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The Pazmany PL-1 Laminar and Pazmany PL-2 are American two-seat trainer and personal light aircraft designed by Ladislao Pazmany to be marketed as a homebuilt aircraft by his company Pazmany Aircraft Corporation. The aircraft was built under license in Taiwan (Republic of China) as the AIDC PL-1B Cheinshou. It was later followed by an improved version the PL-2. The SLAF Aircraft Engineering Wing developed a modified variant of the PL-2 in 1977, which was never used operationally. The PL-1 Laminar was the first design by Ladislao Pazmany, it was intended to be marketed for the homebuilt market. The prototype first flew on the 23 March 1962. The PL-1 is a cantilever low-wing monoplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear. It has side-by-side seating for a crew of two and is powered by a 95 hp (71 kW) Continental C-90 piston engine. The Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) acquired plans and built a PL-1 for evaluation with a first flight on 26 October 1968. AIDC then built 58 aircraft designated the PL-1B for the Republic of China Air Force and fitted with a 150 hp (112 kW) Avco Lycoming O-320 engine. Soon after the first flight Pazmany produced an improved design, the PL-2 which had a slight increase in cockpit width and changes to the structure to make it easier for homebuilders. The PL-2 was evaluated by a number of air forces in South East Asia. It was built under license in Indonesia as the LIPNUR LT-200. Variants PL-1 Original design for home-built light aircraft PL-1B License-built variant by AIDC with a 150hp (112kW) Avco Lycoming O-320 engine, 58 built. Known as the PL-1B Chieh Shou. PL-2 More rounded, wider cockpit, increased wing dihedral. PL-2A Improved model, all metal, two seats LT-200 (Specifications below) License-built variant by LIPNUR in Indonesia, 4 were built.

The Avro 641 Commodore was a British single-engine five-seat cabin biplane built by Avro in the mid-1930s for private use. After building the three seat Avro 639 Cabin Cadet, Avro then designed a larger, five seat cabin biplane, the Avro 641 Commodore. The Commodore had a similar steel tube structure to the Tutor, with heavily staggered single bay wings and a spatted undercarriage. The first Commodore was delivered to its owner on 24 May 1934. Only six Commodores were built, with one being sold to the Maharajah of Vizianagram. This was found to be unsuitable for Indian conditions and was returned to Britain and scrapped.[2] Two were sold to private owners in Egypt and were later taken over by the Egyptian Army Air Force. The two Commodores that remained in service in England on the outbreak of World War II were impressed into service with the Royal Air Force and the Air Transport Auxiliary. One crashed fatally in 1941, with the last being struck off charge in 1942.

The Blériot 5190 was a French transatlantic mail plane of the 1930s, a large parasol-wing monoplane flying boat. It was of slightly unusual design, with a low-profile hull and the crew compartment housed in the thick pylon that supported the wing. The four engines were arranged with three along the leading edge of the wing, and the fourth on the centreline of the trailing edge. It was constructed for a French government contract to carry airmail to South America. The first example, christened Santos-Dumont flew on 3 August 1933 and by the end of 1934 had completed two proving flights across the South Atlantic, with Lucien Bossoutrot at the commands and the future French Admiralty Chief of Staff Henri Nomy as flight engineer. In February 1935 with Aéropostale's only other transatlantic mailplane, the Latécoère 300 la Croix du Sud, out of commission for maintenance, the Santos-Dumont entered service. From then until April, she carried all of France's transatlantic mail at the rate of one crossing per week until rejoined by la Croix du Sud and a new Farman F.220 named Le Centaure. As part of this small fleet, the Santos-Dumont continued in this role until June 1937. Altogether, by that time, she had made 38 crossings of the Atlantic. In the meantime, the French government had ordered a further three 5190s from Blériot, and the company had borrowed heavily in order to build the aircraft. Suddenly, the contract was cancelled without explanation or compensation, forcing the firm into bankruptcy. Louis Blériot himself died of a heart attack soon afterwards, on 1 August 1936.

