Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Author Archives: simanaitissays

SIMANAITIS SAYS, SON OF THE SEQUEL

THIS BEGINS the fourth year of SimanaitisSays.com. Many thanks to those who have made its composition so very satisfying. Today I offer a selection of past items and accompanying videos … Continue reading

August 13, 2015 · 5 Comments

G.N. ADVENTURING

HENRY RONALD Godfrey and Archie Frazer-Nash were car nuts in the Edwardian era. Like many enthusiasts circa 1910, they hankered for personal transportation offering more sociability and better weather protection … Continue reading

August 12, 2015 · Leave a comment

THANKS FOR THE LIFT, GOODYEAR!

THE GOODYEAR blimp Spirit of America is being retired on Friday, August 15, 2015. She and The Spirit of Innovation, her Eastern U.S. sibling, are being replaced by the next … Continue reading

August 11, 2015 · 2 Comments

I DON’T EVER GO THERE

LIKE MANY people, I reside on Main Street, Anytown, U.S.A. (You know the deal: My name is Occupant.) Though my life has been blessed with adventurous travel, there are other … Continue reading

August 9, 2015 · 2 Comments

I’VE GOT (MORE THAN) ONE LITTLE LIST

LEPORELLO’S LIST in Mozart’s Don Giovanni got me thinking about other lists of people. Who are they? How did they get on the list? This clearly calls for some research, … Continue reading

August 8, 2015 · Leave a comment

BRISTOL 450—FROM WIND TUNNEL TO STICKY-TAPE

THE BRISTOL 450 legacy sends something of a mixed message of art versus science. Twice victorious in their class at Le Mans in the mid-1950s, the Bristol 450s evolved through … Continue reading

August 7, 2015 · 1 Comment

PUT IT IN THE MONITOR-TOP

“IT IS almost like having an Aladdin’s lamp,” the manual read, “and not knowing the right way to rub it.” The year was 1927; the event was introduction of the … Continue reading

August 6, 2015 · 2 Comments

MYSTERIOUS MALAY MAMMAL SHOWS ITS SPOTS

THE LEOPARD, Panthera pardus, is found from Russia’s frozen north to southern Africa’s scorching Kalahari Desert. It is the world’s most widely distributed large cat as well as a keystone … Continue reading

August 5, 2015 · 3 Comments

EARLY SEA-GOING AVIATION

SAMUEL PIERPONT Langley demonstrated that his 1896 Aërodrome No. 5, an unpiloted model aircraft, could be spring-catapulted aloft from a boat. Two later attempts with a larger version tossed both … Continue reading

August 4, 2015 · Leave a comment

A GRAPHIC NOVEL FROM 1930

THE MODERN term “graphic novel,” especially Japanese manga, conjures up vibrant images of mayhem, graphic in both the pictorial sense and also in explicitness. I offer here a historical counterexample, … Continue reading

August 2, 2015 · 1 Comment