ROTARY ENGINES: HOLD THE CRANK, SPIN THE REST
I’M TALKING about a rotary engine in the traditional sense, its crankshaft firmly fixed to the frame, its engine block with radially aligned cylinders spinning around and producing power. (By … Continue reading
MILES AIRCRAFT LTD AND ITS M.57 AEROVAN
THE BRITISH Miles Aircraft Ltd was a family business, and what a family it was: See http://wp.me/p2ETap-24M. The varied talents of F.G. Miles, his wife Blossom and his brother George … Continue reading
BLOSSOM MILES—AIRCRAFT DESIGNER
I WAS researching the Miles M.57 Aerovan, but got sidetracked by romance. Maybe you’ll share my enthusiasm for F.G. Miles and his wife Blossom as well as their aircraft, about … Continue reading
JUNKERS G-38
Passengers in today’s jumbo jets travel encapsulated in alloy tubes, but those in the 1930’s Junkers G-38 had more interesting choices: Eleven sat in upper or lower levels, four had … Continue reading
MY HOME AIR SPACE: ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
IN REAL life and on my flight simulator, my home field is John Wayne Airport, officially SNA as in Santa Ana, California. (Its KSNA designation by the International Civil Aviation … Continue reading
REVE BLEU BUGATTI 100P AT THE MULLIN
COMMISSIONED BY Ettore Bugatti and designed by Belgian engineer Louis de Monge, the Bugatti 100P was considerably advanced in its 1937 conception. Features of the aircraft included a sandwich construction … Continue reading
NEW ZEALANDER RICHARD PEARSE—FIRST TO FLY?
WHO WAS the first person to fly? Do balloonists count? What about piloting a glider? Was it Icarus? Orville or Wilber Wright? And what about New Zealander Richard Pearse? There’s evidence … Continue reading
LESHER TEAL
ED LESHER was a can-do kind of guy. A professor of aeronautical engineering, he used breaks in his academic career to perform design work at Douglas, Stinson and Convair Aircraft. … Continue reading
FRANZ KAFKA AND THE BRESCIA AIR SHOW
FRANZ KAFKA is recognized as one of the most influential writers of the 20th Century—and certainly one of the more complex. He’s rarely thought of as a travel writer, and … Continue reading
CELEBRATING EUGENE BULLARD
THERE WERE two black pilots in World War I, both grandchildren of slaves, one on each side of the conflict. Ahmet Ali (Çelikten), of Somali Rumanian descent, served in the … Continue reading
