Australian official war artist Dennis Adams was in a Short Stirling heavy bomber that crashed (‘prang’ in the vernacular of the time) on 16-17 July 1944. He survived (two of the crew didn’t) and is seen here examining the inverted nose of the bomber a week afterwards. Adams head and left leg were injured, and…
Month: October 2019
Rare Egyptian Camel
Yes, not the humped quadruped, but a Camel from Sopwith. Or in this case, from the sub contracted manufacturer Ruston. The ‘Scarf & Goggles’ blog says: “The completion of Ruston’s 1000th Camel was felt to warrant some celebration, with the result that this aircraft, serial number B7380, was delivered on 25 January 1918 wearing an…
Be Afraid
Today a relatively modern example of the perennial propaganda leaflet encouraging enemy combatants to run away. From the US aimed at Iraq soldiers during the Gulf War of 1991. How effective such propaganda is cannot be shown, as they only really have a role and effect as part of a wider campaign, like much more…
Nash’s Messerschmitt-Mash
A typical crashed Messerschmitt Bf 109E during the Battle of Britain. Oberleutnant Karl Fischer of 7/JG27 crash-landed his Bf 109 E-1 in Windsor Great Park, on 30 September 30, 1940. He force landed after being alerted by his wingman to his fuel loss due to hits from earlier combat, meaning he would not be able…
Comestible Concorde
Here’s a Concorde cake. Because why not? I don’t have any further information – obviously in France rather than the UK, and featuring the Air France scheme. Only other detail is the visor seems to be the pre-production version. Does anyone know more? [Sauce (ahem) on Facebook ‘Avions moches, bizarres, ratés, projets abandonnés et aviation…
Tractor Parts
‘Tractor build’ isn’t a great advert for aircraft, but the other way? A CAC Wirraway presented anonymously on a brochure for tractor spark plugs. ‘Aircraft Quality’ may be the advert, but certified for aircraft use usually meant prices exponentially greater than for land transport. It’s a ‘Publicity Brochure – H.V. McKay Massey Harris, Spark Plugs,…
Non-British Bulldogs
An advertisement from The Aeroplane, 1932, by Bristol Aircraft. (Notice the logotype, discussed earlier here, bottom centre.) A neat design, the monochrome printing leads to an unanswered query – which nine countries? Some of the flags are identifiable – several are confused as they are all arranged vertically, not horizontally – and only readable with…
CAP & Helmet
Today’s Poster is for America’s Civil Air Patrol or ‘CAP‘. The artist, presumably the ‘Kenney’ from ‘Squadron 511-3’ has chosen the visual cliche of the leather helmeted and goggled aviator’s head, which became a cliche due to its utility as a stand in for ‘aviator’ as we’ve seen before. As the Wiki page linked above…
In Colour! Bombers & Fighters
A pair of books that were passed onto me by my friend Carole Barker, from her father Bernard Thorpe‘s collection. These are based on pre-war information, and were an exciting visual feast, given the paucity of colour printing in the period. On the covers, a pre-war Hawker Hurricane and Vickers Armstrong Wellesley, the Wellesley’s artwork…
Ravilious’ Ark
Today a look at the art of official war artist Eric Ravilious. Having been researching his fascinating artist, I’ve found it very hard to know what to focus on, so here I’ve limited the post to one aspect of his war work, his watercolours of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. First is…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 