#museumofflight

Concord cockpit . . #concord #concorde #cockpit #cockpitviews #cockpitview #pilotsofinstagram #pilots #pilotviews #pilotlifestyle #pilotslife #supersonic #airliner #aviationmuseum #seattle #museumofflight #aviationphotography #aviationgeek #aircraftporn https://www.instagram.com/p/BroCpJOBiC2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j7tuhtwazx0l

In early 1917, the German High Command realized that they would always be outnumbered in the sky. The average German Air Force squadron, or Jasta, could only put up 6 to 9 aircraft on patrols and some local commanders began grouping Jastas together in composite groups to increase the number of aircraft on patrols over a given sector of the Western Front. By the middle of the year the grouping Jastas became official with the formation of the world’s first fighter wing or Jagdgeschwader, the first fighter wing being JG 1 which was composed of Jastas 4,6,10, and 11. With its first commander, Manfred von Richtofen “Red Baron”, JG 1 was a mobile unit that could set up operations anywhere on the front and “swarm” that sector with four Jastas’ worth of fighters, creating local air superiority by concentrating forces on key sectors. JG 1’s aircraft were brightly colored and their mobile nature resembled a traveling circus which is how they got their nickname, “The Flying Circus”. The battlefield success of JG 1 led to the formation of JG 2 and JG 3 as well. By the summer of 1918, JG 1 was fully equipped with the Fokker Dr.I triplane’s replacement, the Fokker D.VII. This photo is the Fokker D.VII’s successor, the parasol wing monoplane Fokker D.VIII. Faster and agile, the Allies called the D.VIII the “Flying Razor”- Jasta 6 of the Flying Circus was first to get the D.VIII in July 1918. Structural issues were found and rectified and Jasta 11 of the Flying Circus got its D.VIIIs in October 1918. Only 381 were built and only 85 made it to front line service before the end of the First World War. | October Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1017planes | “The Greatest Show on Earth” | Day 27 | #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KBFI #BFI #BoeingField #MuseumofFlight #airport #planespotting #Fokker #DVIII #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #Avgeekery #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at The Museum of Flight)

de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet Mk. 4C #dehavillandcomet #dehavilland #comet #airliner #museumofflight #everett #cockpit #aircraftspotting #airplanespotting #aviationlovers #aviation #cockpitview https://www.instagram.com/p/BnjwzHbgXlZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=qqpsvyfutz0t

At the end of the Second World War, Vought was riding high having produced the F4U Corsair. The next naval fighter from Vought was the XF5U “Flying Flapjack” which was unorthodox but promising design. But come 1946, the XF5U hadn’t flown yet and was over budget and the Navy was moving to jets. So Vought produced its first jet fighter, the F6U Pirate which despite being the first Navy fighter with an afterburner, was so woefully underpowered it never went to see and most what were built were scrapped with less than 10 flying hours on the airframes. The Navy told Vought to get its act together, so next came the F7U Cutlass. Though troubled, at least the F7U went to see but its accident rate saw most air wing commanders banning it from the flight deck. The Navy gave Vought one more chance- and Vought pulled out the stops and hit one out of the park with the F8U Crusader. At the Museum of Flight in Seattle is the XF8U prototype itself- on its maiden flight on 25 March 1955, Vought test pilot John Konrad took it supersonic, the first time any jet fighter broke Mach 1 on its first flight. The Navy knew it finally had a winner from Vought that was a worthy successor to the F4U Corsair. Interestingly, the last F4U Corsair was built in 1952, just three years before the Crusader’s maiden flight. #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KBFI #BFI #BoeingField #Seattle #airport #planespotting #instagramaviation #Vought #F8 #F8U #Crusader #MuseumofFlight #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at The Museum of Flight)

