Holding records was a matter of pride in the inter war period, while today the human element and the understanding of how hard that extra reach is to do has gone. To hold four records at once was a greater achievement, even with the resources of one of the world’s leading industrial nations deployed. Here…
Tag: Technology
Streamline Spitfire & Hurricane
Another from my main blog, Vintage Aero Writer. This one from 2011, looking back to the late thirties when the fastest things around were the RAF’s new fighters. Well, in the pictures, anyway! It’s notable that the (in reality) bulkier and less refined design Hurricane is made to look positively arrow-like by the artist’s use…
Fokker One
Motor magazine, April 1917. The Great War (1914 – 1918) saw an explosion of poster and pictorial artwork to help prosecute the war, by all of the combatant nations. It was the social media of the era. As well as government advertising, companies worked hard to bring their war brand to public notice, and among…
Boulton Paul & Stations North
Today’s poster. A neat typographic effort by the Boulton Paul aircraft company, thirties font in fine form. But that logo. Certainly it’s a combination of a roundel and the name, but it also looks rather like the very identifiable London Underground roundel logo, still in use, and globally recognised today. Intentional similarity? Some gap to…
‘Briefing File’ – Aeroplane, Ian & I
After we finished with 100 features of the ‘Aircrew’ spreads in Aeroplane Monthly, Ian Bott (of Ian Bott Illustration) and I, in consultation with Aeroplane editor Ben Dunnell, developed the new ‘Briefing File’ feature where we could explore aspects of aviation technology. This particular issue, March 2018, on the ‘weight of fire’ was only really…
Middleton Madness
This blog isn’t the first time I’ve looked at aviation illustration and design. Here’s one from my main blog from last year – I bet you didn’t expect to see a Kim Possible TV show reference! But here’s the fascinating story of ‘Middleton’s Starjet’. Click on the image: James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 