Going by air (Part 4)
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)
Going by air (Part 3)
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)
Going by air (Part 2)
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)
Going by air
In 1925, a correspondent for the Adelaide Register took the opportunity of a lifetime – and flew on the De Havilland DH.50 airmail between South Australia and Sydney. Over 90 years later his account is a wonderful piece of time travel, that I’m not about to tarnish by over-amplifying the context. I’ll save the background for a subsequent post. (Although, I have to point out … Continue reading Going by air
Out and back
Lessons learned This was going to be the post about how I’d finished sandblasting my rusty pilot’s licence, completed my RA-Aus (Recreational Aviation Australia) endorsement checkride, and been cleared to fly solo pretty much whenever I wanted. (Which is pretty much all the time.) As it happens, that’s not quite how things turned out. Go? No go. Flight training has a frustrating capacity to teach … Continue reading Out and back
Still with us
History in the making Late one English midsummer afternoon, eighteen young men fell out of the sky over Allhallows, Kent, in England. The date was June 19th, 1944 and they were the victims of German flak. Not from the ground below, obviously, but from a target area half an hour and 83 miles behind them. Closer to their Kimbolton base than the combat zone, they … Continue reading Still with us
Decisions, decisions
Valuable lesson Everyone should watch the video clip below. Just over half a million people already have, but ‘everyone’ is over 14 thousand times more people than that. Even the world’s piloting community is a more than 500,000 people strong, and they should definitely all watch it. Besides, I’ve watched it three times already so two people are missing out right there. Mustang down In … Continue reading Decisions, decisions
Nice ideas
Boxing Day click-bait The internet might have been made for Boxing Day. After all, the house is full of food, there isn’t much to do, and no one has the energy to do much of anything. Perfect web-clicking conditions. So make yourself a generously laced hot chocolate, or scrabble around in the bottom of the esky for the beer that’s been swimming in icy water … Continue reading Nice ideas
Auld Lang Syne
Back from the past It’s no practical solution to anything really, but sometimes when I’m not sure what to do with ‘airscape’ I just sit back and see what serendipity brings… Sure enough, last week whatever Great Spirit you choose to believe in stepped up with an out-of-the-blue email from Gander, Newfoundland. I showed my kids how almost exactly on the other side of the … Continue reading Auld Lang Syne
Tell the sky to rejoice
3, 2, 1, Breathe How long can you hold your breath? For 30 seconds…? A minute…? Actually, it’s longer than you think. For me, it was a little over 12 years. To be precise, it’s been 13 years since I flew anything with a throttle, and about 11-½ years since I flew a glider. After a while, the numbers don’t matter. Twelve years seems about … Continue reading Tell the sky to rejoice
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