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Taining Bell P39 with Patrice Marchasson flying with Nick Grey at Curtiss 75 control, a few days before the huge yearly flying legends warbird airshow.
The Fighter Collection operates, rebuilds and maintains Europe’s largest collection of airworthy WWII aircraft and is based at Duxford Airfield, in the UK. Run by a professional team of engineers and pilots for both airshow and film work, the aircraft fly all over Europe during the summer months to attend airshows from Austria to Switzerland. The fleet comprises of aircraft from the UK, USA, Germany, Russia and Italy - and the collection is constantly expanding as new aeroplanes are acquired. The TFC is one of the premier collections of warbirds in Europe. Based in Duxford’s Hanger 2 (and parts of hanger 3), The Fighter Collection is owned by Stephen Grey, whose intention it was to own an example of every allied fighter type flown in WWII.

Duration : 0:2:38

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Technorati Tags: acrobatique, aerienne, aerobatic, Air, airshow, ancienne, and, atelier, aviateur, Aviation, avion, be, bourgogne, christophe, collection, demo, demonstration, display, diving, eric, fall, fete, flight, Force, formation, france, Free, fun, goujon, have, jacquard, marchasson, meeting, memorial, muse, must, patrice, Pilot, pilotage, restauration, scuba, seen, squadron, vol, volant, voltige, Warbird, wing

Tis aircraft was ordered by USAF delivered in 1953 operated as a trainer, medical response and US coastguard. Better known a the “Samaritan”.
In the early 80’s to mid to 1998 it was operated by the University of Washington to collect atmospheric research data for NASA from different parts of the world. In 99 sold to Air Tahoma then in 2000 to its Present owners Matata Group Inc. Civilian conformity and certification took place in 2001 , since then operated by Air Tahoma Inc., Aero Jurez failed attempt,CAAS Guatemala failed attempt, Miami air lease failed attempt, Cargo Three Inc successfully on term lease. Aircraft is maintained on a approved FAR 121 successfully maintenance program and is in current airworthy condition Recent avionic upgrades include TCAS 1 to comply with US regulations. We are always on the lookout for opportunities, please email johnsgraham@hotmail.com if you know of one.

Duration : 0:4:5

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Technorati Tags: 240, airliner, avgas, Business, cargo, Convair, group, lease, matata, opportunity, plane, radial, three, Warbird

This aircraft is for lease or sale .A significant investment has been made to restore this aircraft to its current civilian commercial status.We are always searching for opportunities .

Duration : 0:4:5

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Technorati Tags: 121, 125, 135, 240, 705, airliner, Business, cargo, Convair, group, lease, matata, opportunity, plane, radial, Warbird

The Airspeed Oxford was a military development of the same company’s Envoy airliner. The prototype first flew on 19 June 1937 and when it entered service with the Central Flying School in November of that year it became the Royal Air Force’s first twin-engine monoplane advanced trainer.

The first Oxfords were intended for all aspects of aircrew training including gunnery and had an Armstrong Whitworth dorsal gun turret fitted. The turret was removed from later versions and they were used mainly for pilot training. In addition to their main role as trainers Oxfords were used as air ambulances, communications aircraft and for ground radar calibration duties.

It saw widespread use as an advanced trainer in the United Kingdom, Canada, Southern Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East and in 1951 they received a new lease of life as Flying Training Command expanded to train National Service pilots.

Duration : 0:1:37

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, Airspeed_Oxford, Aviation, RAF, Warbird, WW2

After early US Navy experience in the Pacific in the early months of WWII, and after consultation with Allied air forces in the European theater, Grumman began to develop a successor to their Wildcat fighter, to be called the Hellcat. Major design changes from the Wildcat included a low-mounted wing, wider landing gear which retracted into the wings, more powerful engine, improved cockpit armor plating, and increased ammunition capacity.

The Navy ordered four prototypes of the new airplane, each with a different engine for test and evaluation purposes. Less than a year later, on 26 June 1942, the first prototype (the XF6F-1, with a Wright R-2600 Cyclone engine) flew for the first time. Before much meaningful evaluation of the various engines could be made, however, the Navy decided to press the Hellcat into production by fitting the XF6F-1 prototype with the most powerful engine available, the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp. (This turned it into an XF6F-3. The XF6F-2 and XF6F-4 were never evaluated.)

The first production model, the F6F-3, first flew in October 1942, and deliveries began four months later with squadron VF-9 on the USS Essex in the Pacific. Extremely robust, powerful and maneuverable, the Hellcat was a potent force against the Japanese, and was credited with over three-quarters of the US Navy’s air-to-air kills in the war.

