La Jetée Press

09/08/2026

This General Electric ad for the new CF6-80A turbofan on the Delta Boeing 767-200 ran in 1982.

Through the 767 development program, modernized versions of the GE CF6 and the Pratt & Whitney JT9D vied for orders among the 767 customers. The -80A was a design refinement of the iconic engine line that made it more suited to high-frequency, medium range markets than what had been the case for the earlier applications of the CF6, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Boeing 747.

At the time of the 767 launch, the CF6-80A was selected by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, All Nippon Airways and CP Air.

In addition, the CF6-80A (specifically the -80A1 variant) was selected for the Airbus A310s on order by Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Martinair.

09/07/2026

The Pratt & Whitney PW2000 turbofans used on the Boeing 757 and C-17A Globemaster III (military designation F117) has a fascinating origin story. ⁣

In the late 1960s, the USAF developed a concept for a new jet transport that would become the Advanced Medium STOL Transport program in 1972. For the AMST, the USAF wanted a new engine and PW ran a demo engine called the JT10D for the Advanced Turbine Engine studies. It was a scaled down JT9D as used on the 747. AMST resulted in two prototypes, the McDonnell Douglas YC-15 and the Boeing YC-15. Though AMST ended up getting canceled, work on the JT10D continued as Boeing considered a new generation 737 and an eventual 727 replacement. ⁣

French company SNECMA wanted to get into commercial turbofans and was looking for a partner- Pratt was the obvious choice since they owned 10% of SNECMA, but GE offered better terms in a partnership that resulted in the CFM56 engine. PW believed that a new generation 737 to replace the 737-200 wouldn’t sell and hesitated developing the JT10D to compete, leaving the CFM56 as the sole engine for the 737-300 and 737NG. ⁣⁣

PW then partnered with Rolls Royce to develop the JT10D further but when the 757 program was announced, Rolls Royce bailed out to offer an evolved version of the RB.211. ⁣

PW pressed on to refine the JT10D, making it lighter, more powerful and fuel efficient. When Boeing announced the 757 program, the JT10D was well-placed to compete with Rolls Royce and the JT10D was rebranded as the PW2000. It was the first PW engine with a FADEC and Delta became the PW2000 series launch customer with their 757 order. ⁣

Ironically the PW2037 was selected for the McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III whose design benefitted from McDD’s earlier work on their YC-15 AMST demonstrator.⁣

There are three variants: the PW2037, PW2040 and PW2040, the last two digits referring the engine thrust in thousands of pounds. The F117 is based on the PW2037.

Images: JPSantiago, AWST/Pratt & Whitney

09/07/2026

The Gilbert Islands campaign of November 1943 was Operation Galvanic, the first American large scale offensive in the Central Pacific during World War 2 and included the Battle of Tarawa.

The Gilberts provided bases for the Marshall Islands campaign in 1944 that would lead to the capture of the Marianas for use as B-29 bases.

09/07/2026

There is only one Caproni Ca.310 left in the world and it's in Norway, a restoration using mixed-media.

In 1938, the Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flyvevåpen) was desperate to modernize its aging, open-cockpit biplane fleet. Lacking sufficient foreign currency, the Norwegian government entered a barter agreement with Fascist Italy.

Norway agreed to buy 24 Caproni Ca.310 aircraft. In return, Italy paid for the planes using revenues generated from importing massive quantities of Norwegian Klippfisk (dried and salted cod). Because of this unusual trade, the planes were immediately nicknamed the "Klippfiskbomberen" (The Clipfish Bomber).

The Ca.310 brought some "firsts" to the Norwegian Army Air Service:

-The first twin-engine aircraft
-The first monoplane (low-wing design)
-The first with retractable landing gear
-The first equipped with variable-pitch propellers and onboard radios

However, the aircraft was profoundly underpowered and mechanically unreliable. During the initial delivery flights from Milan to Norway, the planes suffered a series of engine failures and technical breakdowns, forcing emergency landings in Germany and Denmark. Disappointed by its poor performance, Norway canceled the rest of the order after accepting only four military aircraft.

With the German invasion of Norway in 1940, the four Capronis were based in Stavanger. One aircraft could not start its engines, another was strafed on the ground by the Luftwaffe, a third one got airborne but had sustained damage taking off while Stavanger was under attack. The last example escaped to Eastern Norway and equipped with skis, it flew reconnaissance missions before being burned by its crew to prevent it from falling into German hands. That last aircraft's wreck is what has been restored today.

09/06/2026

With the spectre of war looming, the Royal Air Force looked abroad for aircraft sources as the expansion needs were beyond the capacity of the British aircraft industry at the time. In January 1939, representatives of the Air Ministry visited Caproni in Italy to review the Ca 310 light twin as a crew trainer. The Italian government approved of the visit.

Higher ranking British officials returned to Caproni in December 1939 (war began in September but Italy had not declared war on the Allies yet) to order 200 Ca 310s and another 300 Ca 313s, an upgraded development of the 310.

January 1940, a team from Caproni arrived in the UK to finalize the order. The RAF submitted a list of design changes on their Caproni twins and RAF teams were dispatched to Italy to oversee the modifications. The order was confirmed at the end of the month. Plans were to partially-finished aircraft to be shipped from Milan to Istres in France where they would be completed, flight tested, and flown to the UK.

