About This Quiz
The fate of old warplanes is not a happy one. If they aren't destroyed in combat, they are often destined to an ignominious fate at a desolate scrapyard, torn to pieces and turned into beer cans, or left to rust, alone and forgotten. But a few rare planes are not put out to pasture in this manner. Some find themselves into the loving hands of collectors who want more than a trophy to admire or a toy to play with: they want to make them fly once more!
In this quiz, you will find dozens of planes that have been resurrected from the brink of utter destruction, and many of them even fly the skies today as surely as they did in their heyday. Traveling air shows are the new home of these old warbirds, and they take their roosts where they may as they travel around the world to the cheers of adoring crowds. Now they are no longer weapons of war but rather living legends, animated artifacts from a history that dwindles but is not let yet lost to us.
How much do you know about these sky warriors? Can you recognize these most famous restored aircraft from yesteryear? Put your knowledge to the test in our quiz, and show us what you've got!
The Picadilly Lilly is the last active Flying Fortress bomber. As a Flying Fortress, she was used in World War II for strategic bombing, probably over Germany and other Axis targets in Europe. Her rugged design made her capable of surviving enormous structural damage and still return home.
The 1945 Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair was the first plane to break MPH and was capable of acting both as a fighter and a bomber. This flexibility, coupled with its raw power, gave it a ​huge advantage in combat with the Japanese Zero, whose pilots were untrained by this time in the war.
The 1911 Curtiss Pusher Model D was a simple wooden plane from the early days of flight that could be rapidly assembled or disassembled for easy transportation. Rudder control was through a steering wheel of sorts, and handling it was tricky at best!
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The 1913 Benoist XIV was the plane used to announce the opening of the first ever airline! It promised to be a route between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida and was opened, you guessed it, in 19...14. Well look, it took a while to make the plane, OK?
The 1937 Bücker Jungmeister was a dual wing propeller-driven plane made for spectacular feats of acrobatics. It was even used in the 1936 Olympics​ to engage in incredible maneuvers while inside the stadium itself!
The 1945 Supermarine Spitfire Mk 16 was one of the final Spitfire models, brought into being near the end of the war. It was actually constructed in the U.S.​ and was armed with a cannon and machine guns.
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The 1918 Morane A-I was introduced at the end of the Great War, and was sold to the nascent U.S. Army Air Service to fly against the Germans. Its parasol wing design proved a significant improvement over previous biplanes.
The Glacier Girl was a P-38 Lightning, a dual seated fighter from World War II. This one, in particular,​ was found in a literal glacier in Greenland, and has been restored to usability for modern air fans to enjoy!
The Shoo Shoo Baby was a Flying Fortress that was also known as the Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby- the third Shoo added when she received a new pilot. It flew 24 combat missions before crash landing in Sweden​ and has been beautifully restored.
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The 1945 Piper L-4 Grasshopper was actually a military version of a previous aircraft, the Piper Cub. It was used for scouting, transporting people to and from the front, mail delivery- mostly logistical tasks.
The 1931 Gee Bee Y Sportster had seats for two pilots and a removable windshield, both exciting innovations in 1931. It was also the plane in which Florence Klingensmith won the women's free for all in Chicago in 1933!
The 1943 Grumman Wildcat was a fighter plane that had its particular date with destiny at the Battle of Midway, wherein they were used in the fight that would prove to be the turning point in the Pacific War. It was notable for its surprising ability to absorb punishment.
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The 1945 Nord Stampe was a wooden training aircraft used by the Allies in World War II. It also had an unusual role in Hollywood- it was frequently altered in appearance to look like a Great War-era fighter for movies.
The 1931 Gee Bee Z was a Depression-Era airplane whose literal purpose was to win contests so as to recoup its production costs. Incredible though it seems, it went on to do just that, winning multiple races in the 1930s.
The 1918 Fokker D-VIII was quite an unusual sight for its German pilots- Fokker had gone from designing tri-wing planes back to his original mono-wing concept. The wings not being braced were a cause for concern, but in practice, he had figured out a way to prevent them from crumbling​ under stress without bracing.
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The Avro Vulcan XH558, aka Spirit of Great Britain, is a Cold War-era strategic bomber, specifically for the use of nuclear weaponry. It has a distinct delta-shaped wing pattern, and is currently in taxiable condition, although there have been difficulties with funding for its upkeep.
The 1909 Herring-Curtiss Pusher was one of the first planes to make use of an aileron, allowing for more precise control of a plane's rolling capabilities. Like many such planes, the pilot is on a seat at the front of the craft, completely exposed to the elements. Bring a scarf, but keep it away from the propeller!
The 1927 Spirit of St. Louis was one of the most famous planes in history, flying across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 hours. It was a custom craft designed to Charles Lindbergh's specifications, built for a single purpose: to fly between New York and Paris, and it accomplished this with great fanfare!
