B-17 Flying Fortress

B-17 Flying Fortress

© Dan Hagan© Tom Hill© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau Previous Next Built as a Boeing B-17G-105-VE c/n 8693, the future Sally B was one of the last to be constructed by the Lockheed-Vega plant at Burbank, California. Accepted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as 44-85784 on June 19 1945 it was too late to see war service, and was flown to Nashville for modifications. Converted for training purposes and re-designated TB-17G, it was based at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB), Ohio from November that year.Continuing in the care of 2750th Air Base Group (ABG), ‘784 was selected…
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Aeronca L-3B, F-AYTH

Aeronca L-3B, F-AYTH

© Xavier Méal© Xavier Méal© Xavier Méal© Xavier Méal© Xavier Méal© Xavier Méal Previous Next The L-3B is one of the four types of light observation aircraft that operated during the Second World War.Very similar to the famous Piper L-4, and with an identical engine, it is however slightly more powerful and of a slightly more sophisticated construction. This is logical as Piper was looking for economy on the Ford T model. The L-3 was flown from the front seat in solo mode, unlike the L-4.In 1943, the first observation aircraft made available to the Free French by the American…
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Yak 3, F-AZOS

Michel Defaye© Xavier Meal Previous Next The F-AZOS is a reconstruction of a YAK 3 VK107, in the colours of pilot Marcel Albert, the most successful pilot of the Normandy Niemen Squadron, who was present throughout the campaign, from the creation of the group in December 1942 until the end of the war.He returned to France with his YAK 3 offered by Stalin.Michel, its owner and presenter, was born in Haute Volta, in the Sahel, where he contemplated the vultures gliding without getting tired, mastering the convection of the hot air.After training as a pilot in Merville and St Yan,…
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FOUGA CM.175 ZÉPHYR F-AZFP

FOUGA CM.175 ZÉPHYR F-AZFP

© Cocardes Marine© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau Previous Next The Fouga CM-175 Zephyr is a two-seat tandem military trainer that served in the French naval aviation service from 1959 to 1994.2 It was developed from the Fouga CM-170 Magister, from which it differs in some respects:1 It was developed from the Fouga CM-170 Magister, from which it differs in some respects:- a landing hook, two catapult hooks;- structural reinforcements;- Reinforcement of the landing gear with over-inflation of the front shock absorber;- sliding canopies for catapulting and landing open canopies;- two Marboré II engines, less…
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DH 100 MK 6 Vampire, F-AZOO

DH 100 MK 6 Vampire, F-AZOO

  © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau Previous Next The De Havilland Vampire, also known as the DH 100, is the second military jet built by the UK. It entered service just after the Second World War and has the particularity of being equipped with a double-beam rear fuselage, made of wood. More than 4,500 were built, some under licence, and used by about 25 different countries until the 1980s.
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Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, G-CGZP

Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, G-CGZP

© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Jean-Pierre Touzeau Previous Next The Fighter Collection’s Merlin-engined P-40F is one of only two left airworthy anywhere in the world. Manufactured at the Curtiss facility in Buffalo, New York in the autumn of 1942 and allocated Bu No. 41-19841. She was delivered by land to the Stockton In-Transit Depot in California for onward shipment in November, where she was then shipped to the Thirteenth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific on Christmas Eve 1942. Unfortunately, her service career remains a mystery, but the only P-40Fs to see combat in the Pacific Theatre were flown by…
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Supermarine Spitfire MK XIV, G-SXIV

Supermarine Spitfire MK XIV, G-SXIV

  © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frédéric Debruyne   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren   © Frederick Vandentorren Previous Next The Mk XIV was the most important of the Griffon powered Spitfires, and the only one to see significant wartime service. This one was delivered to the Royal Air Force in January 1945…
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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.LFVb EP120, G-LFVB

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.LFVb EP120, G-LFVB

  © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau   © Jean-Pierre Touzeau Previous Next     © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection   © The Fighter Collection Previous Next EP120 is one of a batch of 905 Spitfire Mk.V’s built at Castle Bromwich as an addition to Contract No. B981687/39 and was delivered to 45 MU at Kinloss on 23rd May 1942, followed by No.…
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Morane-Saulnier MS 760 “Paris”, F-AZLT

Morane-Saulnier MS 760 “Paris”, F-AZLT

© Sylvain Gourheu© Jean-Pierre Touzeau© Aeropassion© Aeropassion© Aeropassion© Aeropassion© Aeropassion© Aeropassion© Aeropassion Précédent Suivant © Jean-Pierre Touzeau On 26 January 1953, Morane-Saulnier flew the prototype MS 755 'Fleuret', a two-seater side-by-side jet trainer, which was the unfortunate competitor to the Fouga Magister in an official order from the French state. Although it was eliminated, the Fleuret was used as the basis for the Morane-Saulnier MS 760 "Paris", the firm having turned to a four-seat fast liaison version. This aircraft, first called the "Fleuret II" and later renamed the "Paris", can be considered the world's first business "jet" and also the first…
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