The Aviators Thread

That leather strap is in pretty good condition if it dates from 1943. I would have thought that leather as old as that would be all dry and cracked now.

This article was forwarded to me by my wife. It's about Prince Harry's Rolex Explorer 2. A good choice for a pilot watch because of the dual timezone function. Might even have seen combat in Afghanistan where he was an Apache co-pilot gunner...

https://timeandtidewatches.com/prince-harry-owns-one-hell-of-a-rolex/

Almost 50 years ago... 1973 Yom Kippur war
Looks like an Omega Seamaster on the wrist of this Mirage III pilot ?
. (Photo: IAF)
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I don't think the logo looks like Omega.

Now just take a look at the amazing profile of this aviator wrist watch case & lugs : RAF group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Bader (1910-1982)
(Photo: National Archives)
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? A post-war 1955 photo and the watch doesn't have numbers as an RAF Omega wrist watch discussed here:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-aviators-watch-cca-1936.14880/

Despite " artificial legs " , Douglas Bader remained an amazing fighter pilot !
More of the 1955 photo-series (National Archives)
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70 years ago... Charles Lindbergh's autobiographical book describing his historical 1927 flight over the Atlantic Ocean, was the inspiration for the 1957 movie " The Spirit of St. Louis " ... a movie I first saw 50 years ago in 1973.
At that time I was already collecting aviation & spaceflight photos/lithos and grew a fascination for trans-Atlantic flights which always got faster ...
Remember Charles Lindberg's flight from Long island New York to Paris lasted 33 hours 30 minutes and the exact spot where he parked his single engined aircraft at Le Bourget airport in Paris became the aiming point for future crossings...
Most interestingly, actor James Stewart, like Charles Lindbergh, had been an USAAF pilot in WW II, flew B-47 SAC bombers and accompanied B-52 missions over Vietnam before eventually retiring from US Air Force as a Brig General !
Compared to Lindbergh's 33 hours, the fastest transatlantic flight, made by a SR-71 Blackbird only took 1 hour 55 minutes (New York - London).
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Wrist-watch-wise most interesting events (e.g. Lindberg's Longines Hour Angle aviator watch)
I have a series of autographed photographs on the lesser-known subject of the May 1961 trans-Atlantic crossing made by the 3 men USAF crew onboard a stunning Mach 2 capable Convair B-58 Hustler SAC - Strategic Air Command bomber. Flight time: 3 hours 19 minutes
Some photos show the crew, Major William R. Payne - Aircraft Commander, Captain William L. Polhemus - Navigator, and Captain Raymond R. Wagener - Defensive Systems Officer, kneeling right at the spot where Lindberg parked his aircraft in May 1927.
They all wore a Rolex GMT-master 1675 pilot watch..;
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I vaguely remember having to do this many years ago when travelling with my parents...

Great article. Thank you.
I found it funny when one weight calculator classes business female passengers as weighing less than economy female passengers. I remember once flying from Brisbane to Melbourne on Virgin Blue with an upgrade to business. Everyone in that section bar the cabin crew was way oversized (including females). Kinda makes sense that these passengers prefer to pay more for comfort given that the economy class seat is tiny by comparison.

Talk bubble coffee wars while phliegering today…

KMSY…



KLAX…

Always amazed by the intricate detail seen in World War I photographs...
Here's a Royal Flying Corps RE 8 two-seater reconnaissance biplane photographed in Egypt during World War I (1917)
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Aussies - Australian Flying Corps 69 Squadron RE 8 biplane near Arras in Northern France
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