Jump to content

Aviation fascination


Pecole

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

And why not to devote, like our German-speaking pals, a thread to photos relating to the fascination for Aviation ? Personally, I have been fascinated by airplanes long before I was fascinated by Leicas, in fact as long as I can remember - that is to say as far as early 1940s - and Aviation has been at the very origin of my "discovery" of the Leica : when starting as an Aviation journalist and "covering" events like Farnborough or Le Bourget, I bought a second-hand IIIb/Elmar 5cm/Hektor 135 set. And of course I was a pilot, starting to fly as early as 14 (yes, everything was possible immediately after WW2 !) in everything, including gliders, gas balloons or even dirigibles.

My photo files include more than 20,000 "flying things" shots, not all digitalized yet, certainly not "artistic" but 99 percent taken with Leica and probably worth looking at, especially the oldest ones, for Aviation enthusiasts.

I'll start with two photos dating 1960 and taken in the mid of the then French Algerian Sahara. I toured the then new oil and gas exploration facilities, and to reach some remote spots we had to move from our old Avro XIX Anson (photos published earlier this month in my "Sahara 1960, a changing world" under the "Landscape and Travel" section) to a Sikorsky S-58 helicopter. When discovering the beast, I immediately noticed it was a former SABENA machine I had already flown before in Belgium.

Here are the photos :

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 8
Link to post
Share on other sites

Space Hhuttle Enterprise riding a special 747 on its to be part of the USS Intrepid Aerospace Museum

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

Speaking of aviation fascination - In the lowland Sepic region of Papua New Guinea:

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

In Bergdork Goodman's window

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi, from the age of 10 (1950's) I have as others always been fascinated by aeroplanes..

I watched the Dakota's @ Hendon Aerodrome & many different types @ Northolt Aerodrome.

Twice had the good fortune to visit the Farnborough Air Show (mid 80's) and meet some of the Red Arrows pilots. Duxford is a wonderful & historic place as is The Shuttleworth Collection.. A flight in an early DeHavilland Rapide (Duxford) certainly made it clear how far we have come. Rapide to Comet to Concorde & then the Jumbo's.. Can anyone remember the Brabazon? (A One flight wonder)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited by manoleica
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Speaking of aviation fascination - In the lowland Sepic region of Papua New Guinea:

 

[ATTACH]465012[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]465013[/ATTACH]

 

It's a Britten Norman Islander isn't it ?

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi, from the age of 10 (1950's) I have as others always been fascinated by aeroplanes..

I watched the Dakota's @ Hendon Aerodrome & many different types @ Northolt Aerodrome.

Twice had the good fortune to visit the Farnborough Air Show (mid 80's) and meet some of the Red Arrows pilots. Duxford is a wonderful & historic place as is The Shuttleworth Collection.. A flight in an early DeHavilland Rapide (Duxford) certainly made it clear how far we have come. Rapide to Comet to Concorde & then the Jumbo's.. Can anyone remember the Brabazon? (A One flight wonder)

 

Wow ! what colours ! I'll certainly find a few Bristol Brabazon images in my collection, and will publish same.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Another helicopter today : the not-so-often-seen-in-the-West, twin-engined twin-counter-rotating rotor Kamov Ka-26, snapped with my M3 on the occasion of its presentation in Brussels in the early 1970s. I flew in it with my two sons.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Another helicopter today : the not-so-often-seen-in-the-West, twin-engined twin-counter-rotating rotor Kamov Ka-26, snapped with my M3 on the occasion of its presentation in Brussels in the early 1970s. I flew in it with my two sons.

 

Fascinating design, really, BUT.......... Butt-ugly.

Gary

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

BA's version of the Concorde at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

 

 

Edited by stuny
  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Thanks, K.H. I know very well this thread and check it every morning. Fortunately enough, fascination, and especially airplanes don't need any translation !

Link to post
Share on other sites

In May, 1958, a curious machine was presented In Brussels, on the so-called "Plaine des Manoeuvres" (Manoeuvres'plain), in front of the Etterbeek Casern. It was called the Rotorcycle, arrived "folded" in a small van, with just the pilot and a mechanic to take it out, unfold it in exactly 6 minutes...and fly it.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Spitfire XIV with Griffon engine and 5-blade propeller.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Sixty-five years old memories : Temploux airfield, near Namur, Belgium, was the very center of gliding in Belgium in the early after-war years, and the only national gliding school.The French government had detached there, under a special aid program, a Caudron C-800 twin seater training glider, a Morane 520 (French conversion of the German Fieseler Storch) towing plane and, most important, a senior instructor (Pierre Charron). It's there I started flying gliders, and taking pictures...not yet with Leica.

 

Here are two shots of the Morane 520 towing aircraft, then the curious side-by-side cockpit of the Caudron C-800, a two-seat high-performance Kranich "recuperated" from Germany, a Grünau Baby, the most widely used beginners' single-seat glider, and finally a Spatz. This last dates from the early sixties, and was of canvas-covered metal tubes structure.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

My favorite aircraft. I was lucky enough to see one take off in the late 1960s, turn 180 degrees and head back towards us a few meters above the runway, hit the aferburners and pull back on the stick. It was incredibly loud and out of site faster than we imagined possible. This a/c is on display aboard the Intrepid Air & Space Museum in Manhattan. Definitely worth at least a half day's visit.

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...