter-bomber flown from aircraft carriers in late World War II and the Korean War.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Air Force One 707
Specially-built Boeing 707, 1958. The first jet airliner used as Air Force One. This plane was used to carry US presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon. The sophisticated 60s communications technology inside includes a telex machine and an electric typewriter.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II, 1966 used by the US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic team.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
McDonnell F-4C Phantom II
McDonnell F-4C Phantom II, 1964. Note the “shark” painted on the radar-guided missile under the fuselage of the Phantom, and the shiny Sidewinder missiles under the wing. I was assured that, being in a museum, they aren’t loaded.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Apollo Command Module
Apollo Command Module made by Rockwell, 1968. This one did not get into space: it was used for training.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Lunar Roving Vehicle mockup
Engineering mock-up of a Lunar Roving Vehicle made by Boeing, 1971. At the risk of stating the obvious, no used Lunar Roving Vehicles are on earth.
Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, USA. 9 February 2003.
Later Aeroplanes entries
Show full text of these entries.Air mail? Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
The side of the factory from the highway, complete with a huge replica of a stamp bearing a Boeing 747. ...New 747 Boeing Factory, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
A 747 being prepared for delivery. This one is being built for Air France. The silvery coating is a plastic protective colour, which will come off before the aircraft is painted. ...Comet Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
A major piece of work going on at the the Restoration Center is to restore this old Comet. The Comet was the first commercial jet aircraft, produced by De Havilland in the UK and flown around the worl...Boeing 247D Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
The Boeing 247D. Boeing claims that the 247 was the first ‘modern’ aeroplane. At the time, Boeing and United Airlines were the one company, so United was the only airline to fly 247s. The ...Boeing 727 Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
Remember 727s? Boeing made 1,832 of them. This 727 is the very first 727. It was made in 1962 and is now on the tarmac outside the Restoration Center. ...Chance Vought F7U Cutlass Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Paine Field, Everett, WA, USA. 13 February 2003.
I had no recollection of what kind of plane this is, but Greg Chapman has filled in the gaps. It’s a Chance Vought F7U Cutlass. This one hasn’t had its wings re-attached yet. ...QF011, A380, Seat 3A, SYD-LAX 25 February 2011.
A gazillion friends wanted to hear about first class on the Qantas A380. I can make recommendations as follows: In the first class lounge at the international terminal in Sydney, have the lamb with e...