The Kopter AW09 (formerly the Marenco Swisshelicopter SKYe SH09 and Kopter SH09) is the Leonardo Helicopter Division's five-to-eight seat, single-engine multirole helicopter which is currently under development at Kopter’s facilities. It is a clean-sheet design amongst a market sector dominated by decades-old airframe designs. The first prototype P1 first flew on 2 October 2014. P2 in February 2016, P3 during November 2018. There have been ongoing delays in first flight of prototypes and TC/commercial deliveries deadlines. The first prototype P1 first flew on 2 October 2014. P2 in February 2016, P3 during November 2018. There have been ongoing delays in first flight of prototypes and TC/commercial deliveries deadlines. On 8 April 2020, Italian manufacturer Leonardo announced the closing of the acquisition of Kopter Group AG (Kopter) from Lynwood (Schweiz). The purchase price consists of $185 million, plus earn out. At the time Kopter employed 320 people. On 21 April 2021 Leonardo rebranded the SH09 single-engine helicopter as the AW09. The SH09 is a light-medium helicopter, initially intended to be powered by a single Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft engine. It uses a shrouded fenestron tail rotor and the main rotor features a five-bladed bearingless hub; the shrouded tail rotor has a wider diameter and a thinner chord in order to increase airflow, while design aspects such as a narrow tail boom, swept-back tips on the main rotor blades, and the shrouded tail rotor offer reduced noise. The HTS900 is rated at 1,020-shaft-horsepower, and was intended to provide improved performance in hot and high conditions. The monocoque fuselage is made from composite materials and is equipped with sliding side doors on either side along with a rear clamshell door; it incorporates a series of floor-mounted windows between the pilots' seats for additional vertical visibility. Some of the composite materials used have been produced using out of autoclave composite manufacturing from suppliers such as TenCate and Gurit. According to Marenco, inspiration for the fuselage's design was drawn from the automotive industry. It has been stated that the firm has sought to introduce the cabin volume of medium-sized twin-engine helicopters to the single-engine market. The SH09 is offered with various different layout configurations. The standard option provides two pilot seats forward and four passenger seats aft, all adjustable fore/aft and up/down. In a high density configuration, five seats are installed in the rear position along with two more passenger seats inline with the pilot's own, which loses the option of the floor window. The use of Kevlar-threaded crashworthy fuel tanks, which are built into the wall and floor of the cargo hold, freed up space to allow for fully adjustable passenger seats in the cabin. The cargo hold is sized to accommodate 10 items of baggage, while the fuel tanks are sized to provide for an endurance of nearly five hours. The rear clamshell door and high-mounted tail boom were designed for air ambulance applications. For more details of development, design and operational history, click here.

The Trixy G 4-2 R ("Gyro For Two powered by Rotax") is an Austrian autogyro, designed and produced by Trixy Aviation Products of Dornbirn. The aircraft was introduced at the Aero show held in Friedrichshafen in 2011 and when it was available it was supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft. The G 4-2 R features a single main rotor, a two-seats-in tandem enclosed cockpit, tricycle landing gear and a four-cylinder, air and liquid-cooled, four-stroke, dual-ignition 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912S engine in pusher configuration. The 95 hp (71 kW) ULPower UL260i powerplant is optional. The aircraft fuselage is made with a stainless steel tube frame; the cockpit is formed from carbon fibre. Its 8.4 m (27.6 ft) diameter two-bladed aluminium Averso rotor employs a NACA 8H12 airfoil and has a 1500-hour time between overhauls. For safety the 35 litres (7.7 imp gal; 9.2 US gal) fuel tank incorporates ME Rin anti-explosion technology. A second fuel tank of the same capacity can be optionally added. Baggage capacity is two 21 litres (4.6 imp gal; 5.5 US gal) compartments. The aircraft has an empty weight of 262 kg (578 lb) and a gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb), giving a useful load of 188 kg (414 lb). Even though the manufacturer is an Austrian company the aircraft is built in Slovenia. The G 4-2 R was noted by Bayerl et al. in 2011 for its unusual new aircraft two-year warranty.

