The Aviation Show

15/09/2026

13/09/2026

Fantastic afternoon spent with the Jason Capra team checking in their C-53 'Beach City Baby' and her new wings. We'll have a full video out soon, which I'm sure will come out better than our attempt at a group photo.

07/09/2026

Well, that was a pretty special day at the Cleveland National Air Show. It was my first time seeing the F-22 Raptor Demo Team and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and oh my goodness, they did not disappoint!

The Raptor defied physics, and the Blue Angels turned copious amounts of Jet 1A into fabulous amounts of noise! Thank you both, and I can't wait to see you do your thing again.

Images: Matt Bone

03/09/2026

I swear, this is the last time I'm going to mention this topic... But for all the vitriol of my erasing the Guther Rall signature, there is a whole other market of cutting up prints for the signatures for resale. I know because I bought one of the cut up ones.

So let's take a look at the new cottage industry of sourcing and reselling signatures for framing on new and old prints from established artists. Because what's the point of idolising these men in new prints if there isn't an autograph on it? Plus, you know, you can make much cash the more "limited" you make the edition...

You can check out the full episode on our YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts. Links in the first comment below.

30/08/2026

Sometimes when that B-29 mothership for your Mach 2 rocket plane isn't available, strapping some extra rockets on your Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket will get you into the air and get you that sweet, sweet test data you are after.

While usually dropped from one of NACA's modified B-29s, in this test, a JATO system was added to the Skyrocket to enable a more traditional takeoff.

27/08/2026

Yours truly popping up in this episode 😄

Series 2 coming soon as well.

26/08/2026

26 August 1963: Mrs. Diana Barnato Walker, a former pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II, flew an English Electric Lightning T Mk.4, XM996, with Squadron Leader Kenneth Goodwin, from RAF Middleton St. George. Her request to make the flight had been approved by Secretary of State for Air Sir Hugh C. P. J. Fraser, MBE. This was the 27th anniversary of her very first flight, which was made in a de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth. . . .

To read the full article on WordPress, please copy and paste the URL in the first comment, below, into your browser's search bar.

26/08/2026

When the D-558-I Skystreak took Douglas and the US Navy to Mach 1, they knew they needed more oomph. So they slapped in a rocket motor and did a Pininfarina to the design and smoothed the Test Tube into the D-558-II Skyrocket.

The aircraft was beautiful and allowed Scott Crossfield to break Mach 2. Just. The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket BuNo #37974 NACA-144 that A. Scott Crossfield took to Mach 2.005 on November 20, 1953, is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

Image 1: Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket Bu. No. 37974 glides back toward Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, with a North American F-86E-1-NA Sabre (50-606) flying chase. Image: NASA via Vintage Aviation News

Image 2: The Skyrocket is shown in its white colour scheme and the orange NACA flash at the top of the tail. Image: NASM

Image 3: The Skyrocket is shown from the tail forward in its white colour scheme and the orange NACA flash at the top of the tail. From this angle you can see the rocket exhaust and the mid-mounted tailplane. Image: NASM

NASA Aeronautics

25/08/2026

25 August 1947: Major Marion Eugene Carl, United States Marine Corps, flying the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak, Bu. No. 37970, set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Straight Course, averaging 1,047.356 kilometers per hour (650.797 miles per hour).¹ The Skystreak was flown over a course laid out on Muroc Dry Lake, site of Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) in the high desert of Southern California.

To read the full article on WordPress, please copy and paste the URL in the first comment, below, into your browser's search bar.

25/08/2026

24–25 August 1932: Amelia Earhart flew her Lockheed Model 5B Vega, NR7952, from Los Angeles, California, to Newark, New Jersey, a distance of 3,939.25 kilometers (2,447.74 miles), in 19 hours, 5 minutes. She had departed Los Angeles Municipal Airport (now known as LAX) at 7:26:54 p.m. Pacific Time, 24 August, and landed at Newark Municipal Airport at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time the following day.

To read the full article on WordPress, please copy and paste the URL in the first comment, below, into your browser's search bar.