Aviation Through the Ages

1935 A.D to 1950 A.D

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New technologies developed throughout the course of World War II. The motto was if you commanded the skies you could win the war.

World War II implemented almost exclusively monoplanes. Both sides of the war manufactured literally thousands of fighters and bombers. The main Allied planes included the British Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IV, the American P-51 Mustang, the American C-4U Corsair, the American B-17, and the American B-29 Superfortress. The Grumann F6F Hellcat was first used in 1943 and became the premier carrier fighter plane. The main Axis planes were the Bf109, the Junkers Ju-22, and the Stuka dive-bomber. The mainstay of the Japanese forces was the feared Mitsubishi Zero-sen. Our hangar also includes the North American T28 B and the AT-6 Texan, other planes from this period.

The Stuka was implemented with great success at the head of the trademark German blitz krieg or lightning war to sweep out enemy ground positions quickly and effectively. The Japanese also adopted this tactic with their own fast, maneuverable Zero-sens.

The major air battle of WW II was the Battle of Britain. For days the much larger German Luftwaffe attacked the British Isles, but the small number of British Spitfires always seemed to know exactly where and when the German bombers would be attacking and how large of a force. The reason for this was a relatively new technology called radar allowed the British ground stations to detect and identify the size, speed, distance, and trajectory of the German bombers and send their Spitfires on perfect intercept missions.

Instrumentation was crude in comparison to today's technology. In the early days pilots relied on landmarks and sometimes even pre-set bonfires to guide them along their way. What were the early instruments like and what were their functions? How has instrumentation evolved through the ages?

compassFlight Instruments

In the late 1940's, the military had developed the jet engine and began changing over to jet fighters. This resulted in faster and better performing craft. New aviation records were set. In 1947, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.

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compass image Aircraft Propulsion


airplane image1950 AD