First Flight
In which I watch a plane take off seventy-four years ago, and share some thoughts about a missing monarch.
In the Brabazon Bits section of last week’s newsletter, I mentioned that I was now working on the chapter about the Brabazon’s early flights. Well key to that story, and perhaps to the whole book, is the moment that, after years of planning and construction, the giant “Ocean Liner of the Skies” took to the air for the first moment.
It’s an event covered in several of my published research sources, but I’ve also been lucky enough to have been sent first-hand accounts from a few folks who were there on 4th September 1949.
While writing up the story of the day’s events, I felt quite emotional describing the instance when the wheels left the ground and The Brabazon rose into the air for the first time. In some ways, it felt as if this was the moment all the research had been leading up to (although there’s still a lot of the story to tell).
Yet I didn’t have to just imagine what it looked like, I could actually experience it, for among the crowds that day were several newsreel camera crews. Thankfully some of those reports still survive, so even seventy-four years later we can share that excitment.
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Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 - “Empire of the Clouds” by James Hamilton-Paterson.
Bouncing between personal memoir, biography, celebration, and critique the structure of this book in many ways reflects the muddled landscape of its subject.
Due to a mix of cultural complacency, resistance to change, and political shortcomings the British aerospace industry immediately after WW2 lacked focus and direction. As a result between 1946 and 1957 fifty-one different military and civil projects were started, many competing directly with each other.
The result was a combination of inspired innovation and design that produced some of the most iconic post-war military aircraft and led the field of supersonic research. While on the other hand it was also a time of lost opportunity, the cancellation of multiple projects at huge cost, a lack of interest in the safety of the pilots who flew and tested a new generation of aircraft, and a general malaise that led to the inevitable demise of what at one time was Britain’s largest industry.
For plane geeks like me growing up in the UK in the 60s & 70s mentions of many of these aircraft will bring knowing smiles, while for others this is an interesting historical account of how to mismanage a whole industry sector into oblivion.
Movies Watched in 2023 - The Lost King
Although not a full-blown Ricardian, I have always felt that the historical King Richard III had been somewhat maligned by the popular image we have of him, mainly thanks to Shakespeare’s play. So when the news broke of the discovery of his body under a car park in the middle of the city of Leicester I was fascinated. (Especially as for a short while I worked out of an office in Leicester city center and had walked past the entrance to that car park on many occasions).
I was looking forward to watching this movie on the story behind the efforts to locate his remains that had been lost for 500 years.
By focusing on the story of the amateur researcher Phillipa Langley (excellently played by Sally Hawkins) who pieced together all the clues, and drove the funding campaign for the dig, it is presented as a gentle very British story of determination and fighting the powers that be in pursuit of a crazy idea. Perhaps British eccentricity at its best. I wasn’t sure about the concept of having her accompanied on her journey by an imagined manifestation of Richard III at first, but it works.
One aspect I wasn’t expecting was a tasteful and well-illustrated treatise on the difficulties of living with an unseen disability by contrasting and comparing the stigmatization of Richard’s supposed deformities with Phillipa’s own struggles with ME.
But I think the movie also commits the very sin it is preaching about. A large part of this movie's message is about how unfairly Richard has been treated by history, that he was in fact a good king, but was demonized by the Tudors for propaganda purposes. Unfortunately in its search for a villain for its own story, the movie in turn demonizes the staff and archeologists at the University of Leicester. Yes, they did some things in terms of taking credit that weren’t fair, but, like Richard’s own story, I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in between.
If you want to know more about the dig to find the Lost King, I recommend this short documentary.
For a good balanced view of Richard III, his rise to power, and his reign I also recommend Richard III, Brother, Protector, King by Chris Skidmore
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The Before They Were Beatles podcast - Following the release of the Beatles' “last song” I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the remixed, remastered, and expanded versions of the classic Blue and Red albums, which should be released in the next few days. Once I have those in-house we will be putting together a new bonus podcast episode reviewing them.
I have also started to work on the scripts for the first few episodes of the new The Forgotten Beatles podcast series. We are now planning to launch it early in the New Year.
I’ve also drafted the next issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter which will go out later this month. if you don’t want to miss out on the expanded story of the early Beatles history, you can sign up for a subscription below.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - Doctor Who novels were popular last week, and we still have quite a few left. This week we’ve also added some Doctor Who graphic novels, a collection of paperbacks featuring The Saint, and a full set of Raymond Benson’s James Bond continuation novels - With almost 100 items now listed, you can check it all out right HERE.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we continue a look at Batman comics from around the world published in July 1968 with issues from France, Germany, Italy, and Lebanon, all of which were reprints of existing US covers.
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
The world would be a better place if everyone was a "Ricardian". :-)