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September 2006 Archive 30 September - Gone Off I'm off for a few days to an ALTGEM conference. Gus may take over the blog for a couple of days, if he can figure out how to turn on the computer. link home 29 September - Aeronautical Jottings  The Lawson C-2 Airliner A couple of years ago, I assisted in a project at our sister museum, the National Air and Space Museum, to reorganize the extensive aircraft manufacturers files. A couple of us divied up the files and sorted documents, IDed photos - that sort of thing. We also compiled finding aids to the files, and wrote up introductions for sections on individual manufacturers. The listings were printed as a book - The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Directory of Airplanes; a very thrilling book. The Directory is now available online as part of the Smithsonian's SIRIS site (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) - the link's at the bottom of this page. So my fugitive aeronautical writings are now available to all. Here's my introduction to the Lawson aircraft - the firm of Alfred Lawson, founder of the University of Lawsonomy: After founding and editing two pioneer aviation magazines - Fly (1908) and Aircraft (1910) - Alfred Lawson (1869-1954) founded a series of aircraft companies. Established in 1917, The Lawson Aircraft Corp. of Green Bay, Wisconsin, built two military trainer prototypes and designed several fighter aircraft. The Lawson Airplane Co. of Milwaukee (1918) built the C-2 Airliner and the L-4 Midnight Airliner. A design similar to the C-2 but powered by pusher engines, the C-1 Airliner, was not built. A separate company, Lawson Airline Transportation Co. was formed to run the projected national airline system that Lawson planned. Lawson Aircraft Co. of Plainfield, NJ, (1926) began construction of the 100 Passenger Airliner, which was not completed.Oh - here's the blurb on Piper: In October 1929, William T. Piper, Sr. was part of a group of Bradford, Pennsylvania businessmen that convinced Clarence Gilbert Taylor and his Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company to move from Rochester, NY to Bradford. The corporation went into bankruptcy in August 1930, and the assets were purchased by Piper. The company was re-organized as the Taylor Aircraft Company with Taylor as President and Piper as treasurer. In 1935, Piper bought out Taylor's interest in the company. In 1937, it was renamed the Piper Aircraft Corporation. Also in 1937, the company moved to a disused silk mill in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, after a fire destroyed the Bradford factory. In 1969, control of the company shifted from the Piper family to Chris Craft and Bangor Punta, though the Piper name was retained. Bangor Punta assumed full control in 1977, but was purchased in its turn by Lear Siegler, Inc. in 1984. Piper was then acquired by M. Stuart Millar in 1987. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The company came out of Chapter 11 protection when its assets were purchased by Newco Pac Inc. in July 1995, and was renamed the New Piper Aircraft Inc. Aircraft built before the 1937 name change, including the J-2 Cub, are listed under Taylor Aircraft Co.The story that I recall was the most trouble to unravel was the long, sad, tangled history of Taylor aircraft both before and after Clarence Taylor's association with William Piper: Clarence Gilbert Taylor founded or participated in several companies bearing his name. Soon after he and his brother Gordon built their first aircraft, they founded the Arrowing Co. in Newark, NY in 1926. In September 1927, they moved to Rochester, NY, as Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Co., incorporating in April 1928 as Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corp. That month, Gordon Taylor was killed in an aircraft crash. William T. Piper, Sr. and other Bradford, PA businessmen helped the company move to their city in 1929. Following bankruptcy in 1930, the company reorganized as the Taylor Aircraft Co. with Taylor and Piper as partners. Taylor left the company in 1935. Piper moved the company to Lock Haven, PA, and, in 1937, changed the name to Piper Aircraft Corp. In this finding aid, Taylor's earliest designs appear under Arrowing; later designs up to the J-3 Cub are listed under Taylor Brothers, Taylor Aircraft Co.; the J-3 and subsequent Lock Haven aircraft appear under Piper.And the description of Zeppelin aircraft may be of interest, too: With the beginning of World War I, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH began building airplanes, in addition to rigid airships. In 1914, Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin established Zeppelin-Lindau (Zeppelin Werke, Lindau GmbH), for designer Claude Dornier, and Zeppelin-Friedrichshafen (Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH). An entirely new corporation, Versuchbau GmbH Gotha-Ost (Experimental Works, Gotha-East, VGO), was financed by Zeppelin and the Robert Bosche Werke to build large bombers. [Aircraft built by VGO, though often described as "Gotha Bombers", should not be confused with aircraft produced by Gothaer Waggonfabrik, a separate concern which did not build giant bombers.] In 1916, Zeppelin established a subsidiary facility at Staaken, near Berlin. In August, the VGO works were transferred to Staaken, and the concern was renamed Flugzeugwerft GmbH, though the firm was commonly referred to as Staaken or Zeppelin-Staaken. In January 1918, Flugzeugwerke and Luftschiffbau Zeppelin merged to form Zeppelin Werke GmbH. When the Staaken works were closed in 1921 the company was reorganized as Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH.No airships in the Directory, though - my monumental Lighter Than Air finding aid wasn't included, for some reason. But even without airships, it's fascinating stuff - just fascinating. link home 29 September - Double Decker Change of Venue  Change of plan for the Double Decker Stringband's concert next Friday, October 6. It's now at 8:30 at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda - just off I-270. For more information, call the Double Decker hotline at 301-779-5901. link home 27 September - Defense Umbrella  BOFORS 155mm FH77 B05 L52 3 Howitzer According to the web site, this BOFORS 155mm FH77 howitzer has "the latest in advanced ballistic calculation and laying servos [which] gives the howitzer a high level of autonomy as well as many other benefits, including MRSI capability." Very nice. But wait - there's more: "the new gun computer has a man-machine inter-face similar with the standard commercial PCs, which facilitates the training and operation of the computer. Many procedures are automatic, like indirect laying, execution of MRSI firings etc. The automation will improve speed, accuracy and safety when firing. The operator also will have access to manuals stored in the computer." All very fine, I'm sure, but what I really like about the 155mm FH77 are the darling camo parasols - so very thoughtful to shield the gunners from the sun. Just because one is laying down a withering artillery barrage doesn't mean that one can't enjoy a bit of a kip in the shade, you know. link home 27 September - Furnace Update Well, the Curator signed the papers for our new furnace, to be installed next week - but how we're to pay for it, I'm sure I don't know, dear me... In unrelated news, several Museum visitors were mugged today in the parking lot and in the boxwood maze. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the visitors' wallets and purses were stolen. Museum security is investigating. 24 September - The Woods be Wild  Paths converge in Wallingford Park - yes, it looks peaceful, but the Gray Dire Cat's in there somewhere. link home 24 September - Return of the Gray Hunter  As the days shorten and the leaves begin to turn, the rare elusive dangerous Gray Dire Cat returns to his winter hunting grounds in Wallingford Park. Better keep the dogs and children inside for the next six months or so. Much less dangerous is Cat Leroy, here seen relaxing yesterday in the South Wallow - too relaxed, in fact, to wallow, even. He just sits there. The camera pans to the left to reveal Cat Natasha, who also just sits there. Finally, the camera returns to Leroy, who, as the video ends, just sits there: Yes, yes - I know it's not very exciting. But this is how we spend our days in these parts, and if it lacks thrills, it still suits us. I find it particularly relaxing just to sit in the wallow wiith the cats, after worrying about how we're going to pay for the new furnace, and stuff. link home 24 September - Security on Capitol Hill The Washington Post reports on an odd breach of security, and a less-than-satisfactory response by the Capitol Hill police force: ... A door was left unguarded this week, allowing the worst breach in eight years, officials said yesterday.All right, the Capitol Hill officers let down the old side this time. But just try to take a snapshot of a blimp and see what happens to you. Not that I'm bitter, or anything like that. I forgot to mention yesterday that Patrick Tull was the nephew of Desmond Llewelyn, best known for his role as Q in the James Bond films. link home 23 September - Patrick Tull, 1941-2006  Very sad to report that our old friend Patrick Tull - actor, chef, raconteur, wild man - died this morning. We even had a bit of a theatrical connection - a couple of years ago, he asked me supply music for his much-lauded one-man show, The Hero of the Slocum. Patrick was well known as the voice of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels - he recorded the entire series, and many other books, for Recorded Books, and they're masterful. Here he is, reading the pillory scene from The Reverse of the Medal: It was recorded during a fine evening at New York's Seamen's Institute in 1998. We'll