The Junkers Ju 90 was a 40-seat, four-engine airliner developed for and used by Deutsche Luft Hansa shortly before World War II. It was based on the rejected Ju 89 bomber. During the war, the Luftwaffe pressed them into service as military transports. The Junkers Ju 90 airliner and transport series descended directly from the Junkers Ju 89, a contender in the Ural bomber programme aimed at producing a long-range strategic bomber. This concept was abandoned by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM, Reich Aviation Ministry) in April 1937 in favour of smaller, faster bombers. Design was headed by Ernst Zindel.[1] Development was headed by Professor Herbert Wagner. The Junkers Ju 90 was a four-engine all-metal, low-wing aircraft fitted with twin end-plate vertical stabilizers. The wings were built around five tubular girder spars covered with a smooth stressed skin. The leading edge was quite markedly swept, the trailing edge almost straight. The Junkers "double wing", a full-span movable flap/aileron combination, was fitted. The tail units on the prototypes used the traditional Junkers corrugated skin, the only part of the aircraft to do so, abandoning the exposed corrugated skinning on later Ju 90 production models for the Luftwaffe. The fins and rudders, the latter with prominent horn balances assemblies, were placed at the end of the tailplane; this latter carried the elevators separated by a gap, forming another double wing. These components were as used in the Ju 89. The new fuselage was of oval cross-section, covered by stressed smooth duralumin skin. On the first four Ju 90As, five pairs of rectangular windows were on each side, each double pair lighting a divided-off section of the cabin containing eight seats in facing pairs on either side of a central aisle. The Ju 90B, whose prototypes were the Ju 90 V5 through the Ju 90 V10 aircraft, adopted round fuselage portholes. The Ju 90 V11 became the definitive Ju 290 prototype with smaller, rectangular fuselage windows. The Ju 90B series were visually distinctive because of their oval tail fins. The Ju 90 V6 was withdrawn from test flights, and rebuilt as the Ju 390 V1 prototype. The Ju 90 V9 was also withdrawn and rebuilt as the Ju 390V2, later redesignated in October 1944 as the Ju 390A-1. The Ju 90 V10's rebuild into the Ju 390 V3 bomber prototype was commenced, but was scrapped at the factory in June 1944. The Junkers firm was paid compensation for seven Ju 390s under construction, when Ju 390 orders were cancelled. For more details of design and development, military and civil, click here.

The Fiat G.18 was an Italian airliner developed in the mid-1930s. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with twin engines mounted on the wings, similar in appearance to the Douglas DC-2. The main units of the tailwheel undercarriage retracted into the engine nacelles, leaving their wheels partially exposed. The cabin seated 18 passengers. Three G.18s were put into service with Fiat's own airline, ALI, early in 1936; the feedback received was that the type was underpowered. Fiat responded the following year with a revised version, the G.18V which had more powerful engines, and a redesigned fin and long dorsal strake. Six of these were delivered to ALI, which operated them on its European routes until the outbreak of war. In June 1940, ALI was brought under control of the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force), and the G.18s were put to use as transports. Among other operations, they flew troops to Albania in November 1940 as part of the campaign against Greece. By the time of the Italian armistice, only one remained in operation, with another three captured by Germany, and a fifth aircraft in use by the remaining Italian Fascist forces. This latter aircraft was involved in a major accident on 30 April 1944 when, loaded with munitions, it exploded on the runway at Bresso. The blast caused considerable damage to the airfield. Variants G.18 - original version with Fiat A.59 engines (3 built) G.18V - revised version with Fiat A.80 engines (6 built) (Specifications below)

