Echoes in the Sky
@exoticaviation.bsky.social
old aeromachines. oddities. concepts. old tales. sleek silver cigars. pedal-o-trons. war. action. occasional flying animal, stellar, and terrestrial guest stars
Some big (and not good?) changes seem to be happening with Google Books, which has always been a useful research tool for me..
Searches are producing NO results
BUT, it seems that adding the word "google" does return results, for now(?)
Searches are producing NO results
BUT, it seems that adding the word "google" does return results, for now(?)
February 3, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Some big (and not good?) changes seem to be happening with Google Books, which has always been a useful research tool for me..
Searches are producing NO results
BUT, it seems that adding the word "google" does return results, for now(?)
Searches are producing NO results
BUT, it seems that adding the word "google" does return results, for now(?)
a 1/144 model of the "Titov V" spaceplane from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
this appears briefly in the novel, and in the movie script - but made it to screen only as a blurry model on a desk in the space station's Hilton Hotel (Aeroflot cabin crew are visible in the scene)
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this appears briefly in the novel, and in the movie script - but made it to screen only as a blurry model on a desk in the space station's Hilton Hotel (Aeroflot cabin crew are visible in the scene)
1/2
January 29, 2026 at 9:16 AM
a 1/144 model of the "Titov V" spaceplane from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
this appears briefly in the novel, and in the movie script - but made it to screen only as a blurry model on a desk in the space station's Hilton Hotel (Aeroflot cabin crew are visible in the scene)
1/2
this appears briefly in the novel, and in the movie script - but made it to screen only as a blurry model on a desk in the space station's Hilton Hotel (Aeroflot cabin crew are visible in the scene)
1/2
“The Space Shuttle Challenger, atop a mobile launch platform, slowly moves through Florida fog to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for its first liftoff, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, 30th November 1982"
(via www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...)
(via www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...)
January 28, 2026 at 6:17 PM
“The Space Shuttle Challenger, atop a mobile launch platform, slowly moves through Florida fog to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for its first liftoff, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, 30th November 1982"
(via www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...)
(via www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...)
"I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life...I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief"
January 21, 2026 at 9:26 AM
"I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life...I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief"
in 1843, Frenchman Émile Gire patented a steam-powered (aeolipile) balloon, armed with bombs and a cannon
“FR-1843-11213: Means and Methods of Directing Aerostats, Without Using Ballast, and Their Application as a War Machine”
this was one of the first “serious” proposals for an armed aerial craft
“FR-1843-11213: Means and Methods of Directing Aerostats, Without Using Ballast, and Their Application as a War Machine”
this was one of the first “serious” proposals for an armed aerial craft
January 20, 2026 at 1:06 PM
in 1843, Frenchman Émile Gire patented a steam-powered (aeolipile) balloon, armed with bombs and a cannon
“FR-1843-11213: Means and Methods of Directing Aerostats, Without Using Ballast, and Their Application as a War Machine”
this was one of the first “serious” proposals for an armed aerial craft
“FR-1843-11213: Means and Methods of Directing Aerostats, Without Using Ballast, and Their Application as a War Machine”
this was one of the first “serious” proposals for an armed aerial craft
Supermarine Spitfire “TZ138” at the 1949 Cleveland Air Races. It survives, registered as C-GSPT, in Vancouver
This has a heady history, like so many from the era. Owners across North America, accidents and incidents, e.g. "damaged in Florida by Castro supporters"
aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDoss...
This has a heady history, like so many from the era. Owners across North America, accidents and incidents, e.g. "damaged in Florida by Castro supporters"
aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDoss...
January 19, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Supermarine Spitfire “TZ138” at the 1949 Cleveland Air Races. It survives, registered as C-GSPT, in Vancouver
This has a heady history, like so many from the era. Owners across North America, accidents and incidents, e.g. "damaged in Florida by Castro supporters"
aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDoss...
This has a heady history, like so many from the era. Owners across North America, accidents and incidents, e.g. "damaged in Florida by Castro supporters"
aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDoss...
