Who Likes Aircraft ?

[Photon440]

At the same time, in the "It may be slow, but it sure is ugly" category, the giant Me323 was built to serve as a transporter for the German army. Capable of carrying troops, supplies and even light armoured vehicles, it was in constant use, especially later in the war when ocean transport vessels were being sunk at a great rate.
With a wingspan greater than a B-29, 130 troops could be airlifted into the intended combat zone, or 60 wounded on stretchers rushed to hospital - landing on grass wasn't a problem with the multiple wheels.

With a max speed of 177 mph, it was pokey. Equipped with five 13mm. guns for protection, it still needed fighter escorts. Not just an experiment, nearly 200 were built and used. There are no surviving examples.

 

[polywideblock]

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-7, W.Nr 340001, SV + DA, Brown 4, 7./JG 26, pilot Staffelkapitän Oblt. Waldemar Radener, Cambrai-Süd, France, May 1944

 

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[Pops1967GTX]

don't know the story on this one.​

 

[Slap Stick]

April, 2006 C5A at Dover AFB.

 

[snakeyes]

 

[Pops1967GTX]

​

In 1990, an improperly installed window on British Airways Flight 5390 fell off during midflight causing rapid decompression in the cockpit.

Flight attendant Nigel Ogden just happened to be entering the cockpit when he heard the loud bang and saw the pilot getting sucked out. In the photo you can see Ogden holding on to his legs, while the co-pilot is trying to rapidly descend in order to reach a safer altitude.

As the co-pilot attempted to contact air traffic control to make an emergency landing, Ogden was starting to develop frostbite from the severe cold. Most of the crew thought he was already dead, but Ogden continued to hold on. All he knew was that the pilot was slipping further and further out the window and his head had repeatedly slammed against the fuselage.

After 20 minutes of flying with a broken window, the plane landed safely at Southampton Airport. Ogden suffered frostbite on his face and damaged one of his eyes; he also dislocated his shoulder. The pilot miraculously survived with frostbite and multiple fractures on his arms and hands.

An investigation later revealed that the window that had been newly installed just 27 hours before the flight had used incorrect bolt sizes. Of the 90 bolts that were used, 84 of them were 0.026 inches (0.66 mm) too small in diameter. The other 6 bolts had the correct diameter, but were short by 0.1 inches (2.5 mm). The bolts were supposed to be 0.8 inches, not 0.7 inches.

 

[snakeyes]

 

[polywideblock]

 

[polywideblock]

Heinkel he100

 

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[Photon440]

The last flight of the XB-70 Valkyrie. Definitely made before clean burning jets were developed!

 

[Richard Cranium]

That landed with a very nose-high attitude.

 

[Basket case]

seen that plane many times at The Air Force Museum.

 

[Photon440]

That landed with a very nose-high attitude.

That seems to be a characteristic of a lot of delta winged aircraft. It's the reason they put the droop nose on Concorde.

 

[polywideblock]

 

[Dipstick]

Boeing YL-15 Scout

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[Basket case]

that looks like a Dick Dastardly contraption.

 

[68gtxman]

 

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