The UK’s Fleet Air Arm received 252 F6F-3s (designated Gannet Mk I) beginning in 1943. Meanwhile, in the US, over 200 Hellcats were modified as radar-equipped night fighters. During the F6F-3 production run, which lasted until April 1944, Grumman had developed an improved Hellcat, the F6F-5, which utilized a redesigned engine cowl, new ailerons, a strengthened tail, and a water-injection system for the engine, which added 10% to the takeoff performance and increased its armament-carrying capabilities. The F6F-5 was first flown on 4 April 1944, and production continued through November 1945. Over 900 more “Dash-5″ Hellcats were delivered to the UK under the Lend-Lease program under the designation Hellcat Mk II.

Duration : 0:3:25

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, Aviation, F6F, Grumman, Hellcat, Warbird, WW2

In 1933 the Stearman company began design and construction of a new training biplane, derived from the earlier Stearman model C; built as a private venture, this was first flown in December 1933 and, designated originally as the Stearman X-70, was submitted as a contender in 1934 to meet a US Air Corps requirements for a new primary trainer.

The first service to show positive interest in this aircraft was the US Navy which, in early 1935. These, however, received a different powerplant from that installed originally, primarily because the US Navy had a lot of 225-hp Wright J-5 radial engines in storage which were specified for installation in this initial order, the company changing the model number of these aircraft to Model 73. The X-70 supplied for US Army evaluation was subjected to protracted testing and eventually, in early 1936, the USAAC contracted for the supply of 26 aircraft under the designation PT-13 (Primary Trainer, 13). These, powered by 215-hp Lycoming R-680-5 engines, were the first of the Stearman Model 75 series.

This cautious approach by the US Army should not be considered as a reflection upon the capability of the new trainer. The truth of the matter was that at that period the USAAC had little money to spend on new aircraft: not only had this service to be as certain as possible that it was procuring the best available, but even then was only able to procure small quantities. Soon, however, the fortunes of war were to bring Boeing contracts for thousands of the Stearman-designed trainers. The name Kaydet, bestowed later by Canada and adopted generally in reference to these aircraft, was unofficial except in Canada.

This attractive two-seat biplane was of mixed construction, the single-bay wings being basically of wood with fabric covering, the remainder of welded steel tube with mostly fabric covering. Landing gear was of non-retractable tail-wheel type, the divided cantilever main units having cleanly faired oleo-spring shock absorbers. The powerplant varied considerably throughout a production run which lasted until early 1945, and during which well over 10,000 examples were built.

For the first time both the US Army and US Navy had a common model in 1942, basically the PT-13A airframe with a Lycoming 8-680-17 engine, and these had the respective designations PT-13D and N2S-5. These were the last major production variants for the US forces, the US Army receiving 318 and the US Navy 1,450. A shortage of engines in 1940-1 had, however, produced two other designations: PT-18 and PT-18A.
The designation PT-27 applied to 300 aircraft procured by the US Army for supply under Lend-Lease to the Royal Canadian Air Force. A small number of these, and of the N25-Ss supplied to the US Navy, had cockpit canopies, cockpit heating, full blind-flying instrumentation and a hood for instrument training.

Duration : 0:2:22

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, Aviation, Boeing, PT-17, Stearman, USAAC, USAAF, USAF, Warbird, WW2

The four-seat Fairchild F24, sporting and training aeroplane, made its first flight in 1932. The design attracted attention from the civilian American market and improved models soon began to appear.

With the appearance of the F24W series, the aircraft’s potential as a light military transport was recognised by the United States Army. An initial contract for 161 aircraft for the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) was placed in 1941. However, all the aircraft were re-allocated to the Royal Air Force under the American Lend-Lease Act which allowed war materials ordered for the United States armed forces to be given to other nations for the duration of the war. Further contracts led to the delivery of more than 600 aircraft to the United Kingdom. Known in the USAAF as the Forwarder, those arriving in Great Britain were given the official name Argus.

The Argus was used in the light communications role by the RAF and found a particular niche ferrying pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary.

The Museum’s aircraft was used during the war as a hack for the US 8th Air Force. After purchase from private owners in 1973, it spent many years in deep storage, before restoration for the Museum by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society in 1999.

Duration : 0:1:59

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, Argus, Aviation, Fairchild, RAF, Warbird, WW2

Responding to the US Army Air Corps’ need for a high speed medium bomber, the Martin Company submitted an unusual design; a cantilever shoulder wing monoplane carrying five (later seven) crewmen. While the plane met or exceeded all performance requirements, with a wing optimized for high speed cruising, it was found to be unstable at low speeds during take-offs and landings. After a number of training accidents, modifications were made and the Marauder went on to record the lowest attrition rate of any American aircraft serving with the Air Corps’ 9th Air Force in Europe, a remarkable feat considering the plane’s undeserved nickname of “Widow-maker,” among others (see Nicknames below.)

