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The Stearman-Hammond Y-1 was a 1930s American utility monoplane built by the Stearman-Hammond Aircraft Corporation and evaluated by the United States Navy and the British Royal Air Force. In the early 1930s Dean Hammond designed the Hammond Model Y, a low-wing monoplane twin-boom pusher monoplane. Hammond cooperated with the aircraft designer Lloyd Stearman to develop the type for production. They formed the Stearman-Hammond Aircraft Corporation in 1936 to build the aircraft as the Stearman-Hammond Y-1. The first aircraft was powered by a 125 hp (93 kW) Menasco C-4 piston engine driving a pusher propeller. The performance was not impressive so it was re-engined with a 150 hp (112 kW) Menasco C-4S and re-named the Y-1S. Although designed to be easy to fly the high price meant only 20 aircraft were produced. The aircraft had no rudder as such, the tailplane fins being adjustable but fixed in flight. Turning was by differential aileron and elevator alone. In 1934 the Bureau of Air Commerce held a competition for a safe and practical $700 aircraft. In 1936 the winner of the competition was the Stearman-Hammond Y-1, incorporating many of the safety features of the Ercoupe W-1. Two other winners were the Waterman Aeroplane and a roadable autogyro from the Autogiro Company of America, the AC-35. Twenty-five examples were ordered by the bureau at a price of $3,190 each. The first delivery was considered unacceptable in finish, prompting the production of the re-engineered Y-S model. Two Y-1S, serial numbers 0908 and 0909,were used for radio controlled development trials by the United States Navy as the JH-1. A successful unmanned radio-controlled flight was made with a JH-1 drone on 23 December 1937 at the Coast Guard Air Station, Cape May, N.J. Take-off and landing was controlled via a land based radio set; for flight maneuvers, control was shifted to an airborne TG-2. KLM purchased a Y-1 (PH-APY) for use in training their pilots in tricycle undercarriage. The Royal Air Force also evaluated a former KLM Y-1S in the 1940s. Variants Hammond Model Y Prototype for the 1934 Bureau of Air Commerce safe airplane competition. Stearman-Hammond Y-1 Prototype aircraft with a 125hp (93kW) Menasco C-4 engine. Stearman-Hammond Y-1S Production aircraft with a 150hp (112kW) Menasco C-4S engine. JH-1 United States Navy designation for two Y-1S used for tests.

The Ball-Bartoe JW-1 Jetwing was a US research aircraft flown in the 1970s to investigate blown wing technology. The Jetwing was a small, mid-wing design powered by a turbofan and fitted with tail-wheel undercarriage. The upper surface of the swept wings incorporated a slot along 70% span, through which air from the engine's fan stage could be discharged. Mounted above this slot was a small secondary airfoil called an "augmentor", intended to direct the discharged airflow over the wing. With this arrangement, it was found that the aircraft remained controllable at airspeeds as low as 34.76 kn (64.38 km/h; 40.00 mph). The US Navy considered developing the Jetwing for use on short aircraft carriers. A new series of test flights were then carried out. Despite its top speed of 350 mph, the Navy was able to land the Jetwing in a mere 300 feet. Ultimately, the Navy discontinued blown-wing research in favor of vectored thrust technology. Following the test program, the aircraft was donated to the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, which donated the Jetwing to the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, Colorado in 2007. Only one prototype/test machine was built.

