Find archive articles on Aviation. Our site has great information from old magazine newspaper articles about Aviation history.
When the twenty-five-ton Martin transport-plane successfully passed its preliminary tests at Baltimore a few days ago, preparatory to entering the regular service of Pan American Airways, it was an occasion of world significance. In all likelihood this new member of the famous Clipper series will be the first to establish regular passenger and mail service across the Pacific.
The China Clipper (Literary Digest, 1935) Read More »
By the time this article hit the newsstands, the airline stewardess job was no longer a novelty and there were twenty-five women working in relays on the trans-continental run between Chicago and Oakland. The woman who held the record as the first airline stewardess, Ellen Church (1904 – 1965), was hired two and a half years earlier.
In addition to other restrictions, the earliest flight attendants of the Thirties were all required to be no older than 26, weigh no more than 118 pounds, stand no taller than 54 and hold nursing degrees in order that they be prepared to soothe the frayed nerves of the flight-fearing passengers.
With the birth of passenger airlines came the need for those who had particular set of culinary skills: read about them here.
The Earliest Airline Stewardesses (The Literary Digest, 1933) Read More »
For any American born after the death of De Crevecoeur (1813), it seems like a new day when a Frenchman has something nice to say about American culture, and that is precisely why this column seems so terribly unique.
Charles Lindbergh: Loved by the French (Literary Digest, 1927) Read More »
As early as 1914, the dreamers who saw the possibilities in aviation began to envision non fixed-wing aircraft and ships that could carry them out to sea. The attached 1914 article concerns an unnamed ship being constructed at the Blyth Shipyard in England that is designed to transport flying boats at sea, picking-up and lowering to and from the sea by way of cranes. The article is illustrated.
Naval Aviation as a Concept (Popular Mechanics, 1914) Read More »
Another article on this site marks 1912 as being the year that saw the first airborne wedding ceremony; but this article reported on the first wedding to be performed in a Fokker Monoplane with the added benefit of a wireless radio transmitter that broadcast the event to numerous well-wishers down below. The wedding was officiated by non-other than the Flying Parson himself, Belvin W. Maynard. Maynard was a legend in early aviation and he died in a crash some four months later.
The number of in-flight nuptials that have been performed since the first in 1912 are too numerous to count; however the last high-profile event took place in the Fall of 2007, when Sir Richard Branson (b. 1950) of Virgin Airlines presided over an in-flight wedding ceremony at 35,000 feet en route from San Francisco to Las Vegas.
Just Another Airborne Wedding Ceremony (Literary Digest, 1922) Read More »
An overview of the technological advancements that had been introduced in the aviation community in 1912. References are made to the superiority of the Pneumatic Flying Helmet, and the installation of the W. I. Twombly Safety Harness, oil gauges, self-acting gas pumps, double-cables, self-starting motors and heavily re-enforced wheels.
References are also made to the 1910, twenty-two mile flight across the English Channel by a pilot named Bleriot.
Early Aviation Safety Inventions (The Literary Digest, 1912) Read More »
An outraged opinion writer argued that the time had arrived for government to issue flying licenses to responsible pilots, while keeping the others grounded:
…President Harding and thousands of spectators at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial are placed in jeopardy by an irresponsible, low flying aviator; and the lives of countless thousands of innocent spectators at the Yale Bowl and other stadiums are risked unnecessarily because the House of Representatives has so far failed to provide, as forty other nations have provided, for Government regulation of civil aviation
Aviation Without Law (The Outlook, 1922) Read More »
This is a wonderful read in which the American World War One fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker (1890 – 1973), recounted his experiences in the skies above France.
I learned pretty fast. Long practice in driving a racing-car at a hundred miles an hour or so gives first-class training in control and judging distances at high speed…
Captain Eddy Rickenbacker: Ace of Aces (The Literary Digest, 1919) Read More »
It was during the Italian-Turkish War (1911 – 12) that aircraft began to play active rolls in support of military operations. This article is remarkable in that it reports that as early as 1912, aircraft was used not merely to aid in the observation of enemy troop movements but also to drop bombs.
Captain Monte of the Italian army aeroplane corps has achieved the distinction of being the first airman wounded in battle while in the air with his machine.
The First Casualty of an Air War (Popular Mechanics, 1912) Read More »
1912 was the year that the Lewis Gun was first mounted on military aircraft. The military possibilities of this combination was immediately recognizable to all onlookers:
The potential results of swooping aircraft, armed to the teeth with death dealing bullets, is staggering to ordnance officers of the Army and Navy who discuss it. ‘Where will this lead?’ they ask. Is it possible that the air is to harbor the greatest destructive forces in modern warfare? There seems nothing to prevent it.
Click here to read an article about the development of aerial reconnaissance during W.W. I.
1912: An Important Year in Military Aviation (The Literary Digest, 1912) Read More »
