Friday witnessed the signing of the ‘Axis-Japanese Pact’ in Berlin. The Observer‘s diplomatic correspondent believes the pact is ‘chiefly aimed at the United States’, and ‘is intended to steal a march on what is regarded as the inevitable alignment of Britain, America, Russia, and China’ (7): Under it, the Axis and Japan pledge each other […]
What was probably the world’s first aviation exhibition was held at the Crystal Palace, London, between 25 June and 4 July 1868. The ‘Aeronautical Exhibition’ was organised by the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, which itself had only been set up two years earlier (and was renamed the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1918). Here’s what
Your browser does not support iframes. In lieu of a more substantial post, here are some flying aeroplanes. Clicking the above picture will take you to a British Pathé newsreel issued on 7 July 1938, showing ‘Britain’s latest air fighter’, also known as the Supermarine Spitfire Mk I. Unfortunately the narration is missing, but I
All the cool kids are talking about How to be a Retronaut — well, they were a month or two ago, I confess it’s hard to keep up. How to be a Retronaut is a blog which tries to engage your sense of anachronism to try and shake your assumptions about the past. As the
The aforementioned Mike Dash sent me the above photograph, presumably a fake, wondering if I’d seen it before and if I knew its provenance. I have not, but I agree it’s a fake. It can be found in a few places on the web, for example here and here. It purportedly shows two Italian airships
The Boer War of 1899-1902 doesn’t often appear in airpower history. This may have something to do with the fact that it took place before the invention of the aeroplane, which I suppose is reasonable. But there are still interesting and even important connections and influences to be traced. Here are a baker’s half-dozen.
The RAAF Museum, round 2. This time there was less time spent outside looking at aeroplanes in the air (above, see below) and more inside looking at aeroplanes (and other things) on the ground (see below).
A few weeks ago I went along to the biennial RAAF Museum Pageant. The RAAF is, of course, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the RAAF Museum is at Point Cook, on the outskirts of Melbourne. Despite being relatively nearby I’ve never been, so when fellow aviation blogger JDK (who volunteers at the Museum) suggested
Harry Houdini is still famous as a magician and escapologist, but he was also a pioneer aviator. One hundred years ago today, on 18 March 1910, he carried out the first powered, controlled flight in Australia, at Diggers Rest, near Melbourne. This testimonial from witnesses appeared in the Melbourne Argus, 19 March 1910, 18: To
It is officially too darn hot today: 43° C. So naturally my thoughts turn to a colder time: the 1950s. The above image (which I found as part of x-ray delta one’s wonderful Flickr stream; he also has a suitably breathless blog, ATOMIC-ANNIHILATION) would seem to be part of a public relations exercise from Convair,
