Good day to you, my reading friend. Do you remember what the topic of this week’s issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee? One or more hovercraft? Very good. Let us begin. Once upon a time, around 1968-69 to be more precise, the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a Christian organisation whose main operational centres were / are in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, was active in the Lake Chad area of Africa. The fluctuating water levels of this once huge body of water meant

How do you do, my reading friend? Well? That is wonderful. Let us channel the spirit of our inner Joker, à la John Joseph “Jack” Nicholson of course, and peer into the history of air cushion vehicles, or hovercraft, and… Fear not, brave heart, we shall dwell upon a teeny weeny episode of that history, unfortunately. The episode that concerns us this week had / has to do with a British gentleman by the name of Peter Mayer. Yours truly wishes I could you provide with some information on the early

PART 3 – The Dawn of the Safety Bicycle, 1880s - 1900 In honour of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. As shown in parts one and two , even though improvements on early designs opened up cycling to a greater number of people, the high wheel bicycle was dangerous, and not everyone was willing to ride a tricycle. Many riders wanted something as fast and fun as an

PART 2: The Velocipede, Ordinary, and Tricycle (1860s – 1890) In honor of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. As shown in part one of this history of the bicycle, early machines looked very different than the modern bicycles we know today. Today — in part two — we explore the next steps on this journey: The Velocipede, The Ordinary, and the Tricycle.

With the happy arrival of spring, bikes are being dusted off and brought out of hiding for the new season. In honour of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. Today, cycling is a part of daily life for millions of people around the world. Most ride on two wheels with air-filled tires, using handlebars to steer the front wheel and pedals to power the back wheel through a

My reading friend whose wrath reaches the stars, I humbly beg you to forgive the non-aeronautical topic of this issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee. My main excuse is that last week’s peroration revolved around Antarctic expeditions in the 1930s. A second topic on the same continent seemed most appropriate to me. Reading the short text that accompanied the photo above, published in the 3 May 1959 issue of La Patrie du dimanche , a weekly from Montréal, Québec, which disappeared a few decades

Zdrasvstvuyti / hello, my reading friend, and welcome to what appears to be yet another non aeronautical or spacey issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee. Before you blow the proverbial gasket, please allow me to point out that there will be some aeronautical content in the paragraphs below. Indeed, may yours truly introduce the first element of this content, in order to prevent your discontent, by quoting the caption of the photo I found in the 26 March 1959 issue of The Gazette , a newspaper

Good day, my reading friend. How are you? Good, good, I’m delighted. Me too. Aware of the fact that, for some, there is more to life than airplanes, yes, yes, I know, I’m blabbering nonsense, but let’s not dwell, yours truly, say I, agrees to present you a subject that strays somewhat from the range of work of my employer, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, in Ottawa, Ontario – one of the most interesting institutions of its kind in North America, if not the world. You smile, my reading

Hello, and welcome to another edition of our blog / bulletin / thingee dedicated to aviation and space that will not discuss aviation or space. I must admit to having been intrigued by the photo above. I’ve never seen Joseph Henri Maurice “Comet / Mr. Hockey / Rocket” Richard, a big star of the Club de hockey Canadien Incorporé, an organization mentioned in a July 2018 issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee, shoot and score but I have often heard about this man over the years. First player in

How do you move a library and archives? Very carefully. As Ingenium’s archivist, a big part of my role lately has been to prepare for a major move to the Collections Conservation Centre — scheduled for completion later this year. If you live in Ottawa, you may have noticed the construction site right next to the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Ingenium staff will soon begin moving with two museum collections into the new building. Among the collections to move are the library and archival