Aircraft I Have Met

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 replica [1980] N928

Owls Head Transportation Museum, Rockland, Maine - July 2005

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 replica [1980] N928

Owls Head Transportation Museum, Rockland, Maine - July 2005

Aero C-104 Jungmann [1948] N707S (was OK-BIF)

Santa Paula Airport, Santa Paula, California - December 1975 This airplane is a license-built Czechoslovakian version of the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann, a 1930s German training plane often referred to as "the plane that trained the Luftwaffe," although this plane was never in the military. At the time this photo was taken, it was owned and flown in aerobatic exhibitions all over the country by none other than Mira Slovak, the pilot of the Bell P-39 Mr. Mennen. (Photos of the Mr. Mennen photo shoot will appear later in this gallery.) The cowling seen here is a non-standard cowling, as this one is designed to cover a 225-hp Lycoming engine, which replaced the original Walter Minor 4-III engine. (By the way, that isn't a painting error on his plane's side -- that way you can read his name when he flies by inverted.) The lion crest seen on the tail is Mira's salute to his home country, Czechoslovakia, from which he escaped in the 1950s by flying an airliner from Prague to Frankfurt, West Germany. He was granted political asylum in the United States in December of 1953, and went on to fly race planes and drive hydroplanes throughout the 50s and 60s, the most notable being the hydroplane Tahoe Miss, the last hydroplane he ever drove in competition. If you ever want to see one of these planes being put through its paces, check out the movie The Great Waldo Pepper.

Aero Commander 100-180 Lark Commander [1969] N4019X

Casparis Airport, Alpine, Texas - August 2010 The Aero Commander 100 was produced in the 1960s, the various models of which were known as the Darter Commander and Lark Commander. Originally designed by Volaircraft, the firm marketed the original three-seat version as the Volaire 1035 and produced a four-seat version with a more powerful engine called the Volaire 1050, before North American Rockwell purchased all rights to the design in 1965 for production by its Aero Commander division. The vertical stabilizers on earlier models of the Aero Commander 100 had straight leading edges, much like Mooney aircraft. In 1967, North American Rockwell introduced the improved 100-180 Lark Commander, which had a more powerful 180-hp engine, a swept-back vertical stabilizer, reprofiled cowling, and a 200-lb increase in maximum takeoff weight. The Darter Commander version continued in production until 1969 and the revised Lark Commander continued until 1971, by which time Rockwell had dropped the Aero Commander brand name. Attempting to compete with the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, Rockwell found the light aircraft market too competitive for its liking, and sold the rights to all versions of the aircraft to Phoenix Aircraft in 1971, who never undertook production.

Aero Commander 500A [1962] N95AR

Casparis Airport, Alpine, Texas - April 2009 The FAA Registry has this airplane listed as a 500A, but the lettering under the cockpit windows states it's a 500S, probably since this aircraft has undergone modifications to make it a Shrike version. According to information from one Bobby Nunnally: "This aircraft was purchased new by the Mayfield Dairy in Tennessee, when the father of that company turned it over to his son. The son wanted a jet, though, so the Commander was put on the market. The company I flew for bought it and had it renovated inside and out -- new paint, new engines, new glass, air conditioning added, radar, and wool carpet. A GPS and new fuel bladders were added, also, after we had a rupture over Charlotte, North Carolina. The N-number was changed to N95AR when all these modifications were done. The Shrike conversion was done in part, but I think we could have done more. The company doing the conversion was Awbrey & Richey, Inc, started in 1995, thus the number N95AR. Mr Awbrey came up with the paint scheme. It really fit the bird well. It was a good aircraft and I hated to see her go, but the company and the boss retired, so they sold her." Thank you, Bobby! Aero Commander N95AR is currently registered to Mountain Air, LLC out of Marion, Indiana. In the late 1960s, I got to see Bob Hoover perform his "Energy Management" precision flight demonstration in a model very similar to this one, the 500U Shrike Commander. (I still have the program he autographed.) To see Bob's demonstration for yourself, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUVWHUR5OEI

Aero Commander 1121 Jet Commander [1967] N3711H

LAX International Airport, Los Angeles, California - early 1970s The Aero Commander 1121 Jet Commander was designed by Ted Smith, the designer of the Aero Commander line of prop twins as well as the Smith Aerostar 600, later to become the Piper PA-60 Aerostar when Piper bought the production rights. The 1121 Jet Commander first flew on January 2, 1963, and after successful development, went into full production in early 1965. Soon afterward, however, Aero Commander was acquired by North American Rockwell, but Rockwell already had the highly successful Sabreliner executive jet. Rockwell then sold the rights to the Jet Commander -- as well as 49 uncompleted aircraft -- to Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in 1968, who began producing it as the 1121 Commodore Jet.

