In 1935 the British Air Ministry issued specifications for a torpedo bomber and general-reconnaissance/bomber and this led to the Bristol Beaufort, an initial contract for 78 aircraft being placed in August 1936, the prototype flying for the first time on 15 October 1938.

Commonly known as the Buffalo, the prototype Brewster Model 39, known as the XF2A-1 (Bu No 1451) fitted with a 634 kw (850-hp) Wright R-1820-34 Cyclone engine, flew for the first time on 2 December 1937.

In 1916 Breguet began the design of the Bre.14 series, the type entering production in March 1917 and continued to be produced in a variety of models up to 1928.

The Catalina was required in large numbers for anti-submarine patrols, bombing and reconnaissance duties, amongst other things, and the type was manufactured for the US Navy and other operators .

In 2007 Australia joined a multi-national programme to participate in the development of the new US Navy multi mission maritime aircraft, the replacement for the US Navy’s P-3 Orion fleet, thus expanding the Australian military’s opportunity to further develop intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in this part of the Pacific Ocean.

Following the cancellation of the A-12 Avenger II attack aircraft for the US Navy, and the decision by the US to not adapt the F-22 Raptor for carrier operations, it was decided to develop a new variant of the F/A-18 Hornet known as the Super Hornet, this being similar in

The Growler was designed as an aircraft-carrier based electronic warfare aircraft and is basically a specialized variant of the FA-18F Super Hornet and replaced the Grumman EA-6B Prowler in service with US Navy units.

Although flown for the first time in prototype YB-52 form on 15 April 1952, and entering service with the 93rd Bomb Wing of Strategic Air Command at Castle Air Force Base in California in June 1952, the B-52, albeit in much modified form, remains in service with the USAF, and

One of the most famous bombers of all time, the B-17 Fortress (Boeing Model 299) was built in large numbers at a number of plants for the USAAF and saw widespread service throughout World War II in all theatres of operation.

The first aircraft to deliver a nuclear weapon in anger, the B-29 Superfortress has been credited by some with bringing the Pacific War to an end following the dropping of nuclear devices on the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, these following the onslaught on Japanese cities in 1944 by USAF

Built in relatively small numbers, the Bv 141 reconnaissance aircraft was unusual in being of asymmetrical concept in that the pilot and crew were seated in a nacelle offset to starboard of a boom carrying the engine and tail assembly.

The Baffin was designed by Major F A Bumpus to meet a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm requirement, and was built by the Blackburn Aircraft & Motor Co Ltd of Brough, in Yorkshire to succeed the company’s Ripon as the standard torpedo bomber with the FAA for operation from that

In June 1955 the Bell Helicopter Company won a US Army contest to design a new utility helicopter.

In 1936 Bell Aircraft Corporation designed what was to be a radical departure from the norm for fighter aircraft at that time, having the engine behind the pilot driving the propeller by means of an extension shaft.

The US Army in 1960 issued a proposal for a light observation helicopter and Bell Helicopter submitted a variant of the Model 206, which became the YHO-4A.

The Bell Model 209 or AH-1 was a redesigned Iroquois with a gunner and pilot in tandem, a chin turret fitted with a 7.62 mm (0.30 in) Minigun, or 40 mm grenade launchers, and with stub wings carrying four weapons pylons.

The prototype of the Avro Type 698, or Vulcan, was ordered in January 1948, the first aircraft (VX770) flying with four 6,500 lbst Rolls Royce Avon R.A.3 turbojets in 1952.

The Avro 694 Lincoln was designed in anticipation of an Air Ministry specification for a heavy bomber capable of operating at altitudes up to and including 10,668 m (35,000 ft).

The Avro Lancaster was perhaps the most famous, and certainly the most successful, heavy bomber used by the RAF in World War II.

On 24 March 1935 the prototype (K4771) of the Avro Anson, a military derivative of the Avro 652 airliner, flew for the first time. Subsequently 8,138 examples were built in the United Kingdom, and 2,882 in Canada, incorporating Mks 1 to 21, with the last of the total of 11,020

When it became evident in the British summer of 1914 that war was inevitable, the British Government ordered the RAF BE.2c into production and contracts were forwarded to a number of manufacturers to build the type, including Sir W G Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd of Gosforth Newcastle on Tyne.

