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Category Archives: Vintage Aero

THE AIRCRAFT DRAWINGS OF DOUGLAS ROLFE PART 1

RECENTLY I WAS IDLY LEAFING through Douglas Rolfe’s Airplanes of the World when I realized how many of my GMax projects had been rendered in Rolfe’s illustrations. Indeed, his book … Continue reading →

May 15, 2022 · 4 Comments

AVIATION HIGHLIGHTS—A CENTURY AGO

AVIATION EXPANDED OVER land and sea in 1922. Here are tidbits of 100 years ago gleaned from Chronicle of Aviation, together with my usual Internet sleuthing. Paris and East. The … Continue reading →

April 5, 2022 · 1 Comment

PIERRE PRIER—FIRST NONSTOP LONDON/PARIS PART 2

YESTERDAY IN PART 1, my perusal of The Aeroplane magazine, July 28, 1950, introduced me to pioneer aviator Pierre Prier. In 1911, he was the first to fly nonstop from … Continue reading →

March 12, 2022 · Leave a comment

PIERRE PRIER—FIRST NON-STOP LONDON/PARIS PART 1

PIERRE PRIER’S APRIL 19, 1911, FLIGHT was the first non-stop from London to Paris. I’ve only recently learned of the achievement; this, in reading a 70-year-old magazine. Here, in Parts … Continue reading →

March 11, 2022 · 1 Comment

AIRWAYS OF AMERICA—1933 PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE FOLLOWED a 1933 airways route from New York to San Francisco, based on A.K. Loebeck’s book Airways of America Guidebook No. 1 United Air Lines. Here in Part … Continue reading →

February 24, 2022 · 1 Comment

AIRWAYS OF AMERICA—1933 PART 1

“THE SENSATION OF FLYING is not what most people imagine…. There is perfect calmness, possibly a feeling of exhilaration, never one of fear.” This, from cartographer and artist Armin K. … Continue reading →

February 23, 2022 · Leave a comment

TUPOLEV’S SST PART 2

YESTERDAY’S PART 1 discussed Russian aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev’s various responses to Soviet “requests.” A most recent one involved Supersonic Transport competition between Russia and the West. Today in Part … Continue reading →

November 26, 2021 · Leave a comment

TUPOLEV’S SST PART 1

RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT DESIGNER Andrei Tupolev was familiar with Soviet “requests.” His 1932 ANT-20 Maksim Gorki was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this Russian writer’s first publication. This vast aircraft’s … Continue reading →

November 25, 2021 · Leave a comment

B.C. HUCKS’ MARVELOUS STARTER

THE IMAGE OF firing up a vintage aeroplane is embedded in my mind: An intrepid fellow manually turns the propeller through a couple of rotations. The pilot yells  “Contact!” The … Continue reading →

November 13, 2021 · 1 Comment

RECALLING THE MARTIN AM MAULER

A RECENT REFERENCE to control-line aircraft modeling here at SimanaitisSays evoked strikingly similar memories from reader Bob Storck. As a kid, he too enjoyed carrier event with model Navy aircraft … Continue reading →

November 1, 2021 · Leave a comment