Aero Spacelines B-377SGT Guppy 201 [1971] N212AS

NAS Pt Mugu, Oxnard, California - October 1972 The 377SGT Guppy-201 (SGT stood for Super Guppy Turbine), commonly named Super Guppy, was based on the Boeing 377/C-97 airframe. Aero Spacelines Inc. of Santa Barbara, California, started design in January 1968 and conversion/construction of the first aircraft was started in September 1969. Of the original aircraft only the nose section with pressurized cockpit, wings with the lower section of nacelles, tail surfaces and main landing gear were used. An entire lengthened fuselage of increased diameter and a totally new wing center-section were constructed, while the tail surface were enlarged. The nose landing gear was taken from a Boeing 707 and mounted backwards. It was fitted with four 4,912-hp Allison 501-D22C turboprop engines. The first 377SGT, N211AS (c/n 001), was flown on August 24, 1970. Receiving its Type Certificate on August 26, 1971, it was subsequently delivered to Airbus Industrie, registered as F-BTGV. The second aircraft, N212AS (c/n 002, pictured here), flew on August 24, 1972, and was delivered to Airbus Industrie as F-BPPA in 1973. Designated 377SGT-F, another two aircraft, F-GDSG (c/n 003) and F-GEAI (c/n 004), were constructed in France in 1979 and 1980, using components prepared in the USA and parts newly-built in France. By December 1997 all four aircraft had been withdrawn from service with Airbus Industrie, three were put on display: 001 at the British Aviation Heritage, Bruntingthorpe, UK, 002 at Toulouse, France, and 003 at Finkenwerder, Germany. The fourth aircraft was flown to the USA where it was registered N941NA to NASA on October 17, 1997. [The above captioning courtesy of 1000aircraftphotos.com]

Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin [1962] N24176

Curtis Field, Brady, Texas - April 2010 The prototype of the L-29 Delfin (Dolphin) trainer, called the XL-29, first flew in Czechoslovakia on April 5, 1959, powered by a Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet engine. The second prototype, first flown in July 1960, was powered by the Czech-designed M701 engine, which was to become the standard installation. In 1961, the L-29 Delfin was entered in a competitive design evaluation to find a new Warsaw pact basic/advanced jet trainer to replace the piston-engine trainer fleet. The other competitors were the Russian Yakovlev Yak-30 and the Polish TS-11 Iskra. The L-29 won the competition and subsequently became the standard trainer in all the Eastern-bloc counties, except Poland. The Indian Air Force also uses the L-29.

Aero Vodochody L-39C Albatros [1975] N678LS

Casparis Airport, Alpine, Texas - April 2014 This fine example of an Albatros goes by the name Czechmate. Note the two dummy Sidewinder missiles under the wings.

Aero Vodochody L-39C Albatros [1975] N678LS

Casparis Airport, Alpine, Texas - April 2014 Czechmate's nose art.

Aero Vodochody L-39ZA Albatros [1983] N339ZA

Owls Head Transportation Museum, Rockland, Maine - July 2006 Produced in 1983, this particular Albatros (Albatross) served with the Romanian Air Force under serial number 150 before it came on the civil US registry as N339ZA. It's unlikely this was ever an actual US Navy airplane, but it's nicely painted up as one.

Aero Vodochody L-39ZA Albatros [1983] N339ZA

Owls Head Transportation Museum, Rockland, Maine - July 2006

Aeronca 7AC Champion [1946] N85253

Santa Paula Airport, Santa Paula, California - early 1970s

Aeronca 7AC Champion [1946] N2721E

Santa Paula Airport, Santa Paula, California - November 1975 Considered the competitor to the Piper J-3 Cub, the tandem seating configuration is where the similarity ends. The Champ is soloed from the front seat instead of the rear, which offers the pilot much better visibility (especially with all that glass), and has a more powerful engine and higher cruising speed, giving the Champ a cruise of 85 mph, while the Cub plugs along at a modest 60 mph. As if this wasn't enough, the Champ also has moderate aerobatic capabilities.

Aeronca 7AC Champion [1947] N3782E

Gillespie County Airport, Fredericksburg, Texas - April 2011

Aeronca 11AC Chief [1946] N9727E

Santa Paula Airport, Santa Paula, California - early 1970s Often believed to be nothing more than a side-by-side version of the tandem-seated 7AC Champion, the Aeronca 11AC Chief was in fact its own design, developed along with the Champ in order to ease manufacturing and maintenance demands, as 70-80% of these aircrafts' parts are interchangable.

Aeronca TC-65 Defender

Oxnard Airport, Oxnard, California - early 1970s Designed as a sport light plane in the 1940s, the TC-65 Defender soon found itself training new pilots under the U.S. government's Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program, and its production levels increased significantly. Later, the Aeronca TC-65 was pressed into service by the US Army as liaison aircraft (L-3) and as observation aircraft (O-58). Due to its ability to hop in and out of grass fields, the T-65 was given the generic nickname "Grasshopper," as most of these type aircraft came to be called.

