SPITFIRE FLYING, SELF-TAUGHT
I WAS SORTING through one thing and another when I came upon the British Air Ministry’s 1943 Air Publication 1565K, Spitfire F XII Pilot’s Notes. The Supermarine Spitfire single-seat fighter … Continue reading
AVIATION SELLS!
EARLY AVIATION GENERATED entirely new ventures. It also gave existing businesses a piece of the action, sometimes only indirectly. Here’s a sample of “Aviation Sells!” One of the oddest gizmos … Continue reading
BASSÉ & SELVE AERO ENGINE
ON MAY 31, 1918, a German Rumpler two-seat aircraft was shot down in combat. The Rumpler’s six-cylinder Bassé & Selve engine was retrieved by British Intelligence and subjected to intensive … Continue reading
A FAMILY AFFAIR IN KIWI AVIATION
FOR THE WALSH siblings of Auckland, New Zealand, early aviation was very much a family affair. Unlike fellow Kiwi Richard Pearse, they didn’t have to devise everything (including spark plugs!) … Continue reading
AVIATION MARKETING 101: 1911–1913
THE INTERNET IS often likened to the Wild West because of its unruly activities, but today’s internet is fairly orderly in comparison to the early days of aviation. I’ve already … Continue reading
SUPPORTERS RUN AMOK AFTER POL LOSES ELECTION
SO THERE’S THIS rough-talking politician. He has run an innovative campaign, even to dropping leaflets from an airplane and landing in the fields to speak to voters. He loses the … Continue reading
EARLY AVIATION MOVIES
I WAS BROWSING in Aeroplane (or Flying machine) Scrap Book Number 3 1911-1941 and read an ad for an early aviation flick, The Air Mail, 1925. This got me wondering … Continue reading
TONY’S STRAIGHT SHOOTER
THE FOKKER EINDECKER changed the tactics of aerial combat midway through World War I. Aeroplanes were initially used exclusively for observation, until an observer took a potshot at an enemy … Continue reading
BOEING B-9: 1931 HIGH TECH
THE NAME “BOEING” conjures up an image of the majestic 747 airliner or the mighty B-17 Flying Fortress and war-ending B-29 Superfortress. In fact, though, Boeing made its early reputation … Continue reading
CIRCUIT OF BRITAIN AIR RACE—1911
THE WORDS Brooklands and Brighton resonate today with historic motorsports: the wonderful Brooklands Museum and the annual London-to-Brighton Run for veteran cars. Back in 1911, these two locales were only … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 