BEL GEDDES AIRLINER NUMBER 4 PART 2
NORMAN BEL GEDDES had a grand design evolving between 1929 and 1932: His Airliner Number 4 was envisioned as a flying hotel traveling non-stop between Chicago and London in 42 … Continue reading
BEL GEDDES AIRLINER NUMBER 4 PART 1
IT’S A SIGNIFICANT understatement to call Norman Bel Geddes an industrial designer: His designs were artistic, innovative, eccentric, flamboyant, occasionally bordering on the wacky, hardly just “industrial.” Here in Parts … Continue reading
MR. DUNNE’S FLYING WING—IN 1910! PART 2
JOHN WILLIAM DUNNE was more than a pioneer aviator. His D.5 aeroplane displayed the extreme innovation of a flying wing, almost a century before Northrup’s B-2 stealth bomber. And his … Continue reading
MR. DUNNE’S FLYING WING—IN 1910! PART 1
JUST SEVEN YEARS after the Wright Brothers demonstrated controlled, heavier-than-air, powered flight, British aviator John Dunne designed and piloted his flying wing: The 1910 D.5 was a tailless swept-wing craft … Continue reading
THE DRAMA AIN’T OVER TILL THE CAL PILOT GETS HIS DUE PART 2
YESTERDAY’S TOPIC WAS pioneer aviator John J. Montgomery’s demonstration of controlled flight of a heavier-than-air craft. The year was 1883, nine years before the Wright Brothers opened their bicycle shop, … Continue reading
THE DRAMA AIN’T OVER TILL THE CAL PILOT GETS HIS DUE PART 1
AWHILE BACK I viewed Gallant Journey, 1946, on “Turner Classic Movies.” It was a pleasant enough flick, starring Glenn Ford as California aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery. Little did I … Continue reading
CITIES FROM THE AIR
FLIGHT GIVES US a unique perspective of cities, their configurations, and special attractions. Here are several cities from the air, gleaned from a book at the nexus of two genres, … Continue reading
FLYING THE OISEAU BLEU OF HAPPINESS PART 2
YESTERDAY PART 1 FOCUSED on the actual Farman F.180 Oiseau Bleu (Bluebird) and its Paris/London service in the 1920s and 1930s. In Part 2 today, my GMax modeling of the … Continue reading
FLYING THE OISEAU BLEU OF HAPPINESS PART 1
SIGHTING A BLUEBIRD is a symbol of future joy and happiness. And so it was for the Freres Farman, Richard, Henri, and Maurice. These Farman brothers, Paris-born of English parents, … Continue reading
NAPIER-HESTON RACER—IN SEARCH OF A RECORD
DESPITE INNOVATIVE DESIGN, plenteous funding, and meticulous fabrication, the 1940 Napier-Heston Racer failed to fulfill its purpose of setting a World Air Speed Record. The onset of World War II … Continue reading
