This  is another very innovative design from the very innovative Fairey aircraft company. It is the Fairy Hendon bomber and included some very radical characteristics for the time. This was their first foray into bomber design and one of only two aircraft they ever built with two engines. Built to exceed the governments specification of 1927 which specified a 1500lb bomb load over 900 miles at a speed of 115 MPH and able to reach 10,000ft in under 30 minutes. Sounds pretty lame now but that was quite a big deal at the time. The government also received  design from all the other famous aircraft companies at the time, such as AVRO Vickers Handley Page etc but Fairey's design was the only monoplane and made of metal, although having then traditional linen covering of the wings and fuselage and the only one having its bomb load carried internally, another first for them. Uniquely at the time this aircraft housed an internal corridor, where members of the crew could pass from from to back and replace other crew members. Another first for a bomber was an enclosed canopy, which was a blessing for pilots. When the ministry came to choose it stuck with tradition and chose the Handley Page Heyford because it handled better but was visually light years behind the Fairey design, which was the future, as you can see here with the Heyford.

Fortunately saner minds were present and following further modifications the Hendon was finally put into production and put into service in 1936. However, it's service life was only short as the superb Barnes Wallace design of the Wellington was sweeping all before it. This was a lesson for Fairey, who never built a twin engined plane again and no more bombers.

This is the superb Grumman F7F Tigercat, a ground breaking aircraft which was destined to a very short life. Grumman were a company who specialised in carrier based aircraft, most notably the Wildcat and Bearcat fighters. The Tigercat was originally named the Tomcat but the name was dropped due the connotations of the name in that period. Believe it or not, it was based on the model XF5F Skyrocket on the right, Grumman's first twin engined plane. Why this aircraft was a quantum leap in carrier craft was its amazing versatility. It was if Grumman deliberately set out to build a craft that could carry every weapon known to man at the time and perform every task, a true multi role aircraft and the first carrier craft to do that. Canon, machine guns, fighter, bomber, ground attack and even a torpedo craft, this star did it all. It was powered by two Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp 18 cylinder supercharged radial engines and that's a lot of grunt for such a small aircraft, especially with such a small frontal area fuselage, see middle pic.

And here they are but ironically and almost unbelievably, they proved too fast for the carriers of the time. Another first for the aircraft was a third main landing wheel, which no other aircraft had at that time but because of its many carrier problems it suddenly went from a sea based to a land based aircraft but one that turned it into a brilliant multi role aircraft which could do everything asked of it. It saw limited service in Korea and went on to roles as diverse as a forest fire fighter. This was one of those 'maybe' aircraft that didn't quite fit in and so, even though it was quite a legend in its day it never received the glory of say the Mustang or P38.

The British all through the war managed to be able to make things work to their advantage even it they were out dated or not the same quality of the enemies. With Germany they had a jump start and started preparing for war years before it came to be. To be honest it was probably a money problem because Britain suffered long after the first war and the money many thought could go to better use that building up a military again after the war to end all war. The Germans seemed to be getting money from everywhere. Not just from the countries that they had taken over but much from their own people by exploiting them. For example, the Volkswagen or peoples car as it was known. Thousands were hired to work at their different auto plants, but from the start you had to give up so much of your wages each pay to put toward buying one of the finished car which you never got to own in the end.

The British all through the war managed to be able to make things work to their advantage even it they were out dated or not the same quality of the enemies. With Germany they had a jump start and started preparing for war years before it came to be. To be honest it was probably a money problem because Britain suffered long after the first war and the money many thought could go to better use that building up a military again after the war to end all war. The Germans seemed to be getting money from everywhere. Not just from the countries that they had taken over but much from their own people by exploiting them. For example, the Volkswagen or peoples car as it was known. Thousands were hired to work at their different auto plants, but from the start you had to give up so much of your wages each pay to put toward buying one of the finished car which you never got to own in the end.

