My favorite aircraft and why...
1903 Wright Flyer... not only did the Wrights solve 3 axis controlled
flight they designed and built their own 4 cylinder aircraft engine
consistently delivering 12 horsepower...
1913 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer... Mr.Bechereau's monoplane was the
first to break the 200 kph (124 mph) 'barrier' and was the 'speed
phenomenon' of the years before the First World War... Look closely
and you can see the design trend that all will follow in the years
leading up to WW2...
1913 Deperdussin was not only fast but also the first pure sex with
wings aircraft...
Deperdussin is popular with replica builders...
Italian Macchi Castoldi MC 72... In April 1933 over Garda Lake, in
northern Italy it set a record with a speed of 424 mph. Then, a year
and a half later in the same venue, it broke 700 km/h with an average
speed of 709.202 km/h (440.681 mph) in October 1934. Both times the
plane was piloted by Francesco Agello. This remains today the fastest
speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane...
1935 Huges H1 racer...
The Hughes H-1 was a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935.
It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record
across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by
a private individual to set the world speed record; every aircraft to
hold the honor since was a military design. Both the Japanese and the
Germans were inspired by the design... Kurt Tank admits the Focke Wolf
190 was model after the lines H1 but Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the
Mitsubishi Zero strongly refutes the allegation that the Hughes H1
influencing his design of the Japanese fighter aircraft...
My friend Jim Wright built this exact replica of the H1 but tragically
lost his life returning from Oshkosh 2003 and the plane was
destroyed... we talked over the hail damage to the leading edge before
he departed...
Quote Wiki
Jim Wright of Cottage Grove, Oregon built a full scale replica of the
H-1 that first flew in 2002. So exact was the replica to the original
that the FAA granted it serial number 2 of the model. The achievement
in recreating the craft was heralded in virtually every well know
aviation magazine of the time.[11]On August 4, 2003, after a
successful unveiling of the replica at the 2003 AirVenture at Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, Wright fatally crashed. On his way home to Oregon, he had
landed briefly in Gillette, Wyoming, to refuel. While on the ground,
Wright met briefly with local reporters and indicated that the
aircraft had been having propeller "gear problems." He then departed,
crashing just north of the Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National
Park about an hour later. The replica, originally slated for use in
the film The Aviator, was completely destroyed.[12] [13] The official
accident report points to a failure of a counterweight on the constant
speed propeller.[14] On December 17, 2003, Cottage Grove State Airport
was dedicated as Jim Wright Field.
Bugatti 100P of 1938. It was soley designed as a racing plane, but was
never flown because WW2 intervened but the French saved the aircraft
and later sold it to the US EAA organization were it rest today...
DeHavilland Chipmunk over Auburn Air Park... you have to try a Chipmunk to
appreciate just how sweet they are on the controls...