Aircraft Models

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    The MC 72. first flew on September 10, 1931. Immediately after take-off, there were two engine backfires and then the entire plane exploded.  The engineer discovered that the backfiring was caused by air turbulence related to the speed of the plane.  It was fixed and the engine was increased to 2850 HP.  On October 23, 1933 pilot Francesco Agello tries for a new speed record.  Over four passes, he hit the amazing speed of 709 km/h and comes close to breaking the sound barrier.  He set a record that has never been beaten by any seaplane with piston engine.  On August 7, 1961 Russian pilot Nicolaļ Andrievski finally broke the seaplane speed record, but he was flying a jet.