Today’s advertisement seems standard enough. The interesting thing is it’s an advertisement from a German company offering the Henschel Hs 126 military observation aircraft in Flight, the British published aviation magazine, in 1938. Less than two years later British airmen would be attacking the type in Blitzkreg of May 1940. Were Henschel serious about sales,…
Sleek Swift
Today’s image, an advertising artwork for the Supermarine Swift. Unusually for this kind of work it looks to be watercolour, though it may be a wet looking gouache, and unfortunately I can’t make out the signature. It’s a deceptively simple composition, but very effective, and despite the heavy industrial aspects of the image – the…
Special Wings
Something a bit different today, and (yet) another area that could furnish enough interesting examples of the topic to be a blog all of its own. Lapel pins. Here we have Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) lapel pins. Interestingly, they feature three types of such pin, the stick pin, here featuring the CAC Wirraway aircraft’s name,…
Time Travel Mechanic?
Today’s is a mystery date poster. Design by Blanche L Anish, this copy held in the US’ Library of Congress. There’s a stamp on the back, ‘July 7 1937’, so the library is dating the image to the thirties, but many details say it’s a much earlier one to me – though civil, rather than…
Fine Nav
This is the artwork painted by Dean Cornwell to be used in a poster for Fisher Bodies, car turned to aircraft makers from General Motors, and entitled ‘On Target’ – a slight misnomer as it actually features the Boeing B-29 Superfortress’ navigator’s station and navigator, rather than the bombardier. It has an intense – almost…
Austering
It’s going to be an Auster anniversary this weekend at the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia’s annual fly in at Echuca, Vic. So here’s a couple of advertisements for this military type’s transition to civil hands. The Auster J/5 Aiglet Trainer was a civil trainer development of the design, and in the advert above, has…
Rugged Drones
That is ‘drones on a rug’, not tough drones. This is taken from an online article entitled ‘Lessons from the Afghan Women Who Weave Modern War into an Ancient Tradition’ on Artsy.net. [Photo by Kevin Sudeith, via Warrug.com] It’s very difficult to summarise the complex factors that have led to these rugs featuring the weapons…
Bond, Nellie & Bond
Today’s Bond Poster. There’s nothing quite as cool Sean Connery flying the aircraft with his toes, just being very cool while everything explodes around him! From the film ‘You Only Live Twice’, this poster is the artwork by the exemplary action poster painter Frank McCarthy. You can own your own version at £2,250 – here,…
Garish Harry
A pulp magazine cover. This one, from ‘Air Stories’ magazine of the inter war period features much promise in the text, but I’ve chosen it because it features a reasonably accurately drawn Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8, known to its crews as a ‘Harry Tate’ after the music hall comedian of the era. But. The shape’s…
Bright Prop
A fine art Mural today. ‘Propeller’, Air Pavillion, 1937 by Sonia Delaunay. From the Tate exhibition notes: “Sonia and Robert were both invited to contribute to the 1937 Paris Exhibition, a project that would take up much of their time and energy over the best part of two years. Entitled The International Exhibition of Arts and…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 