Maxine Blossom Miles
   HOME
*





Maxine Blossom Miles
Maxine "Blossom" Miles, born 22 September 1901 as Maxine Forbes-Robertson, was a British aviation engineer, socialite, and businesswoman. She was born into a well-known family of actors. She became interested in aviation in the 1920s, and married her flight instructor, Frederick George Miles. Together they eventually founded Miles Aircraft, where she was a draughtswoman and aircraft designer. Early life Maxine Forbes-Robertson was born 22 September 1901 to Johnston Forbes-Robertson and his wife, May Gertrude Dermot better known by her stage name of Gertrude Elliott, both actors. Her father was acclaimed, and his family was at the heart of London society. A privileged but grounded upbringing ensured that "Blossom", as she was known in her family, was able to develop her intellectual, sporting and artistic abilities to the full, despite losing an eye at an early age. She was no stranger to the theatre and appeared on the London stage with members of her family on occasion. Maxi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Frederic Yates
Frederic Yates (1854–1919) was an English painter. He painted landscapes and portraits including President Woodrow Wilson and Sanford Ballard Dole, the only president of Hawaii. He settled in the Lake District. Life Frederic Keeping was born in Southampton in 1854 and his family soon moved to Liverpool, before moving to America. For some reason the family changed their name from Keeping to Yates. He studied painting in the Paris ateliers of Léon Bonnat, Gustave Boulanger, and Jules Joseph Lefebvre. In 1886, he moved to San Francisco where his family had settled a few years earlier. He married Emily, an American, in 1887. In San Francisco, he became a popular portraitist and taught at the newly formed Art Students League of San Francisco. In 1890 Frederic and Emily moved to Kent where their daughter Mary was born the following year. The three of them went to America to see Mary's grandparents. Whilst he was in Hawaii Yates painted the Hawaiian President Dole. They vi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lady Diana Cooper
Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrated group of intellectuals known as the Coterie, most of whom were killed in the First World War. She married one of the few survivors, Duff Cooper, later British ambassador to France. After his death, she wrote three volumes of memoirs which reveal much about early 20th-century upper-class life. Birth and youth Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners was born at 23A Bruton Street in Mayfair, London, on 29 August 1892. Her mother, who was a devotee of the author George Meredith, named her daughter after the titular character in Meredith's novel ''Diana of the Crossways''. Officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the Duchess of Rutland, Lady Diana's biological father was the writer Harry Cust. As early as ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Miles Master
The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second World War. The Master can trace its origins back to the earlier M.9 Kestrel demonstrator aircraft. Following the failure of the rival de Havilland Don as a satisfactory trainer aircraft, the RAF ordered 500 ''M9A Master'' advanced trainers to meet its needs. Once in service, it provided a fast, strong and fully aerobatic aircraft that functioned as an excellent introduction to the high performance British fighter aircraft of the day: the Spitfire and Hurricane. Throughout its production life, thousands of aircraft and various variants of the Master were produced, the latter being largely influenced by engine availability. Numerous Masters were modified to enable their use as glider tows. The Master also served as the basis for the Miles M ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

De Havilland Gipsy Major
The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintage aircraft types. Engines were produced by de Havilland in the UK and by the Australian arm of the company, de Havilland Australia, the latter modifying the design to use imperial measures rather than the original metric measurements. Design and development The engine was a slightly modified Gipsy III, which was effectively a de Havilland Gipsy engine modified to run inverted so that the cylinders pointed downwards below the crankcase. The Major was also bored-out (118 mm from 114 mm) compared to the Gipsy III, increasing displacement from 5 L to 6.1 L. The inverted configuration allowed the propeller shaft to be kept in a high position without having the cylinders blocking the pilot's forward view over the nose of the airc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Miles Hawk
The Miles M.2 Hawk was a twin-seat light monoplane designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft Limited during the 1930s. It is the first of the company's aircraft to attain quantity production. The Hawk's development started in 1932 following a conversation between designer F.G. Miles and Charles Powys, the latter offering Miles hangar space at Woodley Aerodrome to build his proposed affordable twin-seat monoplane. The aircraft was designed by Miles and his wife, while construction of the prototype was mostly performed by the carpenter Harry Hull. On 29 March 1933, the prototype performed its maiden flight. The aircraft quickly proving its performance to be roughly 50 percent greater than biplane contemporaries. Within 15 months, 47 Hawks had been sold to various domestic customers. An advanced derivative, the Miles Hawk Major, was also quickly developed, alongside several specialised versions of the original aircraft. Amongst other uses, the Ha ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

