Aviation History - March 2016 USA

2 AH march 2016

MARCH 2016

5 MAILBAG

6 BRIEFING

12 EXTREMES

Built for crop-dusting,

the PZL Mielec M-15 was

anything but pretty.

By Jon Guttman

features

ON THE COVER: Commanding Officer Chris “Huck” Huckstep of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron pilots a British Aerospace Harrier GR.9 near RAF Wittering in 1995.

The squadron, Britain’s oldest, moved to Cottesmore in 2000 and ceased flying Harriers in December 2010. Cover: ©John M. Dibbs/The Plane Picture Co.

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departments

20 JUMP JET

Hawker Siddeley’s Harrier proved itself in combat in the

Falklands, and has long been the only VTOL airplane

in the U.S. inventory. By Stephan Wilkinson

30 VERTICAL DREAMS

The U.S. Navy’s program to build a supersonic jet that

could take off vertically from small carriers never got

off the flight deck. By Robert Guttman

36 ACES WITHOUT FACES

During World War I, Britain’s top fighter pilots remained

mostly anonymous. By Gavin Mortimer

42 BEATING THE ODDS

Dick Merrill spent nearly five years in the air, flying

everything from Curtiss Jennys to L-1011 wide-

bodies. By Don Bedwell

50 GOING LONG

In the 1920s and ’30s, the race to set flight distance records

took a toll on men and machines. By Derek O’Connor

14 AVIATORS

Lady Mary Heath gained

a reputation as the British

“Lady Lindy.”

By Lora O’Brien

16 RESTORED

Former U.S. Marine pilot

Art Nalls’ airworthy Sea

Harrier FA.2 is the only

one in private hands.

By Guy Aceto

18 LETTER FROM

AVIATION HISTORY

56 REVIEWS

62 FLIGHT TEST

64 AERO ARTIFACT

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VTOL vision A Convair

concept for a U.S. Navy

vertical takeoff and landing

fighter was the stuff of dreams.

TOP LEFT: SAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM; BOTTOM LEFT: VIRGINIA AVIATION MUSEUM; ABOVE: POLISH AVIATION MUSEUM, KRAKOW

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