B&W: THE FIRST BOEING
WILLIAM E. BOEING was a prominent Seattle timber executive, land owner, and yachtsman. His friend Conrad Westervelt was a U.S. Naval officer assigned to a Seattle shipyard. Like lots of … Continue reading
AN AEROPLANE FOR EVERYMAN—THE AUSTIN WHIPPET, PART 2
MAYBE A British Great War pilot was contemplating conversion of the back garden potting shed into an aeroplane hangar for his Austin Whippet. Or maybe not. It was 1919 and … Continue reading
AN AEROPLANE FOR EVERYMAN—THE AUSTIN WHIPPET, PART 1
THE AUSTIN Whippet aeroplane was going to satisfy peacetime flying urges of Britain’s Great War pilots, just as the Austin Seven motor car would fulfill road-going aspirations of the post-war … Continue reading
ROBERTS 6X AEROPLANE ENGINE
THE ROBERTS Motor Company of Sandusky, Ohio, manufactured advanced aircraft engines in the early part of the last century. Indeed, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, more … Continue reading
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