In March 1940, Mussolini's government notified the N***s that Caproni had a large British order on the books and if they were any objections. Surprisingly, the N**i regime had no objections with the deal!

But a month later, Hi**er wanted the deal canceled.

Count Caproni himself then met with the Air Ministry and arranged for the aircraft to be completed by Caproni's Portuguese subsidiary and the RAF would buy the aircraft from Portugal instead of Italy.

However, on 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on the British and the largest aircraft order ever received by the Italian aircraft industry at the time got canceled.

The geopolitical context of the deal likely was hold over animosity between Italy and Germany over the N**i annexation of Austria which Italy bitterly opposed. Italy deployed forces to the Austrian border in response and diplomatic relations were nearly severed between the two fascist states as a result.

Images: Azur Models, Stormo! Magazine, Aeronautica Militare

09/06/2026

This was the cover of a passenger brochure when QANTAS introduced the Boeing 747 in 1971.

The 747B was the original designation for the 747-200. The first production variant, the -100, had marginal performance on long haul routes and the -200 met this need with more powerful engines to handle an increased takeoff weight from more fuel capacity.

First Delivery for QANTAS: The airline received its first Boeing 747-238B (named City of Canberra, VH-EBA) on August 16, 1971.

Inaugural Flight: The first commercial passenger service flew from Sydney to Singapore via Melbourne on September 17, 1971.

Who's had the chance to fly on a QANTAS 747? Tell us about it!

09/05/2026

VH-OQJ “Bert Hinkler”, QANTAS’s tenth Airbus A380, is here on short final for 18R at DFW International Airport.

The current highest takeoff weight variant for the A380 is 575 tonnes, but the proposed A380 Plus variant would have had a MTOW of 578 tonnes. If all the components on the A380 that are made of composites were to be made of traditional metal alloys, the A380 would weigh about 7 tonnes more!

Had the A380F got built, it was baselined at 590 tonnes and Airbus has done flight tests in the last few years up to 600 tonnes. From what I recall, the structure, the wings in particular, are a bit over-engineered to accommodate growth and as designed, the A380 could go up to 625 tonnes, but the engines would need to be updated and the aircraft would likely need brakes in all of its main wheels to meet RTO requirements.

09/05/2026

QANTAS inaugrated services to Dallas/Fort Worth on 16 May 2011. Sydney-DFW became the longest nonstop route flown by a passenger 747, QANTAS using the 747-400ER. The westbound return, though, had to stop in Brisbane on the way back to SYD.

On 29 September 2014, QANTAS began using the A380 on the route which eliminated the westbound stop in Brisbane. The services were suspended at the start of the pandemic but resumed 16 February 2022 using the Boeing 787-9.

The airline had studied serving DFW for years as it offered better connections on American Airlines flights as part of the OneWorld alliance than at Los Angeles (about 5x more flights than LAX) and faster connection times to US cities on East Coast. When the A380s displaced the 747-400ER on Melbourne-Los Angeles, it freed up the 747s for DFW.

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

A R-4B Sikorsky helicopter landing aboard the Aircraft Repair Unit (Floating) Major General Robert Olds (ARU(F) -1).

We saw the origins of these secret weapons in the last post, but now let's take a look at the helicopters.

Helicopters were very much still in the experimental phase so far as the United States armed forces went during World War 2. In fact, even their existence was something only really known to the people involved in their development at the time. To everyone else, they remained curiosities.

The deployment of the ARU(F)s to the Pacific was one of the first operational deployments of helicopters. For many people, seeing the helicopters flying between the ARU(F)s and airfields ashore (transporting men and materials to support aircraft repairs) was the first time they had ever actually seen a helicopter before!

It did not take long for this initial shock to wear. Many of the more forward-thinking officers were quick to pick up on the capabilities that these new machines offered. On 15 June, 1945, a request went out to the ARU(F) Brigadier General Clinton W. Russell in the Philippines. Two soldiers were seriously injured and needed a medical evacuation. It was asked if the R-4 aboard the ship could provide the evacuation.

Helicopter pilot 2LT Louis Carle was given the task. Clearing space inside the helicopter (The R-4 only had a cargo capacity of 200lbs), Carle then flew to the front lines without difficulty. Picking up the wounded, Carle then flew them to a forward hospital set up in Manila.

This success of this initial evacuation ignited a firestorm. Soon requests came pouring in to evacuate wounded soldiers. Over the next two weeks, helicopters operating from the ARU(F)s would rescue as many as eighty casualties. Carle himself evacuated six men during a single seven-hour span in a single day during tha time. Many times, they came under fire as they rescued the wounded, but managed to succeed.

At the end of June another ARU(F), the Brigadier General Alfred J. Lyon, arrived in the Philippines. She too was soon flooded with requests for evacuations. Her pilots would soon rescue another forty men alone.

While the results of these operations alone was a major success, the biggest success was the impact it had on helicopter operations as a whole. Seeing the capabilities of helicopters firsthand, the Navy and Army were quick to being looking for other uses. Soon helicopters were being proposed for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, search and rescue, liaison work, to name a few.

The initial successes of helicopters during World War 2 led to their widespread adoption across the United States armed forces.

**Note: While the helicopters of the ARU(F)s had the most success and helped develop an appreciation for helicopter use, they were not the first to successfully evacuate wounded soldiers in WW2. Carter Harman successfully rescued one American and three British soldiers after their aircraft was shotdown in Burma in 1944.**