Landing Pattern

Lockheed designed the P-38 in response to a 1937 Army Air Corps specification calling for a fighter with speed, range, and climb rate that seemed impossible to achieve with a single engine.

Cessna delivered the first production Model 172 in 1956, adapting it from the earlier tailwheel-equipped 170 by adding a tricycle landing gear that made it far more forgiving for new pilots to land.

Developed in the years just after World War II, the F-86 Sabre owed its game-changing performance to captured German aerodynamics research.