Capt. Duncan Grinnell-Milne RAF, MC, DFC Duncan William Grinnell-Milne was born in Bromley, Kent (just south of London) England in August 1896 and enlisted in the Prince Consort’s Rifles aged a little more than 17 in December 1913. Deemed too young to fight when World War One started, he transferred to the Royal Fusiliers in December 1914 in an effort to get to the front. … Continue reading Lead, linen and luck
Part Two: All the way with N.A.A. As we’ve seen in Part One of this story, the British – and Rolls-Royce specifically – hold pride of place on the Merlin Mustang’s birth certificate. But the reality is that while Rolls-Royce had built a brilliant engine, their experiments with the Mustang were something of a dead end. The P-51’s future would be made in the USA. … Continue reading The Merlin Mustang (continued)
As the western world heaved itself up from the trauma of World War II, the future must have seemed as bright as a new-polished silver cup. True, nearly anything would be brighter than the six years of horror and heartbreak that had come before, but the world at large was far richer for the industry and innovation that had been marshalled to beat back the … Continue reading Screaming Jets
Beyond the limits In part one of this series, artists of the early 20th Century imagined voids in their illustrations of primordial airliners to demonstrate the comfort and complexity of mankind’s latest leap forward. By the late 1930s, however, and certainly by the end of World War II, aviation was becoming vastly more sophisticated. Engineering, on the other hand, remained tethered to the two-dimensional blueprints … Continue reading Cutaways 2
Under the skin These days, 3D CAD and sophisticated rendering tools mean creating images that aren’t rooted in reality is a breeze. For most commercial applications, it’s the norm. For example, I follow developments in electric aviation fairly actively, and the fact that last night’s beer coaster brainwave can be a fully rendered, photo-realistic artefact by lunchtime is clearly a real bonus for entrepreneurs, founders … Continue reading Cutaways
Enter the mind of a WW2 Japanese volunteer suicide pilot… This is the extraordinary diary of Masa’aki Saeki, trainee Yokosuka MXY-7/K-1 Ohka pilot, 721st Kōkūtai Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 14. My friends depart, never to return
Enter the mind of a WW2 Japanese volunteer suicide pilot… This is the extraordinary diary of Masa’aki Saeki, trainee Yokosuka MXY-7/K-1 Ohka pilot, 721st Kōkūtai Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 13. A once-in-a-lifetime jump
Enter the mind of a WW2 Japanese volunteer suicide pilot… This is the extraordinary diary of Masa’aki Saeki, trainee Yokosuka MXY-7/K-1 Ohka pilot, 721st Kōkūtai Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 12. Desperation at 3,000 metres
Enter the mind of a WW2 Japanese volunteer suicide pilot… This is the extraordinary diary of Masa’aki Saeki, trainee Yokosuka MXY-7/K-1 Ohka pilot, 721st Kōkūtai Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 11. Let’s do it
Enter the mind of a WW2 Japanese volunteer suicide pilot… This is the extraordinary diary of Masa’aki Saeki, trainee Yokosuka MXY-7/K-1 Ohka pilot, 721st Kōkūtai Jinrai Butai, Imperial Japanese Navy. Translated by Nicholas Voge. Continue reading 10. Hell awaits beneath my seat
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