Luminary Air Group

By the early 1980s, the Grumman spinoff company, Gulfstream, had produced some successful business jets, but the company could see that their GIII wasn’t going to keep up with the competition as the decade wore on. The GIII had improved upon the GII, but only slightly – in many ways it was a modified GII. The next iteration, the Gulfstream GIV, needed to be more original. The result wasn’t revolutionary (and did still share the GII and GIII’s control-surfaces), but it was a significant step forward in all the relevant stats. The engines were quieter and more powerful, the wing was more efficient, and it had more space for fuel. Additionally, the GIV became the first business jet to include a full glass cockpit as standard. Customers took notice both in the private and public sector. Where the GIII ceased production after seven years and 202 airframes, the GIV sold over 900 during a 33-year production run. Militaries and government agencies have picked them up not only for personnel transport but also for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles. In US military service, the GIV is known as the C-20. Gulfstream’s GIV is now a classic business jet and our techs here at Luminary Air Group are quite familiar with the type. Whether you need yours kitted out with special mission gear or simple luxury, we can handle all your needs! #aircraftinteriors #noisereduction #gulfstream #refurbishment

Swept wings are the norm for high-performance jet fighters nowadays, but in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, they were a new concept. Surprisingly, though, the US Navy’s first swept-wing fighter not only looked revolutionary back then – it would still raise eyebrows today. The Vought F7U Cutlass was heavily influenced by Nazi experiments. Indeed, though the company denied it at the time, at least one famous German engineer, Woldemar Voigt, was part of the design program. What resulted was a revolutionary-looking tailless craft with twin stabilizers that framed a pair of Westinghouse J46-WE-8B turbojet engines. The low-aspect-ratio wings could fold for carrier operations, bringing its nearly 40-foot wingspan down to just over 22 when parked. As you might expect from a plane that was full of firsts, the F7U had no shortage of problems. The cannon initially caused engine flameouts, necessitating a substantial muzzle brake. The extremely tall front landing gear made visibility on the carrier deck tricky and also put severe stress on the gear’s strut. Vought partially mitigated the issue by adding a small turbine to the front gear’s wheel, spinning it up to 90 mph before landing. Most significant, however, was the poor performance of the F7U’s engines, which earned it nicknames like “Gutless Cutlass” and “Ensign Eliminator.” Though remarkable, the plane’s problems (and the 1950s’ fast pace of aircraft development) meant the Cutlass did not serve for long – it could be seen on the Navy’s flat-tops only from 1951 to 1959.

The small company known as Adam Aircraft Industries appeared on the scene in 1998, shone brightly for a short time, and then disappeared just as suddenly. Founded by George Adam and John Knudsen, the company hailed out of Colorado. The venture began as an effort to iterate upon the M-309 CarbonAero, a Burt Rutan design. They aimed to make the unusual executive craft commercially viable and then create a jet-powered version to enter the very-light jet market. By 2002, a prototype of the Adam A500 took flight. The push-pull turboprop seated six and retained the M-309’s unusual box tail. It got the FAA’s approval in 2005, so several airframes made it out to the public. Unfortunately, though, neither it nor the planned A700 jet version attracted enough investment to be viable in the long term. In 2009, with just seven A500s built (to include the prototypes), Adam Aircraft was forced to close its doors. The assets ran though several hands, including a Russian buyer and then another American one by the name of Triton Aerospace. Triton announced plans in 2011 to reduce the A500’s dry mass and recertify it, but that company, too, went dark a couple years later. There are five A500s out in the world today, and unfortunately, they’ll probably be the only ones. Whether you have a rare piece like an Adam Aircraft or something more familiar like a King Air, we welcome you here at Luminary Air Group. We create customized cabin layouts that are unique to their host aircraft, so we’re more than happy to take on any type you bring our way! #customization #refurbishment #aircraftinteriors

Mikhail Mil’s name is synonymous with Soviet helicopters, and for good reason. He began conceptual work on his first rotary-wing craft in 1930, but it wouldn’t take flight until 1948. The prototype Mi-1 helicopters went through significant teething problems. The first two prototypes crashed, but the Soviet military still chose to order 15 airframes for limited trials in 1950. A year later, after upgrading the engine from 500 to 575 horsepower and demonstrating it for Joseph Stalin, the type was put into full-scale production. Early Mi-1 models housed a single pilot with space for two passengers behind them. In 1957, the Mi-1M model introduced a slightly expanded cabin and another engine upgrade. These M-model could house three passengers or extra equipment. Mi-1 variants were used extensively for everything from reconnaissance to medevac to whale hunting. A ground-attack variant was planned but ultimately abandoned in favor of other designs with more power. For better or worse, the Mi-1 never saw the success of its descendent, the Mi-2, and was most extensively used by satellite states like Poland rather than the Soviet Union itself. Follow Luminary Air Group for more snapshots from aviation history!

