Greetings, my reading friend. I would like to talk to you about a subject that caught my attention as I was browsing an excellent though somewhat chauvinistic French periodical, the bimonthly Aviation Magazine – specifically the 1 June 1950 issue of said magazine. Anxious to place our subject of the week in its historical context, allow me to begin this peroration well before the first flight of the aircraft of which we have just seen the photograph. In 1919, the French engineer Gaston Fouga

Before you hit the roof, my reading friend, please allow me to welcome you to the wonderful world of science, technology and innovation. And yes, it is true that there will be precious little aeronautical content in this week’s issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee. All right, all right. I will include a bit more. Let us begin, then, with a gentleman, an Englishman to be more precise, by the name of Lawrence “Lawrie” Bond. Born in August 1907, he worked in various engineering firms during the

Zdravo, my reading friend, hello! Would you be interested in some philosophical musings on this fine day? What, exactly, is an aircraft, for example? A quick peek at a few online dictionaries and databases reveal that an aircraft is a vehicle which travels through the air. An airplane is a type of aircraft, and so is a helicopter. And so, more surprisingly, a least to me, is an airship or balloon. A glider is an aircraft, of course, but is it an airplane? Given that, according to the same online

Good day to you, my reading friend, and… What is it? You have no idea of what the expression Sankt-Peterburgskaya aviatsionnaya nedelya means, do you? Sigh. It meant, means and will always mean St. Petersburg aviation week. Let us start again. Good day to you, my reading friend, and welcome to the wonderful world of aviation and space, and the thoroughly non-wonderful Russian Empire, the peoples’ prison. The year was / is 1910. Realising the ever increasing popularity of aviation in Western

Nǐ hǎo, my reader friend, good morning. But what is a parafoil? You do remember how the first part of this article ended, now do you? Sigh. To make a long story short, a parafoil is a parachute whose fabric canopy, rectangular in most cases, has 2 surfaces connected by fabric partitions. The air which circulates between the surfaces and partitions of a parafoil in flight keeps it well inflated. A parafoil can be packaged and deployed like a conventional parachute. Unlike such a parachute

How is life, my reading friend? The Sun is shining outside and I find myself thinking about a distant time, the late 1960s or the early 1970s. I remembered, for the first time in ages, a class presentation on aircraft modelling. I know, I know, I was a nerd. Oh, joy. Having at this time both hands on the steering wheel, I wish to launch our vehicle in a passionate quest for the distant origins of aircraft modelling in Canada / Québec. Interest in the fabrication of scale models capable of flight

Once upon a time, my reading friend, yours truly came across a photograph in the May 1960 issue of the British monthly magazine Air Pictorial. I liked this photograph and promptly decided to pontificate about it at a later date. This day has now arrived. Lucky you. The caption of said photograph read as follows, by the way:

On the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum reflects on the BCATP and Canada’s important role in training Allied air crews for victory.

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was Alberta’s sole Victoria Cross recipient of the Second World War.