Bell P-39 Airacobra
The Bell P-39 was designed in 1937 in response to a USAAC requirement for a new fighter that could match the performance of European models that were then in development – particularly the Supermarine Spitfire […]
Fighter
Fairey Fulmar
The Fairey Fulmar represents the philosophy of the Fleet Air Arm just prior to World War II, that navigational science was not advanced enough to allow for the creation of a single-seat naval fighter. Therefore, […]
Nakajima Ki-44 Type 2 Shoki “Tojo”
Shortly after Nakajima had received orders for the Ki-43 “Hayabusa” fighter, they were asked to produce a design for a new interceptor fighter. Unusually for a Japanese fighter the need for manoeuvrability was relaxed in […]
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane attained legendary status thanks to its exploits during the Battle of Britain, during which it actually shot down more German aircraft than the vaunted Spitfire. However, by the time the Pacific War […]
CAC Wirraway
The CAC Wirraway was a license-built version of the North America NA-16/AT-6 Texan advanced training aircraft. A commission had been sent from Australia to the United States in order to select an aircraft that could […]
Mitsubishi F1M Type 0 “Pete”
In 1934 the Japanese Navy issued request for a new observation seaplane, to fly from battleships and cruisers and perform gunfire spotting duties. Existing seaplanes were primarily reconnaissance types, tasked with finding the enemy in […]
Brewster F2A Buffalo
The Brewster F2A Buffalo was a much-exported fighter aircraft designed for the US Navy but most famously flying in Finnish, Dutch and British service. Designed to replace the Grumman F3F biplane, the F2A beat off […]
Seversky P-35
Developed from a series of unsuccessful trainer types, the Seversky P-35 shared many of the characteristics of these earlier designs but with a new engine and additional features including retractable landing gear. The design failed […]
Grumman F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the workhorse fighter of the US Navy in the first 18 months of the Pacific War. Designed as part of the competition for the Navy’s first monoplane fighter which was […]
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk/Kittyhawk
The Curtiss P-40 was a development of the company’s older P-36 Hawk design. The tenth P-36 was modified to replace the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a more streamlined Allison V-1710 inline engine. […]