Aeronca L-3B "Grasshopper" [1943] N47373 (s/n 43-26886)

Cavanaugh Flight Museum, Addison, Texas - April 2008 Note the lengthened glazing of the cockpit area. The observer had the option of facing his seat either forward or backward, depending on the mission. Although the museum's catalog and website has this aircraft listed as an L-3B, the FAA Registry has it listed as an O-58B, which is what is looks like to me. A prominent military researcher has its serial number listed to an L-3B, also, so that's what I'm going with. The FAA Registry is not always accurate. Regardless, this is the military version of the Aeronca TC-65 Defender. On May 23, 1992, Aeronca N47373 was involved in an accident. According to the NTSB accident report, N47373 was on its first takeoff after an annual inspection and rebuild, when it experienced loss of directional control, exited the runway to the left, and nosed over. The pilot was uninjured. An examination of the airplane after the accident found the aileron cables to be reversed. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be inadequate inspection of the aircraft by other maintenance personnel and an inadequate preflight inspection by the pilot-in-command.

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde [1977] G-94AE/N94AE (c/n 212)

Dallas/Ft Worth Airport, Irving, Texas - January 12, 1979 This is one of two inaugural landings of a Concorde SST at D/FW Airport made on a commercial basis. (The Air France Concorde is landing behind me.) Beginning in 1979, Braniff Airways became the only U.S. operator of the supersonic Concorde, leasing one each from Air France and British Airways. The aircraft were registered in both the U.S. and their home countries and, for legal reasons, a sticker would cover up each aircraft's European registration while it was being operated by Braniff. The Braniff crews would fly subsonic routes between D/FW and JFK International Airport, at which point the respective international crews would then fly their supersonic routes to either London or Paris. The U.S. route, however, was not profitable (only 25-50% of the seating was ever booked) and Braniff discontinued all Concorde flights in 1980.

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde [1977] G-94AE/N94AE (c/n 212)

Dallas/Ft Worth Airport, Irving, Texas - January 12, 1979 Current registration G-BOAE (de-registered on May 4, 2004) Manufacturer's Serial Number 100-012 Production Variant Number 102 Construction Number 212 This aircraft first took to the air on March 17, 1977, in Filton, England, and British Airways took delivery of it on July 20, 1977. It was first registered as G-BOAE on May 9, 1975, to the British Aircraft Corporation, Ltd. On January 5, 1979, the aircraft was re-registered as G-94AE/N94AE by British Airways/Braniff Airways. On July 1, 1980, the aircraft re-registered as G-BOAE by British Airways, once Braniff discontinued the partnership. It's final flight was on November 17, 2003, after 23,376 hours, 7 minutes of flight time, 8,383 landings, and 7003 supersonic cycles. The aircraft was de-registered on May 4, 2004, and retired from passenger service to the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) in Barbados, where it remains on static display in the British Airways Concorde Museum on the old Spencers Plantation. On a historical note, G-BOAE was the aircraft that Queen Elizabeth II flew in while traveling to GAIA from London Heathrow, England. That notable occasion, on November 2, 1977, was the first visit by Concorde to Barbados. "Alpha Echo" was also the last Concorde to ever fly supersonic on November 17, 2003, on its delivery flight to Barbados.

Air Tractor AT-502B [1996] N6165C

Private airstrip, Eola, Texas - June 2010 I just happened by this private crop-dusting outfit outside the little town of Eola, Texas, one day as he was loading up for another run. Fortunately, he taxied down to my end of the runway for takeoff, even though it called for a downwind takeoff. It didn't seem to bother the fully-loaded Air Tractor one little bit.

Air Tractor AT-502B [1996] N6165C

Private airstrip, Eola, Texas - June 2010 A nice profile shot as the pilot prepares for takeoff. You can clearly see the central dispersal unit under the fuselage. The 500 gallon AT-502 series has been an extremely popular Air Tractor model, offering a high level of productivity with relatively low maintenance requirements. The slow-turning propeller offers quieter spray operation in noise-sensitive communities.

Air Tractor AT-502B [1996] N6165C

Private airstrip, Eola, Texas - June 2010 And he's off! Note the spray bar attachment points outboard of the flaps. Here are the specs for the AT-502: Engine Type: P&W PT6A-15AG Engine SHP: 680 @ 2200 RPM Propeller: Hartzell HC-B3TN-3D/T10282N+4 Gross Weight: 9,400 lbs. Empty Weight (with spray equipment): 4,297 lbs. Useful Load: 5,403 lbs. Hopper Capacity: 500 U.S. gal. Fuel Capacity: 170 U.S. gal. Wing Span: 52 ft. Wing Area: 312 sq. ft.

Air Tractor AT-802A [1995] N6131K

Pecos County Airport, Fort Stockton, Texas - April 2010 Having first flown in the US in 1990, the Air Tractor AT-802 series is an agricultural aircraft that has been converted to firefighting duty. Considered a Type III Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT), the AT-802 carries a chemical hopper between the engine firewall and the cockpit, and can be fitted with one under the belly. As of 2007, it is the largest agricultural-type aircraft to enter production. N6131K is registered to Southeastern Aircraft Sales and Service out of Fort Pierce, Florida, but is currently being operated by M&M Air Services here in Fort Stockton flying as "Tanker 409".