20th Century
An early airman’s tragic adventure
Early 1930: It had been a depressing English winter – cold, dark and wet for weeks on end. In West Wickham, a young man who had left Australia five years earlier and settled here in [more…]
Science
Health
How to hypnotise someone
I warn you to try any of this with caution. Don’t use it to treat anyone because you aren’t qualified to deal with any problems arising. Use it to help someone relax and feel good, [more…]
Arts
My Apprenticeship, Part One
I hated school, but I enjoyed technical drawing. One reason was that I got it from the very first day. For some reason, I could visualise in 3D those flat drawings. I guess my brain [more…]
20th Century
From Guinea Pigs to CCAST
Part 1 – Joint Doctrine for Medical Support, The Operational Context “If any good can be said to come of war, then the Second War War must go on record as assisting and accelerating one [more…]
Engineering
Le Château de Guédelon
Introduction I suppose it is only natural when confronted by an ancient architectural marvel such as a Roman aqueduct or a mediæval cathedral to stare in wonder and to ask oneself, ‘How on earth did [more…]
20th Century
The Spitfire, of course, Part 3
A look at the Miles M20, the “Emergency Fighter” Design and build us a cheap fighter, knock it up out of wood, shove in this night fighter engine, loads of fuel, plenty of ammo and [more…]
America
Two White Elephants
The demise of the serious defence correspondents in MSM have left the nation exposed to geo political military mistakes of epic proportions. Jonathan Beale at the BBC & Lucy Fisher at The Times are splendid [more…]
20th Century
The Spitfire, of course, Part 2
A couple of years ago I wrote an article here concerning the design of the Spitfire and questioned its status as the best fighter of WWII. I mentioned in that article a follow up piece [more…]
19th Century
South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company
It is obvious from many of the articles that appear on this website that history and mechanical things are of interest. So here is one that combines the two, the history of a railroad and [more…]