Continuing the memoir of WW2 Japanese suicide pilot, Masa’aki Saeki. In this chapter, Saeki ‘volunteers’ for a secret mission and is transferred north for training Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 2. Another guy died
The art of science Apparently I’m not the only one to have noticed the photogenic beauty of wind tunnels and what goes on inside them. So it seems appropriate to celebrate the beautiful images that have been captured in wind tunnels over the decades. Now, this isn’t a study of wind tunnels or their history, or even of aerodynamics. It’s simply a collection – and … Continue reading Light as air
Germany’s greatest fighter What if the Spitfire – that most iconic British fighter – wasn’t? British, I mean. What if it’s sighed-over elliptical wing (which, as any attentive high school student could tell you, isn’t even an ellipse) owed as much to the Germans it fought against as the English it saved? A masterpiece of aerodynamics Okay, I admit it’s a deliberately hackle-raising question… After all, the … Continue reading ‘As British as Queen Victoria’
“She went out of there like a fighter jet.” Of all the great things that have been said about Boeing’s mighty 747, that simple observation probably says more for the people who designed, built and maintained the Queen of the Skies than any other. Specifically, it was made by a Mr. Robert Craig Butler about the way 747-122, tail number N4713U, roared out of Honolulu for … Continue reading UAL 811: The untold story
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
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