Academic Articles

BRIEFINGPerched on its tall undercarriage, the V-173 looks otherworldly.A unique airplane was publicly unveiled in the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Texas' Dallas Love Field on April 10. Looking like a giant pancake sprouting two huge propellers and standing on a tall fixed undercarriage that gave it a 22-degree tilt on the ground, the wood-and-canvas ... Read More

REVIEWSBOOKSNORTH AMERICAN F-86 SABRE OWNERS' WORKSHOP MANUAL by Mark Linney, Zenith Press, Minneapolis, Minn., 2011, $28.The legendary F-86 Sabre faced off with the MiG-15 along the Yalu River in one of the few purely fighter-versus-fighter campaigns in history. The story of how American Sabre pilots overcame initial disadvantages to achieve a resounding victory has been ... Read More

AIRWAREConsider the problems of modern-day naval commanders: Today's weapons are better, but commanders have to face the same challenging decisions that WWII leaders did. Where should scout planes search? When should you attack? Will the moment you're preparing for an attack, when your carrier deck is vulnerable with fuel- and bomb-laden aircraft, prove to be ... Read More

What is this rotary-winged weirdo…and did it fly? Turn to P. 12 for the answer.About the same time that autogiros were proving the practicality of rotary-winged flight, Maitland Bleecker, an engineer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, came up with an ambitious concept for a true helicopter. Built by Curtiss-Wright at its Garden City, ... Read More