Afterburner - The Aviation Magazine

5 December 2025

AVIATION HISTORY

5 December 1941 – first flight of Kawanishi E15K Shiun

On 5 December 1941, the prototype of the two-seat Japanese floatplane Kawanishi E15K Shiun (Allied reporting name: Norm) made its first flight. In 1939, the Imperial Japanese Navy assigned the Kawanishi Aircraft Company the challenging task of developing a reconnaissance [...]
AVIATION HISTORY

Visionary engineer and aviation pioneer – the world of Hugo Junkers by Technikmuseum „Hugo Junkers“ Dessau

In 1892, Hugo Junkers, a young German engineer, founded his first company, simply named Hugo Junkers, Civil-Ingenieur (Hugo Junkers, Civil Engineer). Within two decades, Junkers had transformed his small workshop into a technological empire and became renowned for his visionary [...]
PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Zlín Z-XIII

Zlín Z-XIII (prototype, OK-TBZ), a Czechoslovak sports aircraft, exhibited in the National Technical Museum, Prague, April 2025. In the mid-1930s, several aviation companies developed so-called “fast courier aircraft” – small touring and sports aeroplanes characterised by advanced construction and high [...]
CIVIL AVIATION

Farewell to the Bonanza, the aircraft that changed the general aviation

Nearly eighty years ago, on 22 December 1945, the Model 35 Bonanza – a light American utility aircraft developed by the Beech Aircraft Corporation – made its first flight. The aeroplane entered serial production in March 1947 and soon revolutionised [...]
AVIATION HISTORY

28 November 1938 – Fw 200 Condor begins its record flight from Berlin to Tokyo

On 28 November 1938, the first prototype of the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor (also known as Kurier) transport aircraft began its record flight from Berlin to Tokyo. The journey, which included stops in Basra, Karachi and Hanoi, was successfully completed [...]

First ever wingsuit foil soaring flight with altitude gain

DREAMERS AND DOERS

26 November 2025

In its press release published on 19 November 2025, the Red Bull company announced that Austrian wingsuit pioneer Peter Salzmann had once again pushed the boundaries of what is possible in human flight. This time, [...]

End of the tale – Poland retires its Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft

FEATURED

5 November 2025

On 11 September 2025, after more than four decades of service, the Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force) officially retired its last examples of the Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber. Once again, one of the iconic aircraft of [...]

DREAMERS AND DOERS