The Short S.17 Kent was a British four-engined 15-seat biplane luxury flying boat airliner, designed and built by Shorts to meet a requirement from Imperial Airways for an aircraft with greater range than the Short Calcutta. The new aircraft was to have sufficient range to fly the stage from Mirabella, Crete, to Alexandria in Egypt without the need for refuelling stops in Italian colonial territory due to a political row which had led the Italian Government to ban British aircraft from its ports. Three aircraft were built, each receiving its own name: Scipio, Sylvanus and Satyrus; they were referred to collectively within Imperial Airlines as the Scipio Class flying boats. Each had an aircrew of three (two pilots and a radio operator/navigator) and a steward to prepare meals and light refreshments for the passengers. The Short Kent flying boat was essentially an enlarged, four-engined version of the Calcutta, with the same passenger carrying capacity but with an increased payload for mail and fuel. It was powered by four Bristol Jupiter XFBM radial engines mounted on vertical struts between the upper and lower planes. The wings were constructed using corrugated duralumin box spars and tubular rib assemblies, with a fabric covering and Frise ailerons on the upper and lower wings. Duralumin walkways were provided to allow ready access to the engines for maintenance purposes. The tail unit consisted of braced monoplane horizontal and vertical stabilizers; the tailplane was fitted with Flettner-type servo tabs for trimming on the Short Scylla which had the same wings and tail as the Kent. The anodised duralumin fuselage was mounted below the lower wing, with the planing bottom of the hull made of stainless steel (as on the Singapore II) with a transverse main step. The use of stainless steel reduced the frequency of land inspections of the hull. The bimetallic corrosion problems experienced on the Singapore II hull had been solved; Short Brothers became the first company to master the technique of building seaplane floats and flying boat hulls in this combination of metals. A quick-release hook (controlled by the pilots) was provided, which enabled the captain to start, warm up and (when required) run all four engines up to full power for takeoff while the aircraft was still attached to the mooring buoy. For more details, click here.

Not to be confused with the 1928 Supermarine Seamew or 1940 Curtiss SO3C Seamew. The Short SB.6 Seamew was a British aircraft designed in 1951 by David Keith-Lucas of Shorts as a lightweight anti-submarine platform to replace the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA)'s Grumman Avenger AS 4 with the Reserve branch of the service. It first flew on 23 August 1953, but, due to poor performance coupled with shifting defence doctrine, it never reached service and only 24 production aircraft had flown before the project was cancelled. It has been described as a "camel amongst race-horses". The Short Seamew was selected to fulfill Admiralty Specification M.123D for a simple, lightweight anti-submarine aircraft capable of unassisted operation from any of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers in all but the worst of conditions, in particular escort carriers which the UK still had in considerable numbers from the Second World War. Although specifically designed for naval operations, the Seamew was also intended for land-based use by the RAF. It was to be suitable for mass production and operation by the Air Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). This specification was in response to the alarming increase in capabilities of the Soviet submarine forces following the Second World War. Three prototypes were ordered in April 1952 and the first flight (XA209), piloted by test pilot Sqn. Ldr. Walter J. "Wally" Runciman, took place on 23 August 1953. This same aircraft, also piloted by Runciman, took part in the 1953 Farnborough Airshow three weeks later. In 1954 both XA209 and the second prototype XA213 took part at Farnborough, where the following year both prototypes and two production AS Mk 1 models (XE171 and XE172) gave a formation display. The pilot and observer were located in tandem cockpits located high up in the front of the deep, narrow fuselage, creating a decidedly "curious" profile. They sat atop the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop in front and the weapons bay to the rear of them. The design had originally called for the tried and tested Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine but the Royal Navy had made it policy to phase out piston engines, in order that supplies of highly flammable high octane aviation fuel need not be carried in large quantities on ships. The turboprop engine also caused less airframe vibration so that the pilot could be sat directly over it with the absence of a piston engine ignition system which would have interfered with the radar scanner mounted below the engine housing. For simplicity, and so that a nosewheel would not obscure the forward field of the radar scanner, a fixed tailwheel undercarriage was used. The long stroke necessary on the main undercarriage to allow for heavy deck landings while giving the radar scanner and propeller adequate clearance from the ground resulted in an alarming attitude on the ground and the cockpits mounted at a seemingly perilous height. For landing the tailwheel extended so it could land at a more level attitude. The pilot and observer sat very far forward in order for the pilot to have a reasonable field of downward vision for takeoff and landing and so that both he and the observer had a good field of view for spotting surface vessels even when in level flight. A total of 26 Seamew were produced. Variants. SB.6 Seamew Three prototype anti-submarine aircraft, one completed as a structural test rig. SB.6 Seamew AS.1 (Specifications below) Production anti-submarine aircraft for the Royal Navy, 60 aircraft ordered later amended to 30 but only 24 completed. SC.2 Seamew MR.2 Production aircraft for the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, larger wheels with low-pressure tyres, manual wing-folding and no deck handling gear, 30 aircraft ordered but only 4-built that were converted or completed to AS.1 standard.

