John Aitken thought he had dodged a bullet, or rather a bucket. On June 18th he soloed in the Vintage Wings of Canada Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVI. When he taxied in and stepped down onto the ramp,…

If you take a stroll through the Vintage Wings hangar you will notice the distinctive shape of the Westland Lysander, currently undergoing refurbishment. The crew is making excellent progress…

I remember as a boy watching Ba Ba Black Sheep on television riffling through my father's Warbird magazines and going to Oshkosh, walking in the warbird section, marvelling over the magnificent aircraft of the past…

One of the most legendary and charismatic machines ever to fly. One of the last generation of face-to-face aerial gladiators. These are some of the superlatives that come to mind when the Supermarine Spitfire is mentioned. ..

As I walk up to the WACO on a sparkling day in June, light reflects off the rich, crimson, and glossy paint. This airplane is a jewel flashing in the sun! …

The Hurricane first flew in November, 1935 and was the RAF's first monoplane fighter with an enclosed cockpit and retractable undercarriage and the first capable of level speed in excess of 300 mph. …

“Achtung Spitfire”, I heard in a ridiculous German accent. I smiled. The voice was my own. My head swivelled within the tight confines of the Bf-109 cockpit, looking for the attacker. There it was, above and behind, …

Ground loops result from the loss of directional control. What flight control is most critical for directional control? The rudder you say! What if I told you that the reason Harvards ground loop is because of a lack of aileron usage?…

The Supermarine Spitfire: has there ever been a more universally admired airplane in the history of flight? Perhaps I reveal a personal bias – after all, I was born in London in 1944 …

Parked on the ramp, the Hurricane evokes a mixed sense of frailty and terrific solidity. Beneath a fabric covered exterior is a tubular truss structure like a bridge. The wings are not just thick, but seemingly fat, as if it had just eaten something….

The Fox Moth presents some interesting challenges to the pilot, but overall it is a very pleasant airplane to fly, quite controllable on grass surfaces if the crosswind is kept below 8 kts [less than 5 on pavement ,,

Huge! Huge and Blue! Yep, that’s what the Corsair is when first encountered. The Allies’ biggest fighter! An airline engine with weapons and a seat strapped on. As you approach it, it’s a bit intimidating…

As we walk into the hangar, the sound of our footsteps echoes in the vast expanse. The low, early morning sun blazes through the row of windows on the closed hangar doors…

Arguably the most beautiful biplanes ever built [By the British - Ed.] and the most famous aircraft serving with Commonwealth forces between the wars were the classic silver Hawker biplanes. …

I know of no other pilot’s seat in all of aviation like the one in a Lysander. It’s a throne. It’s way up high, and climbing up there is like ascending the ratlines of a square-rigged ship…

When the Westland Lysander was first conceived, it offered on paper an exceptional flying platform for reconnaissance, artillery spotting and general liaison duties. Despite its rather strange and perhaps ungainly appearance, the Lysander was…