(April 2003)             The B-52 is probably one of the most important and impressive aeroplanes ever made and it will probably remain in service for near enough to a century after its first flights.  Its roots lie in the beginnings of the Cold War in 1948 when plans for the next generation of heavy bombers … More Boeing B-52D in 1/72 by Monogram

(March 2003)             Boeing took a great risk with the 747.  It had bid for the contract to build the very heavy freighter for the United States Air Force but that was won by Lockheed with what become the C-5.  Even so, Boeing went ahead with the project, development costs exceeded $16 million and Boeing … More Boeing 747-300 in 1/144 by Kepuyuan

(February 2003)             In the aftermath of World War II the Royal Air Force was determined to retain the strategic bombing capability it had built up, but armed with the new atomic bomb which would, planners hoped, provide a deterrent strong enough to prevent the outbreak of a new war.  The result was specification B.35/46 … More Avro Vulcan B.2 in 1/72 by Airfix

(December 2002)             In January 1959 French and German aeroplane manufacturing companies created the Transporter Allianze to design and build a new medium range short take off and landing transport to serve with French and German military forces, replacing the ageing Nord Noratlas cargo aeroplanes.  The first Transall flew in 1963 and the first production … More Transall C.160G in 1/72 by Heller

(December 2002)             If anything, the Russians were more advanced in rocket design and development than the Germans by the beginning of World War Two.  Experiments into using rockets for many purposes including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles were conducted by an official development bureau, the RN11, that was formally established in 1934 to coordinate research … More Bereznyak-Isaev BI in 1/72 by Eastern Express

(December 2002)             In 1932 the French Air Ministry issued specifications for a five-seat night bomber and received eight proposals from five companies.  The Bloch design for an all metal cantilever high-wing monoplane was selected as the principal bomber in the four seater class for the Armée de l’Air (the Farnam design was also selected … More Bloch 200 in 1/72 by KP

(December 2002)             History will probably look back as favourably on the Douglas DC-9 and its subsequent incarnations as being as successful as the older DC-3.  In fact it has turned out to be a much more versatile aeroplane than the DC-3 with increases in range and carrying capacity that were way beyond the developments … More Douglas DC-9-10 in 1/72 by Aurora

(November 2002)             The period immediately after World War II saw development of a wide and amazing range of new aeroplane designs intended to make best use of the latest developments in aerodynamics and jet engines.  One that captured the mood of those times was the Handley Page HP.80 which had its genesis in design … More Handley Page Victor B.2 in 1/72 by Matchbox

(September 2002)             By the 1960s it seemed that European aviation manufacturers had lost out to the competition of the United States airliner manufacturers; Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed all had significant airliners in production.  Early planning of a European constructed wide body airliner to suit European conditions began in the mid 1960s in Britain, France … More Airbus Industrie A.300B-4 in 1/144 by Airfix

(August 2002)             The Lockheed C-5 was designed to meet a USAF requirement for a very large strategic transport to compliment its smaller transports such as the C-130 and C-141.  Lockheed’s design proposal was selected, construction of the prototype began in August 1966 and it flew for the first time on 30 June 1968.  Although … More Lockheed C-5A in 1/144 by Entex