An unsuccessful transatlantic attempt
By: Egil H Thomassen For: www.europeanairlines.no One of the first books I bought, as a fresh aerophilatelist was N.C.Baldwin’s “Bridging the Atlantic”. It is stated in the book’s preface: “So far, as we are aware, no really comprehensive chronicle of projected and successful special and first flights has appeared hitherto in any language (about Atlantic flights). This work is therefore an attempt to fill the gap through a concise, essentially factual chronology of events”. This was written in 1945 and still holds true. The book tells of triumphs and tragedies, of the latter there are about 80 unsuccessful attempts...
Oliver Andre Rosto – A Life Dedicated to Aviation
The Norse-American aviator Oliver Andre Rosto (1881-1972) was the first Norwegian to design, construct and fly a monoplane. The first flight of this monoplane (later christened “Duluth No 1″) was on February 26, 1913 from the ice of Lake Superior at Duluth, Minnesota, USA. After this flight Oliver Andre Rosto was mainly active in the world aviation and worked as inspector for the Curtiss Aeroplane & Engine Factory in the USA, for Ericson Aircraft Ltd. in Baltimore and from 1928 to 1952 for the Civil Aeronautic Authority. At the age of 71 he started to work for Transocean Air Lines...
1939: THE ROUTE #1621 OSLO-GOTHENBURG-COPENHAGEN (-BERLIN)
[caption id="attachment_4310" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Painting by Keith Woodcock[/caption] AB Aerotransport was formed in March 1924 by, among others, Junkers Flugzeugwerk AG (a German aircraft factory that supported the formation of airlines throughout Europe) and the Swedish Florman brothers. The company started with routes Stockholm - Helsinki, Malmö - Hamburg and Malmö - Copenhagen, and managed to establish itself as the national airline in Sweden. In the period June – September 1939, it operated a route with landplanes to Norway. A short story. In 1926, AB Aerotransport inaugurated a route between Malmö, Copenhagen and Gothenburg and hoped that the Norwegian Junkers-owned...
The private Fokker F.VIIb-3m, G-EBZJ «Petal»
The first aircraft owned by private persons date from right after the end of the First World War. Especially companies soon realized that the aircraft could take them across the country or the world to all kind of places where the airlines did not come. In this article, we will present one of the larger private aircraft around, the Fokker F.VIIb-3m. The text of this article is an extract from the series of books (four volumes) written by Theo Wesselink about the Fokker F.VII. These books can be obtained through Dutch Aviation. [caption id="attachment_4173" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The Fokker F.VIIb-3m, G-EBZJ...
Widerøe’s Flyveskole Study Tour to Germany
Widerøe’s Flyveskole (Wideroes Flying School) was the flying school of the airline Widerøe’s Flyveselskap itself formed in 1934. In the week of May 2 to 8, 1938, three pupils of the Widerøe’s Flyveskole made a study trip to Germany with the company’s Stinson SE-8M, LN-BAR. The participants were traffic pupils and were: Chr. F. Walter, Holger Hannestad, Trond Kindset. They were under the command of the school’s chief instructor Martin Hamre. Here a short report of the visit. The photographs have not been taken during the visit, but are merely used as illustrations. The report has been written by Martin...
The ‘Silver Spinner’ and ‘Tiger
[caption id="attachment_4103" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Children were facinated with aircraft and were here allowed to climb on the Friedrichshafen FF49C, N.3 of J. L. Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik. (via Kay Hagby)[/caption] In 1920, the Norwegian tobacco compay 'J.L. Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik' purchashed its first aircraft for advertisments flights and named it 'Silver Spinner'. During the next two years, a second aircraft was purchased, that was given the name 'Tiger'. We follow the history of the two aircraft. The 'Tiger' was involved in the first civil aircraft accident in Norway. In November 1920, the J. L. Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik (a tobacco company from Christiania, now Oslo)...
Milan Linate – A new Italian Airport
This is the first of a series of short articles about different subjects. They were found in Shell Aviation News and I found them interesting to reproduce. [caption id="attachment_4093" align="alignleft" width="907"] The inclined walk by which passengers reach the tarmac can be seen beyond the aircraft. (Via Shell Aviation News, September 1938)[/caption] The special needs of aircraft and air traffic have been the subject of much study and new aerodromes demonstrate that in the design of aerodrome buildings architects have not been hampered by convention but have thought out for themselves an arrangement which is likely to give the greatest...
John Stroud – illustrator, aviation expert, photographer and historian
by: Colin Higgs From: www.aflyinghistory.com [caption id="attachment_3974" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Avation photographs from Flying History Limited[/caption] John Stroud was born on 3 April 1919 in Balham, south London. Unlike many of the people associated with the early days of British aviation he did not come from a wealthy family. His father, Albert Stroud, was a shop assistant, who had married Laura Archer at Lambeth the previous year. Early Aviation Experiences Among John's earliest memories was a visit to Croydon airport when he was three or four years old by which time the family had moved to Streatham Common. Even though he...
No, Albert Plesman did not found KLM!
Many believe Albert Plesman, on 7 October 1919, was the founder of the airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. THIS IS NOT CORRECT. You can read here the correct story. More about this story can be found in the book “The Fokker Fours”, published by European Airlines Publishing House. In mid-1918, the KNVvL took the initiative to form a Commissie voor Luchtvaartverkeer (a commission for ‘aviation traffic’) that produced a report pleading for airmail services. A private company supported by the State should operate these. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the economic optimism grew in the Netherlands as well....