Today’s Poster. And the 50th post of the blog! Going well, I think. A particular favourite of mine, seen here in two versions. It’s a poster for ‘Deutsche Luftkriegsbeute – Ausftellung’ [DELKA] a travelling or repeating German air war booty exhibition, no doubt intended to raise funds for the war effort. The eagle (the…
Kitty & The Boxing Roo
Following the Royal Canadian Air Force’s ice Avro Arrow, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s ‘stolen’ Avro Vulcan posts (here and here), a suggestion by Errol Cavit on Twitter here, has got me to search out our first piece of aircraft nose art, a Royal Australian Air Force Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk in North Africa,…
Vinyl Class
The vinyl carry bag was a very popular item in the airline industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Today recreations are a popular retro item as well as originals (as seen here) for sale on e-Bay, Etsy, Gumtree and similar sites. I had one identical to this Trans-Australia Airlines (TAA) one that had been given…
Ice Arrow
Not one I saw coming but right on theme. At Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in this year’s current Winterlude festival, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) have presented this photo (by Aviator Jérôme Lessard) of a remarkable sculpture of the Canadian-designed, cancelled interceptor the Avro Arrow. Remarkable work. James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer. Via the RCAF…
Attack Kiwi
Something widely known in military aviation is the concept of tagging other forces’ aircraft with stickers, markings, paint or ‘zaps’ without permission, either to score points or for broad military humour. Though often crudely applied, sometimes they can be very well done, as here. The Avro Vulcan was only ever operated by the British Royal…
Return from France
Today’s Poster. Another great period airline poster from the inter-war period. I could just blog about those alone, but there’s some quite diverse stuff coming up, including a metal aeroplane and some fabric, and not aircraft covering, either. In this one, I love the looming Eiffel Tower crossing the channel to Croydon (which was then…
Above that Country Life
Today’s Cover. The UK magazine ‘Country Life’ is still going, but I don’t think they do contemporary aviation topics, nor covers sponsored by sub contracting aircraft manufacturers as here. While today this looks a relatively pastoral scene, in 1917, with Britain at war just across the Channel it would’ve been a pretty confronting ‘war work’…
Stop Worrying
Today’s Poster. In memory of artist and satirist Tomi Ungerer, who died yesterday, the 9 February 2019. The film ‘Dr Strangelove’ is way too complex to tackle here, but here is the poster, by Ungerer. Although it’s not his strongest work in my opinion, and highlights some of the less critical elements that made the…
Rare Gloster
Today we have a magazine cover. According to this listing, it’s the October 1937 issue of Air Stories. As well as the delightful story titles and bylines ‘Recording Officer’ and ‘Finger of Death’, the cover illustration is something that just jumped out at me as soon as I saw this on the internet. While it…
Fantastic FIAT
Today’s Poster. A number of aircraft makers were also car manufacturers. Here notable Italian company FIAT make it an advertising point. Nice poster thanks to Gregory Alegi. James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 