US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) operates a number of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft under the designation U-28 Draco. Their missions are rarely revealed to the public. But last year, several U-28 crews received Distinguished Flying Crosses for their performance during the evacuation of Kabul. One crew, Lt. Col. Scott Hardman, Capt. Pedro Barrientes Jr., Capt. James Ryan, and Senior Airman Max Sohlberg, had to dodge incoming fire immediately after takeoff. They remained at low altitudes to direct friendly forces to breaches in the airfield’s perimeter. And though the U-28 had no weaponry, they managed to scare a small group of gunmen out of their tactical position in a nearby tower. The U-28 crew were not battlefield coordinators, but they nevertheless worked throughout the mission to identify combatants hiding among the refugees that were crowding the airfield. As their fuel stores dried up, they were forced into a dangerous last-second maneuver to avoid hitting refugees on the runway. They cut power to the engines immediately to minimize the chance of harming anyone on the ground. But once on the ground they had to barricade the door and wait for friendly forces to arrive. Planes like the U-28 don’t get much love from Hollywood, but they’re just as critical to US operations as the more exciting fighters and bombers. If you’re planning to outfit the cabin of your own PC-12 – be it for special missions or for the ultimate in luxury, give us at Luminary Air Group a call. We’ve got extensive experience with the type and would be more than happy to give it the custom treatment you’ve dreamed of! #aircraftinteriors #refurbishment #customization

Music fans everywhere were saddened on October 12th, 1997, when news came out that John Denver had died in his small kit-built plane. The odd circumstances of the crash ultimately led to new rules surrounding home-built aircraft. The famous musician was a licensed pilot, but the FAA had revoked his medical certification a year earlier. He had a history of drunk driving (though medical examiners determined he was not under the influence at the time of his crash). Despite the prohibition, he had recently bought a Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ that had been kit-built by someone else and took it out for touch-and-go practice at Monterey Peninsula Airport. On one pass, however, the plane pitched up and right, lost lift, and abruptly nosed over, falling into Monterey Bay. The NTSB’s investigation found that the plane’s builder had placed the fuel gauges and selector valves behind the pilot’s left shoulder rather than between the legs as the design intended. To reach the valve, he would have to unstrap and turn his body 90 degrees. This movement likely caused Denver to unintentionally push on the right rudder pedal when he went to switch fuel tanks. The combination of unbalanced tanks and unexpected rudder input appeared to have put the plane into an uncontrolled dive that he couldn’t recover from at such a low altitude. John Denver’s untimely death emphasized the need for training standards for home-built aircraft and easy accessibility of all instruments and indicators in the cockpit. Let us know if you need your cabin reconfigured. Luminary Air Group can take care of nearly any cabin customization job, be it functional or aesthetic. #aircraftinteriors #refurbishment #reconfiguration

We all know the story of the de Havilland Comet, but have you heard of the de Havilland Comet? Rather confusingly, the name was originally held by a 1934 racing plane. Unlike the infamous DH.106 jet airliner, the DH.88 Comet was a twin-piston-engine craft designed and built specifically for the MacRobertson Air Race. It ran from Mildenhall airfield in the UK to Melbourne, Australia with five mandatory intermediate stops along the way. Between those stops, the crews could plot their own courses. The race was planned for 20 October 1934, but since it was announced only a year before, de Havilland had to scramble to design and build the craft in time. Its first flight took place just six weeks before the race. Three DH.88 airframes were built for the race and each one painted a different color. Comets were configured with a single low wing and two low-slung in-line engines that put out 230 horsepower apiece. The two-person cockpit sat just aft of the wing, limiting visibility but helping the aerodynamics. Coming in at exactly 70 hours, 54 minutes (just shy of 3 days) the red Grosvenor House DH.88 won the competition. One of the other two Comets completed the race in 108 hours, then turned around the next day to fly home, setting a round-trip record for the route of just over 13 days. It languished for a while, but Grosvenor House was restored to flying condition in the late 1980s. It doesn’t take to the air much, but we love that this bit of history can still fly! #aviationhistory #aircraftinteriors #noisereduction

