“I’m going to make this thing fly – do you hear me? Then I’m going to set it a-fire and never have another thing to do with airplanes.” Clyde Vernon Cessna, 1911 If you’ve ever felt like you were struggling to nail something, spare a thought for Clyde Cessna: He learned to fly at the School of Hard Knocks, and his only instructor was the … Continue reading The Cessna Lesson
Ernest K. Gann (1910 – 1991) Of course Ernest K. Gann should need no introduction to the aviation enthusiast ( – in every pilot, or the pilot in every enthusiast). But time marches on and knowledge falls off, so it’s worth making sure Fate Is The Hunter remains at the top of the ‘must read’ lists. For many years, tattered copies of Fate lived in … Continue reading More than love
Oilman, industrialist, investor, visionary… William T Piper has as much right to claim the title ‘Father of General Aviation’ as anyone. His long insistence on making aircraft that were cheap to buy and easy to fly brought thousands of people into flying. What’s more, his insightful strategy of making learning to fly as cheap as possible is a lesson in GA promotion that’s as instructive … Continue reading The way a pilot feels
Dominic Salvatore Gentile (1920 – 1951) “…But it was not until I was 17 that I finally got into an airplane. At that time I felt I had come to the place where I belonged in the world. The air to me was what being on the ground was to other people. When I felt nervous it pulled me together. Things could get … Continue reading “…where I belonged…
John Moffat You may not have heard of John (‘Jock’) William Charlton Moffat. Not enough people have. On May 26th, 1941, Moffat and his crew of Fairey Swordfish 5C, L9726, flying off HMS Ark Royal in appalling weather, launched the torpedo that crippled the mighty Nazi battleship Bismarck. It was already Britain’s last roll of the dice against Bismarck, and arguably the most pivotal single act … Continue reading That pilot
An insightful, if somewhat raw, quote from Eastern Airlines’ boss Eddie Rickenbacker. Clearly a design connoisseur, the irascible WW1 ace made the comment in 1958, on being shown proposed seat covers for Eastern Airlines’ new Lockheed Electra fleet. And here’s another view of VH-VXB with a bit more info (click to view full sized)… Continue reading Seat Cover
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