DOCSLIB.ORG

On Being a Bird

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
On Being a Bird PHILIP WILLS it? /i*T» 4* fB**ff If fttom tlje £It<mg ItBitattg of in ON BEING A BIRD ON BEING A BIRD PHILIP WILLS WITH 15 GRAVURE ILLUSTRATIONS AND 34 DRAWINGS IN LINE MAX PARRISH • LONDON First published 1953 MAX PARRISH AND CO LTD Adprint House • Rathbone Place • London, Wi Made and printed in Great Britain by WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS LIMITED LONDON AND BECCLES CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 9 1 IS IT ANY USE? II 2 WE CUT LOOSE 32 3 FLIGHT WITHOUT POWER 38 4 A FEW SQUARE FEET OF PLYWOOD 60 5 ON BATHWATER 7! 6 A GLANCE (RATHER NERVOUS) AT THE WEATHER 87 7 THE SPIN TEST 94 8 STABILITY AND CONTROL IO2 9 GETTING UP AND STAYING UP 106 10 GOING WEST 115 11 BRINGING THEM BACK ALIVE 124 12 THE INSTRUMENT BOARD 135 13 COMPETITION FLYING 145 14 TO MAIDEN AUNTS 157 15 THE DEAD END OF THE MALOJA WIND l6l 16 BLIND FLYING IS A STATE OF MIND 172 17 BIG STUFF 191 18 SUCCESS STORY 2O4 APPENDIX I: THE GLIDING MOVEMENT 214 H: GLIDING CLUBS 22O III: GLIDING RECORDS 223 BIBLIOGRAPHY 228 INDEX 229 The author's acknowledgements are due to the Editors of The Times, Aeronautics and Lilliput for permission to reprint articles which have appeared in their pages, to Messrs John Murray for permission to use part of his contribution to Ann Douglas's Gliding and Advanced Soaring, and to Mr R. H. Swinn for permission to reprint part of his article on 'Dust Devils'. He is also grateful to the following for their courtesy in allowing him to reproduce photographs in their possession: Professor Fritschi (Plate XI), T. Heimgartner (cover and Plate XII), Pye Telecommunications Ltd (Plate VIII, top), The Royal Meteorological Society (Plate IV). Mr Hugh Kendall and Dr R. S. Scorer have given much useful advice on some of the more technical aspects: the mistakes which remain are the author's own. ILLUSTRATIONS IN PHOTOGRAVURE Frontispiece The author at Cuatro Vientos, July 1952 facing page 1 Battle of Britain aircraft: Avro 504 16 2 Minimoa sailplane 17 3 Lenticular cloud, New Zealand 32 4 Wave clouds in Scotland 33 5 Soaring eagle 48 6 Instrument board 49 7 Bunjie launch 64 Two-seater trainer 64 8 Radio maintenance 65 Slingsby Sky trailer 65 9 Slingsby Sky sailplane 144 10 1950 World Championships, Sweden 145 11 Alpine soaring 160 12 'A quiet white shape amidst the blacknesses* 161 To Kitty INTRODUCTION They say that everyone has it in them to write one good book. But when one actually starts to take 'them.' at their word, doubts begin to creep in. Who are they anyway? Are they going to read it? In so far as gliding is concerned, the world falls into three classes: a few thousand who do it, perhaps twenty times that number who would do it if only... and the remaining two thousand-odd million folk who don't even know what gliding is, and would not care if they did. Let me say at once, therefore, what this book is not. It is not a technical text-book for the practising enthusiast. In­ deed, our subject has nowadays become altogether too big a one for the whole scope to be contained in any one volume. As in so many other fields, ours has now become so large that separate books need to be written under each heading: meteorology, aerodynamics, training methods and operat­ ing techniques, constructional and repair methods, instru­ mentation, and so on. This is not any one of those books: indeed, whatever some might think, I do not claim to be an expert on any one of these subjects, and on some of them I am positively dim. What I am trying to do, therefore, is to paint a picture of the air as it seems to the man or woman who approaches it in silent flight, as a medium almost more than material, having a life and character of its own. This has been attempted in the case of the sea, and by far more brilliant pens than mine, because man has been able INTRODUCTION for centuries to absorb the moods and character of the oceans from sailing craft and canoes in slow and contemplative fashion, and only later has it become comparatively remote from the decks of Atlantic greyhounds. Man, however, has been brought to the air in the reverse order. The early flights of balloons and primitive gliders soon gave way to the noise and vibration of the powered craft, and man's senses thus bedevilled are incapable of absorbing the elusive flavours of this new medium. Only since the ad­ vent of soaring flight has it become possible to attempt the task I am now essaying. The air is a truly vast canvas, and one