|
Norman Blackburn (aviation Pioneer)
Captain Norman William George Blackburn (25 May 1896 – 27 January 1966), was a British pilot and flying instructor during the First World War, and afterwards a director of Blackburn Aircraft. Early life and background Norman Blackburn was born in Leeds, the son of George Blackburn, and the younger brother of Robert Blackburn, founder of Blackburn Aircraft. World War I Blackburn entered the Royal Naval Air Service as a temporary probationary flight sub-lieutenant on 17 May 1915, and learned to fly at the Grahame-White School at Hendon Aerodrome, receiving Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 1311 on 5 June. He then served on the East Coast patrol "chasing Zeppelins", flying, among other aircraft, the Curtiss reconnaissance biplane and Kangaroo bomber. On 30 June 1916 he was promoted to flight lieutenant. Soon after, on 22 July, thick mist in the Vale of York forced him to land his Curtiss JN-4 near Northallerton, but the aircraft overturned and was badly damaged w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by population) in England, after London and Birmingham. The city was a small manorial borough in the 13th century and a market town in the 16th century. It expanded by becoming a major production centre, including of carbonated water where it was invented in the 1760s, and trading centre (mainly with wool) for the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a major mill town during the Industrial Revolution. It was also known for its flax industry, iron foundries, engineering and printing, as well as shopping, with several surviving Victorian era arcades, such as Kirkgate Market. City status was awarded in 1893, a populous urban centre formed in the following century which absorbed surrounding villages and overtook the nearby York population. It is locate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial War Museums
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and British Empire, its Empire during the First World War. The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'." Originally housed in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill, the museum opened to the public in 1920. In 1924, the museum moved to space in the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, and finally in 1936, the museum acquired a permanent home that was previously the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Southwark. The outbreak of the Second World War saw the museum expand both its coll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1896 Births
Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of radiation (later known as X-rays). * January 6 – Cecil Rhodes is forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope, for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. * January 7 – American culinary expert Fannie Farmer publishes her first cookbook. * January 12 – H. L. Smith takes the first X-ray photograph. * January 17 – Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War: British redcoats enter the Ashanti capital, Kumasi, and Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I is deposed. * January 18 – The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time. * January 28 – Walter Arnold, of East Peckham, Kent, England, is fined 1 shilling for speeding at (exceeding the contemporary speed limit of , the first spee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force Club
The Royal Air Force Club, or RAF Club in short-form, is a club located at 128 Piccadilly, London. Membership is open to men and women who hold, or have held, commissions in the RAF, PMRAFNS, Reserve Forces and Commonwealth and friendly foreign air forces. The Chairman is Air Marshal Dame Sue Gray CB, OBE, RAF. History The Royal Flying Corps Club, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force Club, opened at 13 Bruton Street in 1917. It became the Royal Air Force Club in 1918 shortly after the first Lord Cowdray donated funds to obtain a permanent building which would house the Club. The buildings, still in use today, were acquired by the middle of 1919 (the Piccadilly frontage was originally the Ladies Lyceum Club, while the rear half, facing Old Park Lane, was stables). Between 1919 and 1921 extensive reconstruction took place supervised by architect Maurice Webb and largely financed by Lord Cowdray. On 2 January 1922 the Club was fully opened to Members although it was not offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Honourable Company Of Air Pilots
The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, formerly the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company was founded in 1929, and became a Livery Company in 1956. Elizabeth II granted Honourable status to the company in February 2014. Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, formally presented the royal charter to the master of the company, Tudor Owen, at a banquet held at the London Guildhall on 19 February 2014. The company ranks eighty-first in the order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ... of livery companies and fourth in the order of precedence of the modern livery companies. It is unique amongst City Livery Companies in having active regional committees in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Riding Of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west, and Lincolnshire to the south. The coastal towns of Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea are popular with tourists, the town of Howden contains Howden Minster, Market Weighton, Pocklington, Brough, Hedon and Driffield are market towns with markets held throughout the year and Hessle and Goole are important port towns for the county. The port city of Kingston upon Hull is an economic, transport and tourism centre which also receives much sea freight from around the world. The current East Riding of Yorkshire came into existence in 1996 after the abolition of the County of Humberside. The county's administration is in the ancient market town of Beverley. The landscape is mainly rural, consisting of rolling hills, valley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Aircraft Limited
General Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1931 to amalgamation with Blackburn Aircraft in 1949 to become Blackburn and General. Its main products were military gliders and light transport aircraft. History On 27 February 1931, General Aircraft Limited (GAL) was formed to undertake production of aircraft using the 'monospar' wing designs of the Mono-spar Company Ltd. Both firms were headed by Helmut J. Stieger, the Swiss inventor of the technique. GAL produced about 28 examples of the Monospar series of twin-engined light transport aircraft at Croydon Aerodrome between 1932 and 1934. In October 1934, both companies were re-capitalised by investment group British Pacific Trust, and were re-formed in a new company also named General Aircraft Limited. Also included in the new company were the assets of National Flying Services Ltd, the owner of London Air Park, plus adjoining industrial premises built in 1917 by Whitehead Aircraft Ltd. In e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as several overseas operators, including the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Netherlands Navy. It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft. During its later years, the Swordfish was increasingly used as an Anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine and Trainer (aircraft), training platform. The type was in frontline service throughout the World War II, Second World War. Despite being outmoded by 1939, the Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes during the war. Notable events included sinking one battleship and damaging two others of the ''Regia Marina'' (the Italian navy) during the Battle of Taranto, and the famous attack on the German battleship Bismarck, German b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield
Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield is located east of Sherburn in Elmet village and west of Selby, North Yorkshire, England. Pre-War and Wartime history In the 1920s, the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club began operating here. The novelist, pilot, and aeronautical engineer Nevil Shute was a member, and on the club's management committee. At the time, the club was flying de Havilland Moths. In his memoir, ''Slide Rule'', Shute records that ". . . the Yorkshire Club quickly attracted a fair cross-section of young Yorkshire men and women, so that a Sunday spent at the Club was a merry Sunday." He also met his future wife, Frances Mary Heaton, a physician, at the club. After establishing Airspeed Ltd., an aircraft manufacturing firm, he personally flew the first two test flights of the company's first aircraft here. It was a glider, known as the Tern, and was launched using a "very old Buick car" pulling a steel cable.Nevil Shute, "Slide Rule", London: Heinemann, 1954 During the Second World Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackburn Bluebird IV
The Blackburn Bluebird IV was a single-engine biplane light trainer/tourer biplane with side-by-side seating designed by the British aviation manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was an all-metal development of the wooden Blackburn Bluebird I, II and III aircraft. The Blackburn IV was developed as a refinement of the preceding members of the Bluebird series; in addition to its all-metal airframe, it was noticeably more streamlined and its structure was simplified as to more readily facilitate its construction. Individual areas such as the tail unit and undercarriage were extensively revised. Conventional controls were used wherever practical. The Bluebird IV was a larger and heavier aircraft than its predecessors and could be fitted with various engines as standard, such as the de Havilland Gipsy, ADC Cirrus, and Cirrus Hermes. The first prototype performed its maiden flight on 23 February 1929. One month prior to the first flight, the prototype Bluebird IV had already been sol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mrs Victor Bruce
Mildred Mary Petre (10 November 1895 – 21 May 1990) was a British record-breaking racing motorist, speedboat racer and aviator in the 1920s and 1930s, and later, successful businesswoman. Commonly referred to as Mrs Victor Bruce, she was also known in contemporary references as Mary Petre Bruce, Mildred Bruce, Mildred Mary Bruce and Mary Victor Bruce. Early life Mildred Mary Petre was born at Coptfold Hall, Margaretting, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Essex, England, on 10 November 1895, the daughter of Jennie Maginness (née Williams), an actress from Indiana and Lawrence Petre, a descendant of Sir William Petre. She had five brothers and was educated at the Convent of Notre Dame de Sion, in Bayswater, London. Her childhood involved sailing, riding, and learning to ride a motorcycle, and drive a car. In 1911, aged 15, she began her passion for motor vehicles by riding her brother's Matchless motorcycle, travelling around Osterley, west London, with her collie dog in the sidecar. She ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brough Aerodrome
Brough Aerodrome was a private use aerodrome located at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is now disused with the last known flight out of the airfield occurring in 2011. The airfield closed in 2013. It is planned that the site will be crossed by a new road serving the town. History The site was first used in 1916 by the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company during the First World War for the testing of seaplanes. Brough played its part in preparing fighter pilots for the Battle of Britain. Yorkshire members of The Fewincluding local Spitfire pilot Ronald Berry and, for a short spell, high-scoring fighter ace James "Ginger" Laceyhoned their flying skills whilst at the Brough Flying Training School on Blackburn B-2 biplanes. In 1949, the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company changed its name to Blackburn & General Aircraft Limited and built a number of aircraft at Brough, including the Blackburn Beverley transport aircraft and the Blackburn Buccaneer maritime st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Leeds")
.jpg "Click for more on -> 1896 Births")
