slickwhippet

quaesatis:

First air show at the Grand Palais in Paris, photographed 1909 by Léon Gimpel.
source Liebig partie

45 ♥ / 23 April, 2012

xplanes:

“DFW C.V banking in early morning sunlight.”

89 ♥ / 14 March, 2012

missfolly:

Although Leonardo da Vinci grew up with his paternal family, with whom he had good relations, the truth is that he was registered as illegitimate, not given studies, and was disinherited.
Gilder with bat’s wings drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

80 ♥ / 25 February, 2012

Emblem of the Lafayette Escadrille (1916-18).

64 ♥ / 28 December, 2011

Jules Védrines à bord de son Morane, 1915.

35 ♥ / 28 December, 2011

Johann Christoph Stelzhammer, “On the flying machine of the watchmaker Jakob Degen in Vienna,” from the Annalen der Physik und der Physikalischen Chemie (1808). The “Degen Ornithopter.”
~~
mentioned by E.T.A. Hoffmann, in Master Flea (1826): “… ‘The man, who flies up and down so admirably,’ exclaimed one of the spectators, ‘is the clock-maker, Degen, of Vienna—he who invented the flying machine, with which he is constantly contriving to tumble down upon his nose.’”
~~
from The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle for the Year 1809 (London): “M. Degen, a watch-maker in Vienna, has invented a machine, by which a person can rise into the air. He has since made several public experiments, and rose to the height of 54 feet [ed. with the aid of a small balloon], flying in various directions with the celerity of a bird. A subscription has been opened at Vienna to enable him to prosecute his discoveries. The machine is formed of two parachutes of taffeta, which may be folded up or extended at pleasure, and the person who moves them is placed in the centre.”

75 ♥ / 26 December, 2011

Bristol Blenheim (?), dorsal turret gunner reloading

101 ♥ / 10 December, 2011

Fokker-Flugzeugwerke, Schwerin, ca. 1915-17

37 ♥ / 8 December, 2011

xplanes:

“Blanche Noyes, Women’s Air Derby pilot” 1929 (aircraft, via)

129 ♥ / 5 December, 2011

Alberto Santos-Dumont’s dirigible Number 6, rounding the Eiffel Tower on the way to winning the Deutsch prize (round trip between the Parc de Saint-Cloud and the Eiffel Tower in under thirty minutes), October 1901.
Shortly after this photo was taken, the Number 6 suffered engine failure. Santos-Dumont climbed over the gondola’s railing without a harness, restarted the engine, and crossed the finish line with thirty seconds to spare.
A view of the Eiffel Tower from the Parc de Saint-Cloud.

19 ♥ / 5 December, 2011

Meeting d’Aviation Nice, 1910

31 ♥ / 1 December, 2011

Raoul Lufbery, of the Lafayette Escadrille & 94th Aero Squadron, somewhere in France ca. 1916-18.

0 ♥ / 30 November, 2011

Benz Automobile & Flugmotoren, ca. 1914-18.

133 ♥ / 30 November, 2011

maudelynn:

Aerial acrobat Schindler, on a Klemp plane piloted by Richard Perlia c.1927

114 ♥ / 7 November, 2011