A copy of the Pilot’s Notes (Report No. D-3910) for the Boeing XPBB-1 Sea Ranger aircraft. Dated May 1950.
Friday, September 29, 2023
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Hawker Sea Fury 10 and 11 Pilot’s Notes
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Fairchild Republic A-10A Aircraft Flight Manual
A copy of the Fairchild Republic A-10A Aircraft Flight Manual [T.O. 1A-10A-1]. Dated 15 March 1988.
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Convair F-106A Illustrated Parts Breakdown Manual
Monday, September 25, 2023
CIA Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21FL Flight Manual
An unusual copy of the American CIA Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21FL Flight Manual. A truely horrible copy; but, it is all I have! Dated January 1966.
Friday, September 22, 2023
Supermarine Spitfire I Pilot’s Notes
Thursday, September 21, 2023
North American T-28B/C and AT-28D Trojan Flight Manual
A copy of the North American T-28B/C and AT-28D Trojan Flight Manual (TO 1T-28-1). Dated 15 January 1974.
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Douglas SBD-5 and A-24B Flight Manual
A copy of the Douglas company produced flight manual for the SBD-5 and A-24B aircraft. Credit: Anymouse Collection
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Boeing XB-47 Flight Handbook
Monday, September 18, 2023
Martin XP6M-1 Utility Flight Manual
Friday, September 15, 2023
Redeveloping the F-4 Phantom II into a Mach 3+ Fighter/Spy Plane
A very good article by Ian D'Costa in the TacAirNet.com online magazine on the Isreali attemp at Redeveloping the F-4 Phantom II into a Mach 3+ Fighter/Spy Plane.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
QF-86 Aircraft and Ramp Photos (Reblog)
Forty two ramp photos I took for the below QF-86 target drone aircraft article.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
QF-86E Target Drones (ReBlog)
QF-86E Army Sabres article by Ron Downey.
In the summer of 1981, I took a tour of the F-86 conversions at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico which turned them into QF-86 unmanned target drones. I was a guest of Flight Systems, Inc of Mojave Ca, the managers of the program.
I first published a short article in “Crazed Plastic” (See below) and then a revised and larger article in “Radom Thoughts” (RT) in 1982. RT is the IPMS Canada’s publication. Here is that article.
The very distinctive Orange color used on these birds is called Omaha Orange from the Dupont Centari No. 31AH collection. A close match for Omaha Orange is FS 12473. The sample in this article was painted with the actual Dupont color.
"Thumper" was destroyed on a NOLO mission in August 1981. It had survived at least 9 missile shots!
For further info on the Qf-86 Target drones, get Duncan Curtis's wonderful book "North American QF-86E/F/H/Sabre". It is Number 58 of Steve Ginter's "Naval Fighter" series. Click here to purchase book
Update: Click here to see the Duncan Curtis article on Flight System Sabres
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
F-15 Aerei Modellismo Article
Monday, September 11, 2023
CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder
The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder, or FC-1 Xiaolong ), is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). It was designed to replace the A-5C, F-7P/PG, Mirage III, and Mirage V combat aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The JF-17 can be used for multiple roles, including interception, ground attack, anti-ship, and aerial reconnaissance. The Pakistani designation "JF-17" stands for "Joint Fighter-17", with the "-17" denoting that, in the PAF's vision, it is the successor to the F-16. The Chinese designation "FC-1" stands for "Fighter China-1". From Wikipedia.
Friday, September 8, 2023
KAI T-50 Golden Eagle Photos
One hundred and four photos of the Korean KAI T-50 Golden Eagle aircraft.
The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle is a family of South Korean supersonic advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with Lockheed Martin.[1] The T-50 is South Korea's first indigenous supersonic aircraft and one of the world's few supersonic trainers.[4] Development began in the late 1990s, and its maiden flight occurred in 2002. The aircraft entered active service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) in 2005. From Wikipedia.
Thursday, September 7, 2023
The Flight of “Big Joe 1”(Atlas-10D)
A copy of a very good article on the Big Joe Mercury Capsule. With info, photos and drawings. From the Sept/Oct issue of the Space Frontiers magazine.
“Big Joe 1 (Atlas-10D) launched an uncrewed boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 9 September 1959. The purposes of the Big Joe 1 were to test the Mercury spacecraft ablative heat shield, afterbody heating, reentry dynamics attitude control and recovery capability. It was also the first launch of a spacecraft in Project Mercury.” From wikipedia
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Coast Guard Colors
Info on the Coast Guard colors. These two chips are actual Coast Guard color chips from June 1971!
What are the Coast Guard colors?
For purposes of rendering the Coast Guard emblem in color, Coast Guard red is defined as PMS 179 C, and Coast Guard blue is PMS 307 C. When printed in black ink only, all red and blue sections shall be printed in black. The Coast Guard mark is available for commercial use with a license agreement.
Pastel red -
Description and conversion results of color Pantone 179 C It is a pastel red color having an approximate luminance of 49 %. It has a hue value of 3° indicating that this is a warm color.
Blue - Pantone / PMS 307 C / #006ba6 Hex Color Code
#006ba6 Paint ChipThe hexadecimal color code #006ba6 is a medium dark shade of cyan-blue. In the RGB color model #006ba6 is comprised of 0% red, 41.96% green and 65.1% blue. In the HSL color space #006ba6 has a hue of 201° (degrees), 100% saturation and 33% lightness.
White -Federal Standard 17877 Coast Guard White - FEDSTD595
(Zip file includes web addresses of paint chips and two manuals on Paint and Color and Coatings and Colors.)
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
F-4G “Wild Weasel” Flight Manual (Newer)
Monday, September 4, 2023
Fairey Barracuda MkI and MkII Pilot’s Notes
Friday, September 1, 2023
Hughes AH-64A Apache Booklet
A copy of the company produced Hughes AH-64A Apache Booklet. Lot’s of facts and figures! Hughes was a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas at this time.