Marie Marvingt In March 1915, an injured pilot of the French Aéronautique Militaire was transported to a field hospital behind Verdun, 200km east of Paris. There, one of his nurses learned he had been the only pilot available to fly an important bombing mission. Within days, that nurse would become history’s first female combat pilot. No ordinary nurse This was still the early days of … Continue reading Eagle & dove
After our epic 1925 trip from Adelaide to Sydney and back (and apologies for the long interlude) it’s time to meet the man behind the Larkin Aircraft Supply Co or LASCO, and Australian Aerial Services Limited. Herbert ‘Jimmy’ Larkin Like WW1 flyers from all over the world, the Australian soldiers who came home as aviators were determined to create careers in their new-found element. But … Continue reading Going by air (Part 4)
We’ve been travelling with a reporter from the Adelaide Register newspaper, on the nascent Australian Aerial Services airmail flight between Adelaide and Sydney – a direct distance of some 630 nautical miles. (As a comparison, London to Paris is 184 nm, New York to Albany is 117 nm, and L.A. to San Francisco is 292 nm.) The land along the route was slowly being occupied, … Continue reading Going by air (Part 3)
In Part One a reporter from the Adelaide Register newspaper joined the Australian Aerial Services airmail service between Adelaide and Sydney in June 1925. The service was exactly a year old at the time – having started in June 1924 as the first inter-state airmail service in Australia, the first between major cities, and the first in the relatively populous southeast. When we finished last time, … Continue reading Going by air (Part 2)
Combat Over The Trenches Oswald Watt, Aviation Pioneer by Chris Clark Published by Pen & Sword Aviation, ISBN 978 1 52671 501 2 Originally published in Australia as The High Life of Oswald Watt; Australia’s First Military Pilot (Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd) this Pen & Sword reprint brings a hugely important Australian aviator to the world stage. And, while the new title Combat Over … Continue reading Oswald Watt
Fallen Eagles By Norman Franks ISBN 978 1 47387 996 6 A book should be about the size of an airport terminal. Not too rudimentary, and not too overblown with distractions either – but still big enough to deliver all the anticipation, preparation, challenge and satisfaction you’d expect for your planned flight. That’s not how this one works though. Rather than take us from the … Continue reading 99 Ways To Die
The Flying Adventures of Jessie Keith ‘Chubbie’ Miller The Southern Hemisphere’s First International Aviatrix by Chrystopher J Spicer ISBN 978 1 4766 6531 3 Even before I started it, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this book. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. In almost every sense, The Flying Adventures of Jessie Keith ‘Chubbie’ Miller is the essential companion to Bill Lancaster: The Final … Continue reading Significant other
War Birds: The Diary of a Great War Pilot Elliott White Springs Annotated by Lieutenant Horace Fulford. Introduced by Mark Hillier. Published by Frontline Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-47387-959-1 I imagine most Great War aviation enthusiasts are more or less familiar with Elliott White Springs’ War Birds – Diary of an Unknown Aviator. If it isn’t actually out of copyright, the internet is doing a grand … Continue reading Dying to fly
Malloch’s Spitfire by Nick Meikle ISBN 978-1-61200-252-1 In as much as this review is, literally I guess, a bookend for airscape’s Spitfire Month, I hope by now you have a burning passion for one of history’s greatest fighter aircraft. And assuming you have, let me begin by recommending Malloch’s Spitfire as a must-have book – even a foundation one – for your Spitfire library. It’s … Continue reading In memory of an F.22
Luftwaffe Fighter Force The View From The Cockpit Edited by David C. Isby We’re extremely lucky, these days, to live in an age when former enemies can be be widely reconciled, respected and remembered for the honour of their service. Among other things, it means we can read countless thrilling memoirs by the aerial warriors we want to study and admire. But it wasn’t always … Continue reading Luftwaffe Fighter Force
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