May 26, 2010
The troubled Boeing 787, a.k.a., the Dreamliner (the latter name presumably being chosen before the lengthy delays in making the plane fully operational began), an aircraft that is a good reflection of Boeing's contemporary state of affairs. While the plane represents an attempt to increase Boeing's airliner market share (steadily eroded by Airbus), it's definitely a gamble. In recent years Boeing has been kept profitable by lucrative US DOD business, though the only reason Airbus has not been officially named as the winner of the US Air Force's aerial tanker contract is the political support Boeing has been able to muster to support its bid.
Konrad and Zosia putting their imaginations to work...
Two shots of the relatively well-known SR-71 (with a less well known drone on top fuselage whose operation stopped after a few accidents) which sought to recapture the invulnerability of the earlier U-2 (lost once USSR begun to deploy large numbers of high-altitude air defense missile systems) when overflying Soviet or Chinese territory. In practice the SR-71 flights tended to stay well away from the Soviet strategic air defenses equipped with weapons (like the SA-5) designed in mind with such fast, high-flying targets, though their usefulness against less well defended countries was no doubt greater.
No doubt a misguided (no pun intended) attempt at humor, as the "don't trample" warning is stenciled over the the warhead section... The V-1 itself, the world's first operational cruise missile, is probably best known for the late-war German cruise missile offensive against London (later supplemented by the V-2 ballistic missile), though in actuality London was second to Antwerp in terms of the number of missiles launched. It was not a particularly effective weapon of war (more concentration camp inmates perished while making the components for these weapons than British and Belgian civilians were killed by the actual missiles) or even of terror, its greatest impact was on the German morale in the final stages of the war. The existence of V-1 and other "secret weapons" proved to be a major morale boost by suggesting that Hitler's promises to win the war might have some basis in reality.
This pic did not turn out as well, but it's Germany's mid-war workhorse fighter, the Albatross (can't remember which specific model). When it was introduced in 1916, it outclassed the early-war Allied fighters, but then it quickly itself became outclassed by French and British models, including the SPADs pictured below.
One of the best World War I-era fighters, the legendary SPAD XIII, the favorite aircraft of most French and US fighter aces (here presented in US markings). Not particularly maneuverable, it owed its combat success to a combination of a powerful engine (220hp--nothing to sneeze at in 1918...), very strong construction (the SPAD XIII was one of the very few aircraft of the era that could reach its terminal velocity in a dive without falling apart...), and a high turn of speed (also one of the very few WW1 fighters with a top speed in level flight well in excess of 200kph), which meant the plane's pilot could engage or disengage almost at will, a crucial advantage in air combat.
Another popular World War I workhorse, the Nieuport 16 fighter. The successive models of the Nieuport played an important role in the early and middle stages of World War I. Groupes de chasse armed with the Nieuport 11 made one of the early decisive contributions of airpower when they won the control of airspace over the Verdun battlefield, thus depriving German artillery of the benefit of aerial observation and, conversely, allowing French artillery to accurately strike far behind German lines. The Nieuports were gradually eclipsed by the more powerful SPADs toward the war's end.
Evidently this is one of the remaining Concorde airliners which were an exceedingly expensive and noisy, if fast, way to cross the Atlantic Ocean. I recall these aircraft (not sure whether British Airways or Air France) operated out of the Dulles International Airport in Washington--you knew one was taking off because of the incredible deep roar that overwhelmed everything. The cabin itself is relatively cramped; one certainly did not buy much comfort here.
Highlight of the day: Jazz gets to be presidential for a few moments;-)