extraordinarily diffi­ cult to convey intelligibly to others. I have therefore had to attempt the method of the Impressionists - to throw on blobs of colour in a way which, at first sight, may appear random, but which, if it comes off, will gradually build up a total pic­ ture of greater descriptive subtlety than can be achieved by more direct methods. To understand our picture, the reader will have to learn some of our language, and this I hope he will do, without tears, as he reads on through the book. The plan, therefore, is to build up a picture by telling of various experiences, interspersing between each sufficient technical matter, told as simply as possible, to make each succeeding story com­ prehensible. It is a formidable task and my only qualification to attempt it is that I have been well and truly bitten by the bug for longer than most. It is now over twenty years since my first launch, and in that time I have tried to learn enough of the subject to achieve my desire: to have as much fun as it is possible to extract from the most absorbing sport of all time. IS IT ANY USE? There is a true story of a sailplane pilot who landed in the park of a large house somewhere near the Cheddar Gorge. The lady of the house came out and, after the machine had been attended to, asked the pilot in, and proceeded to cross- examine him. After hearing all he had to say, she said: 'Well, I simply can't imagine what makes you waste your time in such an extraordinary way!' A little later, the tea was brought in, and as she poured it out, she remarked 'I am so sorry that my husband isn't here to meet you. He is out caving. .' Why glide? This is perhaps the first question shot at enthusiasts by the stranger. The question is one that is dim- cult to answer on the spot without being either boring or pompous. The man of my dreams, who always produces the right answer at the time, instead of an hour after the ques­ tioner has gone, would I think reply something on the following lines. 'You ask me, madam, what use is Gliding. Well, there are many useful things in the world, such as Uranium 235 or the Ministry of Supply or the latest detergent powder; and many useless ones, like the path of the moon dancing to the sea's horizon, or the smell of a wood on a summer's morning, or the Unfinished Symphony. 'You enquire in which camp Gliding stands and I think the true answer is that it has a foot in both. But as for me, I ii ON BEING A BIRD fly because I am fascinated by the ocean of the air, by its habits and moods, and in learning slowly to understand its curious ways. I suppose you could say that I love the air for itself, as a good husbandman loves the earth or the good sailor the sea. And in people of my way of thinking I find a companionship I need/ 'But', chips in my dream-lady (and just at the right moment), 'if you have this peremptory urge to fly, which occurs in no other land-animal I know of, and so must in itself indicate some psychological abnormality, why not fly an aeroplane, which I can see does in fact get you somewhere both literally and metaphorically?' 'It is possible', I reply, 'that I cannot explain to you what I am trying to communicate. Your tea has been excellent, and as my hostess I feel indeed grateful to you, but in our short conversation you have dropped more bricks than I may be able to pick up before you throw me out. 'Can you understand that you cannot learn the subtle flavours of the air by screaming, deafened and bejellied, behind five thousand odoriferous horses across the com­ plaining sky? The powered aircraft provides the quickest, least tiring and most satisfactory way to deliver a business man to his board, or an atom bomb to Hiroshima. Its functions may quickest be summed up in the two words: death and dividends. 'So the satisfactions to be achieved from powered flight are quite different. They may include excellent things such as a desire to serve the community, or to exercise one's administrative or technical talents; they may develop ad­ mirable characteristics in a man, such as courage, devotion to duty, or the intellectual integrity of scientific or technical research. They may shade off into less worthy motives, such 12 IS IT ANY USE? as to demonstrate power over more ordinary people, or even to show off to the girl-friend.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Dichotomy Between British and American Women Auxiliary Pilots of World War II
    Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Dichotomy between British and American Women Auxiliary Pilots of World War II Brighid Klick A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS WITH HONORS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN March 31, 2014 Advised by Professor Kali Israel TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... ii Military Services and Auxiliaries ................................................................................. iii Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Introduction of Women Pilots to the War Effort…….... ..................... 7 Chapter Two: Key Differences ..................................................................................... 37 Chapter Three: Need and Experimentation ................................................................ 65 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 91 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 98 ii Acknowledgements I would first like to express my gratitude to my adviser Professor Israel for her support from the very beginning of this project. It was her willingness to write a letter of recommendation for a student she had just met that allowed
    [Show full text]
  • Lord Healey CH MBE PC
    ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL 31 (Incorporating the Proceedings of the Bomber Command Association’s 60th Anniversary Symposium) 2 The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors concerned and are not necessarily those held by the Royal Air Force Historical Society. Photographs credited to MAP have been reproduced by kind permission of Military Aircraft Photographs. Copies of these, and of many others, may be obtained via http://www.mar.co.uk First published in the UK in 2004 by the Royal Air Force Historical Society All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. ISSN 1361 4231 Typeset by Creative Associates 115 Magdalen Road Oxford OX4 1RS Printed by Advance Book Printing Unit 9 Northmoor Park Church Road Northmoor OX29 5UH 3 CONTENTS RECOLLECTIONS OF A SECRETARY OF STATE FOR 4 DEFENCE – The Rt Hon The Lord Healey CH MBE PC HOW DECISIVE WAS THE ROLE OF ALLIED AIR POWER 17 IN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC, 1941-1945? by Sqn Ldr S I Richards SUMMARY OF THE MINUTES OF THE SEVENTEENTH 47 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN THE ROYAL AIR FORCE CLUB ON 10 JUNE 2003 FEEDBACK 51 DEREK WOOD – AN OBITUARY 55 BOOK REVIEWS 56 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOMBER COMMAND 82 ASSOCIATION 60TH ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM HELD AT THE RAF MUSEUM, HENDON ON 12 OCTOBER 2002 UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF AIR MSHL SIR JOHN CURTISS KCB KBE 4 RECOLLECTIONS OF A SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE The Rt Hon The Lord Healey CH MBE PC I should perhaps start by saying that there is no specific theme to what I have to say.
    [Show full text]
  • The US Army Air Forces in WWII
    DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE Air Force Historical Studies Office 28 June 2011 Errata Sheet for the Air Force History and Museum Program publication: With Courage: the United States Army Air Forces in WWII, 1994, by Bernard C. Nalty, John F. Shiner, and George M. Watson. Page 215 Correct: Second Lieutenant Lloyd D. Hughes To: Second Lieutenant Lloyd H. Hughes Page 218 Correct Lieutenant Hughes To: Second Lieutenant Lloyd H. Hughes Page 357 Correct Hughes, Lloyd D., 215, 218 To: Hughes, Lloyd H., 215, 218 Foreword In the last decade of the twentieth century, the United States Air Force commemorates two significant benchmarks in its heritage. The first is the occasion for the publication of this book, a tribute to the men and women who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War 11. The four years between 1991 and 1995 mark the fiftieth anniversary cycle of events in which the nation raised and trained an air armada and com- mitted it to operations on a scale unknown to that time. With Courage: U.S.Army Air Forces in World War ZZ retells the story of sacrifice, valor, and achievements in air campaigns against tough, determined adversaries. It describes the development of a uniquely American doctrine for the application of air power against an opponent's key industries and centers of national life, a doctrine whose legacy today is the Global Reach - Global Power strategic planning framework of the modern U.S. Air Force. The narrative integrates aspects of strategic intelligence, logistics, technology, and leadership to offer a full yet concise account of the contributions of American air power to victory in that war.
