Aviation News — September 2017

accident. An A-10, F-35, and two P-51s

performed a Missing Man tribute to Lenoch

and Root.

STAR TURN

On a much brighter note, this year’s

headliner was the US Navy’s Blue

Angels. Other  rsts included a Falcon 8X

demonstrator, as well as an RAF Airbus

A400M Atlas.

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan’s name is

often synonymous with odd-looking aircraft,

and his high-altitude Proteus was certainly

no exception. Also high on the “unusual-

looking aircraft list” was the Boeing L-15

Scout. A total of 12 were built in the late

1940s, and it was the last production

propeller-driven aircraft constructed by the

manufacturer. This is the only one that

remains  ying.

Each night, Theater in the Woods

hosted educational events. Presentations

included a tribute to the life and times of

Bob Hoover and a salute to the men of

the Doolittle raid on the 75th anniversary

of this remarkable combat mission.

Sixteen B-25 bombers took off from a

US Navy carrier to bomb Tokyo, just four

months after the Japanese attacked Pearl

Harbor.

Perhaps the most noteworthy evening

involved a panel discussion about Project

Apollo, which succeeded in putting a

man on the Moon. Seven of the original

astronauts who were involved in the

pioneering space  ights took part.

Which aircraft travelled the furthest to

attend? Arguably that distinction went to

the Breitling DC-3-277B (HB-IRJ) from

Switzerland, which  ew east via Asia and

across the Paci c Ocean. It was delivered

to American Airlines in 1940, and served

with with several operators, including Trans-

Texas Airways and Provincetown-Boston

Airlines (PBA).

50 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2017

Above: A rare American-registered Dornier DO28 A-1 (N12828) from

Fulwiler Air was an interesting visitor.

Left: Flagship Detroit DC-3A (NC17334), owned by the Flagship

Detroit Foundation, was originally built for American Airlines, with the

passenger door located on the right-hand side of the fuselage.

Bottom: Probably the strangest-looking aircraft was the Scaled

Composites Proteus (N281PR), designed by innovator Burt Rutan. It

was  rst  own in 1998 and was designed as a high-altitude, long-

duration telecommunications relay platform.

Two P-63s (N6763 and NX191H) and a

P-39 (N6968), all owned by the American

Airpower Heritage Flying Museum,

appear together in formation.

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