Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

RACING PEUGEOTS, 1912–1913 PART 1

WHAT WITH Peugeot’s scheduled return to the U.S. market, let’s celebrate this French automaker’s racing heritage. Highly recommended sources: “The Racing Peugeots, 1912–1914,” Profile No. 73, by William Court, in … Continue reading

May 23, 2019 · Leave a comment

CATS ARE SOCIALLY SMART—BUT ONLY IF THEY CHOOSE TO BE

SCIENTISTS ARE CONFIRMING what cat fanciers have suspected all along: Cats are just as smart as dogs. But I can imagine the cat saying, “As if I care…..” David Grimm’s … Continue reading

May 22, 2019 · Leave a comment

CODY’S BAA 1—GREAT BRITAIN’S FIRST TO FLY PART 2

SAMUEL F. CODY ENJOYED development work on his British Army Aeroplane No. 1. And I’ve enjoyed GMax/Microsoft Flight Simulator renderings of his developments. Here in Part 2, my sources expand … Continue reading

May 20, 2019 · Leave a comment

CODY’S BAA 1—GREAT BRITAIN’S FIRST TO FLY PART 1

THE FIRST RECOGNIZED POWERED, heavier-than-air, controlled, sustained flight in the United Kingdom was accomplished by Samuel F. Cody’s British Army Aeroplane No. 1 on October 16, 1908. As with many … Continue reading

May 19, 2019 · 2 Comments

HURRAH FOR PIGEONS!

PIGEONS HAVE made their mark here at SimanaitisSays, in the figurative sense, that is. One pigeon was cited as Nikola Tesla’s close friend: Tesla was quoted as saying, “I loved … Continue reading

May 18, 2019 · Leave a comment

KENNEDY, DEGAULLE, SURE. BUT WHAT ABOUT LAMBERT, O’HARE, AND CYRIL E. KING?

THIS TOPIC STARTED when I read that Listerine tycoon Albert Bond Lambert was also known as St. Louis’s No. 1 aviation enthusiast; and hence today STL is St. Louis Lambert … Continue reading

May 17, 2019 · Leave a comment

ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM I OWNERS—UNIQUE BLOKES, EVERY ONE

THE 1925 NEW PHANTOM was Rolls-Royce’s second 40/50 model, the first 40/50 coming to be known as the Silver Ghost after its 1907 demonstrator example. There have been successive Phantoms … Continue reading

May 16, 2019 · 1 Comment

MEDIEVAL STUDIES HIJACKED

EVEN MEDIEVAL STUDIES has been caught up in a commentary involving our contentious times. Jennifer Schuessler reports “Medieval Scholars Joust with White Nationalists. And One Another,” in The New York … Continue reading

May 15, 2019 · Leave a comment

KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 PART 2

TWO AMERICAN cultural heroes, author James Agee and composer Samuel Barber, and their Knoxville: Summer of 1915 were celebrated yesterday in Part 1. Today, we continue with Chris Myers’ notes … Continue reading

May 14, 2019 · Leave a comment

KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 PART 1

THERE’S A GENTLE affirmation of life in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a piece for voice and orchestra that this composer called a “lyric rhapsody.” Lyrics of this 1947 … Continue reading

May 13, 2019 · Leave a comment