Passersby on Turnbull Bay Rd. next to New Smyrna Beach Airport, Florida are afforded the briefest of glimpses at what is clearly the fuselage of a PBY Catalina... 1/6 #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair


I’m unable to discover this fuselage’s identity; perhaps it's a parts donor for something incredible that’s inside these hangars. This is the home of American Aero Services, renown for restoration of vintage warbirds and their current project is something very special. 2/6

What the…? Yes, it is real and yes, it served a military purpose. It’s a Jet Commander with a MiG23 nose. One of a kind. Israeli Air Force Museum, Be’er Sheba, Israel. Here’s the story. 1/7 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair
Aero Commander, founded in 1944, was known for its twin-engine Commander. Rockwell acquired Aero Commander in 1958 to enter the growing aviation market. In 1967 Rockwell merged with North American Aviation to form North American Rockwell, which now had two competing assets. 2/7

Imagine strolling on a long empty beach in Mexico- no one else for miles; the fresh sea breeze; the waves kissing the pristine sand; the cry of gulls…then you come across this: 1/8 #milair #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers

This is ill-fated Grumman SA-16 Albatross XB-JHH slowly being consumed by sea wind, salt water and sand at Playa de la Ventanilla, near Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Here’s its story. 2/8

Sometimes I still get a “What the…?” moment. This happened recently when I was looking through snapshots someone posted from an airshow at Reading Regional Airport in Pennsylvania. This was a new one to me! 1/10 #milair #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers

In the 1940s American inventor Willard Ray Custer was working on a novel concept for a very slow flying STOL aircraft. He called it a “Channel Wing”. The channel was shaped like a half venturi with a pusher engine sucking airflow through it. 2/10

Near the intersection of two suburban streets, one of hundreds in the U.S town of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, there is a small brass ring imbedded in the road. This marks the exact point where, in September 1962, the Space Age came to Manitowoc. 1/9

On May 15, 1960 the unmanned Korabl-Sputnik 1, known as Sputnik 4 in the West, left Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan for a 4-day mission to study life support systems & the stresses of flight. The craft radioed both extensive telemetry and prerecorded voice communications. 2/9

There is a reason this farmer’s crop rows take a bit of a curve here. This spot at the end of a long footpath in rural Iowa is hallowed ground. For the thousands that come here it is a shrine to a loss of more than lives in a small plane crash. It’s where the Music died. 1/12


In the winter of 1958-‘59 Buddy Holly and several other musicians were on a “Winter Dance Party” tour of Midwest U.S. on a bus with a broken heater. Temps were below zero F. Holly’s drummer actually had to leave in the middle of tour because he got frost bite on the bus. 2/12

Why is there an all-white B-52 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas? 1/9 #planespotting #aviationdaily #aviationlovers #aviation #milair

1981 B-52H Stratofortress 61-0025 flew routine missions with the 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Wing (Air Combat Command), located at Minot AFB, North Dakota until 2001. 2/9

Giant Rock. The bizarre story of the world’s largest free-standing boulder; the man who built an airport next to it then blew himself up beneath it, and the Lockheed worker who bought it, communed with aliens and made it into a mecca for UFO followers. Mojave Desert, Calif. 1/14





Frank Critzer was a German immigrant prospecting for gold in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s. He discovered this massive boulder, and it became his prospecting home base. He eventually excavated a home beneath it using dynamite and pick. 2/14

This B-25 at Felts Field, Spokane, Washington in 2023 is interesting but it led me to learn something even more interesting about B-25s that I didn’t know and you may not know. Sometimes the rabbit trails I follow lead me to unexpected endings. 1/8 #planespotting #milair #avgeek Turns out the B-25 is owned by The Historic Flight Foundation, a museum (now closed) at Felts Field. It’s unusual for it to be out of its hangar- and then there's a DC-3 also owned by the Foundation. They're both up for sale as the museum liquidates its assets by court order. 2/8

You never know what you will find on Facebook Marketplace. Here’s a C-119 you can own for just USD $15,000. Please follow this thread as I show you how it led me down a rabbit trail to two other interesting aircraft. It’s a long, strange trip. 1/14 #planespotting #milair It is 1953 USAF C-119G 53-8073. Retired to Tucson in 1975 and quickly entered the civilian market, bought by Starbird, Inc. in 1978 for USD $12,500. flying out of Anchorage, Alaska as N9027K. In the ‘80s it went through several owners and was repossessed and sold each time. 2/14

This, the last flying Martin Mars, is finally going to its forever home. Many of us were afraid it would be scrapped but a benefactor has stepped in to save it. One last flight is to come. Sproat Lake, British Columbia, Canada. 1/10 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationlovers #milair