I'd like to exclusively reveal my new OnlyFantans™ content. For just £23.99/month, you'll receive - every minute - the hottest and most exclusive photos of the Nanchang Q-5 Fantan
#OnlyFantans
#OnlyFantans
January 13, 2026 at 10:26 AM
I'd like to exclusively reveal my new OnlyFantans™ content. For just £23.99/month, you'll receive - every minute - the hottest and most exclusive photos of the Nanchang Q-5 Fantan
#OnlyFantans
#OnlyFantans
Her Majesty's V-Bomber Force
(taken by ME - of all people, can you Adam and Eve it - at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum back in 2013. these are now all at different locations)
(taken by ME - of all people, can you Adam and Eve it - at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum back in 2013. these are now all at different locations)
January 12, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Her Majesty's V-Bomber Force
(taken by ME - of all people, can you Adam and Eve it - at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum back in 2013. these are now all at different locations)
(taken by ME - of all people, can you Adam and Eve it - at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum back in 2013. these are now all at different locations)
Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist
January 11, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist
For Hayao Miyazaki’s birthday, two creations that I put together over the Xmas break. The Laputa robot model was in a box for over a decade, and it felt like time to build it
January 5, 2026 at 5:59 PM
For Hayao Miyazaki’s birthday, two creations that I put together over the Xmas break. The Laputa robot model was in a box for over a decade, and it felt like time to build it
For the last year or so - I’ve been running a 2nd (volunteer org/palaeontology-related) Bluesky account
I’ve been prioritising that, as the more specialised timeline meant I was less exposed to constant awful, ominous happenings
Lots of new muted words on this acc, I think, has improved things
I’ve been prioritising that, as the more specialised timeline meant I was less exposed to constant awful, ominous happenings
Lots of new muted words on this acc, I think, has improved things
January 4, 2026 at 7:36 PM
For the last year or so - I’ve been running a 2nd (volunteer org/palaeontology-related) Bluesky account
I’ve been prioritising that, as the more specialised timeline meant I was less exposed to constant awful, ominous happenings
Lots of new muted words on this acc, I think, has improved things
I’ve been prioritising that, as the more specialised timeline meant I was less exposed to constant awful, ominous happenings
Lots of new muted words on this acc, I think, has improved things
“L-R: George Palmer Putnam, Mrs. Putnam, the former Amelia Earhart, Mrs. Amy Mollison nee Johnson and Capt Jim Mollison basking in the sand at Rye, New York on 29/07/33. The flying Britons celebrated their first wedding anniversary with the Putnams."
apimagesblog.com/historical/2...
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apimagesblog.com/historical/2...
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January 4, 2026 at 11:42 AM
“L-R: George Palmer Putnam, Mrs. Putnam, the former Amelia Earhart, Mrs. Amy Mollison nee Johnson and Capt Jim Mollison basking in the sand at Rye, New York on 29/07/33. The flying Britons celebrated their first wedding anniversary with the Putnams."
apimagesblog.com/historical/2...
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apimagesblog.com/historical/2...
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imagining an alternate reality where ungainly, gold-embossed Louis Vuitton helicopters splutter across idyllic countryside vistas - these were his grandchildren!
"Prototype Jean et Pierre VUITTON, 1909"
"Prototype Jean et Pierre VUITTON, 1909"
January 1, 2026 at 7:22 PM
imagining an alternate reality where ungainly, gold-embossed Louis Vuitton helicopters splutter across idyllic countryside vistas - these were his grandchildren!
"Prototype Jean et Pierre VUITTON, 1909"
"Prototype Jean et Pierre VUITTON, 1909"
A pleasant -13°C NYE-afternoon in Norway. Lying in deep snow for a second, after being thrown off on a minor turn, I actually contemplated stuff for 2026
Hoping for more presence and content than this year. Weirdness and exoticness is a good thing
Best wishes to all x
Hoping for more presence and content than this year. Weirdness and exoticness is a good thing
Best wishes to all x
December 31, 2025 at 7:47 PM
A pleasant -13°C NYE-afternoon in Norway. Lying in deep snow for a second, after being thrown off on a minor turn, I actually contemplated stuff for 2026
Hoping for more presence and content than this year. Weirdness and exoticness is a good thing
Best wishes to all x
Hoping for more presence and content than this year. Weirdness and exoticness is a good thing
Best wishes to all x
The Fairey Tail of Newark..
December 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The Fairey Tail of Newark..
Lt Stuart Culley launches from a "lighter" - a barge used to tow flying boats - fitted with a take-off platform, to attack Zeppelin L53 off the coast of the Netherlands, 11/08/1918..
incredible art by Keith Ferris
(keithferrisart.com/product/just...)
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incredible art by Keith Ferris
(keithferrisart.com/product/just...)
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November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Lt Stuart Culley launches from a "lighter" - a barge used to tow flying boats - fitted with a take-off platform, to attack Zeppelin L53 off the coast of the Netherlands, 11/08/1918..
incredible art by Keith Ferris
(keithferrisart.com/product/just...)
1/2
incredible art by Keith Ferris
(keithferrisart.com/product/just...)
