The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Owner’s Manual is one of those books that anyone with even a passing interest in aviation or cold war history should have on their coffee table. The Blackbird was the fastest, highest flying aircraft in the world that could literally outrun surface-to-air missiles that had been launched to intercept it. The…
I can only imagine that Bond villains could potentially have difficultly sourcing suitably cinematic furniture to kit out their volcano lairs, although on retrospect I guess this could also apply to hedge fund managers, political lobbyists and certain petite North Korean dictators. Fortunately for the above mentioned scoundrels a company called Hangar 54 specialises in…
A deep-seated love of the formative years of aviation is an affliction that many of us struggle with, in fact if it wasn’t for the prohibitive cost of entry of aviation many of us would have a Tiger Moth, a Sopwith Camel or a Spitfire out in the garage parked next to the Porsche 911…
The Sopwith Camel is a remarkably important aircraft, it was first flown in 1917 when the pace of advancement in aircraft design was moving at breakneck speed and for time the Camel was the best fighter in the sky. Its odd name was coined from the side profile appearance of the hump that was built…
The North American P-51 Mustang was a masterpiece of American engineering that was designed and built on an extremely short timeline – only 102 days passed from commissioning the project to delivery of the first prototype and the P-51 first flew 47 days after its initial roll out on the 26th of October 1940. What…
The 1901 Wright Glider is a marvel of simple engineering, looking back at it now its general design looks almost self explanatory but simple as it is, it was undoubtably one of the most important engineering advancements in human history. The full story of how the glider came to be, and how Wilbur and Orville…
Flak – Evading Anti-Aircraft Fire is an official training film from the Second World War that taught pilots how to evade and otherwise deal with flak – from Europe to the Pacific and everywhere in between. Anti-aircraft weaponry has existed since very shortly after the first aircraft were militarised and WWII is widely considered the…
The beautiful Supermarine Spitfire blueprints you see here are made using the old fashioned method – ammonia activated paper on a traditional Diazit blueprint machine. Each measures 36″ x 24″ and includes a wealth of information about the iconic aircraft on either side of some nicely detailed illustrations, making it the perfect wall-piece for a garage, shed,…
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is an unusually named aircraft with a unusual set of abilities, it was designed in 1935 to fill an order for the US Navy who were seeking a flying boat for use in the Pacific – it was a surprisingly prophetic order and the Catalina would see intensive use throughout the Pacific (and…
Hidden Warbirds II is the much anticipated follow-up to the hugely popular book Hidden Warbirds by aviation historian Nicholas A. Veronico. This new book is a continuation of Nicholas’ work chasing down and recovering aircraft from WWII, the stories, photography and historical information make these two books exceptionally good reads – especially if you’re fascinated by…
The #14 Hybrid Airship by Alberto Santos-Dumont was the first recorded attempt at combining a fixed wing aircraft with an airship, the above image was taken in 1906 at the #14s inaugural flight on the grounds of the Chateau de Bagatelle in France. As you can probably tell, the flight didn’t go well and the repeated…
You’re looking at a bespoke, reclaimed Tornado ejector seat that’s been rebuilt into a leather lined gentleman’s chair – although I don’t claim to be an authority on the subject of home furnishings I’m having a hard time imagining that any chair previously created by the hands of mankind could match this for sheer marvellousness. The…
