December is an historic month for aviation as it marks the anniversary of the Wright Brothers finally realising mans quest for controlled flight. In the decade or so following that achievement there were of course countless aircraft produced. It was an exciting time of daring pilots and impressive designs as well as being a period … Continue reading Pre War Pioneers – Shuttleworth’s Edwardians
On the 1st December 1910, Glen Curtiss founded the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and with that, a long line of aircraft design and production began. One of the earliest designs to come out of the company was the Curtiss Pusher. Built in a similar fashion to the Wright Flyer, the aircraft was a busy picture of … Continue reading The Curtiss Aeroplane Company
In part 1 of this post, I looked at the evolution of air warfare and fighting aircraft between 1914 and 1916, by which point the Germans very much had the upper hand. However as 1917 went on, things started to turn: Sopwith’s Rise: With Germany having asserted its dominance through the latter part of 1916 … Continue reading 100 Years: We Will Remember – Early Fighters Part 2:
With Remembrance Day having just passed and with this year marking 100 years since the start of the First World War, it seemed fitting to take a look at the aviation side of the conflict: When war broke out in 1914, it was only 11 years on from the Wright Brother's historic first flight, … Continue reading 100 Years: We Will Remember – Early Fighters Part 1:
This weeks Warbird Stories features the unsung hero of the Battle Of Britain: The Hawker Hurricane: Tomorrow marks 79 years since the prototype Hurricane, K5083 first flew from Brooklands airfield in Surrey. Building on the success of the Fury line of Hawker bi-planes, featuring similar steel tube construction with fabric covering. It used the now … Continue reading 79 Years Young: The Hawker Hurricane UK Survivors
I conclude this de Havilland series with the one de Havilland twin that I heard about before all the others. “…Sheer exhilarating joy. The Excess power was such that maneuvering felt more like being in a zooming rocket than an aeroplane.” "I have flown aircraft with better individual points...but for getting everything together in near … Continue reading de Havilland Dreams Part 3 – The Sting In The Tail
Another story from my American trip earlier this year: this time from Pennsylvania. On the weekend of the 6th/7th/8th of June the Reading based Mid Atlantic Air Museum hosted their Second World War weekend and airshow. With Friday billed as a practice and pleasure flight day and Saturday and Sunday full shows, the event provided … Continue reading Mid Atlantic Air Museum: Reading World War Two Weekend June 6th-8th 2014
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the historic MacRobertson air race, put together by the Royal Aero Club. The race was from Mildenhall in Suffolk, all the way to Melbourne, Australia. On the 20th October 1934 at 6:30am, 20 aircraft left Mildenhall, marking the start of the race. Though numbers were down on the … Continue reading The Great Air Race: MacRobertson Air Race- October 1934
With the last show of the season now behind us, attention turns to the 7-month gap we now face until the airshow season picks up again in May. With that in mind I’ve put together my top 5 tips to help the airshow goer through the winter months: Visit Your Local Airfield: It may not have … Continue reading Airshow Moments: Off Season Survival Tips
Historic aviation isn’t often the subject of prime time television shows, but every now and again a program comes along that makes you wonder why not. Guy Martins recent offering; “Guy Martin’s Spitfire”, tracing the construction of Spitfire MK1a N3200 was just that. The show struck the right balance from the off. There were excellent … Continue reading TV Review: Guy Martin’s Spitfire