The B-26 carried a normal bomb load of 3,000 pounds, though another 1,000 pounds could be added when fitted with special wing hardpoints. Armament included eleven 12.7-mm machine guns in fixed, forward-firing, nose and waist mounts, and in powered dorsal- and tail-turrets. Though its service ceiling was 19,800 feet, the Marauder’s primary role was close tactical ground support. As such, it was widely used in the Pacific theater and the Mediterranean by both the USAAC and the RAF, which had acquired 522 B-26’s under Lend-Lease.

Some of the twenty variants of this aircraft included the B-26A (increased added fuel capacity, externally mounted torpedo, system revisions and heavier armament, of which 139 were built); the B-26B (bigger engines, armament revisions and better armor protection, a 6-foot increase in wing span, taller vertical tail and more armament, of which 1,883 were built); the B26-F (improved take-off performance and equipment changes, of which 300 were built); and the JM-1 (one of several designations for US Navy models of the Marauder, used mainly for training of shipboard anti-air crews and photo-reconnaissance.)

Duration : 0:3:17

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Technorati Tags: Aviation, B-26, Free, French, Marauder, Martin, USAAF, Warbird, WW2

The P-39 single-seat fighter was, in all respects, a radical design for its day, and proved the adage, “Form follows function.” It was designed around a 37mm T-9 cannon which, in order to maximize the airplane’s forward firepower, was fitted to fire through the propeller hub. In order for the cannon to fit inside the nose, the engine was placed behind the cockpit, and drove the propeller via a long shaft which passed under the pilot’s feet. The center-of-gravity shift caused by the engine’s location resulted in the need for a tricycle landing gear arrangement, the first of it’s kind among WWII fighters.

The prototype XP-39 first flew on 6 April 1938, and after several evaluation programs, some major modifications were made to the design, resulting in the first production version, the P-39C. This production version entered service with the US Army Air Corps in 1939, but was almost immediately upgraded to the P-39D model with self-sealing fuel tanks, more guns, and larger fuel capacity.

In July 1941, the Royal Air Force took delivery of the first of 675 P-39Ds (called the Model 14 by the RAF) which they had ordered the year before. Shortly after delivery, however, the RAF realized that the aircraft had minimal performance characteristics without a turbocharger, an accessory that had been deleted early in the aircraft’s development. It was too late to cancel the order, and only one RAF squadron (No. 601) ever flew it operationally. Over 250 of the others were sent to Russia, about 200 more were transferred to the US Army Air Force in Britain, and another 200 or so were sent back to America and designated as P-400s.

At least eight additional variants were later built. Most changes to the original design involved new engines and propellers, but otherwise the airframe remained very much the same over its production life. The P-39N and P-39Q were built for the Russian air force under the Lend-Lease military assistance program, and 4,773 Airacobras were delivered to Russia by American and Russian ferry pilots. Seven P-39s were designated as the F2L and used as US Navy target drones. The Airacobra served successfully in the ground-attack role in North Africa, and in the Pacific theater, until more powerful fighters began replacing it in 1944. Other nations which acquired P-39s included Portugal, France, and Italy. The Airacobra, though hampered by its lack of a turbocharger, was a very satisfactory low-altitude attack airplane, and served as faithfully as any other combat aircraft.

Duration : 0:8:26

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Technorati Tags: Airacobra, Aircraft, Aviation, Bell, Duxford, P-39, USAAC, USAAF, Warbird, WW2

The Lockheed Hudson was a military version of the American Lockheed 14 Super Electra airliner and was ordered for the Royal Air Force in June 1938. Hudsons entered service with Coastal Command in 1939. Used extensively over United Kingdom waters on anti-submarine and general reconnaissance duties, Hudsons were also used overseas.

When Hudsons reached obsolescence in the maritime role they were stripped of their armament and re-employed as transports. Some of these aircraft were used in the very hazardous task of carrying Allied agents into and out of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Although never in the forefront of wartime publicity the Hudson can nevertheless claim an impressive list of firsts including:

-The first Allied aircraft to shoot down an enemy while operating from the British Isles.
-The first aircraft to capture a U-boat. U-570 surrendered to a No.269 Squadron Hudson on 27 August 1941.
-The first aircraft equipped to carry airborne lifeboats for air sea rescue duties.

The RAF received just over 2000 Hudsons, 800 of which were purchased, the remainder supplied under American Lend-Lease contracts.

Duration : 0:2:27

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Technorati Tags: Aircraft, Aviation, Hudson, Lockheed, RAF, Warbird, WW2