The FMA Pucará IA 58 counter insurgency aircraft is a plane that seems to have both missed its window and fallen foul of international politics.
The FMA Pucará; Argentine Guerilla Hunter
Playlist - Forgotten Aircraft
The CAC CA-15 “Kangaroo’; Aussie Mega-Mustang
Often thought of as a beefed-up Australian version of the P-51D Mustang, in fact the CA-15 was inspired by the German Focke Wulf FW 190!
The HAL HF-24 Marut; India’s Tank
The HAL Marut had huge potential. Designed by the legendary Kurt Tank of Focke Wulf fame, it ended up bedevilled by poor project management.
The Helwan HA-300; Egypt’s Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt is an aeronautical legend. But his last design – a supersonic lightweight fighter for Egypt – is barely remembered.
“That’s some bad hat, Harry”; The An-71 ‘Madcap’
When Soviet Frontal Aviation wanted their own AEW&C platform based on the An-72 transport, Antonov came up with an interesting solution.
AN-14Sh – “My hovercraft is full of…aircraft”
Though it failed to replace the An-2 as intended, the An-14 was testbed to some…interesting ideas – like a hovercraft undercarriage!
Spitfire VIII; The One That Kind of Missed the Bus
The Spitfire MK.VIII could have been the definitive model of the legendary fighter. But the Focke Wulf 190, thwarted that.
The Supermarine Scimitar; Not too Sharp
The Supermarine Scimitar was a huge leap for the FAA. Unfortunately, it suffered from a horrendous loss rate.
Neither Fish nor Fowl; The Blackburn B20, B40 and B44 Retracting Hull Flying Boats
With flying boats generally suffering from poor aerodynamics, the Blackburn company came up with a solution – retracting hull flying boats.
Blackburn R1 Blackburn – Not Something You Want to Meet in A Dark Alley
Maybe the ugliest aircraft ever (a hotly contested subject) the Blackburn Blackburn (really, that’s not a misprint) was actually pretty good!
The Kaiser-Fleetwings XBTK…wait, WHO?!
Everyone’s heard of the Kaiser-Fleetwing XBTK dive-and-torpedo bomber, right? In fact, had World War Two lasted a little longer, you would’ve.
About This Playlist
The Martin Baker MB.5? Westland Wendover? Some of the aircraft here have just faded into history. Some were good planes that just came at the wrong time and so are now barely remembered. And some are just so utterly weird it boggles the mind as to what the designers were thinking!
