All Blog Posts (67)

Anybody off to Oshkosh this year?

Paul and I will be there from 24 July onwards, representing Great Britain (well somebody's got to). We are renting a camper van in Chicago so will be setting up shop on the campsite some time late afternoon on the first Saturday, plan on staying until the following Friday or Saturday, all depends on how saturated with aeroplanes we get. We hope to catch up with some Porterfields and their owners, don't know how we'll meet up though! Will…

John Bange standing beside his vintage Porterfield Special monoplane, UH-UVH on his property at Back Plains, Queensland. A pioneering glider pilot, Bange designed and built the first enclosed-fuselage glider which made its maiden flight over Clifton on the 27 October 1935.…

The Air Mail mural was designed and painted by Mark Pestana, noted test pilot and Tehachapi artist. On May 15, 1938, The U.S. Postal Service issued a new Air Mail stamp as part of a national celebration for the 20th anniversary of the first U.S. Air Mail. Tehachapi marked the occasion with its inaugural Air Mail flight to Bakersfield. Harry Beauford, Jr., a Tehachapi resident and pilot, is shown standing next to his plane at Tehachapi…

Myron Collier was born June 8, 1930, on a farm near Butler, Ohio. He built model airplanes and, though he didn't know any pilots, knew he wanted to be one. An hour's worth of instruction was too expensive, so he paid for 15 minutes at a time. What he lacked in finances he made up for in determination, and by age 23 he had accumulated private, instrument, commercial, multiengine, instructor and ATR ratings. He financed his by teaching flying, and entered the…

April 3, 1939. Washington, D.C. "Col. Roscoe Turner, winner of speed trophies in the air, dropped down to Washington Airport today with a red high-wing monoplane which he presented to the friends of New China, represented by Miss Hilda Yen, Chinese Aviatrix. The plane, 'Spirit of New China.' was built by the Porterfield factory." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative.…

The editor of the UK's most popular pilot's mag has been wanting to do a flight test of ZL for some years. Finally this happened in September 2009, the month of ZL's 70th birthday. The photoshoot was "interesting", the camera ship being a locally based Cherokee 6 with the back door removed, with me in the back seat of ZL offering advice. I've added some photos from the sortie and will post the article on the site when I get the pdf from the editor. He was quite complementary about the…