In 1909 Louis Blériot made history when he flew over the English Channel on Shell fuel. 100 years later Swedish pilot Mikael Carlson marked the event in a restored Blériot XI plane, also fuelled by Shell.
This video captures that flight, which was recreated to mark Shell Aviation's Centenary Year.
This week marks the centenary of the La Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne held at the current site of the Reims Airbase BA112, according to Flightglobal user Stephen Wolf on 22-29 August 1909.
Flight wrote a pre-show report it in its 14 August issue, in which it said: "The Grand Semaine de Champagne will commence [22 August], and in view of the long list of prominent aviators who have promised to take part in the various contests, this will go down to history as the first great meeting of aeroplanes. Its most prominent event will be the first contest for the Gordon-Bennett Aviation Trophy."
There was to be a race in which competitors must cover two circuits of the 10km course. "The one who covers it in the fastest time wins a £500 trophy for his club and £1000 for himself."
Great Britain was to be represented by Mr. G. B. Cockburn on a Farman biplane, and America by Mr. Glenn Curtiss on a machine of his own design.
In Flight's 28 August issue, its leader piece said: "The Rheims meeting marks an epoch in the history of mechanical aerial locomotion. It is the first occasion on which a wide variety of machines has been brought together, and on which one has been pitted against the other day after day..."
Mr Wolf said: "The joy of flying was captured in the displays, and was a fitting tribute to those brave pioneers of 100 years ago, where every flight was an adventure destined for the record books.....
"I hope this centenary will get a mention on the FlightGlobal website, particularly as there are some great articles on the event in the annals of Flight."
Pictures of the Rheims 1909 aviators
A fuselage test barrel for Bombardier's CSeries was delivered to its Saint-Laurent, Quebec facility today.
The barrel is a model of the main fuselage section of the single aisle aircraft that will test manufacturing and engineering structural concepts before the aircraft's final design phase begins next year.
The barrel is approximately 23ft (7m) long, has a maximum diameter of 12ft (3.7m) and is made of advanced aluminium alloys.
The CSeries is set for service entry in 2013.
USAF doctor, Maj. David Simons reached a record height of 100,000ft (over 19 miles) by balloon, to test human reactions under artificial conditions at the edge of the earth's atmosphere. The flight lasted 32 hours, according to Flight International in its issue dated 30 August 1957.
We reported at the time: "Maj. Simons was accommodated in an aluminium gondola 7ft high and 3ft wide beneath a helium-filled plastic envelope designed to expand to a diameter of 202ft and began his ascent from Crosby, Minn, at 9.30 a.m. (2.30 p.m. G.M.T.) on August 19...
"The flight constitutes a record (so far as the F.A.I. is concerned, at present unofficial) both for altitude--variously reported as 102,000ft and 118,000ft--and for duration.
In the pdf archive:
Issue dated 25 October 1957 - The Astronautical Congress: Flight reported that Maj. Simons "spoke of the importance of the balloon system in simulating many of the conditions that must be faced in a manned satellite, providing as it does an invaluable tool for gaining an insight into the human factors involved.
"These include a sealed cabin atmosphere, isolation, radiation heat balance, and an opportunity to observe the earth and sky from above 99 per cent of the earth's atmosphere."
1911 The hydrogen balloon
1914 The Parseval-Sigsfeld kite balloon
1920 Principle of the captive balloon
1922 The Gordon Bennett Balloon Race
1948 Joys of ballooning revived
1950 Piloting a free balloon: translating aerostatic principles into practice - what the efficient aeronaut must know...
1979 Balloon fiesta (in Alberquerque) breaks all records
1996 Technology challenge
More balloons elsewhere on Flightglobal -
Alexander Yakovlev, famous for designing the Russian Yak fighter aircraft, died on this day in 1989.
Yakovlev made up part of a feature in Flight International in 1943 about Russian aircraft designers.
In 1966 he was awarded the Order of Lenin for creating new aircraft.
Flight wrote: "Under his guidance Soviet engineers have created dozens of new types of planes and helicopters, mainly piston-engined and jet fighters and fighter-interceptors."
