20th Century
The Spitfire, of course, Part 4
Musings on the development of the Miles M20 prototype Firstly, a reminder of where we started back in part one, I suggested in the first article in this series that the Spitfire was not an [more…]
Aviation
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…]
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…]
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…]
20th Century
Fleet Air Arm Museum
End of January I had a trip down to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton with a couple of fellow Postaliers. Don’t arrive after 11 am if you want breakfast in the cafeteria. [more…]
20th Century
Callsign Revlon
On 25th October 1994 29 year old US Navy Lieutenant Kara Hultgreen was killed whilst attempting to land on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean. The case remains highly controversial to [more…]
20th Century
Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Part 2
I’m back again with the second part of this series about the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 – the Luftwaffe’s forgotten fighter. In the first part we covered the genesis of the Fw 190 and how the [more…]
20th Century
Aspiring Anorak Aversion Therapy
The subject heading may read as though it is an introduction to an accountancy exam, but no, it is aversion therapy applied to an obsession, by licensed operators of machines such as the Dehavilland Chipmunk [more…]
20th Century
The Spitfire, of course
Ask anyone from the general public to name a great aeroplane or a great British fighter of WWII, and chances are they will say, without hesitation, “The Spitfire of course.” If you ask why you [more…]