King's Cup Race
The King's Cup air race is a British handicapped cross-country event, which has taken place annually since 1922. It is run by the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association. The King's Cup is one of the most prestigious prizes of the British air racing season. The entrants are divided into classes, and each is evaluated and given a time handicap for the start of the race. They all take off at varying times according to their handicap, with the handicappers' aim being that they should all cross the finishing line at the same moment. The art of winning the race outright is therefore to beat the handicappers, rather than to make the fastest flight as such.Alex Henshaw, ''The Flight of the Mew Gull'', Murray, 1980. p.95 The aircraft are also divided into classes, with a winner for each class as well as the outright winner. History The King's Cup air race was established by King George V as an incentive to the development of light aircraft and engine design. Initially, i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Miles Sparrowhawk
The Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk was a 1930s British single-seat racing and touring monoplane designed by Miles Aircraft Limited. Design and development The prototype M.5 Sparrowhawk was developed from standard Miles Hawk components as an entry into the King's Cup Race of 1935 piloted by F.G. Miles. The standard Hawk fuselage was shortened and accommodation was for only one pilot, sitting as low as possible. The top decking was reduced in height, a special high-compression version of the de Havilland Gipsy Six engine was fitted, and the undercarriage track was widened. Although the Sparrowhawk won the 1935 speed prize at an average of over , because of heavy handicapping, it only came ninth overall in the race. A further five Sparrowhawks (designated M.5A) were also built as King's Cup Racers and three were delivered to customers but they did not perform spectacularly. In 1936 Victor Smith entered Sparrowhawk G-AELT into the Schlesinger Race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg but had ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Simmonds Spartan
The Simmonds Spartan is a 1920s British two-seat biplane trainer/tourer aircraft built by Simmonds Aircraft Limited. History Not happy with the high cost of manufacturing light aircraft, O.E. Simmonds designed and built a wooden two-seat biplane in 1928. To reduce maintenance costs all four wings and ailerons were the same; this allowed one spare wing to be used in any position. Powered by a Cirrus III, the prototype G-EBYU first flew in time to enter the King's Cup Air Race of 1928. The aircraft was flown to the Berlin Aero Show on 24 October 1928, a non-stop flight of 7 hours and 10 minutes. Production began at Woolston, Hampshire, with the final assembly and test flying at Hamble Aerodrome. Forty-nine aircraft were built, many for export, with New Zealand customers buying the most. At home 12 were delivered to the National Flying Services for use as trainers. Three aircraft were operated on floats in Fiji. Although not as famous as other aircraft of the period, one aircraft ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "king". He has also been styled the king's lieutenant. A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjective form is ''viceregal'', less often ''viceroyal''. The term ''vicereine'' is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy ''suo jure'', although ''viceroy'' can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more commonly used to indicate a viceroy's wife. The term has occasionally been applied to the governors-general of the Commonwealth realms, who are ''viceregal'' representatives of the monarch. ''Viceroy'' is a form of royal appointment rather than noble rank. An individual viceroy often also held a noble title, however, such as Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, who was ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shoreham Airport
Brighton City Airport , also commonly known as Shoreham Airport, is located in the parish of Lancing in West Sussex, England. It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. Founded in 1910, it is the oldest airport in the UK and the oldest purpose-built commercial airport in the world still in operation.Bloom, Nick. "Sunny Shoreham", ''Pilot'', February 2012, p70 It is now owned by Brighton City Airport Ltd (BCAL). The 1930s Art Deco terminal building designed by R Stavers Hessell Tiltman is listed grade II*. The airport is west of Shoreham-by-Sea at Lancing in the Adur district of West Sussex. It is situated immediately to the south of the A27 road, between Brighton and Worthing, and immediately to the north of the West Coastway railway line. History Foundation The first aviator to fly there was Harold H. Piffard in 1910; a memorial garden celebrates his flight. The aerodrome was offic ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess Of Willingdon
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd. Freeman-Thomas was born in England and educated at Eton College and then the University of Cambridge before serving for 15 years in the Sussex Artillery. He then entered the diplomatic and political fields, acting as aide-de-camp to his father-in-law when the latter was Governor of Victoria and, in 1900, was elected to the British House of Commons. He thereafter occupied a variety of government posts, including secretary to the British prime minister and, after being raised to the peerage as Lord Willingdon, as Lord-in-waiting to King George V. From 1913, Willingdon held gubernatorial and viceregal offices throughout the British Empire, starting with the governorship of Bombay and then the g ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]