miss him - I miss him already. Here's a brief biography at Wikipedia link home 22 September - Generous Contribution Many, many thanks to the anonymous Friend of the Museum who made a generous contribution to our Data Recovery and Furnace Fund yesterday. Our Director of Planned Giving tells me that the generous contribution is not quite up to the naming opportunity level, but we might be able to give the donor the naming rights on the new furnace's combustion chamber. Let us know how you'd like it styled, and also where we can send your complementary Allan Janus photograph. Once again, thanks from all of us at the Janus Museum. link home 22 September - String Band News  I got a postcard from an old-time stringband I was previously unacquainted with, the Hoover Uprights - postcard shown above, slightly gnawed on by Cat Maxine. Their first CD is out - one can hear it over on CDBaby and order a copy, which I've just done. Careful examination of the card showed that one of the Hoovers is Bill Schmidt, an old friend and also a long-time member of the Double Decker Stringband, my favorite band. That's Bill in the postcard, standing in the middle with his arms crossed. And by a stunning coincidence, I got an email from Bill this morning - Bill says that the Double Deckers are doing a concert at the Washington Ethical Society on October 6. It's not listed on the Society's coming events page, yet. Should be a swell concert - I'll be there. link home 22 September - Naming Opportunity FURNACE SITUATION UPDATE - The Curator has asked me to mention that the Historic Cottage's new furnace is an excellent naming opportunity - should one care to make a sizable generous contribution toward its purchase, one will be made glorious to posterity as the the eponym of the "Fred Nooks (YOUR NAME HERE) Historic Cottage Furnace". If interested, send me a note, and I'll be happy to forward your note to our Director of Planned Giving, Martha Norbeck-Wallingford. By the way, the furnace has not been ordered yet, and it's beginning to get cold, here. So cold... link home 17 September - Standards Continue to Slip  Despite frequent reminders, Cat Natasha usually forgets to cover her mouth when she catyawns. Cat Leroy, left, looks on censoriously, with pursed catlips. Her friend Maxine is also somewhat challanged in the deportment department. By the way, Natasha and Leroy are famous - they're now featured on the always interesting Purr 'n' Fur site. Our thanks to site founder Patrick Roberts, who also bought a copy of the book! link home 17 September - Historic Cottage Painting Update  The morning light being fine and pure, artist Glenn Perry returned for more work on his beautiful painting of the Janus Museum's Historic Cottage, which still lacks a working furnace. Here's a fascinating short video of Glenn at work: link home 16 September - The Changing Season  One of the signs of winter's approach is the reappearance of Cat Leroy's fine ruff - magnificently leonine in the cold weather, it recedes, like some kind of fluffy glacier, in the summer months. Judging by its rate of growth, it's going to be a hard winter. Wish we had a furnace... link home 16 September - Les Paladins  We weren't entirely sure what the serried ranks of bunnies had to do with the action of Jean-Philippe Rameau's 1760 opera Les Paladins, but we loved it, along with everything else in William Christie's whimsical production, involving as it does many of the same talents that were in the production of Rameau's Les Indes Galantes mentioned here previously. The music, being by Rameau, is sublime. The plot is silly, even by Rameau's standard, given that he was evidentially parodying himself - he composed the opera at the age of 76, and obviously decided to kick back and have some fun. I was surprised to learn in the program notes that one of the reasons Paladins flopped in 1760 was because of the gender-bending inclusion of a female fairy, Manto, played by a male, which was too much for Parisiens of the time. Of course, nowadays, it's just nuts for a modern audience. Also included, and not too difficult to sit through, is a good bit of frontal operatic nudity - I bet more people would enjoy opera, was there more frontal nudity on offer. Something to look at during those endless arias, you see. Tragically, the Museum's regents will not allow any screen caps showing full frontal operatic nudity, so here's a still with snake heads, instead:  I think I may be able to get away with a little rear partial statuary nudity, with flamingoes:  Here's a synopsis of the opera and a review link home 16 September - We Mourn Our Loss Sad to report that the Historic Cottage's furnace has passed over; even sadder to report the cost of the new ones we've been quoted. The museum shop will have to sell a lot of postcards if we don't want to freeze in the coming winter. Our Data Recovery Fund is now the Data Recovery and Furnace Fund, by the way. link home 10 September - L'Après-Midi