The wonderful thing about aviation museums is when you have juxtapositions like this at the Museum of Flight in Seattle- the Boeing Model 80 which made its maiden flight in 1928 and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird which made its first flight as the single seat A-12 Oxcart variant in 1962 (the Museum of Flight’s Blackbird is actually an M-21, which was an A-12 with second seat for the drone launch control officer who was in charge of the D-21 UAV that was carried on the back of the M-21). Regardless, you’re talking about only 34 years that separates the maiden flights of these two aircraft. The Boeing 80 trimotor airliner had a maximum speed of 138 mph and a range of 400 nm. The SR-71 Blackbird had a maximum speed well over Mach 3.3 (2200mph) and a range of 2900 nm. | October Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1017planes | “Some Kind of Wonderful” | Day 16 | #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KBFI #BFI #BoeingField #Seattle #airport #planespotting #instagramaviation #Boeing #Model80 #Lockheed #A12 #M21 #SR71 #Blackbird #MuseumofFlight #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at The Museum of Flight)

In the early 1970s, at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OpNav) and Naval Systems Command were serving a number of Vietnam A-6 Intruder veterans who were responsible for getting upgrades to the Intruder fleet. The current production model at the time was the A-6E. During Vietnam, twelve A-6As were converted to A-6Cs which had a big bulky ventral gondola that housed a rudimentary FLIR/LLTV turret for attack missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Now the bulky nose of the Intruder stemmed from the fact that the A-6A had two separate radar units- a search radar and a track radar. But on the A-6E, electronics modernization meant that both functions were now in a single radar unit. An officer in OpNav realized that the space left was perfect for a modern version of the A-6C’s FLIR turret which was now smaller than the earlier version. With only $15 million, the Navy asked Hughes and Texas Instruments to develop a new system called TRAM (Target Recognition Attack Multisensor) that had a turret underneath the nose. Hughes won the competition and TRAM was integrated into the Intruder’s attack radar and highly accurate intertial navigation system. The A-6E TRAM first flew in March 1974 and the first TRAM Intruders went to the fleet on 1975. By the early 1980s, TRAM was upgraded with laser ranging and designation as well a moving target indicator, making the A-6E TRAM Intruder the most lethal all weather/night attack jet in the US inventory. During Operation Desert Storm, the A-6E TRAM were responsible for 85% of all laser designations and LGB drops. #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KBFI #BFI #BoeingField #Seattle #airport #planespotting #instagramaviation #Grumman #A6 #Intruder #MuseumofFlight #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at The Museum of Flight)

Housed in place of honor now at the Aviation Pavilion at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, this is “Jumbo One”, the Boeing 747 prototype. When the theme of today’s challenge “Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines” was announced, the first aircraft that came to mind was the Boeing 747, probably one of the most iconic jet airliners that even non-aviation folks can identify. From the program launch in April 1966 with Pan Am’s order for 25 aircraft to the rollout of Jumbo One on 30 September 1968, only 29 months elapsed. Imagine that for a moment- the world’s first wide body jetliner was launched and rolled out in LESS than three years- and not only that, a massive new factory had to be built at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, for its construction- in fact, the factory was still under construction as Jumbo One was being built! The head of the Boeing 747 program and its father, Joe Sutter, and his team of engineers, designers, mechanics and even the workers who built the factory, became known as “The Incredibles” for the stunning technical achievement accomplished in only 29 months. First time I saw it several years ago, Jumbo One sat in the elements sans engines on a corner of Boeing Field and it had clearly seen better days. Now it rests in sheltered in a place of honor at the Museum of Flight. | October Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1017planes | “Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines” | Day 3 | #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KBFI #BFI #BoeingField #MuseumofFlight #airport #planespotting #Boeing #747 #JumboOne #Seattle #Washington #instagramaviation #igaviationcontest #Avgeekery #instaaviation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at The Museum of Flight)

“Time flies, but memories last forever.” 🕰️🛩️🤍 . . . #lockheedblackbird #mach3 #mothership #museumofflight #m21 (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CptE6D3vlqv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=