PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 9/9/2025 World War II’s End (This story was intended to be published last week, Sept. 2nd) Today marks 80 years and one week to the day of World War II’s official end. On September 2...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 9/2/2025 Plane of the Week: Stipa-Caproni The Stipa-Caproni looks somewhat like a bathtub that flies. Or, more accurately, a bathtub on top of a massive, hollow barrel on it that flies. Developed in the...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 8/26/2025 Plane of the Week: The Tacit Blue Public Domain When you think of stealth planes, you typically think of round, sleek craft with smooth angles and polished looks. But what if there was a pl...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 8/19/2025 Plane of the Week: The Convair Sea Dart The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a fascinating seaplane that had a lot of firsts. It was the first seaplane to break the sound barrier, the first delta-w...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 8/12/2025 Plane of the Week: The XF-84 Thunderscreech The Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech, as its intimidating name suggests, wasn't just loud—it was the most ear-splitting aircraft ever produce...
Registration is open for the next Dogfight Chess Tournament! Join this EPIC action on the chessboard, with White flying the F-35 (2 pawns, 2 knights, 3 bishops, 2 rooks, King, 1 queen) and Black flying a sleek, futuristic plane (3 queens, 2 rooks,...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 8/5/2025 Plane of the Week: The Sikorsky S-72 The Sikorsky S-72 looked like a strange cross between a Blackhawk helicopter and an A-10. Funded by DARPA for the U.S. Army and NASA, the S-72 was int...
By a close tie, members CHESSERJAMA and Emychock will share the glory of being the first riddle challenge winners. Congratulations!
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 7/29/2025 Plane of the Week: The Ames-Dryden AD-1 The Ames-Dryden AD-1 was a truly revolutionary aircraft that tested an incredible concept: its entire wing could pivot in flight, rotating up to 60 d...
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 7/24/2025 Plane of the Week: The Spruce Goose The Howard Hughes H-4 Hercules, famously known as the "Spruce Goose," was the world's largest seaplane. Despite its nickname, this massive aircraft, desi...
We asked, you responded! Planes & Chess will be switching their plane factsheet rotation from daily to weekly. The Plane of the Week will come in a weekly newsletter that also includes chess news, gambits, most active member, and a weekly ridd...
The Grumman X-29 was a truly radical aircraft, designed to test a concept that went against the very grain of conventional aeronautical engineering: a forward-swept wing. While forward-swept wings had been tried before, they were notoriously unsta...
The B-21 Raider is, in essence, the younger brother of the B-2 Spirit. While significantly smaller, the newer B-21 is the most advanced bomber ever produced. It can fly both manned and unmanned missions. With its advanced stealth features that mak...
The massive B-2 Spirit is probably one of the most iconic bombers ever made. With its sleek flying wing fuselage and incredible stealth capabilities, the B-2 can carry up to 40,000 lbs of bombs and munitions and drop them deep over enemy territory...
The Eurofighter Typhoon is an iconic fighter aircraft developed by Eurofighter. With its distinct canards, delta wing, and sleek shape, the Typhoon has become an icon of European aviation development. It is primarily operated by nine countries in ...
The X-48 was an experimental UAV aircraft used by NASA to demonstrate a blended-wing body aircraft. A blended-wing body improves efficiency and aerodynamics by reducing drag. Powered by 3 model aircraft turbojet engines, the X-48 flew numerous fli...
Polling in our admin poll is now officially closed as of yesterday! Here's what has been decided: 1. The Club's official name will be changed from Planes And Chess to Planes & Chess. However, due to site constraints, the club name seen by...
By a unanimous vote in our admin poll, Planes And Chess will now be known as Planes & Chess for a more concise name. Unfortunately the club name on the homepage will not be updated because special characters are not allowed in the name.
Planes and Chess is playing Dogfight Chess against GM Oogum’s Personal Club! Good luck!
We will now show airliners. eg:ryanair, British airways, etc. Stay tuned!
The Avro (later Hawker Siddeley) Vulcan was a long-range bomber operated by the Royal Air Force. With a futuristic delta wing design, jet engines, and no tail, the Vulcan soon found a nickname, the "tin triangle". The Vulcan was the aircraft taske...
The Grumman J2F "Duck" was an amphibious biplane used by the United States Armed Forces from 1930 to around 1945. It was used primarily for search and rescue and utility. It consisted of a typical, single engine biplane on a large float. It was eq...
The Lockheed U-2 is one of the most iconic and secretive aircraft in history, synonymous with high-altitude reconnaissance. Designed by the legendary Kelly Johnson and his Skunk Works team in the mid-1950s, th...
The Bell X-22 was a strange aircraft meant to demonstrate VTOL (vertical takeoff/landing) capabilities. With four swiveling propellers that can be more vertical for takeoff and loitering and more horizontal for flight, it was one of the first airc...
