FORD DEALER STARTS OWN AIRLINE
IT SEEMS improbable today, but a car dealer starting his own airline was a sound business model back in 1927. The country was abuzz with Lucky Lindy’s transatlantic solo, Jack … Continue reading
HAVEN’T I SEEN THAT AIRCRAFT SOMEWHERE BEFORE?
IF IMITATION IS the most sincere form of flattery, entrepreneurs of the People’s Republic of China are the world’s greatest sycophants. Back in 2012 at SimanaitisSays, I wrote “Software Pirating—Big … Continue reading
BESSIE RAICHE, FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN TO FLY—AND RATHER MORE
DID BESSIE Raiche’s solo flight on September 16, 1910, make her the world’s first female pilot? Uh, no. Frenchwoman Raymonde de Laroche had already piloted a Voisin aeroplane on October … Continue reading
MARTIN M-130 SWEETHEART PIN
WIFE DOTTIE was sorting antiques swap meet jewelry treasures and came upon a piece of aircraft memorabilia with lots of interesting history. Her Martin M-130 crafted in sterling silver is … Continue reading
CHINA AIR—THE MIDDLE YEARS OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
BY 1925, CHINA had a good number of aircraft, most imported, though a few of its own manufacture. Following the 1912 demise of the Qing imperial dynasty, Sun Yat-sen served … Continue reading
CHINA IN THE AIR—THE EARLY YEARS
PRINCE TSI TAO and Y.L. Lee are the only Chinese aviators listed in Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, 1913. In my next Jane’s, six years later, Jane’s All the World’s … Continue reading
THE GLIDER THAT HELPED TAKE NORMANDY
LET’S CELEBRATE the Waco CG-4A Hadrian glider, first flown 75 years ago. This U.S. glider’s delivery of troops and armament was part of the Allied invasions of Sicily, Normandy, the … Continue reading
BLACKBURN B.20: FLOATPLANE? FLYING BOAT?
HERE’S A DESIGN that looks particularly unorthodox, only, guess what, it does make sense. The Blackburn B.20, a British aircraft at the beginning of World War II, was a flying … Continue reading
PEACEMAKER LORE
TIMING: IT’S IMPORTANT in peace as well as in war. Ironically, one of the latter’s weapons of mass destruction has the name Peacemaker, and this aircraft is an interesting example of … Continue reading
AERO BASE MICROWING BLÉRIOT XI
IT’S SORT OF Christmas early: The instructions read “Not Suitable Under 15 Years of Age. Tools Recommended: Modelling Knife, Tweezers, Instant Glue.” They neglected to add “Helpful To Have The … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 