    [Show full text]
  • Air and Space Museum Paris-Le Bourget Airport
    AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM PARIS-LE BOURGET AIRPORT PRESS KIT AMY JOHNSON EXHIBITION The fate of a heroine 17th May to 31st August 2014 Press Kit— Air and Space museum - « Amy Johnson » 1 CONTENTS 1. THE AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM OF PARIS-LE BOURGET 2. SYNOPSIS AND MAP OF THE EXHIBITION 3. AMY JOHNSON 4. BETWEEN-THE-WARS HALL 6. VISITOR INFORMATION AND CONTACT Amy Johnson on board during the raid England-Australia in 1930, Collection musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget / Monde et Caméra, MC 23340 Press Kit— Air and Space museum - « Amy Johnson » 2 LE1. THE MUSEE AIR DE AND L’AIR SPACE ET DE L’ESPACEMUSEUM he Air and Space museum is located at the Paris-Le Bourget airport, which is the leading European airport for business aviation, and is one of the oldest and most important Air and Space museum in the world. It was inaugurated in 1919 and presents outstanding historical heritage that includes the three main aeronautical areas: balloon/airship flight, aviation and space navigation. Its collections include more than 400 aircraft, out of which 150 are on display, from the earliest Taircraft to the Concorde, such as the Bréguet XIX “Point d’interrogation” or the unforgettable Supermarine Spitfire. Besides aircraft, the collections include engines, propellers, equipment, lots of graphical works of art, toys, miniatures and models, uniforms, pictures and archives. As a link between past and future, the Air and Space museum of Le Bourget is a living place: there are numerous cultural events, frequent addition of new items to existing collections, activities for the benefit of all public categories, such as the area “Planète Pilote” devoted to children, area hire for corporate events, films and pictures shooting, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • “STOWAWAY” by BETTY DREWRY (Served in ATA from 02/06/1942 To
    “STOWAWAY” BY BETTY DREWRY (Served in ATA from 02/06/1942 to 17/01/1945) Elizabeth Drewry Recollections (The Stowaway) [2013.35.2.1] FOREWORD BY CHRISTOPHER DREWRY (Betty’s half-brother) In November 1943 a 24 year old English girl hit the headlines of the national and international press. In the years immediately preceding the Second World War she had received a comfortable and privileged upbringing and had started a career as a ballet dancer but from the outbreak of war she had been desperately trying to learn to fly so that she could contribute to the war effort by becoming a female pilot ferrying military aircraft for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). Every conceivable form of prevarication, bureaucracy and discrimination had been applied to frustrate her attempts to secure a flying course in Britain but she was determined not to be beaten. She had become an aviation mechanic servicing Liberator bombers while she waited in vain for the promised flying training which never materialised. Finally her frustration boiled over and, hearing that the prospects for being trained to fly were better on the other side of the Atlantic, she stowed away one night in the nose-wheel of a bomber leaving Scotland and climbed out into a hangar at Montreal, Canada 19 hours later. The first anyone knew about it at home was when the press descended onto her parents’ doorstep. Having managed to avoid deportation by the skin of her teeth, she succeeded in working her way across Canada and, after appealing to no less a person than President Roosevelt’s wife, into America where she eventually acquired a civil pilot’s licence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP): Marvelous Women with Their Eyes on the Stars
    The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP): Marvelous Women With Their Eyes on the Stars Anne Wensley Senior Thesis Department of History Barnard College, Columbia University Professor Carl Wennerlind April 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts” - Eleanor Roosevelt I’ve had the incredible privilege of growing up with a phenomenal, strong female role model: my mom, Lieutenant Colonel Laura Theodorson. When I was born, she was stationed on active duty at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, eight years into what would become twenty-eight years of service in the U.S. Air Force. Twenty years ago, my mom transitioned to the Air Force Reserve at McChord Air Force Base, now Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle, Washington, where she continued flying for the military while beginning an airline pilot career. The idea of women serving in military aviation was normalized for me from a young age, as I frequently saw both my mom and her close female friends in uniform and in the cockpit. I was introduced to the topic of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in 2010, when my mom had the distinction of escorting WASP Ruth Glaser Wright Guhse during their Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. In April of 2010, I had the honor of meeting WASP Dorothy Kacher Olson when my Girl Scout Troop served as color guard for a City Council meeting in University Place, Washington, during which Olson was recognized. 2 It wasn’t until seven and a half years later, when taking Professor Premilla Nadasen’s History course on Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the 20th Century United States in the Fall 2017 that I began engaging with the topic of Women in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • 13676 Genaviation Text
