unfinished CriCri

The Buhl A-1 autogyro, built in 1931, was optimized for camera work, with a pusher propeller behind the pilot and camera operator. Only one aircraft was built before the company ceased operation in 1933 during The Depression. This autogyro is a replica.

The first NOTAR helicopter built in USA in 1947

Designed in 1932, this unfinished Penguin was built in 2014

The Fleetwings Model 27 was a private venture radio controlled aerial gunnery target built in 1940 and known as the A-1. It had fabric covered 20ft span wings with split flaps and fabric covered empennage and flight controls. A Continental A65 engine gave a top speed of 180 mph. The radio set was located in a compartment positioned on the center of gravity, so with the equipment removed it could carry a pilot. On 1 April 1940 test pilot William H. Engle took it for a flight from the Aircraft Radio Corporation airfield at Boonton/NJ. Military designation believed to be OQ-1. No further examples were built. Collection holder William Engle is the son of Fleetwings test pilot William H. Engle.

This aircraft was built and used in the movie "Amelia."

Seen after a repaint, but prior to the application of new titles and serial. Ex Polish AF 0316, N316BC. Was stored at Paris, TX for a period, unknown when she came to Cleves. Reg N316BC cancelled 12 July 2017 as expired.

This is a non-flying replica built by Qantas. It is of the airline's first aircraft . That was an Australian made 504K fitted with a Sunbeam Dyak engine. Became G-AUBG. and later VH-UBG. Withdrawn from use in 1932. In 1965 Qantas fitted a Dyak engine to a borrowed 504K, A3-4, owned by the Australian War Memorial. It was painted like the replica. Returned in 1987 with its rotary engine refitted and in RAAF markings. Qantas by then had built two replicas of G-AUBG, one of which is pictured.

The XR-1 Pinwheel in an early form. The two 'armrest' rocket fuel tanks were not always fitted. Probably even earlier, it had a rudder with self-made US Marines titles. It reportedly first flew in April 1954. Testing took place at NAS Los Alamitos (KSLI) according to a Dutch newspaper. It was always intended to reduce the craft to the 'backpack' seen in the other photo.

Half man, half helicopter. This 'strap-on helicopter' was powered by rocket motors mounted at the rotor tips. The tail rotor was for steering. Tested by the US Navy against the Hiller ROE and Gyrodyne RON but the RH-1 does not seem to be a naval designation and nor is a serial known. Photo by: Ralph Crane / Life

An amateur aircraft built by Polish modeler Jerzy Ostrowski in 1977-1983. In the 1980s it was one of the few private planes in Poland. The aircraft was operated with various engines from 1983 to 1998.

Originally built for the USAAF as TC-47B-35-DK s/n 44-76884, transferred to the US Navy as R4D-7 BuNo 99838. To the civil registry at an unknown date, becoming N7073C, N30, N87814, N2004J, N212GB, and finally N2312G. From October 1993 to July 2008, displayed at the 101st Foxhole Club restaurant at KBNA. Moved to OPN in Thomaston, GA in July 2008, then to 3FK in Franklin, IN, before ending up here at Motts circa 2014. Has since been undergoing restoration for static display.

The first exhibits in the Aviation Technical Museum were aircraft which required maintenance and had been sent to Luhansk Aircraft Repair Plant. Some aircraft remained there, and subsequently were written from use and preserved for display in the museum. The second prototype of the Tu-142 seen here, made its first flight on 3 September 1968.

The Hill Helicopters HX50 design was unveiled in 2020 by Jason Hill, founder and chief engineer of the company. Two mock ups were presented in 2023, one with retractable wheeled undercarriage and the other with skids as pictured at HAI Heli Expo 2024. Aimed at the private helicopter owner, first flight is expected in 2024 after testing of the company designed 500 HP turbine engine. There are 1,000+ orders for the HX50 and HC50 (commercial certified version to follow in 2026) at the time of uploading.

The first aircraft built by Allan Loughead (later Lockheed), the Model G, was first flown on 15 June 1913. During the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the Loughead brothers sold passenger rides operating from San Francisco's Marina Yacht Harbor. The adjacent Marina Green was used by landplanes during the fair and was known as Montgomery Field from 1919 until 1924. The cruiser USS Milwaukee is seen in the background. Photo from: SFO Museum

Unfinished BD-5J

This fuselage was still on the production line when the Fokker factory went out of business. It is now preserved on the roof of the main building of Stolwerk Staal, a scrapyard in Breda. The tail and left wing are from PH-MKC, one of the two Fokker 100 prototypes. The right wing came from New Zealand and the engines are fake, made by the guys working at Stolwerk. Airframe 11508 was to become PT-MRX for TAM Brazil with test registration PH-EZH. but that never came about.

An early German pioneering aircraft from 1913 designed by Waldemar Geest. This airplane took part in the "Air Week" competition in Berlin-Johannisthal in May 1913, being the only plane of the competition to fly in very stormy weather. It is the only surviving example of the plane designed by Geest. It is displayed in an unrestored state and almost complete - only the wheels and part of the tail are missing.

On display at the exhibition "Reaching for the Sky: The History of Columbus Aviation" at the Columbus Historical Society's gallery at COSI. I'm reasonably confident this aircraft was formerly part of the collection of the Ohio History of Flight Museum at (then) Port Columbus, and had been put into storage there when the museum closed in 2000. Unfortunately I have not been able to determine if it was ever registered, or had a c/n assigned by its builder. After this exhibition, she was returned to the Historical Aircraft Squadron museum, at the nearby Fairfield County Airport in Lancaster.