The Myasishchev M-4 Molot (Russian: Молот (Hammer), USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 37", ASCC reporting name Bison) was a four-engined strategic bomber designed by Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev and manufactured by the Soviet Union in the 1950s to provide a Long Range Aviation bomber capable of attacking targets in North America. The aircraft fell well short of its intended range and was not fully capable of attacking the most valuable targets in the United States. As this became clear, production was shut down. In spite of the failure to produce a capable strategic design and the resulting small numbers, the M-4 nevertheless sparked fears of a "bomber gap" when 18 of the aircraft were flown in a public demonstration on May Day in 1954. The US responded by building hundreds of Boeing B-47s and B-52s to counter this perceived threat. The design was updated with more efficient engines, inflight refuelling (IFR) support and the removal of the glass nose for optical bombing and moving the radar to this location. With these changes, production restarted as the 3M. Even with these modifications the design was not truly effective in the nuclear bomber role, and only 125 aircraft, both M-4s and 3Ms, were produced before the production line was shut down for good in 1963. Only 19 of these served on nuclear alert. M-4s and 3Ms were primarily used as long-range maritime reconnaissance and strike aircraft and other supporting roles. Most were converted in the 1970s and 80s to tanker aircraft, especially as the Tupolev Tu-22M took over the maritime missions. The tanker conversions remained in service until 1994. Most surviving examples were broken up as part of post-Cold War arms limitations agreements. The M-4 was the first four-engine jet bomber deployed operationally by the Soviet Union. The M-4 was made mostly of aircraft aluminum alloys with some steel and magnesium components. It had wings swept at 35-degrees and powered initially by four Mikulin AM-3A engines with a maximum thrust of 85.8 kN (8,750 kgp; 19,290 lbf), but later upgraded to RD-3M-500 turbojets with a maximum thrust of 93.2 kN (9,500 kgp; 20,940 lbf). There were 18 bladder fuel tanks in the fuselage and wings, providing a total fuel capacity of 123,600 liters (32,610 US gallons); this gave the aircraft a range of 9,500 km (5,900 mi), although this fell short of the 12,000 km (7,500 mi) range initially specified. It had a payload of 24 tonnes (26.4 tons) in various configurations. Defensive armament consisted of six AM-23 23 mm cannons with a rate of fire of 1,250 rpm each in a manned twin tail turret with 400 rounds per gun and two twin remote controlled turrets in the top and bottom fuselage with 300 rounds per gun each. The aircraft had a crew of eight: a navigator/bombardier in the nose; pilot and copilot in the cockpit; radar operator/navigator, flight engineer/gunner, radio operator/gunner, and dorsal turret gunner in a compartment behind the cockpit; and a tail gunner. The M-4 was first displayed to the public in Red Square, on May Day, 1954. The aircraft was a surprise to the United States, which had not known that the Soviets had built a jet bomber. However, it soon became clear that the bomber had an insufficient range to attack the United States and still return to the Soviet Union. Only a few of the original production M-4s were actually put into service. To remedy this problem, the Myasishchev design bureau introduced the 3M, known to the West as the 'Bison-B', which was considerably more powerful than the previous version. This new model first flew in 1955. Among other things, two of the five original gun barbettes were removed to lighten the aircraft. For more details of design, operational history and variants, click here.

The American Sportscopter Ultrasport 496 is an American helicopter that was designed and produced by American Sportscopter of Newport News, Virginia. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction. The Ultrasport 496 is a two-seat trainer development of the Ultrasport 254 and, like that model, is named for its empty weight in pounds. The aircraft was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built aircraft rules. It could also have been registered as a FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules exemption trainer. It features a single main rotor, a two-seats in side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit with optional doors, skid-type landing gear and a four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 95 hp (71 kW) Hirth F-30 engine. The aircraft fuselage is made from composites. Its 23.00 ft (7.0 m) diameter two-bladed rotor employs an ATI 012 (VR-7 mod) airfoil at the blade root, transitioning to an ATI 008 (VR-7 mod) airfoil at the tip. The dual controls include cyclic controls mounted from the cockpit ceiling, but are otherwise conventional. The tail rotor is ring-mounted and the horizontal tailplane mounts end-fins for directional stability. A ballistic parachute was a factory option. The aircraft has an empty weight of 495 lb (225 kg) and a gross weight of 1,085 lb (492 kg), giving a useful load of 590 lb (268 kg). With full fuel of 16 U.S. gallons (61 L; 13 imp gal) the payload for crew and baggage is 494 lb (224 kg). The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 60 hours. In June 2014 one example was registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of seven had been registered at one time.

