MR. DUNNE’S FLYING WING—IN 1910! PART 1
JUST SEVEN YEARS after the Wright Brothers demonstrated controlled, heavier-than-air, powered flight, British aviator John Dunne designed and piloted his flying wing: The 1910 D.5 was a tailless swept-wing craft … Continue reading
THE DRAMA AIN’T OVER TILL THE CAL PILOT GETS HIS DUE PART 2
YESTERDAY’S TOPIC WAS pioneer aviator John J. Montgomery’s demonstration of controlled flight of a heavier-than-air craft. The year was 1883, nine years before the Wright Brothers opened their bicycle shop, … Continue reading
THE DRAMA AIN’T OVER TILL THE CAL PILOT GETS HIS DUE PART 1
AWHILE BACK I viewed Gallant Journey, 1946, on “Turner Classic Movies.” It was a pleasant enough flick, starring Glenn Ford as California aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery. Little did I … Continue reading
CITIES FROM THE AIR
FLIGHT GIVES US a unique perspective of cities, their configurations, and special attractions. Here are several cities from the air, gleaned from a book at the nexus of two genres, … Continue reading
FLYING THE OISEAU BLEU OF HAPPINESS PART 2
YESTERDAY PART 1 FOCUSED on the actual Farman F.180 Oiseau Bleu (Bluebird) and its Paris/London service in the 1920s and 1930s. In Part 2 today, my GMax modeling of the … Continue reading
FLYING THE OISEAU BLEU OF HAPPINESS PART 1
SIGHTING A BLUEBIRD is a symbol of future joy and happiness. And so it was for the Freres Farman, Richard, Henri, and Maurice. These Farman brothers, Paris-born of English parents, … Continue reading
NAPIER-HESTON RACER—IN SEARCH OF A RECORD
DESPITE INNOVATIVE DESIGN, plenteous funding, and meticulous fabrication, the 1940 Napier-Heston Racer failed to fulfill its purpose of setting a World Air Speed Record. The onset of World War II … Continue reading
BESSIE COLEMAN—A COURAGEOUS WOMAN OF SOARING AMBITION PART 2
HERE’S A WOMAN who rose from a http://wp.me/p2ETap-az9 sharecropper family to being called “the world’s greatest woman flier” in 1922. Today in Part 2, we find Bessie returning to the … Continue reading
BESSIE COLEMAN—A COURAGEOUS WOMAN OF SOARING AMBITION PART 1
MORE THAN 100 years ago, a young woman heard about pioneer aviatrix Harriet Quimby and thought flying might be fun for her too. The young woman had two challenges: her … Continue reading
THE CURTISS AEROPLANE CO. 1912–1913
A CURTISS BROCHURE describes the aviation state of the art for 1912–1913: “The aeroplane, having progressed from the experimental to the practical stage, and, by means of aviation meetings and … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 