Aviation History

The article on the aerial adventures of Merian Cooper in the Autumn 2022 issue was very interesting. A few years ago, I visited Lwow (now Lviv), Ukraine, and went to the Lychakiv Cemetery, which includes the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow. I was surprised to discover the memorial to the American pilots of the Kosciuszko Squadron, with the graves of T.V. McCallum, Arthur Kelly and Edmund Graves. It appears that the entire military cemetery fell into a degree of disrepair under Soviet rule, but since Ukraine gained its independence, the Polish military cemetery was restored in 2005. Rene BeBeau, Alexandria, Virginia THE WRONG STUFF In his editorial in the Winter 2023 issue, Tom Huntington stated that Orville Wright “never piloted an airplane again after he nearly died in a crash in 1908.”…

“I wanted a Spitfire ever since I was eight years old and I saw Reach for the Sky,” said Steve Markham of Odiham, Hampshire. That was a common inspiration among English boys who saw the 1956 film about the Royal Air Force’s legless Spitfire ace, Douglas Bader. Few, however, made the fantasy come true. In 2006 the retired engineer and his wife Kay—also a licensed pilot—bought a kit for an 80-percent-scale “Mark 26” Supermarine Spitfire airframe plus engine parts, propellers and other components, and began assembling a replica of an unarmed photoreconnaissance version. They based their airplane on one with the registration number PL793, which had operated from Hampshire. “If you want to buy a World War II original Spitfire, it now costs between two and four million pounds,” Markham explained.…

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress first flew in 1952, more than 70 years ago. Since then, it has provided the backbone for the U.S. Air Force’s bomber fleet and is expected to continue its prominent role until around 2050—when the venerable aircraft will be pushing 100. It cannot do that without upgrading, though, and in October the Air Force unveiled an artist’s conception (above) of what the B-52 of the future will look like. The B-52K or J will be powered by eight Rolls-Royce F-130 engines instead of the Pratt & Whitney TF-33 engines that Stratofortresses have been using since 1962. The airplane will also sport an updated cockpit, new radar systems and various other additions for the twenty-first century. The Air Force expects the new, improved B-52s to enter service in…

The article on the aerial adventures of Merian Cooper in the Autumn 2022 issue was very interesting. A few years ago, I visited Lwow (now Lviv), Ukraine, and went to the Lychakiv Cemetery, which includes the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow. I was surprised to discover the memorial to the American pilots of the Kosciuszko Squadron, with the graves of T.V. McCallum, Arthur Kelly and Edmund Graves. It appears that the entire military cemetery fell into a degree of disrepair under Soviet rule, but since Ukraine gained its independence, the Polish military cemetery was restored in 2005. Rene BeBeau, Alexandria, Virginia THE WRONG STUFF In his editorial in the Winter 2023 issue, Tom Huntington stated that Orville Wright “never piloted an airplane again after he nearly died in a…

In other Spitfire news, the English model company Airfix has released its new Spitfire Mk.IXc model, a top-of-the-line 1/24th scale kit. The model company will manufacture them on “home soil” at a factory in Sussex, in southeast England. “For various business rationale, Airfix models have been manufactured overseas, predominately in China, India and France since the mid-90s,” said Airfix’s Dale Luckhurst. “However, when we decided to produce this new Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc, it just felt right to move the production of such a British icon back to the UK.” This marks the first time “Spitfires” have been manufactured in England since 1948. Airfix released its first model airplane in 1955, and it was a basic 1/72 scale version of the Spitfire. The new kit will build into a bigger airplane, more…

“I wanted a Spitfire ever since I was eight years old and I saw Reach for the Sky,” said Steve Markham of Odiham, Hampshire. That was a common inspiration among English boys who saw the 1956 film about the Royal Air Force’s legless Spitfire ace, Douglas Bader. Few, however, made the fantasy come true. In 2006 the retired engineer and his wife Kay—also a licensed pilot—bought a kit for an 80-percent-scale “Mark 26” Supermarine Spitfire airframe plus engine parts, propellers and other components, and began assembling a replica of an unarmed photoreconnaissance version. They based their airplane on one with the registration number PL793, which had operated from Hampshire. “If you want to buy a World War II original Spitfire, it now costs between two and four million pounds,”…