The Albatros series of fighters was produced in Germany for operations in World War I and was reasonably successful in its design role. The D.I, D.II and D.III were all put into production but the D.IV failed to reach this status.

The Albatros D.III was designed by Robert Thelen as a successor to the D.1 and D.II series and adopted some of the advantages of the design of the allied Nieuport Scout then in service, performance being increased by the installation of an uprated Mercedes D.III engine, this being achieved by

The Albatros D.II was designed by Messrs Robert Thelen, Schubert and Gnadic for Albatros Flugzeugwerke following complaints by fighter pilots relating to the poor upward vision available in the Albatros D.I. To solve this problem, the upper wing was moved closer to the fuselage and it was staggered forward slightly.

At the opening of hostilities in World War I the opposing forces mainly used aeroplanes for reconnaissance and observation of enemy movements and very little thought was given to offensive action.

In its early years Albatros-Werke GmbH at its facility at Johannisthal near Berlin built aircraft under licence from other manufacturers and amongst these were the Antoinette and the Etrich Taube.

Using the Airspeed Envoy as a starting point, the Airspeed Company of Hampshire designed a twin-engine aircraft to meet a multiplicity of functions, including pilot training, navigation, gunnery, photographing and bombing training, known as the AS.10 Oxford. In October 1936 an initial order was received from the British Air Ministry

In 1937 the Japanese Navy sought the design of a three-seat reconnaissance floatplane, and a specification was issued to a number of aircraft manufacturing companies.

One of the most important dive-bombers in the Japanese arsenal in its campaign in the Pacific War, the prototype Aichi D3A, known by the Allies as the Val, was first flown in January 1938 with a 530 kw (710-hp) Nakajima Hikari I nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engine.

The Aerospatiale Ecureuil was designed for the civil market, the prototype (F-WVKH) being flown for the first time on 27 June 1974 with a Lycoming LTS 101 turboshaft, being followed by the second prototype (F-WVKI) with a Turbomeca Arriel 1A engine.

The L-39 series of trainer and light attack aircraft was designed and produced by Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic, this company producing some 10,000 jet trainers for the world’s markets over the years.

The L-29 Delfin was Czechoslovakia’s first jet aircraft of indigenous design, being designed and built at the Vodochody Works of the Czech nationalised OK industry, the company being known as Aero Vodochody Narodni Podnik and it has been building aircraft since just after World War I.

On 1 December 1981 the Government announced than an Australian design would be pursued; and on 16 June 1982 it announced that a contract had been let with the Australian Aircraft Consortium Pty Ltd (AAC) for the design, development, and construction of two prototypes of a new basic trainer (designated

Designed essentially as a touring monoplane for the eastern-block countries, but also available for sale to western nations, the Meta Sokol was built by the Avia factory of the Czechoslovakian National Aircraft Industry at Chocen.

Mr Anton Cvjetkovic, a Yugoslav emigrant to the United States, began work in May 1960 on the design of a series of light aircraft, the first of which became known as the CA61.

The Full Metal Jacket is a newcomer to the light sports aircraft market and is of all-metal construction and built at Mildura, Vic, being a development of an aircraft known as The Bullet, which was a single-seat all-composite aircraft but about which little is known.

The Curtiss Seagull was a civil variant of the Curtiss MF flying boat trainer produced from 1918, the civil aircraft having a 119-kw (160-hp) Curtiss C.6 six-cylinder in-line engine in place of the V-8 unit in the military variants.

One of a range of aircraft produced in the United States just before the Great Depression of the thirties, the Robin still sold well, with more than 700 examples produced.

One of the most successful freight aircraft available to operators in the 1930s and 40s, the Curtiss C-46 Commando was produced by the Curtiss-Wright Corp in 1936 when it embarked upon the design of a transport known as the CW-20 which had 20 berths as a night sleeper transport, and

The Currie Wot sporting biplane was designed by J R Currie in the 1930s, with the first example being built by Cinque Ports Aviation Limited in the United Kingdom in 1937.