Flying Heritage Collection

Radials
A cynic would say that a radial aircraft engine is made mostly of oil. The big powerplants eagerly gobble it, gargle it, and spit some of it out too. When you see oil under your car, you call a mechanic. But our mechanics worry when they don’t see oil under an airplane. The big, complex engines are made to d...rip and drool and they have a king-sized oil tank to compensate for any loss. Designers figured, heck, an overdose of oil is much cheaper than a new engine any day. As the old pilots say: “When oil stops dripping from a radial engine, it means there’s no oil left inside!Read More

Warning!
Fighter pilots don’t like to be surprised. To avoid becoming easy prey for some sneaky enemy flyer, some late war American fighters were equipped with a “tail warning radar.” The low-power UHF transmitter and receiver could sniff out a hunter coming up from behind from 2,000 to 2,500 feet away. When the syst...em detected an unnoticed approach, the pilot heard warning bell and an indicator light in the cockpit lit up. Outwardly, the only part of the radar visible was the distinctive post and loop antenna on the tail, seen here on the FHC’s P-47D Thunderbolt.Read More

Blending In
It might be stating the obvious, but camouflage often works very well. On the opposite side of the coin to America’s bare metal bombers and fighters, many flyers who operated relatively close to the ground loved to disappear. The FHC’s Supermarine Spitfire, like the Spitfire in this photograph, flew with s...ubdued roundels on the top of its wings. With no white band of the typical “type A” British national insignia and no bright yellow outline, a green and gray Spit could virtually become a part of the countryside passing below its wings.Read More

FLYING HERITAGE COLLECTION TO HOST SPECIAL VETERANS DAY FORUM FEATURING LOCAL WORLD WAR II VETERANS

ADMISSION IS FREE FOR ALL VETERANS ON NOVEMBER 11

World War II tactical reconnaissance pilots will unite with other war veterans and community members on Veterans Day to honor the men and women who risked their lives for... their country. During World War II, tactical reconnaissance pilots flew fast and low in groups of two, with one flyer scouting and the other covering his activities from attacks by enemy fighters. By patrolling, spotting artillery barrages, assisting in special missions, and shooting photographs that were used by Allied analysts, these veterans influenced the outcome of the war.

This special Veterans Day event at the Flying Heritage Collection will feature remarks from Congressman Rick Larsen and a panel of veterans recounting their use of modified fighter planes to assist Allied armies near the battlefield. The event will feature local U.S. Army and Royal Air Force reconnaissance pilots who will discuss their first-hand perspectives of World War II and its impact on our country.
Read More

Paintless Planes
They say you can tell who’s winning the war by the paint schemes. As World War II wore on, German and Japanese aircraft evolved more mottled and subdued colors, while their American counterparts became downright gaudy—with stripes and checkers over a brilliant silver canvas. By January of 1944, most a...ircraft were leaving U.S. factories without camouflage paint. Studies had shown that a bare metal P-51 Mustang could fly 6 mph faster and a big bomber weighed 71 pounds less. The lighter and faster is nearly always better when it came to aerial combat. Here, the FHC’s Mustang and the Commemorative Air Force’s Flying Fortress show off the late war style, with acres of polished aircraft aluminum in the morning sun.Read More

Pilot’s Pull
The Nakajima Ki-43 “Oscar” could turn on a dime and climb like a sparrow. One of the main reasons that the Oscar had such a stellar performer was that the fighter’s designers insisted upon nothing but the basics. The less unneeded junk a plane hauls around with it, the better it performs in a dogfight. O...ne example of this Spartan design doctrine in the Oscar is the “pilot’s pull.” A simple metal cord with a woven leather covering helps a flyer climb the plane’s steep wing and into the cockpit. It’s more primitive than any stirrup or foothold, but it works—and it weighs next to nothing.Read More

Mystery Tire
In the 1920s and 1930s, whitewall tires on cars were considered chic. The faded ivory stripe on the tail wheel Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-13 had us briefly puzzled. Were the Germans just being stylish? That seemed doubtful. When an aircraft operates, its spinning propeller creates a static charge. Perched on ...regular rubber tires, the built-up voltage in the plane’s airframe has nowhere to go. It turns out that the whitewall is the indicator of a tire that can dissipate static electricity. Instead of insulating, this tire is designed act as a grounding rod, letting the charge escape before it can zap some unlucky ground crewman.Read More