    ATA rrr:1 Articles 18/3/08 14:53 Page 34 operational tasks, the ATA ran their own maintenance, medical, administration and AA salsalututee toto thethe AATTAA,, catering organisation. Initially the pilots who ferried the planes returned to base by train. A flying taxi service using Ansons and Fairchilds was established so that by 1943 one ATA pilot 6060 yearyearss onon did the work of three. ATA pools reached from Hamble on the Solent to Lossiemouth in the Moray Firth. When women pilots wanted to join the ATA, the sparks really flew. Pauline Gower, an MP’s daughter with 2,000 hours under her belt ferrying 30,000 passengers, wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. She secured Churchill’s intervention and paved the way for more than 110 women to fly alongside 600 Great War fighter aces and commercial pilots rejected by the RAF on grounds of health or age – the self- styled Ancient and Tattered Aviators. The legendary Amy Johnson, who had flown solo to Australia, was ferrying an Oxford south via Blackpool without proper instruments. Flying above the clouds, she waited for a gap to appear; none did. Eventually she ran out of fuel and baled out over the Thames Estuary. By sheer bad luck she drowned next to a navy vessel; Lt-Commander Walter Fletcher perished attempting to save her. E.C. Cheesman, who wrote the story of the ATA in 1945, escaped the same fate when he baled out successfully after failing to get back down through the clouds. Even Douglas Bader was impressed by the women fliers and visited the home of Diana Barnato-Walker, the ATA member who later became the first British woman to break the sound barrier, and who today lives in Kent.
    [Show full text]
  • MAIDENHEAD HERITAGE CENTRE Transcript
    MAIDENHEAD HERITAGE CENTRE Transcript of the Diaries of Capt. J A (Arnold) V Watson O.B.E. By kind permission of his daughter, Mrs Pamela Mainwaring Arnold Watson - Transcribed Diaries [2013.101.1] SUMMARY Capt. Watson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary in June 1940 having sought permission from his then employer Lord Wakefield (Castrol Oil). Although he held a pilot’s licence at the time, he had fewer than the minimum hours for acceptance but was accepted after a flight test. His entire time with the ATA was spent at the Headquarters at White Waltham. Initially he was ferrying, but his skills were recognised and he was later promoted to Airborne Navigation Instructor where, mainly on Oxfords & Ansons, he passed out upwards of 80 pupils, plus a few that he didn’t! However, the most important aspect of his ATA career was to come when he was asked to take over the role of Flying Technical Officer where he was responsibile for flight testing any new aircraft which the ATA were going to be asked to ferry and to provide technical information regarding the flying characteristics which would be set out in Ferry Pilots’ Notes. This involved testing the low speed characteristics of each aircraft in a wide range of weather conditions and all aspects of engine and propeller settings. From time to time, this gave cause for alarm as at times the manufacturer’s own test pilots had not tested some of these aspects. There is no doubt that Watson’s work resulted in the greater safety of many pilots.
    [Show full text]
  • Barbara Erickson:From “Rosie the Riveter” to B–17 Pilot the Dam
    SUMMER 2005 - Volume 52, Number 2 Barbara Erickson:From “Rosie the Riveter” to B–17 Pilot Sarah Byrn Rickman 4 The Dam Busters’ Raid: Success or Sideshow T. M. Webster 12 The Dawn of Aviation in the Middle East: The First Flying Machines over Istanbul Gary Leiser 26 The Fog of War: Lt. Kenneth M.Taylor on December 7, 1941 George R. Farfour 42 Book Reviews 52 American Combat Planes of the 20th Century by Ray Wagner Reviewed by George Cully 52 Splendid Vision, Unswerving Purpose: Developing Air Power for the Untied States Air Force during the First Century of Powered Flight by Aeronautical Systems Center History Office Reviewed by Christopher A. Waln 52 Today’s Best Military Writing: The Finest Articles on the Past, Present, and Future of the U.S. Military by Walter J. Boyne Reviewed by John D. Sherwood 52 The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites by Matt Bille and Erika Lishock Reviewed by Rick W. Sturdevant 53 Air Fare: Stories, Poems & Essays on Flight by Nickole Brown and Judith Taylor, eds Reviewed by Bruce Ashcroft 54 Mario Calderara Aviator and Inventor: The First Italian Pilot Pupil of Wilbur Wright by Lodovico Calderara and Attilio Marchetti. Reviewed by Roger G. Miller 54 Taming Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket, 1958-2002 by Virginia P. Dawson and Mark D. Bowles Reviewed by James A. Painter 57 Thatch Weave: The Life of Jimmie Thatch by Steve Ewing Reviewed by Robert W. Covey 57 The Ploesti Raid: Through the Lens by Roger A. Freeman Reviewed by Ramsey Gorchev 58 Ask the Chief: Backbone of the Navy by J.F.