It’s a shame we don’t see as much experimentation in aircraft design as a century ago. Can you imagine taxiing in beside something like the Blériot 125? This bizarre-looking craft was the brainchild of Louis Blériot, a French inventor, businessman, and early proponent of aviation. Blériot was no stranger to thinking outside the box, but this model 125 was made up essentially of three connected boxes. Instead of housing passengers in a single fuselage, Blériot opted to put the pilots and navigator in a central crew nacelle while the twelve passengers were split between two larger compartments that look more like pontoons than fuselages. Two engines were mounted to the central nacelle in a push-pull configuration. The 125’s large wing is tough to categorize – it’s a high-wing from the perspective of the passenger cabins but a low wing from the perspective of the pilots. But the odd configuration would have afforded passengers a dramatic forward-facing view during their flight. And each pod even afforded space for a lavatory and quite a bit of leg room. We have to wonder how many people would be packed into each one in today’s air travel environment! The plane first successfully flew in 1931. Unfortunately, it was plagued with problems from the start. Handling was poor enough that the French government refused to certify the type. Though Blériot tried to improve the design, he had to abandon the concept by 1933. Sadly, the prototype was scrapped. Though this project never went anywhere, it’s fun to look back at what might have been. If you have big ideas for your own aircraft, let Luminary Air Group help make them a reality! Our focus is on custom cabin refits, acoustic insulation, and integrating new systems. Call today and get started! #aircraftinteriors #refurbishment #noisereduction #acousticinsulation #cabincomfortsystem

The original Wright Flyer was steered in part by the pilot pushing his hips against a cradle, so how did we end up with the standard rudder pedals and stick/yoke configuration we know today? For that, you can thank French inventor Louis Blériot, who used the control scheme in his many aircraft at the dawn of aviation. Blériot is known for designing motorcycles, cyclecars, car headlights, and airplanes, and for wearing the exact waxed moustache you’re picturing from a Frenchman with such a pedigree. He invented the first practical headlight for automobiles in 1897. That product’s success allowed him to pursue other interests. At the top of his mind was the concept of powered flight. His first experiments with flight centered around ornithopters. Though they never worked out, it put him in touch with other aviation pioneers of the day like Gabriel Voisin, and helped him refine his ideas. He and Voisin attempted two powered designs together, the Blériot III and IV, but they never quite took off. Blériot soldiered on, trying out many different configurations. In March 1907, his Blériot V became the first airworthy powered monoplane. Two years later, he personally made the first powered flight across the English Channel. He continued toying with different configurations until his death in 1936. Next time, we’ll take a look at one of those bizarre designs from late in his life. Stay tuned! #aviationhistory #monoplane #aircraftinteriors #refurbishment

The interwar period saw enormous advancement in aviation technology not only in military but also civilian circles. One British airline that popped up during this time was Imperial Airways. They primarily served Britain’s faraway colonies like Australia, South Africa, Malaya, and Hong Kong. Given the nautical nature of the region, much of their fleet was composed of flying boats, but the likes of the Short S.8 Calcutta and Supermarine Sea Eagle just weren’t big enough. Around 1935, the company approached Short Brothers Ltd. with a special request. Though initially reluctant to take on the project, Short eventually turned out a remarkable 88-foot-long flying boat they called the S.23 Empire. With four 920-hp Bristol Pegasus engines mounted on a high wing, the plane could cover around 760 miles before needing to refuel. The interior contained two decks. The passengers, galley, toilets, and maritime equipment like the mooring bollard and anchor were housed in the lower deck. The upper deck had space for mail and other cargo as well as an office for a “ship’s clerk” who handled many of the electrical and other system controls. In keeping with its maritime roots, the spacious cockpit was known as the bridge. The S.23 housed its 5 crew along with either 24 passengers in a seating arrangement or 16 in sleeping berths. Imperial Airways operated a total of 40 Short Empires, with nine of them being S.30 versions altered for longer range. Some were pressed into service during WWII. Following the war, Imperial Airways’ successor, BOAC, took on most of the fleet (along with two further-upgraded S.33 versions) and passed the remainder on to QANTAS. No other airline ever picked the type up, though. Follow Luminary Air Group for more aviation history snippets just like this!