Today a pair of posters that feature semi abstract African themes, and promoting the ‘Jet DC-8’ (when a jet was a notable differentiating advantage in airline advertising). Two different airlines though, UAT (Union Aéromaritime de Transport) and Air Afrique, which developed as an African owned and operated airline from UAT and other elements. Both posters…
Fashion Roundels
A magazine cover today, from Paris, 1916. In fact Saturday 25 November, where the Great War had been going for two years, and aircraft marking were well established. Magazine ‘La Vie Parisienne’ (‘Parisiene Life’) has an amusing looking cover. The woman, perhaps a ‘light skirt’ (a loose woman) given she’s showing her slip and stocking…
Uniting Nations
Today’s Poster. We are all familiar today with the organisation the United Nations. What’s less well known is the name dates back to the stage of World War Two when the Axis powers had united many of the rest of the world against them. From Wiki: “On New Year’s Day 1942, the Allied “Big Four”…
Wing Badges n’ Things
Today we have an accidental product of my job, reporting on aviation preservation worldwide. Relatively recently, two major transport, technology and heritage collections on opposite sides of the world changed their logos. The Shuttleworth Collection, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, UK, adopted a newly designed brand logo: I immediately though it seemed familiar (though there was no…
A Bright Future Awaits
A very bright recruitment poster for the American civilian as the nation entered the Great War. Details: ‘Join the Air Service and Serve in France. Do it NOW’, By J. Paul Verrees, (1889-1942)1917. Via ‘Today’s Inspiration’ Group on Facebook, posted by Ray Robinson HERE.
Firebomb Fritz
A wartime British defensive propaganda character (mostly forgotten today) was ‘Firebomb Fritz’. Here in colour: …and here in black and white, both by Reginald Mount. (Original UK National Archives caption: “Fritz in Nazi bomber” by Reginald Mount, 1942 Catalogue ref: INF 3/1421. The cartoon depicts determined (but subservient) looking German air force men flying towards…
Bonny Bonney
There’s been a few ‘Google doodles‘ featuring aviators to date, and a current one features Australian Aviatrix Lores Bonney. Maude Rose ‘Lores’ Bonney, (20 November 1897 – 24 February 1994) was the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England. The image is, in fact, animated, and the background to the story of the…
Visibly Invisibly Wonderful
By special request, today we have Wonder Woman‘s invisible jet. The toy above (image from here on Flickr) represents one vision of invisibility, while the still from the TV series is quite different below, and almost could relate to the popular plastic model kits with see through structures often touted as the ‘Visible ‘or ‘Invistible’…
Lucky Penguin Down!
Aircrew mascots and lucky charms aren’t rare, and take a huge variety of forms. Wartime aircrew mascots are, of course, more likely because the very evidently arbitrary risk of death or injury whatever other steps one might take. Here’s a great example from the RAF Museum collection, seen in 2008 at the RAF Museum Cosford….
Korea Triangles
Just some shapes today. MiG 15 and Sabre Wings James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 