    [Show full text]
  • American Aviation Heritage
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Landmarks Program American Aviation Heritage Draft, February 2004 Identifying and Evaluating Nationally Significant Properties in U.S. Aviation History A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study Cover: A Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” Bomber flies over Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, in the late 1930s. Photograph courtesy of 88th Air Base Wing History Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. AMERICAN AVIATION HERITAGE Identifying and Evaluating Nationally Significant Properties in U.S. Aviation History A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study Prepared by: Contributing authors: Susan Cianci Salvatore, Cultural Resources Specialist & Project Manager, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers Consultant John D. Anderson, Jr., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland and Curator for Aerodynamics, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Janet Daly Bednarek, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Dayton Roger Bilstein, Ph.D., Professor of History Emeritus, University of Houston-Clear Lake Caridad de la Vega, Historian, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers Consultant Marie Lanser Beck, Consulting Historian Laura Shick, Historian, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers Consultant Editor: Alexandra M. Lord, Ph.D., Branch Chief, National Historic Landmarks Program Produced by: The National Historic Landmarks Program Cultural Resources National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Ates Women in Aviation 1940-1985 Deborah G
    Smithsonian Studies in Air and Space Number 7 nite ates women in Aviation 1940-1985 Deborah G. Douglas SERIES PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Emphasis upon publication as a means of "diffusing knowledge" was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry outlined a program that included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge." This theme of basic research has been adhered to through the years by thousands of titles issued in series publications under the Smithsonian imprint, commencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series: Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics Smithsonian Contributions to Botany Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology Smithsonian Folklife Studies Smithsonian Studies in Air and Space Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology In these series, the Institution publishes small papers and full-scale monographs that report the research and collections of its various museums and bureaux or of professional colleagues in the world of science and scholarship. The publications are distributed by mailing lists to libraries, universities, and simitar institutions throughout the world. Papers or monographs submitted for series publication are received by the Smithsonian Institution Press, subject to its own review for format and style, only through departments of the various Smithsonian museums or bureaux, where the manuscripts are given substantive review.
    [Show full text]
  • Talking Tangmere
    TALKING TANGMERE SPRING 2021 Tangmere Military Aviation Editorial Comment Museum Trust Company Ltd Welcome everybody to the Spring 2021 edition of Talking Tangmere. Patron: The Duke of Richmond and Gordon Hon President: Air Marshal Sir Graham Miller At the time of writing there is an outside chance of KBE the Museum opening in May! Yippee! came the cry Hon Life Vice-Presidents from 150 volunteers. Mr Alan Bower Mrs Sheila Shepherd Because of the pandemic and lock-downs the last edition was almost a year ago in April 2020 and was Past Presidents published on the web site. Well, we are back to the presses this time around! Squadron Leader Neville Duke DSO OBE DFC** AFC FRAeS This edition of the magazine covers a wide range of Mr DuncanS impson OBECEng FRAeS subjects. From the tributes to the late Group Captain FIMechE David Baron OBE to Jack Froelich and his exploits with the United States Air Force. Council of Trustees Mr Dudley Hooley (Chairman) In between there is a look at the World Air Speed Mr David Coxon Record which, this year, will be commemorated with th Mr Roger Jones a special 75 Anniversary exhibition. We have, also an introduction to our new Deputy Director, Ed Mr David Smith BA (Hons) Smith and to Jack Froelich. Mr Phil Stokes Mrs Brenda Thompson Plenty of other stories to come as we, hopefully, conclude another national lock-down. 2020 was not Officers of the company the best year the Museum has had but the volunteers Hon Treasurer: Mr Francis De Beer stepped up to the plate, and ensured that visitors would still enjoy the Museum, even at ‘safe Hon Secretary: Mrs Joyce Warren distances’.
    [Show full text]