1/2
Reposted by Echoes in the Sky
St James' Church in the village of Dry Doddington, Lincolnshire (locally famous for leaning approx 0.8º more than that tower in Pisa (after Superman fixed it))
and the Martin Marietta X-24B experimental lifting body of the early 1970s
co-incidence? oh ho-ho I think not
“LOOKING INTO IT”
and the Martin Marietta X-24B experimental lifting body of the early 1970s
co-incidence? oh ho-ho I think not
“LOOKING INTO IT”
September 3, 2024 at 7:37 PM
St James' Church in the village of Dry Doddington, Lincolnshire (locally famous for leaning approx 0.8º more than that tower in Pisa (after Superman fixed it))
and the Martin Marietta X-24B experimental lifting body of the early 1970s
co-incidence? oh ho-ho I think not
“LOOKING INTO IT”
and the Martin Marietta X-24B experimental lifting body of the early 1970s
co-incidence? oh ho-ho I think not
“LOOKING INTO IT”
the fantastic rear of the Parseval PL25 German patrol airship, which becomes some kind of alternate-universe dreamliner in its own right
November 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
the fantastic rear of the Parseval PL25 German patrol airship, which becomes some kind of alternate-universe dreamliner in its own right
to me, every worthy/serious Bond argument or opinion just ends at a dead end right here:
November 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
to me, every worthy/serious Bond argument or opinion just ends at a dead end right here:
Came across this in my bookmarks today, from 1989
I might start implementing the old-fashioned five seconds of silence, before the continuity announcer inhales, into everyday life
youtu.be/ApYXnCaNG0Y
I might start implementing the old-fashioned five seconds of silence, before the continuity announcer inhales, into everyday life
youtu.be/ApYXnCaNG0Y
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Came across this in my bookmarks today, from 1989
I might start implementing the old-fashioned five seconds of silence, before the continuity announcer inhales, into everyday life
youtu.be/ApYXnCaNG0Y
I might start implementing the old-fashioned five seconds of silence, before the continuity announcer inhales, into everyday life
youtu.be/ApYXnCaNG0Y
I recently got a birding scope for a significant birthday. With a phone attached, I took this photo - I think it’s the Moon - yesterday evening, low in the smoky French countryside
October 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I recently got a birding scope for a significant birthday. With a phone attached, I took this photo - I think it’s the Moon - yesterday evening, low in the smoky French countryside
The “president shitting on his people” video is awful on many levels - including that AI has a reasonable chance of crashing the US stock market - but it also highlights that there is only one jet-powered fertiliser-spraying aircraft that matters 👹
October 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The “president shitting on his people” video is awful on many levels - including that AI has a reasonable chance of crashing the US stock market - but it also highlights that there is only one jet-powered fertiliser-spraying aircraft that matters 👹
“We choose to go to Button Moon. We chose to go to Button Moon. Yahahahah. We choose to go to Button Moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Shut your cakehole"
- Sid James, Ipswich Polytechnic, 1978
- Sid James, Ipswich Polytechnic, 1978
October 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
“We choose to go to Button Moon. We chose to go to Button Moon. Yahahahah. We choose to go to Button Moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Shut your cakehole"
- Sid James, Ipswich Polytechnic, 1978
- Sid James, Ipswich Polytechnic, 1978
“It's just one of those days when you don't wanna wake up
Everything is f*cked, everybody sucks
You don't really know why
But you wanna justify
THE NEED FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF TURBULENT MOTION”
(From the Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, March 1971)
Everything is f*cked, everybody sucks
You don't really know why
But you wanna justify
THE NEED FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF TURBULENT MOTION”
(From the Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, March 1971)
October 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
“It's just one of those days when you don't wanna wake up
Everything is f*cked, everybody sucks
You don't really know why
But you wanna justify
THE NEED FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF TURBULENT MOTION”
(From the Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, March 1971)
Everything is f*cked, everybody sucks
You don't really know why
But you wanna justify
THE NEED FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF TURBULENT MOTION”
(From the Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, March 1971)
Perhaps of the few aircraft that could be deemed worthy to survive the rapture:
the Evangel 4500 - designed by bush pilot Carl Mortenson ("no formal education in aeronautical engineering") for STOL missionary work. only 8 made - most came to an end in S America, but the 1st is still going (N4501L)
the Evangel 4500 - designed by bush pilot Carl Mortenson ("no formal education in aeronautical engineering") for STOL missionary work. only 8 made - most came to an end in S America, but the 1st is still going (N4501L)
September 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Perhaps of the few aircraft that could be deemed worthy to survive the rapture:
the Evangel 4500 - designed by bush pilot Carl Mortenson ("no formal education in aeronautical engineering") for STOL missionary work. only 8 made - most came to an end in S America, but the 1st is still going (N4501L)
the Evangel 4500 - designed by bush pilot Carl Mortenson ("no formal education in aeronautical engineering") for STOL missionary work. only 8 made - most came to an end in S America, but the 1st is still going (N4501L)