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The 1931 Stinson Tri-Motor was an extraordinary machine for its age, having room for no fewer than 10 passengers, baggage, and even toilet facilities. A two-way radio allowed the pilot to stay in contact with aid on the ground, and the whole thing was crafted by a combination of steel, wood, and (yes!) fabric.
The 1943 North American B-25 J Mitchell, named after the American Air Pioneer, was a twin-engine bomber deployed in the Pacific during World War II. It was used​ as a strafing weapon for battlefield support and supply interdiction.
The Hawker Hurricane PZ865 is nicknamed "The Last of the Many," after the Hurricanes that fought in the Battle of Britain. Those aircraft fought to maintain air control over Britain, and if they had failed, Germany would have been able to launch a seaborne invasion.
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The 1929 Curtiss Robin was a high-winged monoplane. It seated three people squeezed together around the pilot. It was used by the Army Air Corps as a test vessel for radio-controlled, unmanned flight!
FIFI is one of the few flying B-29 Superfortress. It recently suffered from a bout of engine trouble, but a multi-million dollar overhaul has her flying yet again in air shows across the United States.
Texas Raiders is the oddly pluralistic name of a B-17 Flying Fortress, currently flown and maintained by a group of the same name. It was originally built in 1944​ but has flown as part of the airshow circuit since 2010.
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The Aluminum Overcast is a B-17 Flying Fortress. It never saw combat, but nonetheless has required extensive refurbishing. It has flown an astonishing one million air miles​ and continues to tour as part of air shows.
The Avro Lancaster PA474 is a dual engined Lancaster bomber designed for warfare in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Although maintained as part of a Battle of Britain exhibit, this is something of a misnomer as the Lancaster did not play a material role defending Britain against the Luftwaffe, being a bomber.
The 1937 Focke-Wulf Fw-44 Stieglitz was built for training and sport flying purposes. "Stieglitz" means Goldfinch. It actually had two seats mounted in tandem, and both were fully equipped with controls for flying the plane, giving it a measure of redundancy for training and safety purposes.
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The Sentimental Journey is a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that tours the country as part of air shows. Its distinctive nose art features Betty Grable, a famous "pinup girl" of the WWII era. The plane was shown in the Spielberg film, "1941."
The 1934 Pitcairn Autogiro PA-18 is an example of the Autogiro school of flying craft. While it looks like a helicopter, the critical difference between them is that the rotor on the Autogiro is unpowered, and based on the free flow of air. It is therefore somewhat similar to a glider in its mechanism.
1934 Brown B-2 “Miss Los Angeles" is a restored racer plane from the '30s. Extremely streamlined with unique landing flaps, Miss Los Angeles won a prominent race and came in second in another, and is just as beautiful now as she was in her heyday.
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Thunderbird was a Flying Fortress from the 303rd bombing group. Flying dozens of missions during the war, she was crewed by an extraordinary 538 different airmen, not a single one of which suffered an injury while aboard. Incredible!
1944 Bachem Natter Viper was an experimental rocket-powered interceptor, designed to be fired at Allied Bombers in WWII. The idea is that the pilot would simply fire rockets as the autopilot-guided weapon closed on the target, then he would ditch using a parachute, ready to ride again.
The 1936 Bücker Jungmann is a simple German training aircraft, with two seats for the operator and instructor, respectively. It is notable for being the last biplane produced in Germany.
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Swamp Ghost is a B-17 that is actually named after an adventure it and its crew went through- it was ditched in New Guinea in WWII, and the crew had to make its way across a treacherous swamp to get to safety. All of the crew survived, and this remarkable vessel is with us today!
The Sally B is one of only three B-17s to remain in the United Kingdom today. It was activated too late to see actual combat in WWII but has been in several films about the war, including appearing briefly as Memphis Belle in the film of the same name.
The Worry Bird is a Mustang Fighter-Bomber that saw service in both WWII and the Korean War. They were escorts that were capable of bombing, and they reaped a formidable toll of axis aircraft in World War II- 4,950 to be precise.
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The 1938 Grumman F3F-2 is a tubby little interwar fighter for the United States Navy, and the final biplane to be used by the U.S. Military. Although its service history is humble, it would eventually be redeveloped into the Wildcat, which was an important part of American air power in WWII.
The 1937 Fieseler Fi-156 Storch is a small liaison aircraft used by the Axis in WWII. It is notable in that it is one of the examples of technology traded to the Soviets as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. You can tell the Germans had no intention of sharing any powerful technology!
The 1932 Gee Bee R-2 is the successor to the Gee Bee model Z​ and is a racing aircraft like its forebear. It was regarded as a nimble and powerful craft, but in practice, its agility suffered in high winds, and accidents owing to this cost the life of one of her famous pilots, Russell Boardman.
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