THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE PART 1
BRAZILIAN ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT (the “=,” his stylized choice) was a Deutsch-Prize-winning balloonist (1901) who went on to demonstrate his 14 bis aeroplane on October 23, 1906 before a large crowd … Continue reading
AN OLD FRIEND, A NEW GMAX PROJECT
THE CONSOLIDATED PBY CATALINA is an old friend at SimanaitisSays. In fact, it made an appearance here in “Twenty-six Miles Across the Sea, a PBY Has Transported Me.” Actually, I … Continue reading
RUM-RUNNERS OF THE AIR PART 2
YESTERDAY, A 100-YEAR-OLD REPORT from The New York Times described “Flyers Who Ply Their Contraband Trade on Our Landward Borders and Our Coasts.” What writer Howard Mingos had in mind … Continue reading
RUM-RUNNERS OF THE AIR PART 1
THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION and its enforcing Volstead Act, 1919, prohibited the manufacture and sales of alcoholic beverages. Note, however, it didn’t outlaw the possession or consumption of … Continue reading
EARLY FLIGHT AND THE FEAR THEREOF
BACK WHEN I WAS ACCUMULATING aviation books (I can’t call this hodgepodge a “collection”), I tended to limit my acquisitions to pre-1914 civilian. Imagine my excitement upon adding Pioneer Aircraft … Continue reading
AMONG THE FIRST FLYING BOATS: DENHAUT’S OFFSPRING
THE FIRST HYDRO-AEROPLANE COMPETITION took place in Monaco in March 1912; the first Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, the Schneider Cup, came a year later. However, these races favored conventional … Continue reading
EARLY AIR MAIL SNAFUS PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE CAUGHT UP WITH the latest valuation of a rare “Inverted Jenny” air mail stamp. We also began the tale of Lieutenant George Boyle helping to inaugurate air mail … Continue reading
EARLY AIR MAIL SNAFUS PART 1
IT’S INTERESTING ENOUGH that a philatelic screwup complicated early U.S. air mail, so too did prenup nepotism. Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits especially focusing … Continue reading
HÉLÈNE DUTRIEU—AVIATRIX AND MORE
I FIRST LEARNED ABOUT HÉLÈNE DUTRIEU from my Minute Epics of Flight, a book that begins with ancient Babylon and Etana’s flight on the back of an eagle and brings … Continue reading
AIRCRAFT CUTAWAYS—A VARIETY OF STYLES
THE PURPOSE OF A CUTAWAY, of course, is to reveal inner aspects of something by selectively omitting outer elements. The intent, though, depends on the audience: Is it a technical … Continue reading
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