History’s Unique Aircraft

For the most part, Canadian manufacturers have produced the kinds of aircraft one might expect from a northern country with vast, rugged wilderness, harsh winters, and a large number of unimproved airstrips. Aircraft like the Noorduyn Norseman and the iconic de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver have established the country as a legendary producer of tough, […]

In the late 1960s, Saab rethought the entire system of moving passengers onto and off of aircraft.

With a delta wing, jet engine, fixed gear, wooden structure, and less thrust than a Cessna 172, the bizarre combination of specifications is shared with no other aircraft.

It was designed with ‘quadricycle’ landing gear and modular cargo pod that, in theory, could be quickly attached to and detached from the aircraft.

Post-World War II airliner design was meant to be a solution for shorter, lower-capacity local routes.

Unconventional engineering effort was a clean-sheet reimagining of the 19-seat airliner that later fueled development of the ERJ-135/145 series of regional jets.

Vought V-173 prototype’s 427 square feet of wing area gave it the capability of taking off nearly vertically with typical wind over a ship’s deck.

The WACO Aristocraft was a single-engine, four-place aircraft targeting the scores of pilots returning from World War II.

Few cargo aircraft utilized five different engine configurations, encompassing piston, turboprop, jet, and combined piston/jet power.

The aircraft was capable of reaching 42,000 feet with a 5,000-mile range and thought to be an ideal solution for photo reconnaissance.