FLYING BAVARIANS
ONE OF the world’s most familiar automakers traces its heritage to Bavaria and to aviation. However, BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke, wasn’t originally the company’s name. And there was good reason … Continue reading
ANDREW DEWAR’S FLYING ORIGAMI
TO CALL Andrew Dewar’s designs merely paper airplanes is a disservice to the planes and to this Canadian-born librarian residing in Japan. The airplanes are flying examples of origami art. … Continue reading
TWO UNABASHEDLY NAUTICAL FLYING BOATS
THE BRITISH Supermarine Sea Eagle and Walrus, first flown in 1923 and 1936, respectively, were both flying boats with the emphasis on the second word. Each looked strikingly nautical. However, … Continue reading
CURTISS-WRIGHT CONDOR—AIRLINER, BOMBER, POLAR EXPLORER
I ADMIRE the pugnacious lines of the Curtiss-Wright Condor T-32, a biplane transport designed in 1932 that continued in service well into the 1950s. It carried Admiral Richard Byrd on … Continue reading
AIRCRAFT DEICING/ANTI-ICING TIDBITS
TEMPERATURES TODAY in a few Southern California locales may hit three digits (Fahrenheit, thankfully). So I thought some tidbits about aircraft deicing and anti-icing might be cool. Maybe you’re familiar … Continue reading
THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE UNIVERSE, 1914
WHAT A glorious time it must have been. Airplanes were barely a decade old, cars only a little more familiar. Both were novelties that people loved to watch. Race driver … Continue reading
AVIATION ART SOARING TO THE ABSTRACT
IT DIDN’T take long for art to discover aviation as a subject. A Wright Flyer had already appeared in Henri Rousseau’s Les Pêcheurs à la ligne avec aeroplane less than … Continue reading
SLEEVE VALVES ALOFT
BRISTOL’S HERCULES rivals the Rolls-Royce Merlin as the most important British aircraft engine of World War II. The Merlin was a liquid-cooled V-12 with conventional poppet valves, four per cylinder, … Continue reading
FLYING IN CIRCLES, LITERALLY
THE LORE of flying saucers is rich, and in fact there have been a few real aircraft with saucer-shape wings. Technically, such a wing is said to have a low … Continue reading
THANKS FOR THE LIFT, GOODYEAR!
THE GOODYEAR blimp Spirit of America is being retired on Friday, August 15, 2015. She and The Spirit of Innovation, her Eastern U.S. sibling, are being replaced by the next … Continue reading
