Aviation

In 1931 Edmund Schneider designed the Grunau Baby. With the great post-World War I interest in aviation there was a need for an affordable and safe glider with docile handling characteristics. The Grunau Baby met these needs. Over 6,000 Grunau Babies were constructed.

Most people dwell on Goering's role in the Nazi movement but he was a versatile man with artistic interests. This led him to have a personal collection of aircraft. Remains of this collection are now displayed in Poland.

While servicing the rotating beacon at the airport, some cable corrosion interfered.

.During the Second World War Germans thought of many new concepts to fight the allies and one of these was the Mistel concept which is in real terms the forerunner of the modern drone but the weapon system was generally a failure as the Germans had no time to test and fine tune the system

One of the ultimate objectives for aeronautical design and engineering is to create an aircraft that can adapt to its environment and the flying situations that it is subjected to, whilst maintaining optimal performance. Smart materials may be the key to achieving this.

In 1943 as per the Allied policy to bring Germany quickly to its knees a concerted bombing of Schweinfurt was ordered but the Luftwaffe fought very well and snatched a victory

HF-24 or the Marut is the first fighter-bomber powered by jet engines manufactured outside the so-called developed world. It had a two decades stint with the Indian Air Force.

On 7 September 1965, an air force Squadron Leader shot to smithereens an F104 in combat over Sargodha but he got no credit till the official history of the Pakistan AF was published which acknowledged this deed. Wheels turned in Air HQ and he was posthumously awarded the MVC.

The Indian Air Force has a long connection with France. It started in 1957 with the induction of the Dassault Mystere. The plane was phased out in 1973.

Aviation accidents quickly make headlines, but airline travel is still the safest mode of transportation. The meticulous analysis of incidents furthermore continuously improves its safety. A brief summary of ten mid-air collisions that unfortunately have occurred throughout the history of flight.

War is a dynamic subject and there is always constant change. The second world war saw the blitzkrieg tactics of the Wehrmacht. The 21st-century has now seen the advent of the unmanned drone fitted with missiles and bombs. This has added a new dimension to warfare.

Jet fighters have not got the fancy of the world during World War II mainly as the technology was still in the first phase but many jet fighters did appear towards the end of the war with the ME 262 the best of the lot.

The battle of Crete is well known but here I shall discuss the blunder of choosing Crete and the inability of the German general staff to understand the importance of Gibraltar and Malta.

During the war in Russia the Russian army was hard-pressed and there was a shortage of manpower. Stalin approved woman pilots flying wooden planes to bomb the Germans in an effort to halt the offensive. It was a futile effort but brought home to the Germans that the enemy was not going to give up.

This World war II piece of hardware was revolutionary, but not stealthy

The Luftwaffe had a rebirth in 1935 when Adolf Hitler abrogated the treaty of Versailles. However, after 1941 the influence of the Luftwaffe waned and towards the end of the war, it was negligible. The basic mistake was in handing over command of the Luftwaffe to Reich Marshall Goering

Azerbaijan has won the war against Armenia and it's a new facet of warfare emerged as Azerbaijan Army never came face to face with Armenia Army and only relied on Drone warfare to smash Armenia to submission

A national aviation hero, Charles A. Lindbergh, who set the world ablaze with a solo flight from N.Y. to Paris in 1927. Married with six children but with a secret life of three mistresses, and seven secret children.

The German parachute brigade was called in for the last time to secure vital bridges ahead of the advance of the German Panzer divisions but it was a futile exercise as the panzers never made it forward.

Indian Air Force is currently the fourth best Air Force in the World and on its anniversary we look at their best fighter jets.

The quest to free India from British rule led a batch of 46 volunteers to train with the Japanese Air Force at their academy. They could not complete the training as the two atomic bombs brought about the surrender of Japan.

The MIG 29 appeared nearly 4 decades back and still very much on the scene.

Sgt. Alan McGee was evicted from his B-17 over Germany, fell 20.000 feet without a parachute, and lived to talk about it.

