Down Memory's Runway
February 1942 Flying Aces

February 1942 Flying Aces Table of Contents These pages from vintage modeling magazines like Flying Aces, Air Trails, American Modeler, American Aircraft Modeler, Young Men, Flying Models, Model Airplane News, R/C Modeler, captured the era. All copyrights acknowledged.

Flying Aces magazine, which was published in the middle of the last century, had for a while a monthly featured entitled, "Down Memory's Runway," where vintage (at the time) aircraft were featured in pictures and captions. Of course those same airplanes are practically prehistoric today. By 1942 when this column was published, biplanes had been replace by monoplanes as the standard commercial and military design. A 14-passenger Boeing 80-A passenger biplane is included, along with the statement that it is believed to be the only tri-motored biplane built in the U.S. Of course there was the famous Ford Trimotor, but it was a monoplane (see my Ford Trimotor ride video). Also included is a photo of Claude Ryan with his company's first M-1 monoplane. The swirled finish on the aluminum skin is very recognizable from Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis," which was built by Ryan Aeronautical Company. 

Down Memory's Runway

Posted October 5, 2019