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Articles & Essays
COPYRIGHT 1998-2012
by Richard Harris
Last Updated May 10, 2012

These pages are in
continuous development.

No guarantee is made as to the accuracy of the statements or observations made in these articles.

Great effort has been made to accurately reflect the facts,
but errors are inevitable for this scale of information-gathering,
performed by a single person.
Statements often reflect this author's subjective opinion.

Comments and corrections are invited. Click here to contact webmaster.

To view a partial Bibliography,
click here


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Stories:
Various aviation stories by Richard Harris:

  • Spyplanes, Spyships & Seizures
  • Flying A Warbird
  • Airbus A380 vs.   Boeing 787 Dreamliner
  • The Crash Heard 'Round the World
  • Nightfall at Benton
  • Beware the "Safe" Airplane
  • A Novice's Quick Guide To Avionics
          (basic history & tutorial on
            aircraft electronics, including:
            "Flying the Beam"
            LF/MF Four-Course Radio Ranges) )

    The Most Important Aircraft of All Time:
     

      8 Flying Machines that Changed the World
      Who, really, were
      the 'First to Fly'?

      Summary history of the helicopter

    Planes & Their Makers
      (General Aviation):

    Who Made What?
      a listing of various popular aircraft,
      and their makers
       updated ILLUSTRATED version
       old, fast TEXT-ONLY version

    100th Anniversary of Kansas Aviation
      from AAHS Flightline newsletter,
      No. 177, 4th Quarter, 2011

    Planes on the Plains  
      The "Air Capital of the World"
      isn't where you'd expect.

    Why the Great Plains?   [DRAFT]
      Why have so many great planes
      come from the Great Plains?

    The Air Capital Story:
      early general aviation & its manufacturers     [DRAFT]
      A quick summary history
      of major aircraft manufacturers
      with early roots in the Air Capital.
      Condensed from In Flight USA.

    Pennsylvania's Transportation Heritage:
      15-page general history of
      Pennsylvania's transportation industry,
      and its historic, closely related
      raw materials & energy industries.
      Prepared for the Lexington Group,
      the nation's most distinguished
      organization of transportation historians,
      for their 2023 convention
      in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

    • Photo Essays:
        A few photos from some other stories:

    Mort Brown, at 99, Flying Again
    U.S. Air Race, 2007
    Proud Papa's Pietenpol (homebuilt)
    Stinson Summit 2019 at Beaumont
            [NEW! just added!]
    (For more photos, see the Gallery .)

    HISTORY:
      General Aviation's "Big Three":


    Cessna Aircraft  

    Piper / New Piper

    Hawker-Beechcraft Corp.

    ...and
       an older
       article
       about
       its predecessors:

    Raytheon Aircraft
    (Beech Aircraft / Hawker /
    Hawker-Beechcraft)

    With histories of its source companies:
    • Travel Air
    • Beech
    • deHavilland
    • Hawker

    America's Other Big Names
      in General Aviation History:
        (this section under development;
          partial articles only)

    Aero Commander
            summarized from In Flight USA.
            special subsection:
              Jet Commander & Sabreliner

    Aeronca / Champion / ACA  
            summarized from In Flight USA,
            later expanded in AAHS Journal.

    American Aircraft /
      Grumman-American /
        AGAC / (American-General)
          Tiger Aircraft family
            summarized from In Flight USA.

    Ercoupe:
      Fred Weick's 'Safer' Airplane
      from AAHS Journal, [partial]
      Vol. 59, No. 1 - Spring 2014

    Monocoupe:
      Speed for the Common Man
      from AAHS Journal, [partial]
      Vol. 56, No. 4 - Winter 2011
      (also published in SKYWAYS)

    Mooney Aircraft (the prelude)   [partial]
            summarized from In Flight USA,
            later added to WingsOverKansas.com.

    Coming soon:
    (click names below for other websites on the topic)
      Aviat & its Ancestors
          ( Monocoupe (see above), Pitts, Christen, etc.)
      Private Plane Pioneers
          ( WACO , Bellanca , Stinson , & Fairchild )
      'Tin-Can Transition' Planes
          ( Ercoupe (see above), Luscombe , Swift , & Navion )
      'Plastic' Planes
          ( Rutan , S-H , Lancair , Cirrus ,
           Diamond , etc.)
      Bizjets
      Cropdusters
     

    OTHER LINKS
    (links to other people’s websites about aviation history & industry)

    For information on publishing this material, and similar writings,
    click here for the Editor's Options Page.

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