This is one of only 5 production Martin JRM Mars built for the US Navy in WW2. They were the largest USN flying boat to enter production. Intended for long range patrol and transport, they came late in the war and their usefulness soon dwindled. The last was retired in 1956. 2/10

On the edge of a frozen lake in northwest Greenland lies the remains of Kee Bird. A USAF B-29 that sat here in pristine condition for almost 50 years until a recovery effort in 1994 went horribly wrong. 1/11 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aviationlovers #aviation #milair

Kee Bird is 1945 Boeing B-29B 45-21768 that was delivered so late in the war it went straight to storage at Davis Monthan. It came out of storage in 1946 and went to the 46th reconnaissance sqd., Ladd Field, Alaska for Cold War monitoring of the Soviet Union. 2/11

These six MiG-29s have been stored here at Marculesti Air Base, Moldova since 1997. Ukrane wanted them when Russia invaded, catching Moldova on the horns of a dilemma. 1/7 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #milair



Moldova received approximately 34 MiG-29’s with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Proving too expensive to maintain, they were sold off to Eritrea, Yemen, and in a 1997 deal to keep them out of Iranian hands, 21 were bought by the United States. 2/7

“Flying Tigers Airport” is a tiny grass strip in Northeastern Texas. The airport owner has passed away. He collected and flew aircraft for Universal Studios. A couple sad relics are still visible here. 1/10 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #milair





Let’s begin with the Provost. Percival 84 Jet Provost T.3A began life with the RAF as XN471 in 1960. Upon retirement it came to the U.S. civilian market and was registered in 1993 as N471XN. In ’97 it landed gear-up at Colorado Springs and never flew again. 2/10

Here’s a rarity. 1951 Lockheed L749A Constellation CN-CCN stored at what was once Casablanca-Anfa Airport, Morrocco. One hangar and 4 relics remain, the defunct airport now surrounded by redevelopment. 1/6 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation



This Connie was delivered to Air France in 1951 as F-BBDT. One of nineteen L749s Air France flew. 2/6

This Ilyushin Il-76 was an icon stuck in the sand for 20 years at the now closed Umm Al Quwain Airport, United Arab Emirates. It’s a strange plane with a sinister back story- sadly now all that is left of it are “plane tags”. 1/11 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationlovers #aviation

This Soviet-era airlifter became something of a landmark familiar to anyone driving past Barracuda Beach Resort along E11. Umm Al Quwain airfield, where it sat, was a popular skydiving location at the time but is now closed and undergoing repurposing. 2/11

5 locations with interesting aircraft are scattered across the campus of Inha University, Inchon, South Korea. 1/6 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair Here is DC-3 HL2002. Began with the USAAF as C-47-A-90 43-15737. In 1953 to Alaska Air Lines as N91005. At some point made its way to Korean AL as HL2002. Now beautifully preserved at the university. 2/6

This is the southern tip of the U.S. state of Florida. Circled is the Everglades, almost 8000 square miles of uninhabited swamp and grassland; home to alligators, snakes and a huge variety of flora and fauna. And what was once going to be the largest airport in the world. 1/8 This remote 2-mile long airstrip was built in 1968, a time in the USA when we all believed there was going to be (as the Disney song of the time claimed) “A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”. It was to be the “Everglades Jetport”. It would be the main hub for the US SST. 2/8

Nestled in a backyard garden in Kemback, Fife Scotland is the last bit of a notorious Handley Page Victor. 1 of the 1st 5 built and once the largest aircraft ever to (accidently?) go supersonic. 1/5 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair It is the cockpit of HP Victor B Mk.1 XA917. The aircraft is seen below, brand new in 1956, one of the first 5 Victors in the Handley Page shops at Radlett. The tail in the foreground is of XA918, used to help develop the tanker variant. It was scrapped in 1970 2/5

A self-storage company in west London puts eye-catchers atop its tower that overlooks A-40. A July 2013 G.E. image caught them placing one on display. Thankfully they understand what they have… 1/6 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair …so in 2021 they removed it and commissioned a thorough restoration. It's Hawker Hunter WT555, the 1st production F.1 and a very important airframe. First flown on 16th May 1953 from Hawker's plant at Dunsfold, it was retained by them for handling and performance trials. 2/6

The Walter Soplata Aircraft Collection deserves a long thread of its own, which I am working on. Meanwhile I am looking for one particular airplane that he had…Ahh here it is…this one. 1/5 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair Douglas Skyraider 09103 was one of several prototypes Douglas built in 1945-46. Originally called “Dauntless II” It was first designated XBT2D-1 in the USN’s clumsy pre-1946 designation system. It then became an XAD-1 Skyraider. 2/5