Stefan the Pilot and I went to Walthamstowe Marshes recently in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first all-British flight just under the railway arches at Walthamstowe Marshes.
I produced some videos from the day out including one of a chat I had with A.V. Roe's grandson, Eric Verdon Roe and of Mike Taylor, project leader of Roe Heritage Group who talked about the modern day problems encountered with building an aircraft from the early 20th century.
The event was sponsored by BAE Systems and organised by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
Flight International profiles the Roe Triplane in its 1 April 1911 issue but recorded the flights of Roe's, triplane at the time saying: "On July 23rd, he made four successful attempts, of which three were flights of some 300 yards in length each. In the first flight Mr. Roe failed to fully accelerate his engine, and the machine alighted after a brief ascent, but on the second, third and fourth flights, he got going properly and ascended to an altitude of from 6 ft. to 10 ft. above the ground." Continue reading...
The Airpod uses innovative technology: a compressed air engine which is totally clean, and generates no CO2 emissions. The ambiant air is compressed using an electric compressor. It is then stocked in a high-pressure tank located under the vehicle.If you're at CDG or AMS and see the AIRPod, let us know.It takes 3 to 4 hours to fill up with compressed air, using a low pressure compressor, but could eventually do so in less than 3 minutes by using high-pressure compressor stations.
Two types of Airpod
Two types of Airpod will be tested at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol Airports:
. cargo vehicles which would transport minor equipment such as tool boxes, aircraft components and spare parts;
. people carriers, capable of carrying a driver and two passengers.What exactly does this trial consist of?
4 vehicles will be tested for Air France Industries' maintenance activities and Air France's operations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 3 at KLM E&M at Amsterdam Schiphol.For each AirPod, an appointed «test pilot» will carry out a series of tests in order to assess the vehicle's overall performance, and in particular the aspects concerning safety, ergonomy, reliability and autonomy.
MDI will be fully responsible for this feasibility study, which will reveal whether the Airpod meets the expectations of Air France Industries and KLM E&M.
Airbus celebrates the 40th anniversary of its first aircraft programme the A300 to today. It is also the anniversary of the Franco-German agreement which launched its first ever aircraft programme, the A300.
Picture credit: AirTeamImages/Tobias Rose
The French Minister of Transport, Jean Chamant and the German Minister of Economic Affairs, Karl Schiller, signed an agreement for the joint-development of the A300 aircraft, a first European twin-aisle twin-engine aircraft for medium-haul air travel during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO in a statement said: "40 years ago the commercial jet aircraft market was entirely dominated by the US industry. Giving the go-ahead for the A300 was a bold strategic decision.
"The pioneering spirit of our engineers as well as Airbus' continuous strive for innovation and international cooperation have made us a global market leader and at the same time a symbol for successful European cooperation. «New standards. Together» - this is our guiding principle and from now on our new tagline that will keep us ahead".
More on the A300 in the Flight archives -
Indian Airbus - 9 day tour of first A300 prototype
Airbus A300 into service and a few months later was published: Airbus in action
Aurora Flight Sciences' unmanned aircraft SunLight Eagle flew on 12 May. The solar-powered, 34.7m (114ft) wingspan, 75kg (165lb) UAV became airborne at New Mexico State University's Physical Science Laboratory Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Test Center at Las Cruces airport.
A colleague and I thought this looked similar to the Gossamer Condor? What do you think?
For more on the Gossamer Condor and the Kremer Prize in Flight's PDF archive
In response to Aimee Turner's post in her Future Proof blog about the hoverfly's inspiration for an aircraft's wing... I found a feature in Flight's PDF archive on the evolution of the Etrich "Taube" monoplane.
The article, published in February 1915 explains that the different types of Etrich machines are designated by the names of various birds, "owing to the fact that the planes are wing-shaped.
"As a matter of fact, this design does not derive its origin from the bird, but from the seed-leaf of the Zanonia palm, which possesses remarkable gliding properties when dried."
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