The Aeronca C-3 was a light plane built by the Aeronautical Corporation of America in the United States during the 1930s. Its design was derived from the Aeronca C-2. Introduced in 1931, it featured room for a passenger seated next to the pilot. Powered by a new 36 hp (27 kW) Aeronca E-113 engine, the seating configuration made flight training much easier and many Aeronca owners often took to the skies with only five hours of instruction, largely because of the C-3's predictable flying characteristics. Both the C-2 and C-3 are often described as “powered gliders” because of their gliding ability and gentle landing speeds. The C-3's distinctive razorback design was drastically altered in 1935 with the appearance of the “roundback” C-3 Master. Retaining the tubular fuselage frame construction, the C-3 Master featured a smaller vertical stabilizer and rudder with a “filled out” fuselage shape that created the new “roundback” appearance and improved the airflow over the tail. It featured an enclosed cabin with a proper door (brakes and wing light still cost extra), and a revised undercarriage dispensing with external struts in favour of a neater arrangement largely hidden in the fuselage. The 1935 C-3 Master was priced at only $1,895—just a few hundred dollars more than the primitive C-2 of 1930. The low price generated significant sales; 128 C-3 Masters were built in 1935 alone (of 430 C-3s built in all), and the 500th Aeronca aircraft also rolled off the assembly line that same year. A strengthened version of the C-3 with fabric-covered ailerons (instead of metal), designated the Aeronca 100, was built in England under license by Light Aircraft Ltd. (operating as Aeronautical Corporation of Great Britain Ltd. sometimes called Aeronco), and marketed by its associated company Aircraft Exchange & Mart. It was powered by a modified Aeronca E-113C engine built by J. A. Prestwich and Company and called the JAP J-99, and this led to the aircraft being marketed as the Aeronca-JAP. The expected sales never materialized – only 24 British-built aircraft were manufactured before production was halted. The aircraft could be fitted with floats, and those so equipped were sometimes designated PC-3, with the P standing for Pontoon. Production of the C-3 was halted in 1937 when the aircraft no longer met new U.S. government standards for airworthiness. Many of the C-3's peculiarities – a strictly external wire-braced wing with no wing struts directly connecting the wing panels with the fuselage, extensive fabric construction, single-ignition engine, and lack of an airspeed indicator – were no longer permitted. Fortunately for the legion of Aeronca owners, a “grandfather” clause in the federal regulations allowed their airplanes to continue flying, although they could no longer be manufactured. A total of 400 were built. Variants C-3 Production variant, early versions of which were built as the C-2 Collegian. C-3 Master Improved variant. Aeronca 100 British-built variant powered by an Aeronca JAP J-99 (a licence built Aeronca E-113C), 21 built. Aeronca 300 Improved British variant of the Aeronca 100, one built. Ely 700 British variant with wider fuselage and two doors, two built.

The Embraer Legacy 450/500 and Praetor 500/600 are a family of mid-size and super mid-size business jets built by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The aircraft family was launched with the Legacy 500 in April 2008 and were the first jets in the size category to feature a flat-floor stand-up cabin and fly-by-wire. The Legacy 500, with a range of 3,125 nautical miles [nmi] (5,790 km; 3,600 mi) and room for up to 12 passengers, first flew on November 27, 2012, and was certified on August 12, 2014. The shorter Legacy 450 first flew on December 28, 2013, was certified on August 11, 2015, has a range of 2,900 nmi (5,370 km; 3,340 mi), and can accommodate up to 9. The Praetor 500 and 600 are improvements of the Legacy 450 and 500, respectively, introduced in October 2018 offering more range. The Praetor 600 has a range of 4,018 nmi (7,440 km; 4,620 mi), while the Praetor 500 has a range of 3,340 nmi (6,190 km; 3,840 mi). Embraer introduced improved variants at the October 2018 NBAA convention, the Praetor 500 and 600, presented on display, with 3,250 nmi (6,020 km; 3,740 mi) and 3,900 nmi (7,200 km; 4,500 mi) of range; the 600 was expected to be certified in the second quarter of 2019 and the 500 in the third quarter of 2019. Both have 22 by 50 in (56 by 127 cm) taller and wider winglets. The $17 million Praetor 500 boosts the fuel capacity of the Legacy 450 from 12,108 to 13,058 lb (5,492 to 5,923 kg) to match the Legacy 500. The $21 million Praetor 600 is based on the Legacy 500 with two tanks on the fuselage belly for 2,928 lb (1,328 kg) more fuel for a 15,986 lb (7,251 kg) capacity, and more powerful 7,528 lbf (33.49 kN) HTF7500E engines. Praetor 600 flight testing began on 31 March 2018 and 300h were logged with three aircraft by October 2018, while the Praetor 500 flight tests began on 13 September 2018 with 80h accumulated. The synthetic vision system has a flight guidance system for CAT I airports approach with SBAS, allowing decision height to be reduced