The Airspeed AS.5 Courier was a British six-seat single-engined light aircraft that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited at Portsmouth. It has the distinction of being the first British aircraft fitted with a retractable undercarriage to go into quantity production. Initial development work on the Courier started in 1931, being envisioned as an advanced aircraft intended primarily for private owner-pilots. Its ambitious design, including its unorthodox undercarriage, attracted the attention of the British aviation pioneer, Sir Alan Cobham, who saw it as a suitable aircraft for demonstrating his airborne refuelling techniques for long distances flights. Following the order's confirmation in August 1932, a single prototype was constructed, performing its maiden flight on 10 April 1933. The Courier quickly proved itself to be a sound design as well as capable of laudable performance, encouraging Airspeed to commence quantity production months later. The Courier was primarily purchased by civilian customers, being used as an early airliner, racing aircraft and flying testbed. It was also used as a communications aircraft by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Only a single aircraft flew briefly in the postwar era. The Airspeed Courier was a wooden low-wing cantilever cabin monoplane, incorporating numerous advanced features for the era. One such novelty was its use of a retractable undercarriage; this was a patented innovation internally developed by Airspeed, to which the company would subsequently earn revenue from when it was adopted upon other aircraft such as the Airspeed Oxford. It was estimated that the additional weight of the mechanism for retracting and deploying the undercarriage amounted to 30lb, while an increase in cruising speed of 20 MPH was achieved via reduced drag. Actuation was performed by the pilot via a hand-driven hydraulic pump. According to Taylor, the undercarriage generated considerable attention amongst the aviation press early on. A total of 16 Couriers was built. For further details of the development, design, operation and variants, click here.

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Second World War. The Oxford was developed by Airspeed during the 1930s in response to a requirement for a capable trainer aircraft that conformed with Specification T.23/36, which had been issued by the British Air Ministry. Its basic design is derived from the company's earlier AS.6 Envoy, a commercial passenger aircraft. After its maiden flight by Percy Colman on 19 June 1937, it was quickly put into production as part of a rapid expansion of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in anticipation of a large-scale conflict. As a consequence of the outbreak of war, many thousands of Oxfords were ordered by Britain and its allies, including Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Poland, and the United States. Following the end of the conflict, the Oxford continued to achieve export sales for some time, equipping the newly formed air forces of Egypt, India, Israel, and Yugoslavia. It was considered to be a capable trainer aircraft throughout the conflict, as well as being used as a general-purpose type. A number of Oxfords are preserved today on static display worldwide. The Oxford was a low-wing twin-engine cantilever monoplane, featuring a semi-monocoque constructed fuselage, a conventional landing gear configuration and a wooden tail unit. It was capable of reproducing the flight characteristics of many contemporary front-line aircraft then in military service. It was specifically developed to be suitable for a range of training missions, including navigation, flying instruction, night flying, instrument flying, wireless, direction-finding, gunnery, and vertical photography. The Oxford was specifically planned and developed to incorporate various modern innovations and equipment fittings, including a full array of instruments and controls within the cockpit, which assisted in its principal trainer role. In addition, the Oxford could also be used in various secondary roles, such as an air ambulance and maritime patrol aircraft. From November 1940, the Royal Australian Air Force received 391 Oxford I and IIs from RAF contracts for use in Australia. Most of the survivors were sold in the early 1950s. A total of 8,852 Oxfords were produced. For more details of development, design, opertional history, operators and variants, click here.