Yes, the two World Wars broke the empire. With lack of resources the Brits used ingenuity with the Mosquito as an example. They also had drop fuel tanks for aircraft made mostly of paper. Imagine that eh?

The British all through the war managed to be able to make things work to their advantage even it they were out dated or not the same quality of the enemies. With Germany they had a jump start and started preparing for war years before it came to be. To be honest it was probably a money problem because Britain suffered long after the first war and the money many thought could go to better use that building up a military again after the war to end all war. The Germans seemed to be getting money from everywhere. Not just from the countries that they had taken over but much from their own people by exploiting them. For example, the Volkswagen or peoples car as it was known. Thousands were hired to work at their different auto plants, but from the start you had to give up so much of your wages each pay to put toward buying one of the finished car which you never got to own in the end.

Yes, the two World Wars broke the empire. With lack of resources the Brits used ingenuity with the Mosquito as an example. They also had drop fuel tanks for aircraft made mostly of paper. Imagine that eh?

If it had been left up to Chamberlin and Halifax the British would have given up at the beginning of the war and be speaking German now. Should have locket those two in the Tower and lost the key. Surprised Churchill didn't shoot them both.

Chamberlain died in November 1940, just six months after he resigned as PM. Lord Halifax lived until 1959, serving as Ambassador to the USA 1940-46.

The British all through the war managed to be able to make things work to their advantage even it they were out dated or not the same quality of the enemies. With Germany they had a jump start and started preparing for war years before it came to be. To be honest it was probably a money problem because Britain suffered long after the first war and the money many thought could go to better use that building up a military again after the war to end all war. The Germans seemed to be getting money from everywhere. Not just from the countries that they had taken over but much from their own people by exploiting them. For example, the Volkswagen or peoples car as it was known. Thousands were hired to work at their different auto plants, but from the start you had to give up so much of your wages each pay to put toward buying one of the finished car which you never got to own in the end.

Yes, the two World Wars broke the empire. With lack of resources the Brits used ingenuity with the Mosquito as an example. They also had drop fuel tanks for aircraft made mostly of paper. Imagine that eh?

If it had been left up to Chamberlin and Halifax the British would have given up at the beginning of the war and be speaking German now. Should have locket those two in the Tower and lost the key. Surprised Churchill didn't shoot them both.

And on the subject of Volkswagen, they owe their existence to a British officer who rescued the plant and car immediately after the war ended.

Now this ugly duckling is another great little plane from the Fairey Engineering Company and is called the Gannet, designed shortly after WW2 and first flew in 1949. As you can see it is a short arsed carrier based aircraft, hence the folding wings. It is a very unusual plane with a multifunctional role, as the Brits always like to get value for money out of their aircraft. Unusually it had two engines, mounted side by side operating two contra flow propellers and had the ability to actually fly with one engine turned off to save fuel. Its main role was as an anti submarine craft and in that large belly it could carry an impressive 2,000lb's of bombs, or depth charges, rockets and torpedoes. Notice the position of the front cockpit, which gave the pilot a good forward, downward view, ideal for it's roll against subs and behind the pilot sat the observer with later models carrying a second cockpit for a further observer. In 1950 it became the world's first turbo prop plane to land on an aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious. In te mid 60's they would be replaced in their roll by Westland helicopters but were then fitted out as electronic counter measure planes. Amazingly it remained in service until 1978 when it was sadly withdrawn from its adoring pilots.

Amazingly the first flight across the English Channel took place just over a year later.

I just went to the Balloon Rally in Wellsville, N.Y. It is held every year in July & draws crowds from far & wide. 

Did you go up in one, has anyone here been up in one?

Did you go up in one, has anyone here been up in one?

We have them in my area but not all that keen in going up in one especially when you are only at the mercy of the wind and you don't know where you will end up landing.

Did you go up in one, has anyone here been up in one?

We have them in my area but not all that keen in going up in one especially when you are only at the mercy of the wind and you don't know where you will end up landing.

And when you land, tradition requires the pilot to offer champagne to whoever greets them on the ground.