from 200 to 150 ft (61 to 46 m). Within US SBAS zones, the synthetic vision guidance system (SVGS) allows autopilot-flown instrument approaches down to 150 ft (46 m) height and 1,300 ft (400 m) RVR without the optional Rockwell Collins EVS and HUD. They are low wing, T-tail airplanes with cabin pressurization, powered by two rear mounted turbofans. The landing gear is fully retractable and designed to be operated on paved runways only. The glass cockpit includes four multi-function displays. The operation is made through a flight management system with autopilot, autothrottle and closed-loop control and monitoring of flight controls Fly-By-Wire. The aircraft are certified for Day, Night, VFR and IFR flights, and are approved for reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) airspace and flight into known icing conditions, extended flight over water, Category II ILS, operations at high altitude airports up to 13800 ft and steep approach operations. Embraer offers an enhanced flight vision system constituted by the Rockwell Collins HGS-3500 Head-up display combined with the EVS-3000 Infrared camera, permitting a decision altitude necessitating visual references of 100 ft above touchdown at a projected price of $515,000. Federal Aviation Administration's draft AC 20-167A further proposes a descent below 100 ft if the required visual references can be observed using the EFVS, similar to Cat II and III approaches with limited instrument landing systems in many small airports. Number built 251 Praetor 500 : 42 (as of 26 April 2023) Praetor 600 : 71 (as of 26 April 2023) Legacy 500 : 80 (as of 26 April 2023) Legacy 450 : 58 (as of 26 April 2023) For operational history and details of variants, , click here. Specifications below are for the Praetor 600. Legacy 450 Legacy 500 Praetor 500 Praetor 600

The Latécoère 28 was a long distance monoplane aircraft designed and produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Latécoère. First flown in 1927, it had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and an enclosed cockpit for its crew of two. When configured for airline use, the Latécoère 28 could accommodate up to eight seated passengers. It was produced in both land and floatplane configurations, being marketed towards the civilian market both as a mail plane and passenger airliner. During its operating life, the Latécoère 28 became the main-stay of Air France's predecessor, Aéropostale, which heavily used the aircraft during the 1930s in its efforts to establish intercontinental air mail services and support French colonialism and French cultural influence during the Interwar period.[citation needed] Its pilots included famous poets and French men of letters, such as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Jean Mermoz, along with numerous veteran pilots from the First World War. The Latécoère 28 was a development of the Latécoère 26. A total of about fifty aircraft of several versions were produced between 1927 and 1932. The seaplane version, the Latécoère 28-3, was the first to make a postal delivery crossing of the South Atlantic when Jean Mermoz flew from Dakar to Natal in 21 hours and a half aboard the Comte-de-La Vaulx (prototype n° 919) on 12 May 1930. [1] Unfortunately, the plane was lost at sea during the return flight (with no loss of life, nor of mail). Early examples had been furnished with Renault 12Jbr engines; however, all use of this powerplant was quickly substituted for by Hispano Suiza 12, which waw capable of providing up to 500 hp (370 kW). The floatplane version was equipped with the Hispano Suiza 12Lbr, which could generate to up 650 hp (480 kW). The Latécoère 28 was a long-range high-wing single-engined monoplane. The fuselage, which was highly streamlined and largely supported by light-metal tubing, was internally divided into three sections, each with its own distinct structure and function. The main landing gear comprised two independent wheels mounted on axles joined to the fuselage and supported by elastic struts that incorporated shock absorbers. The recoil from landing was absorbed via a light-metal strut in the plane of the axle, supported at one end by the axle's bend and hinged to the fuselage at the other end; atypically strong carbon-injected steel, which was hardened and tempered after machining, was used. A hinged elastic tail skid was also used to dampen the landing forces. The first aircraft were used by Aéropostale on the African mail routes connecting Casablanca and Dakar. The aircraft also inaugurated a Paris-Madrid service. The Latécoère 28 became famous in South America because of the regular mail service it performed between France and Argentina, amongst other destinations. This aircraft's introduction made it possible to send a letter from Paris to Santiago de Chile in what seemed then like an astonishingly short four days. Previously, the mail steamships had taken weeks or months. The Latécoère 28 was also operated in a military capacity. Venezuela purchased three aircraft for use as bombers while the French government supplied several to the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. For more details on the design, and the 11 variants, click here.