The Columbia XJL is a large single-engined amphibious aircraft designed by Grumman Aircraft but built by the Columbia Aircraft Corp. It was intended to replace the Grumman J2F Duck but the type did not reach production status. The Grumman J2F Duck biplane amphibian had successfully served the United States Navy (USN) in quantity from late 1934 onwards. The final 330 examples were built in 1941/42 under sub-contract by the Columbia Aircraft Corp, retaining the J2F-6 designation. At the end of World War II, Grumman completed a major re-design of the aircraft for the USN as a Wright R-1820-56 powered monoplane amphibian. The new design was turned over to the Columbia Aircraft Corporation for development and construction so that Grumman could focus on the production of fighter aircraft for the USN. The aircraft strongly resembles the J2F Duck, except for its monoplane layout, and has been referred to as a "single-winged Duck". It is, however, a completely new design. The USN ordered three XJL-1 experimental aircraft from Columbia, with the first being used for destructive strength testing on the ground. The remaining two airframes, assigned USN BuAer Nos 31399 and 31400, were delivered to the USNs test establishment at Patuxent River Naval Air Station Maryland for evaluation in 1946. The two aircraft tested at Patuxent River were found to have repeated structural failures of various components and testing was abandoned on 21 September 1948. The aircraft were deleted from the USN inventory in February 1949. No further orders were placed for production of the JL design. The aircraft were sold as surplus in 1959. 31399 was registered N54207 and is undergoing restoration at Yanks Air Museum, Chino, California. 31400 was registered N54205, and, restored, is now on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

The CANT 10 was a flying boat airliner produced in Italy in the 1920s. It was a conventional biplane design with single-bay, unstaggered wings of equal span, having seating for four passengers within the hull, while the pilot sat in an open cockpit. The engine was mounted in pusher configuration in the interplane gap. CANT 10 flying boats were used by Società Italiana Servizi Aerei for over a decade, linking destinations in the Adriatic Sea. Two CANT 10ters were used by a company called TAXI AEREI in Buenos Aires, operating flights from the River Plate. One of them was lost in an accident and the other one was bought by the Paraguayan government for the Naval Aviation in 1929; it was used as a transport during the Chaco War and was withdrawn from use in 1933. A total of 18 CANT 10's were built.