The C- 47 was the military version of the DC-3 popularly called the Dakota. It was inducted in the Indian Air Force in 1944 and continued flying till the late 80s. and with the Border Security Force until the end nineties.

Achieve the competency necessary to operate safely on the airfield by studying the material presented here.

Harvinder and I were classmates in school. Both of us joined the Air Force. While I survive the rigors of Air Force life but Harvinder was not lucky. In the battle with the enemy, while trying to save a colleague, he paid the ultimate sacrifice; Hit by a SAM and am sure went to Vallaha.

With the war over almost 200,000 German troops were trapped in the Courland Peninsula surrounded by the Russian army. The Luftwaffe in the last bid to rescue as many soldiers they could from falling into the hands of the Soviets made the last flight.

India was one of the few countries to opt for the Folland Gnat. The plane made in England was not ordered by the RAF But used extensively by the Indian Air Force with great success.

India has bought 36 Rafale planes at a heavy cost and it looks to be not a cost effective weapon.

Squadron leader Majithia has a hallowed name in Air force history, He is the oldest living fighter pilot in the world and just celebrated his hundredth birthday. Married to an Australian girl Majithia fought in the Second World War and yesterday the Air Force also honored him.

IAF was the first airport in Asia to receive jet planes. IAF selected the D Havilland fighter bomber from the UK and these were inducted into the air force during 19 48-49 and were used in the 1965 conflict with Pakistan for close air support with minimal success.

If the Smithsonian can do it, so can I. I was asked to provide a machine gun for a local War Bird.

The undue reliance on Herman Goering by the Fuehrer and his lack of the concept of strategic air warfare led Germany to doom in WW II and the Battle of Stalingrad as well.

.The HF-24 is the first fighter plane developed by a third world country India. it was a subsonic plane. Its designer was none other than the famous designer Dr. Kurt Tank who served Hitler for years

Like many of China’s war machines, this supposedly feared chopper has problems.

The MIG 27 is a front line interceptor of the Indian Air Force. The plane is being retired from the IAF inventory and the ceremony to decommission the plane will be held at 32 Wing at Jodhpur

An incident that took place six months back has been acknowledged by the present Air Chief, ACM Bhaduria. This concerned an MI-17 chopper of the IAF which was shot by mistake over Srinagar airfield and 6 officers were killed. A court of Inquiry was ordered and its findings made public now

the 1965 war is history and both the IAF and PAF claim victory. However, one stark fact stands out. This is the surrender of two frontline fighter planes to the PAF.

While it may seem like a mystery or magic, flight is simply the result of basic physics, and this article will cover some basic aerodynamic principles that explain how aircraft are able to fly.

So, how real are these interstellar visitors?

There are many women who have made it to the sky - both literally and figuratively in this case - even when almost everyone said they wouldn't. Here, we pay a deserved tribute to four female aviators who were the first of their types.

Lockheed Corporation wanted to build a transport aircraft that, according to Lockheed’s chief research engineer Kelly Johnson, “would carry more people farther and faster than ever before, and economically enough to broaden the acceptance of flying as an alternative to train, ship, and automobile.”

The TU-95 came on the scene on the urging of Josef Stalin and gave the necessary punch for a delivery system to the Russian Air Force. The plane is slated to continue in service till 2040

Lately, the problems of the Boeing 737 Max 8 has brought this overlooked workhorse of aviation back into the spotlight. Here's a look back of over 50 years as the best selling commercial aircraft in history.

In our quest for the perfect flying vehicle, we came out with some interesting shapes to hit the sky.

The Boeing 747 first flew on February 9, 1969. It was the reigning “Queen of the Skies” for the rest of the 20th century. Boeing sold 1,546 747s. It was the first of the wide body jetliners.

Military drones are capable of doing speeds of Mach 20 and above. What about civilian drones? How fast are they? Let’s find out.

Tankers are an important aircraft in any country’s fighter-bomber strategy. Are they fast though? Let’s find out.

For the hi-fliers, first class in a passenger aircraft won’t be enough. They would want their own jets. So which are these hi-flier jets and how fast can they fly? Let’s see.