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Tony’s Short Stories: A Foreign Plane for Clubs

ByBill Riccio

I have many vintage aviation magazines from my father’s collection and will be looking for interesting articles to share with you. This next short story is from the November 1927 issue of Popular Aviation with a connection to Buffalo, New York—specifically, Leslie Irvin of the Irvin Air Chute Company.   The article “A Foreign Plane…
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Tony’s Scrapbook: The Curtiss P-6E & Selfridge Field

ByBill Riccio

It seems my father was fascinated with military pursuit planes, so it didn’t surprise me to find a newspaper clipping on the Curtiss P-6E in his scrapbook. The above clipping features an image and text regarding Curtiss P-6E Army Pursuit Planes flying in formation over Selfridge Field, Michigan, dated May 1933. I’ll divide this into…
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Tony’s Short Stories: A Biographical Sketch – Igor Ivan Sikorsky

ByBill Riccio

Today, I’m featuring a quick biography on Igor Ivan Sikorsky that I found between the pages of Tony’s scrapbook. Although technically not a short story, it’s still an interesting piece of aviation history. The article focuses on his early career before producing the first successful American helicopter, the VS-300, a groundbreaking achievement that revolutionized aviation….
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Tony’s Scrapbook: Houston-Mount Everest Expedition

ByBill Riccio

The newspaper clipping appears to be about the Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, which took place in 1933. This expedition was significant because it involved the first aerial survey of Mount Everest. Here are some details based on the image: People in the Group: We can identify the airplanes mentioned in the clipping by their registration numbers:…
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Tony’s Short Stories: Glory Takes Wings

ByBill Riccio

“Glory Takes Wings” by Harry A. Bruno with WM. S. Dutton explores the lives of pioneering aviators who made significant contributions to aviation history but later faced obscurity and hardship. The story begins with Rene Fonck, a forgotten war hero in Paris, highlighting the fleeting nature of fame. It recounts the struggles and disappointments of…
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Tony’s Short Stories: Banishing Danger from The Airways

ByBill Riccio

Published in Liberty magazine on November 28, 1931, Major General James E. Fechet’s article, “Banishing Danger from the Airways,” addresses the concerns surrounding the safety of air travel. Using the tragic crash that killed famed football coach Knute Rockne as a backdrop, Fechet explores the public’s fears and the steps taken to improve aviation safety….