des Chats I could be doing great things - don't press me on what great things, but it would astound you - but besides fixing a batch of ratatouille, all I've done today is to shoot another stately-paced documentary of Leroy and Natasha hanging out in the Circle and on the Historic Cottage's porch. Highlights include footage of our maintenance man Gus playing the Zombie Game with Leroy. Leroy runs for it when strangers approach. Natasha pounces at Leroy, who takes a dive. A freight train is heard in the distance in a haunting restatement of a major theme from yesterday's cat video. I find it a curiously restful experience to watch videos of cats doing what cats do - should probably attempt to get a generous grant to explore the therapeutic value of a course of cat videos. I can't believe I give this stuff away for free. link home 10 September - Two-Fisted Movies for Free  Lona Andre as Helen in Death in the Air (AKA Pilot X) What to do while Netflix is taking its own sweet time to send you your next movie? Well, you could always read a good book - just kidding! Me, I've been downloading some spiffing aviation flicks from the Internet Archive's old feature film listings (one can also stream the films, if one prefers). My favorite, so far, is Death in the Air, also known as Pilot X (1936) - a mysterious pilot in a black biplane marked with an X starts shooting down commercial aircraft. A dashing test pilot summons a group of veteran World War I pilots - a Brit, a Frenchman, a German and two Yanks - to help hunt down Pilot X. Each of the vets carries emotional baggage from the War - and could one of them be Pilot X? Above, spunky Helen, played by Lona Andre, has hidden in the cockpit for the final thrilling dogfight, and looks like she's figured that it wasn't such a clever idea, after all.  Hun messenger pigeon, from British Intelligence We also liked British Intelligence (1940) for its le Carré-like ambiguity, and for the exciting messenger pigeon scene (above), since we like messenger pigeon movies. And there's even a thrilling Zeppelin raid on London:  Simply smashing. Also obtained through the Internet Archive: two Tailspin Tommy films, Sky Patrol and Danger Flight - both feature a young child actor named Jason Robards. Also, Mariners of the Sky, Power Dive, and Won in the Clouds.  A restrained performance by William Woods from Maniac (1934) And it wasn't aviation- or pigeon-related, but we also liked the sensitive portrayal of mental illness in Maniac, though I, personally, could have done without the cat eyeball eating scene. As one can see from the stills, the file quality of the films is a bit deficient. And the site's pipeline is kind of narrow - very long download times, even with broadband. It's best to do one's downloads overnight, I've found. But it's better than cracking a book, isn't it? link home 9 September - Some Summer Day  Here's what happens in Washington Grove's historic Circle on a fine summer afternoon, if you happen to be a cat - setting - soaking up some rays - a bit of grooming and scratching - thinking about ambushing old Leroy - deciding to just set, instead - eating some grass - more setting. Repeat as necessary, and intersperse with naps and snacks. If one is feeling energetic, one may wallow a bit. That's about the size of an afternoon in the Circle, and while it may seem to the casual observer to be a bit boring, it has a certain poetry to it. A sort of restful poetry. In the video documentation, one hears a slow freight going by in the distance - hear that lonesome whistle blow - but it doesn't seem to affect the action, such as it is, in the Circle. Later, if one has the energy, a brisk catwalk in the park may be in order, to be followed by setting, snacking, and napping:  link home 4 September - Historic Cottage Painting Update  Following a long period of poor morning light conditions, artist Glenn Perry is back in action on his painting of a view of The Historic Cottage, as previously reported here.  It's coming along very nicely, though I don't see our porch bomb yet. We'll be needing some generous contributions to help purchase the painting for the Museum collection, by the way. link home 3 September - L'État, C'est Moi et Mes Chats  How could I resist an action figure of Louis XIV? I couldn't, so here he is posing with the royal cats; royal cats sold separately. I hadn't realized Louis was so short; or maybe the cats are prize giants like this one. The figure is based on the 1701 portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud, and was made by Papo. Here's a site with a few others in the series among the dragons and unicorns and all. I'll have to fill in my collection of Early Modern European Monarchs with François I and Henri IV, the Vert-Galant himself. Oh, and maybe Frederick Barbarossa and Lord Nelson and Cardinal Richelieu, too. I only wish that there was an Ethelred the Unready inaction figure. The cats are made by Schleich. link home |
