The Fighter That Flew as Both Prop and Jet

The Fighter That Flew as Both Prop and Jet

Militärische Luftfahrt

Most fighters carry the engine in the nose and the propeller out front. The Swedish Saab 21 did the opposite: it put the engine behind the pilot and the propeller at the very back, spinning between two slender tail booms. It was an elegant answer to an old problem...
The Manta Ray That Broke the Speed Record

The Manta Ray That Broke the Speed Record

Militärische Luftfahrt

Look at it from above and the name explains itself. The Douglas F4D was a broad, tailless delta with gently rounded wingtips — the silhouette of a manta ray gliding through water. The Navy called it the Skyray. The pilots, with magnificent deadpan, called it the...
The Mach 3 Interceptor With No Windscreen

The Mach 3 Interceptor With No Windscreen

Militärische Luftfahrt

The Republic XF-103 was meant to do something no fighter of the early 1950s could: cruise at Mach 3 — three times the speed of sound — at the edge of the stratosphere, run down a Soviet bomber, and kill it with missiles. To get there, its designers made a...
The Three-Engine Jet That America Forgot

The Three-Engine Jet That America Forgot

Militärische Luftfahrt

Count the engines. Most jets have two, or four. The Martin XB-51 had three — two slung under the nose in pods, and a third buried in the tail, breathing through an intake at the base of the fin. It is one of the strangest combat aircraft the United States ever...