The Airspeed AS.4 Ferry was three-engined ten-seat biplane airliner designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited. It was the company's first powered aircraft to be produced. It was proposed for development in April 1931, shortly following Airspeed's founding. The Ferry was designed specifically for Alan Cobham's National Aviation Day events, performing 'air-experience' flights for the general public. On 5 April 1932, the prototype performed its maiden flight. Only four examples were produced at the company's facilities in York during the early 1930s. Two aircraft served with the Royal Air Force during the opening years of the Second World War, although largely being used as instructional airframes. The Airspeed AS.4 Ferry was an unusual biplane airliner designed around the needs of Alan Cobham, one of the company's directors. It featured an unorthodox configuration, particularly the mounting of its third engine in the centre section of the upper wing, an arrangement which was principally adopted to provide the pilot with superior external visibility, although it also presented some aerodynamic benefits as well. The three engines installed upon the Ferry consisted of a pair of de Havilland Gipsy IIs mounted upon the upper surface of the lower wing, while the engine installed upon the upper wing was an inverted de Havilland Gipsy III instead. While the fuel tanks of the Ferry had sufficient size for around five hours of flight at cruising speeds, to best suit its air-experience role, the tanks were only ever partially filled, else it wouldn't be able to carry its maximum capacity of ten passengers. The Ferry was a biplane with equal-span wings, both of which were positioned high relative to the fuselage, with the lower wing being aligned with the top of the fuselage. According to Alan Cobham, this arrangement was to provide the passengers with an unobstructed view of the ground. The structure of the aircraft was conventional and largely composed of spruce and plywood, featuring monocoque construction across the fuselage. The wings were supported by box spars paired with wooden flanges and steel tubes for key areas such as the compression drag struts. While the Ferry had been designed specifically for short-haul pleasure flying, the design team made provisions towards its use in other roles, such as a longer distance airliner carrying five or six passengers with luggage. Despite having ten seats, which necessitated the fitting of a radio under British regulations of the era, it was certified for local flying without any radio present. To enable a faster turnaround, relatively rapid refuelling was facilitated via a pipeline to the tank from the side of the fuselage. An unusual feature of the design, believed to provide a beneficial ground-cushioning effect as well as possibly additional lift, was the aerofoil-section fairings present on the split-axle undercarriage. For details of development and operational istory, click here.

The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War. It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited, alongside various subcontractors; the type was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century conqueror of southern Britain. Having been greatly impressed by the effective use of airborne operations by Germany during the early stages of the Second World War, such as during the Battle of France, the Allied powers sought to establish capable counterpart forces of their own. The British War Office, determining that the role of gliders would be an essential component of such airborne forces, proceeded to examine available options. An evaluation of the General Aircraft Hotspur found it to lack the necessary size, thus Specification X.26/40 was issued. It was from this specification that Airspeed Limited designed the Horsa, a large glider capable of accommodating up to 30 fully equipped troops, which was designated as the AS 51. The Horsa was used in large numbers (3,799) by the British Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force (RAF); both services used it to conduct various air assault operations through the conflict. The type was used to perform an unsuccessful attack on the German Heavy Water Plant at Rjukan in Norway, known as Operation Freshman, and during the invasion of Sicily, known as Operation Husky. Large numbers of Horsa were subsequently used during the opening stages of the Battle of Normandy, being used in the British Operation Tonga and American operations. It was also deployed in quantity during Operation Dragoon, Operation Market Garden, and Operation Varsity. Further use of the Horsa was made by various other armed forces, including the United States Army Air Forces. For details of development, design, production, operational history and variants, click here.

The Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo was a British twin-engine reconnaissance torpedo biplane of the First World War, built by Blackburn Aircraft. In 1916, the Blackburn Aircraft Company designed and built two prototypes of an anti-submarine floatplane designated the Blackburn G.P. or Blackburn General Purpose. It was not ordered but Blackburn developed a landplane version as the Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo (Reconnaissance Torpedo Type 1), reflecting the Air Board's growing interest in using landplanes rather than floatplanes for convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol duties, with operations not being limited by poor sea conditions, and giving better performance than seaplanes. The Kangaroo was a twin-engine tractor biplane of wood and fabric construction. It had four-bay wings with a large upper-wing overhang which could fold for ease of storage. The first aircraft was delivered to Martlesham Heath in January 1918. Test results were disappointing, with the rear fuselage being prone to twisting and the aircraft suffering control problems, which led to the order for 50 aircraft being cut to 20, most of which were already partly built. From the sixth aircraft, they were powered by the more powerful Rolls-Royce Falcon III engine replacing the 250 hp (190 kW) Rolls-Royce Falcon II. The Kangaroo entered service later that year with No. 246 Squadron RAF based at Seaton Carew, County Durham which had six months of wartime operations, in which they sank one U-boat and damaged four others. UC-70, was spotted lying submerged on the sea bottom near Runswick Bay on 28 August 1918, by a Kangaroo flown by Lt E. F. Waring. The U-boat was badly damaged by the near miss of a 520 lb (240 kg) bomb and finished off by the destroyer HMS Ouse. Post World War I In 1919, three surviving RAF Kangaroos were sold to the Grahame-White Aviation Co Ltd, based at Hendon Aerodrome. Eight others were sold back to Blackburn Aircraft, three being converted with a glazed cabin for its subsidiary, North Sea Aerial Navigation Co Ltd, also based at Brough Aerodrome. Several different configurations were embodied for the civil market, for cargo, pilot training and/or the accommodation of up to eight passengers. In the first few months of 1919, most of these converted aircraft continued to fly (and sometimes crash) in military markings, then the survivors were repainted with civilian registrations and commercial titles. In May 1919, joy-riding, cargo and passenger charters took place at locations including Brough, Leeds, West Hartlepool, Gosport and Hounslow Heath. During August 1919, three Kangaroos flew to Amsterdam for the ELTA air traffic exhibition and spent several weeks giving flights to an estimated 1,400 passengers. On 30 September 1919, North Sea Aerial Navigation Co Ltd started a regular passenger service between Roundhay Park (Leeds) and Hounslow Heath. In 1920, the company was renamed North Sea Aerial & General Transport Co Ltd and services were extended to Amsterdam. In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia within 30 consecutive days. A team with a Kangaroo (G-EAOW) selected Charles Kingsford Smith as navigator, but he withdrew. On 21 November 1919, the Kangaroo took off from Hounslow Heath in an attempt to win the prize. It was forced to make an emergency landing at Suda Bay, Crete with a suspected sabotaged engine and the aircraft was abandoned there. The race was won by a Vickers Vimy piloted by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith with his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith as co-pilot.

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda was developed as a replacement for the Fairey Albacore biplanes. Development was protracted due to the original powerplant intended for the type, the Rolls-Royce Exe, being cancelled. It was replaced by the less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. On 7 December 1940, the first Fairey prototype conducted its maiden flight. Early testing revealed it to be somewhat underpowered. However, the definitive Barracuda Mk II had a more powerful model of the Merlin engine, while later versions were powered by the larger and even more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The type was ordered in bulk to equip the FAA. In addition to Fairey's own production line, Barracudas were also built by Blackburn Aircraft, Boulton Paul, and Westland Aircraft. The type participated in numerous carrier operations during the conflict, being deployed in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean against the Germans, Italians, and Japanese respectively during the latter half of the war. One of the Barracuda's most noteworthy engagements was a large-scale attack upon the German battleship Tirpitz on 3 April 1944. In addition to the FAA, the Barracuda was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Dutch Naval Aviation Service and the French Air Force. After its withdrawal from service during the 1950s, no intact examples of the Barracuda were preserved despite its once-large numbers, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has ambitions to assemble a full reproduction. a total of 2602 Barracudas were built. For details of development and operational history, click here. Variants Barracuda Two prototypes (serial numbers P1767 and P1770) based on the Fairey Type 100 design. Mk I First production version, Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 engine with 1,260 hp (940 kW), 30 built Mk II Upgraded Merlin 32 engine with 1,640 hp (1,225 kW), four-bladed propeller, ASV II radar, 1,688 built Mk III Anti-submarine warfare version of Mk II with ASV III radar in a blister under rear fuselage, 852 built Mk IV Mk II (number P9976) fitted with a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine with 1,850 hp (1,380 kW), first flight 11 November 1944, abandoned in favour of Fairey Spearfish. Mk V Griffon 37 engine with 2,020 hp (1,510 kW), payload increased to 2,000 lb (910 kg), ASH radar under the left wing, revised tailfin, 37 built.