The Kharkiv KhAI-1 (ХАІ-1) was an airliner produced in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s, unusual in that it was designed (and the prototype built) by students. An exceptionally clean design, the KhAI-1 was the first European passenger transport aircraft to feature retractable undercarriage, and boasted a top speed better than the fighter aircraft in service at the time. Some 40 KhAI-1s were operated by Aeroflot, but while a dedicated military version, the KhAI-1VV was developed and flown in prototype form, this did not enter production. The project was the brainchild of Iosif Grigorievich Nyeman, then head of aircraft construction at the newly formed Kharkiv Aviation Institute. Deciding to provide students with practical, hands-on experience, he divided the students into two teams, each assigned to designing an airliner making use of cheap, easily obtained materials. One team, led by L. D. Arson, was to work on a design incorporating modern techniques and design features designated KhAI-1, while the other, led by A. Eremenko, was to work on a more conservative design designated KhAI-2. The challenge was laid down in May 1931, and the timeframe specified was that the better design would need to be completed and ready for construction by February the following year. The whole venture was to be supervised by the Ukrainian branch of OSOAVIAKhIM. Soon, Nyeman selected the KhAI-1 as the design to proceed with. This was a low-wing, cantilever monoplane with a streamlined fuselage of oval cross-section, and retractable undercarriage. Construction was to be wood throughout, with fabric-covered control surfaces. The students were re-organised into ten teams of five to seven members each, and set to work on the detailed design of the aircraft's components and structures. The plans were completed on time, and in March 1932 work began at the Kharkiv Aviation Factory, then home to the design bureau of Nyeman's old mentor, Konstantin Alekseevich Kalinin. Construction of the prototype was undertaken by the students themselves, under the supervision of factory personnel, and was complete within 180 days. The aircraft first flew on 8 October at the hands of Boris Kudrin, with Nyeman on board as a passenger. The aircraft's high speed and good handling quickly became apparent, and following factory trials, the prototype KhAI-1 was flown to Moscow on 17 February 1933 for state acceptance trials, making the flight from Kharkiv in record time. These tests were completed by June, with test pilots I.F.Petrov and P.I.Stefanovskii confirming the aircraft's excellent performance, and recommending it for Aeroflot service, offering as it did a 50% increase in speed over the standard Kalinin K-5 airliner of the day. Nyeman was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the project. With the KhAI-1 ordered into series production, Nyeman initially requested that this be undertaken at the Kharkiv Aviation Factory, but this facility was gearing up to produce the Kalinin K-7 bomber and therefore lacked the capacity. Instead, production was assigned to the Gorky Aviation Plant (Zavod 21) which was concluding Polikarpov I-5 production. Production examples differed from the prototype in having a larger rudder, enlarged baggage compartment, revised undercarriage with oleo struts, and lighter wheel brakes, The passenger cabin was also revised, with additional sound-proofing and ventilation, and the addition of a lavatory. A revision of the general structure produced a weight saving of 125 kg (275 lb) and an increase in top speed from 292 km/h to 319 km/h (182 mph to 199 mph). However, only three aircraft were built here before the facility was needed to build the Polikarpov I-16 and KhAI-1 production was shifted to Zavod 43 in Kiev, where the rest of the aircraft were built. The first of these flew in November 1934, and airline service trials commenced the following April . The Soviet Air Force soon expressed interest in the design as an alternative to the Polikarpov R-Z then replacing the Polikarpov R-5 in the reconnaissance-bomber role. A single prototype was built of a KhAI-1VV (for Военный Вариант - Voennii Variant - "Military Variant"), armed with a rear-mounted machine gun, and bombs carried in internal racks. While performance was impressive, the bomb-release mechanism proved troublesome, and as development dragged on, the Air Force gradually lost interest. Following service trials between Moscow and Kyiv, the KhAI-1 was introduced on a regular Aeroflot service in early 1936 between Moscow and Sevastopol. Two accidents occurred during early service. In one, an outer wing panel broke soon after take-off, and in another, an undercarriage strut collapsed on landing. These events led to a review of the design by OKO, leading to general strengthening that added so much weight to the aircraft that one passenger seat had to be sacrificed. Production in Kiev had been suspended during this review, but was soon recommenced. Aeroflot continued using the type on passenger and mail routes until 1940 between Moscow and Kharkiv, Moscow and Minvody, and between Rostov and Krasnodar. Variants KhAI-1 - Passenger transport KhAI-1B - (a.k.a. KhAI-1VV), Military variant for bomber training, of which two were converted from KhAI-1, with a 200 kg bomb load, as well as one fixed and one moveable machine-gun.