by Hush Kit -

Expert Level Aviation Quiz: Hush-Kwiz Mk II

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Try this delightful, challenging aviation quiz! Answers at bottom of page.

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(The results for the first Hush-Kit quiz will be revealed this week, if you haven’t entered NOW is your chance.)

1. In what year was the first mail delivered by air?

2. What is Harrison Ford’s favourite aircraft?

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3. How many kills were scored by the most successful fighter pilot to wear
spectacles?

4. What aircraft was nicknamed ‘The Whistling Shithouse”?

5. What was the flyaway cost of an RF-4C Phantom in 1965?

6. The last confirmed kill by a biplane occurred in what year? What were the
nationalities of the aircraft involved?

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7. Which US-built aircraft scored the most kills in the Second World War?

8. Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding was not:
a) A vegetarian?
b) A spiritualist?
c) A single parent?
d) A teetotaller?

9. What links the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the Hawker Hurricane and the Fairey
Swordfish floatplane?

10. Which of the following names were considered by NATO for the Tupolev Tu-22 before it decided on ‘Blinder’?

a) Bulldog
b) Beauty
c) Bastard
d) Brickbat

11. Identify this aircraft Image

 

ANSWERS

1. The first air mail was delivered in 1785 form Dover to Calais in a balloon manned by John Jeffries and Jean Pierre Blanchard. Only one letter out of a sack. The rest got chucked over the side along with the brave crew’s clothes. Nonetheless it counts.
2. Harrison Ford‘s favourite aircraft is the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Beaver. Obviously.
3. Otto Kissenberth scored 20 kills in glasses. Interestingly his last kill was scored in a captured Sopwith Camel. He is one of three known spectacle-wearing aces, the others being Walter Kykpe and Kurt Wintgens. 
4. Whistling Shithouse was the Supermarine Stranraer so named for the weird noise that the on-board toilet made in flight.
5. The flyaway cost of an RF-4C Phantom II in 1965 was 2.3 million dollars which equates to approximately 17 million today apparently. This looks like pretty good value compared to, say, the F-22. Where is the RF-22 Photo-Raptor anyway?
6. 1944. An Insurgent Slovak Avia B-534 shot down a Hungarian Junkers Ju 52.
7. Bell P-39 Airacobra
8. As you know, Dowding was not a teetotaller.
9. All these aircraft have made successful un-arrested carrier landings. A whole squadron in the case of the Hurricane.
10. NATO considered both ‘Beauty’ and ‘Bastard’ for the Tu-22. ‘Beaut’y was considered too praiseworthy for an ‘enemy’ aircraft. Hilariously ‘Bastard’ was considered not to convey enough respect. Whereas ‘Blinder’ is just fine because putting out someone’s eyes is obviously miles better than being an illegitimate child, or quite good-looking.
11. The IAe 24 Calquin, though I suspect that’s too easy.

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Have a look at 10 Best fighters of World War II , top WVR and BVR fighters of today, an interview with a Super Hornet pilot and a Pacifist’s Guide to Warplanes. Was the Spitfire overrated? Want something more bizarre? The Top Ten fictional aircraft is a fascinating read, as is The Strange Story and The Planet Satellite. The Fashion Versus Aircraft Camo is also a real cracker. Those interested in the Cold Way should read A pilot’s guide to flying and fighting in the Lightning. Those feeling less belligerent may enjoy A pilot’s farewell to the Airbus A340. Looking for something more humourous? Have a look at this F-35 satire and ‘Werner Herzog’s Guide to pusher bi-planes. In the mood for something more offensive? Try the NSFW 10 best looking American airplanes, or the same but for Canadians. 

 

by Hush Kit -

Hush-Kit Top Ten: The 10 best-looking Latin-American aeroplanes

super tucano

Juan Manuel Baiutti asked a panel of Latin-American aviation enthusiasts to choose the ten best-looking aeroplanes from the region of romance; the results were surprising indeed, with many obvious choices ignored in favour of some rather more exotic beasts. I hope you enjoy this fine selection of ten wonderful aeroplanes.

10. Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector

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9. IA 50 Guaraní II

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8. FMA I.Ae. 27 Pulqui I

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7. Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano

super-tucano

6. DINFIA IA-35 Huanquero

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5. Embraer Phenom 300

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4. I.Ae. 30 Ñamcú

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3. FMA IA-63 Pampa

IA 63 Pampa jet trainer

2. I.Ae. 33 Pulqui II

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1. FMA IA-58 Pucará

pucara2

If you enjoyed this, have  a look at the top ten British, French, Swedish, Australian, Japanese, Soviet and German aeroplanes. Wanting Something a little more exotic- try the top ten fictional aircraft.

Follow my vapour trail on Twitter: @Hush_kit

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by Hush Kit -

MY FAVOURITE AEROPLANE IN 200 WORDS #28: Yakovlev Yak-1 by Anna Morózova

Yak-1

There have only ever been two female fighter aces: ‘Katya’ Budanova and Lydia Litvyak. These two Soviet air force pilots fought in World War II, battling Germany’s Luftwaffe over Stalingrad.

litvak2

Litvyak was a lover of flowers, and she painted a white lily on the side of her Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter, leading to her popular title- the ‘White Lily of Stalingrad’.  Her good friend and comrade, Budanova, was a cheerful, energetic woman. For a time they fought in an all-female fighter unit, an elite force equipped with the Yak-1. Another operator of the formidable Yak was the Normandie-Niemen, a Free French fighter squadron (later three), that fought on the Eastern Front with Soviet forces. An official statement from this ferocious unit to the female Soviet pilots read:  “If we could pick all the flowers of the earth and lay them at your feet, they would not suffice as recognition of your valour.”

The Yak-1 spawned the Yak-3, -7 and -9, and if they are counted together as one aircraft type (there is more similarity between a Yak-1 and 9, than there is between a Spitfire Mk. I and F Mk. 24), it is the most produced fighter in history (as noted by Bill Gunston), with over 37,000 built.

Anna Morózova is studying history in Russia