Seattle centennial
In case you didn’t know, Boeing is turning 100 in 2016, and the big plane maker is already lighting up the figurative birthday candles. That seemed like a perfect excuse to share this wonderful panorama of Boeing’s Wing Room, taken on August 26th, 1922 – a Saturday, as it happens – which I’ve been sitting on for well over a year. Make sure you click … Continue reading Seattle centennial
Back to looking forward
I’m delighted to share a couple of fantastic film clips from 1960s Britain with you. Shot on glowing 35mm Eastmancolor film, the Rank Organisation’s Look At Life series was designed as a lighter replacement for traditional cinema newsreels, as TV gave people easier access to visual news. Flying to work From 1959 to 1969, Look At Life crews roamed the UK (and beyond) documenting lifestyles, … Continue reading Back to looking forward
Secrets of the Sea Mosquito
Last week, The People’s Mosquito shared a video of their patron, the irreplaceable Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown, discussing his role in testing the de Havilland Mosquito for carrier operations. Yes, you read that right: While the largest carrier-borne aircraft in service anywhere was the 10,545 lb Grumman Avenger (a big bird by any standard), the British were working out how to get on and … Continue reading Secrets of the Sea Mosquito
Close Call
Early on the morning of September 27th, 1943, the distinctive baritone thunder of a Merlin engine rose over the base of No.410 Night Fighter Squadron RCAF, at Coleby Grange, Lincolnshire. This was a Mosquito base, so the sound of a single Merlin was nearly always bad news. A Mosquito was difficult enough to land with both turning. But the crew of this particular … Continue reading Close Call
Mosquito Bites
Fancy yourself at the controls of Military Aviation Museum’s DH98 Mosquito FB Mk.26? I don’t know; maybe if Jerry Yagen was super-impressed by your glass-smooth arrival at Osh Kosh or something. Anyway, it would certainly be a priceless opportunity, even if the Timber Terror is reputed to have a nastier bite than its malarial six-legged namesake. But back when KA-114 was brand new, vast … Continue reading Mosquito Bites
Works of art, too
Andreas Feininger . . . a sequel to the previous article, Works of Art Another of Alfred T Palmer’s superb staff photographers at the United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a young freelancer with a very bright future – Andreas Feininger (1906 – 1999). Over his lifetime, Feininger created an enormous portfolio of famous images, including many iconic photos of New York City in the 1950s and 60s, … Continue reading Works of art, too
Works of Art
Featured image: Library of Congress P&P, LC-USW36-24 The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was essentially a propaganda agency, promulgated by Franklin D Roosevelt on June 13th, 1942 as a unification of several domestic information agencies. Many Americans were bewildered by their rapid progression from Great Depression, to Arsenal of Democracy, to co-belligerent in a global conflict. So Roosevelt charged the OWI with using … Continue reading Works of Art
That pilot
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
Skyfaring
Feature image: A British Airways Speedbird departs LHR for a glorious sky. (Simon Allardice | flickr.com CC BY 2.0) Skyfaring. A Journey with a Pilot. by Mark Vanhoenacker Published by Chatto & Windus, London, 2015 ISBN 10: 0701188669 / ISBN 13: 978-0701188665 They are all too rare – those timeless books that not only describe flight perfectly, but also convey all the beauty, poetry, wonder … Continue reading Skyfaring
Triple Tale
Feature image courtesy of Zoggavia.com Every airplane has a life story. I couldn’t possibly tell them all, but I can trace the star of my Connie Crossing article, G-AHEL Bangor II, thanks largely to the remarkable research and image collecting of Paul Zogg at zoggavia.com A new world order G-AHEL started life on Lockheed’s Burbank production line in 1944, as just the 17th C-69 laid … Continue reading Triple Tale
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