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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 2164.PDF
30 JULY 1954 FLIGHT 19 A page from THE ESSO HISTOIRE OF AERIAL LOCOMOTION Adapted from the French de P. Crochet-Damais. Illustrated par Philippe Fety avec permission. THE SIAMESE PARASOLISTS A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY treatise on Siam- I w DU Royaume de Siam," by Monsieur Simon de La Loubere — describes an early and hazardous mode of aerial ^ansport adopted by certain dancers in this ancient land. nese trippers of the light fantastic discovered that they could achieve levitation of a sort by getting the wind up: *«f» their parasols held firmly in the hand or buckled to their waists they would leap from the ground, helicopter fashion, and hope for the best. The account describes their flights and their forced landings — to Earth, into the trees, into the river and onto the rooftops — and mentions that these antics proved so diverting to the King of Siam that he decorated every member of his novel air force. There were titles, prizes, and fine apartments for all at the Imperial Palace. The parasol was a showy and somewhat unreliable flying- machine and was never a seiious competitor of the good old broomstick. Today genius gets results by remembering that it pays to say AVIATION FUELS & LUBRICANTS Si:0 PETROLEUM COMPANY, LIMITED, 36 QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, LONDON, S.W.I
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