With its distinctive barrel-shaped fuselage, the Stipa-Caproni, an Italian-designed aircraft, looked more like a giant flying tube than your traditional airplane. Designed to increase engine efficiency and improve airflow, the Stipa-Caproni was an ambitious attempt to revolutionize aviation aerodynamics. ...
Built in 1934, this wacky looking aircraft featured a circular wing, designed to improve stability and stall resistance. Despite promising flight tests, this concept never reached mass production. So what was the purpose of this flying saucer-shaped plane, and...
Burt Rutan is widely known for his groundbreaking aircraft designs, but before the VariEze, Long-EZ, and SpaceShipOne, there was the VariViggen—his first original homebuilt aircraft. Inspired by Swedish fighter jets and built with unconventional aerodynamics, the VariViggen was a bold...
Few aircraft in history have captured the imagination of pilots quite like the Bede BD-5. Created in the late 1960s by Jim Bede, the BD-5 was meant to revolutionize personal aviation, offering an ultra-light, high-performance aircraft with fighter jet aesthetics—all...
Few aircraft in aviation history have captured the public’s imagination quite like the Hughes H-4 Hercules—better known by its famous nickname: the ‘Spruce Goose’. This massive flying boat was imagined during World War II as solution to a deadly problem,...
The history of aviation has been full of wild ideas, but few are as delightfully quirky as the Stits SA-2A Sky Baby—one of the smallest biplanes ever built. Designed more for proving a point than practical use, this tiny aircraft...
The world of aviation has seen its fair share of unusual aircraft designs, but few are as delightfully odd as the Vought V-173, or as it’s better known, the "Flying Pancake." With its flat, disc-like shape and oversized propellers, it...
Conceptualization: By the mid-1970s, SOCATA, a subsidiary of Aérospatiale, began developing the TB series with the ambition of entirely replacing the Rallye series with a more modern, capable, and efficient family of general aviation aircraft. The late 1970s and...
Conceptualization: The Beechcraft Starship emerged during a period of rapid technological advancement in aviation. By the late 1970s, business aviation was increasingly shifting toward jet-powered aircraft, but turboprops remained a popular choice due to their operating efficiency and lower...
