(The title is said with the same meter as ‘planes, trains and automobiles’, if you were wondering. When it’s written like that it sounds like this post will only contain planes — and that’s a lie. True, there will be lots of planes… but also a little musing. So even if you don’t like planes, read on!)
[There are photos of planes further down, if you want to cut straight to the goodies.]
It was my birthday on Tuesday! I am now 26. I have turned the ankle of my first half-century. To celebrate, we went north to Cambridge and to the Imperial War Museum Duxford. Duxford is an airport and has been for a long time. It saw very little action during World War II, but it still went through the motions. It has a control room, a war room — mission control — with wooden sticks and blocks representing its fighter squadrons. Today though, it’s just a museum with lots and lots of planes!
Now… let’s get this out of the way. I’m by no means an airplane nerd. Seriously — I don’t have a geekrection for any specific kind of vehicle. I’ve never spotted trains. I don’t go to motor shows. True, I like sailing, driving, the thrill of speed — but… that’s it. I’m an end-user, a consumer… which is really odd, if you know me. I’m anything but a damn consumer: I’m an engineer! A tinkerer! A geek! I actually learnt how to make a computer and how to program it before I first played video games! It is, to be quite frank, a miracle that I avoided becoming a train or plane nerd.
Until Sunday, until the Imperial War Museum, until I ran my hands over the cold titanium alloy fuselage of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Mmmm.
Planes, you see, are the pinnacle of technology. Not the pinnacle of contemporary society, but 50 years ago they were the most complicated and expensive tools ever made by man. Even by today’s high tech standard, the money spent on weapons of war dreamt up in the 50s dwarfs anything made today. Did you know that in 1944 the USA spent 38% of its entire GDP on military? Today it’s 4%. Wars are fantastic for creativity — invent and live, wane and die.
Look at it another way: the first EVER manned flight was 1903. It lasted 12 seconds! By 1945 we were flying at 350 miles per hour and dropping atomic bombs — I would have loved to have lived during the industrial revolution, or worked as an engineer during the war. But World War II isn’t the reason we’re able to fly cheaply across the world today — no, it’s because of the Cold War!
That’s the crazy bit — most of the planes we fly today — civilian and military! — were designed in the 50s and 60s. The 747, THE jumbo jet, was conceived in 1963 — the 737 in 1964. The 727 is from the frickin’ 50s! The SR-71, the beautiful Blackbird, uses a turbo/ram-jet combination capable of propelling the plane to three times the speed of sound — and it was made in 1958! 1903: 4mph. 1958: 2300mph. Holy shit.
Anyway… I just thought it was cool that until we master space travel, we’ll probably continue to use planes that were designed just after World War II. With the Cold War behind us our focus has shifted from imininent war and mutually-assured destruction to… the Internet. Can you imagine using computers that were made in the 50s and 60s? But get this — if war had continued and our attention remained focused on planes and other terrifying weapons of war, we probably would still be using room-sized computers and punch cards.
With that prelude out of the way, here are some airplane photos. Jet fighters! Strategic nuclear bombers! Missile defence! Something for everyone — or at least something for the plane nerds…
(I’ll hit the brakes, he’ll fly right by!)
(It’s hard to find a penis extension when you’re my size… but the B-52… well… that would do nicely)
(Looks like something you’d find in Shadowrun or some kind of steampunk setting, eh? Crazy. Beautiful.)
(The weather was brooding, the storm ready to strike.)
(War-time poster art rules!)
* * *
I actually have even more plane photos, but that’s enough for now… maybe a few more later today.
Sweta
May 14, 2010
Firstly: Happy belated birthday,Sebastian
I hope you had a spiffing one 
Lucky you,those are magnificent! The only planes I got to see up close were MiG fighter crafts at a military base in Goa.They weren’t half bad,all shiny and modern.But in Russia apparently they take tourists for a spin.Exciting,eh?
And we weren’t even allowed pictures. wa wa
sebastian
May 14, 2010
Thanks Sweta!
I actually have a photo of a MiG 21. I just didn’t want to fill my entire blog with plane photos… thought that might scare some people off…
I still want to FLY in a jet fighter one day too!
Abi — I would just get an aircraft carrier named after me or something. HMS Sebastian…
Abi
May 14, 2010
If I were rich.. i’d buy you a B52. I would however draw the line at letting you have it engraved with your email addr….. no, wait.
Jillian (back to the nest)
May 14, 2010
Happy late Birthday! I’ve been 26 since January and it’s not a bad time.
“Geekrection.” Awesome. Can I steal that? I might have to.
Emily Jane
May 14, 2010
Oh what a great trip. I went to Duxford probably… ten, twelve years ago? I remember the simulator being brilliant
Charissa
May 14, 2010
Hey, if people are scared off by those plane photos, it’s because they can’t handle the awesome.
There is a flight museum in Galveston that specializes in World War 2 planes,and they also offer rides in some of them. If you ever make it down this way, you should also see the Uss Lexington, an aircraft carrier commisioned in 1943. If you can get in with a larger group, they offer overnight camping right on the ship along with in depth tours.
http://www.usslexington.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=49
http://lsfm.org/ (lone star flight museum)
Will you be making any of those photos available in your shop?
sebastian
May 14, 2010
I have no permission for that USS Lexington link! For some reason…
Do you get to stay the night AT SEA? Or in some boring dry dock?
I could sell some plane photos — I like the B-52 ones… maybe the Monarch turboprop… not sure — they’re not really my usual breed of arty/landscape photos so…!
Jillian — please use it! I don’t think I coined it, but I don’t recall where I first read it. Please use ‘gribbly’ too.
Are you an Essex girl, Emily…?!
Charissa
May 14, 2010
unfortunately, it’s dry dock, but still pretty cool. Well, unless you get the top bunk. I’m only 5’5″ and I still hit my head sitting up. It’s amazing standing on the deck and imagining planes going on and off it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(CV-16) Here’s its wikipedia page.
Jossie Posie
May 14, 2010
Little known fact: The Memphis Belle is one of my ALL time favorite movie. So I am seething in jealousy at the moment that you actually got to see her in person. I’d love to touch the nose of that plane just once. I love going to airshows and imagine going to a museum like this would be awesome.
Oh and happy belated birthday old man. Even though I’m older than you.
Eleni
May 15, 2010
Happy birthday, Seb! Sorry I didn’t get you anything this time.
That war poster is pretty cool. Oh, and the planes, too. Now I have “Danger Zone” stuck in my head.
Foggy Dew
May 18, 2010
Happy b-day Seb! (A little late.)
If you enjoyed the Imperial War Museum’s collection, you should check out the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles. (http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/) Alas, that’ll require you coming to Virginia.
SR-71 (the one used in Transformers, but not for that reason) – Check
B-29 “Enola Gay” – Check
Concorde – Check
Space Shuttle Enterprise – Check
200 other airplanes and 150 more spacecraft – check
All inside in one of the biggest building’s you’ll ever see. One of my favorite exhibits is the one of aircraft powerplants. It starts with the Wright brothers’ little engine, goes down and back and ends up just opposite of where you started with the engin from a 777. A hundred year journey through aviation history.