PORTSMOUTH AEROCAR, PART 2
THE BEAUTY OF a good hobby is never knowing where it might lead. And so it is with my GMax/Microsoft Flight Simulator hobby and the Portsmouth Aerocar. Yesterday I offered a … Continue reading
PORTSMOUTH AEROCAR, PART 1
THIS IS a tale of post-World War II aviation optimism, the independence of India and, seven decades later, serendipity of the name Portsmouth in researching my GMax/Flight Simulator hobby. This … Continue reading
THE POTENCY OF COLOR
IT WAS the color scheme that attracted me to the Vulcan American Moth. Its photograph in Classic Airplanes of the Thirties: Aircraft of the Roaring Twenties (Flight, Its First Seventy-Five … Continue reading
DOUGLAS AD SKYRAIDER—TOO GOOD TO RETIRE
THERE ARE SOME aircraft so good that they defy retirement. Boeing’s B-52 Stratofortress and 747 wide-body airliner come to mind, these continuing in service since 1955 and 1969, respectively. Another … Continue reading
THE FLYING MONTEES
IT WAS A FABULOUS time for aviation, the 1920s. Airplanes had proved their mettle in World War I. Plenty of these craft were now surplus, offering inexpensive means for the … Continue reading
CAUDRON G.3 TECHNICALITIES
I UNDERRATED technical nuances of René Caudron’s G.3, the aeroplane flown by Frenchwoman Adrienne Bolland in her 1921 conquest of the Andes. Describing the G.3, I termed it “of the … Continue reading
ANDRÉ DUBONNET, WEALTH AND TALENT WELL SPENT
ANDRÉ DUBONNET is exemplary of inherited money put to good use. His wealth came from his father’s inventing the aperitif bearing the family name. Andre didn’t have to work, yet … Continue reading
AROUND THE WORLD ON 20 HP—IN 1928
FRIEDRICH KARL Baron Koenig von und zu Warthausen was keen on winning the Hindenburg Cup in 1928. Established that year by President Paul von Hindenburg of the German Weimar Republic, … Continue reading
ADRIENNE BOLLAND—QUEEN OF THE ANDES
IN LADY MARY Crawley’s defending 1920s women’s lib, she mentions that Adrienne Bolland had flown the Andes. [Correction, February 6, 2016: It was actually her sister Edith, prior to her … Continue reading
RUTH LAW—NOT JUST A RECORD-SETTING AVIATRIX
WHEN PIONEER aviatrix Ruth Law Oliver sought to fly from Chicago to New York in 1916, she approached Glenn Curtiss to buy an aircraft capable of traveling such a distance. … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 