12. Armstrong Whitworth A.W.650 Argosy 101, G-APVH at Bitteswell, UK. 21 July 1960.
11. Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster. View of the public rollout of the XP6M-1 Seamaster at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. November 1955.
10. Douglas A-20H-10-DO (TA-20H) 44-466 with experimental tracked landing gear. 1943.
9. Grumman F-14A Tomcat. A plane captain for Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) signals the pilot of an F-14A Tomcat aircraft during a preflight check performed as part of Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1) strike training. Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, USA. 1988. Photo by Bob Lawson.
8. Grumman F-14A Tomcat VF-1 CVW-2 embarked on USS Kitty Hawk CV 63 with two Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft. Indian Ocean, 1984.
7. Saunders-Roe SR.45 Princess. The British Princess was the largest all-metal flying boat ever constructed. The project was cancelled after having produced only three examples. By the 1950s, large, commercial flying boats were being overshadowed by land-based aircraft. Factors such as runway and airport improvements added to the viability of land-based aircraft, which did not have the weight and drag of the boat hulls on seaplanes nor the issues with seawater corrosion. The three airframes were stored against possible purchase but when an offer was made it was found that corrosion had set in; as a result they were scrapped. First flight 1952.
6. Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. New York International Airport, Idlewild. August 25, 1949.
5. Tupolev Tu-16. Front view of two Egyptian Air Force Tu-16 aircraft taxing on the runway during airlift exercise Bright Star. Cairo West, Egypt, 1980. Photo by Donald Sutherland.
4. Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The B-36 prototype taxis at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas. 1940s.
3. Lockheed P-3 Orion. Orion assembly at the Lockheed plant in Palmdale, California, circa 1983, showing P-3C Update II aircraft being built for Australia, the first international Charlie operator, and the US Navy. The US P-3 production line moved twice, first from Burbank to Palmdale, California, and then to Marietta, Georgia in the early 1990s.
2. Lockheed C-141 StarLifter. Over Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 2005. Photo by John Rossino: "This was the last air-to-air photography ever done with of a C-141 StarLifter. It was the middle of December and the crew of the chase C-141 opened the petal doors in flight—the last time that happened—and we made several passes over the Air Force Museum to get the national insignia on the Hanoi Taxi’s wing to line up with the insignia painted on the museum building. We were in Dayton again in May for the last flight of this aircraft—and the last-ever flight of a C-141—when the Taxi was retired to the museum".
1. Lockheed R7V-1 Super Constellation. Fifty Lockheed R7V-1 Super Constellations were built for the US Navy as cargo/personnel transports. The first aircraft was delivered in 1952 and many of these aircraft were later transferred to the US Air Force. One R7V served as the support aircraft for the Navy Air Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, before being replaced by the C-130. All remaining R7Vs were redesignated C-121 in 1962. The Navy aircraft is the foreground is actually a R7V-2, which featured different engines.
