'Private monoplane on grassy field after storm.' No damage to the aircraft is apparent in this and another photo. No data available for this registration. Photo from: SFO Museum

No-frills carrier Southwest Airways began passenger flights between LA and San Francisco in 1946, with no less than eight stops along the way! Ex 43-15728, N63440 was later used to transport live turkeys in even less comfort no doubt - see other photo of this construction number. Note the man in the United Air Lines air freight pick-up and delivery booth in the foreground. This is a crop of overview photo 673029. Photo from: SFO Museum

TWA Tin Goose at Mills Field, now San Francisco International. Photo from: SFO Museum

China Clipper made the first mail flight across the Pacific from San Francisco Bay to Manila in late November 1935. Edwin Musick's crew set out from Pan Am's seaplane terminal at Alameda Airport, later absorbed by Alameda NAS / Nimitz Field. Photo from: SFO Museum

Leased by Italian operator Alisud in 1963 for a Naples - Palermo car ferry service which was apparently not successful. Aircraft returned to British United Air Ferries in February 1964. Basic BUAF livery with green Alisud titles. Photo by: Richard Goring

This is the Twin Mustang which amazingly flew 5000 miles non-stop from Hawaii to New York in February 1947. The P/F-82B was an early variant which was retired from USAF service in 1949. Given the markings and the snow, the photo seems to have been taken in late 1948 or 1949 at an airport with TWA service. 44-65168 was used by NACA in the 1950s, coded EFQ-168. Its last flight to the USAF Museum in Dayton was in summer, on 21 June 1957. Photo from: US Air Force

The first Stratocruiser for NWA, seen during a photo shoot in July 1949 or possibly on 10 May during a test flight. The photo was made into a popular postcard. Photo from: Northwest Airlines History Center

Mosquito B.IVs of No 105 Squadron taxi out at Marham, 10 December 1942. The second is DZ353 / GB-E. Just twelve days later, DZ360 was shot down by flak and crashed in Axel, Netherlands. The two crew were killed. Photo from: Flight

F-AJAI flew in the Middle East with Air France and the Société des Transports du Proche-Orient (STPO). In 1937 it was bought by Capt Georges Goumin, who served at Rayak in Lebanon. Goumin was recalled to France in 1938 and led a group of pilots escaping to England in 1940. Wearing the cream and orange colours of STPO with the logo of the Aéro-Club Maurice Noguès in Damascus, F-AJAI is seen during a trip to Luxor. The pilot here may still be Goumin, even if the given 1939 date is corect, according to researcher Michel Barrière. Registration allegedly stricken in April 1939. In 1942 the aircraft served with the Free French forces as FL-AUM. Photo from: Gérald Garitan

As a medium day bomber, the Sidestrand did not fit in RAF procurement plans and only No 101 Sqn was equipped with the type. J9769 served with the squadron from April 1931 until it was destroyed in a ground taxiing accident in November 1932. Photo from: Flight

Yes, this is for real. The Coléoptère (beetle) was a tail-sitting VTOL aircraft with an annular or ring wing. The airframe was built by Nord but engine maker Snecma led the project. Test pilot Auguste Morel made eight successful flights without going into horizontal mode, but ejected on the ninth and the aircraft was destroyed. On another photo it wears code Y. Photo from: Safran

The LB-12 was merely the first LB-7 airframe modified with the latest R-1860 Hornet B engines for evalution. This did not last long as it was ready in June 1929 and wrecked on 30 August. It wears Wright Field project number P-555 with an X thrown in. Photo from: US Air Force

Media day at the Parachute Training School at Ringway. Paras left the Whitley through a hole cut in the floor below the tail turret. Photo from: Flight

B-32 production - a huge effort which turned out to be unneeded. Photo from: Lockheed Martin

The first L-188 to be delivered, on 3 January 1959. Photo from: Lockheed

Wearing 'Lockheed Constellation' titles for publicity pictures before delivery to TWA in June 1948. Photo from: Lockheed Martin

The first Electra for Chicago & Southern Air Lines, pictured in front of the Union Air Terminal by Lockheed but the company flew on the AM-8 route between Chicago and New Orleans. NC16021 was reportedly named City of New Orleans. Ended up in British military service as AX766. Photo from: Lockheed Martin

The first Wallace I production aircraft. It was back at Martlesham in May 1933, converted to Wallace II for test flights conducted by Duncan Menzies. Photo from: Imperial War Museums

This aircraft was originally the sole DL-2, a Sirius with a metal fuselage built in Detroit. By April 1931 it was converted to DL-2A Altair with retractable gear, and delivered to the US Army as the Y1C-23, a fast VIP transport often flown by Ira Eaker. Initially it still wore civil reg NR8494. Here it is seen wearing Bolling Field insignia and simplified designation C-23 just behind the cowling, which should date the photo between 1933 and 1935. On some photos the Secretary of War's flag is painted on the other side. Following a gear-up landing it was rebuilt and repainted in light blue in 1935. Condemned to ground instructional airframe following another belly landing with jammed gear in April 1938. Photo from: US Air Force

This is the first B-36, first flown on 8 August 1946. The beast had unprecedented wheel pressure and the XB-36 is seen here fitted with tracked landing gear units which should allow the Peacemaker to bomb Russia from forward polar airfields. The XB-36 did make one flight with this gear before the idea was abandoned. Later the aircraft was used for research into a nuclear-powered B-36 variant. Photo from: US Air Force