Pilot Collection

Blanchard balloon ascent, Rouen, France
Third balloon ascent of Jean-Pierre Blanchard, with Mr Boby, from the old barracks at Rouen. They later descended on the Plaine de Puissanval. 18 July 1784

Technical diagram of a flying machine, with measurements and annotations. The small red circle labelled C is the pilots seat. late 18th century

Technical diagram of a flying machine, with pilot
Technical diagram of a flying machine, with measurements and annotations, and a pilot seated at the controls. circa late 18th century

Flying by Mechanical Means
Designs for man-powered flight, modelled on birds. 1810

Churchills praise for RAF Pilots
" Never was so much owed by so many to so few" - Prime Minister Winston Churchill from a speech made on 20th August 1940

Lunardi in a balloon
Lunardis Grand Air Balloon, engraved for the Aerostatic Spy 1 April 1785. Probably depicting his flight from the Artillery Grounds to Ware in Hertfordshire on 15 September 1784. 1785

Book cover design, Conquering the Air: the Romance of the Development and Use of Aircraft, by Archibald Williams, London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, Ltd, 1926. 1926

Early British dirigible on the ground with crew

Book cover design, King of the Air: or, to Morocco on an Airship, by Herbert Strang, London: H. Frowde, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908. 1908

Man-powered flying machine
A man-powered flying machine in a countryside setting. The Aerostat - Worked by Manual Power - Invented by W. Miller, M.R.C.S. 1843

Lunardi ascent from Artillery Grounds
Lunardis ascent from the Artillery Grounds in Moorfields, London. He landed at Ware, Hertfordshire, 20 miles away. 15 September 1784

Imperial Airways Poster, Travel Luxuriously in the Worlds largest air liners, serving Europe, Africa, India and the Far East. Showing two pilots in the cockpit of a Heracles, and passengers boarding

Book cover design, With the Airmen

Poster, Indias First Aerial Pageant
Poster, Captain C. D

Book cover design, The Air Patrol: a Story of the North-West Frontier, by Herbert Strang, London: Henry Frowde, Hodder & Stoughton, 1913. Showing an airman with a map. 1913

National Air Safety Committee Poster
Poster, National Air Safety Committee, providing instructions to new pilots -- please help to keep flying safe. 1933

Poster warning about safety on the airfield. Watch that prop. Careless walk costs lives. Showing a pilot losing his head by walking into a spinning propeller. 1940s

Flights into the Future - creatures of the air jungle
An unfortunate pilot is thrown out of his plane by creatures fllying around the air jungle, the product of the imagination of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote of strange monsters

RAF fox mascot with pilot, WW1
The fox mascot of an RAF squadron with a pilot on the Western Front in France during World War One. Apparently the fox was fond of flying. circa 1916

RAF personnel marking German positions, WW1
RAF pilots and observers marking German positions in preparation for a raid, on the Western Front in France during World War One. circa 1916

King George V with RAF pilots, Western Front, WW1
King George V inspecting RAF pilots on the Western Front in France during World War One. General Herbert Plumer (nicknamed Old Plum) can be seen on the left. circa 1916

Female Aviator with flying helmet and goggles. Date: circa 1920s

Amy Johnson in her flying gear
Amy Johnson (1903-1941), pioneering English aviator. Seen here posing in her flying gear. 1930

Label design for Airport Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Label design for Avia Gin, marketed from Schiedam, Holland, showing a pilot in flying gear, with his aeroplane in the background. 20th century

Wartime poster of Churchills famous words: Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few, referring to the pilots of the Royal Air Force, fighting the Battle of Britain

Funeral of Manfred von Richthofen, WW1
Funeral of the German air ace, Manfred von Richthofen, towards the end of World War One, on the Western Front in France. Wreaths from various British squadrons were placed on his grave. April 1918

Pilot and observer about to set out, Western Front, WW1
A British pilot and his observer getting instructions through their CO via photographs and maps before setting out for the German lines on the Western Front in France during World War One. circa 1916

Airman posing
An airman posing for his photo on a sunny porch

Art deco design, pilot at controls of plane
An art deco style design, depicting a pilot at the controls of his plane

Art deco design, pilot with plane and car

Aeroplane and pilot in a field, WW2
Aeroplane and pilot in a field during the Second World War. circa 1940s

Two airmen standing in front of plane
Two airmen in goggles standing in front of a large biplane

The Battle of Britain
A circular painting depicting the brave men of the Royal Airforce on the ground and in action during the Battle of Briatin Date: circa 1942

French Air Force Poster
Poster advertising for pilots to join the French Air Force from the age of 17 years. Date: c.1930

Air Travel - Thomas Cook
Brochure for Thomas Cook air travel holidays. Date: 1937

Alcock and Brown - Aviators
British aviators John Alcock (1892 - 1919) and Arthur Whitten Brown (1886 1948)

Doggy Aviator
An excited dog aviator at the wheel of his aeroplane. Date: early 1930s

Pilot and co-pilot - Equipage II
The cockpit of a large airliner with pilot and co-pilot. Poster issued by Le Secretariat General a la Defense Aerienne. Date: 1950s

A ride in an aeroplane
Two little girls wearing flying helmets sit in the open cockpit of an aeroplane, eyes agog, enjoying their first flight in an aeroplane. Date: c.1925

BOAC Stratocruiser Speedbird
Model of a BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) Stratocruiser Speedbird, cut-away to reveal the seating arrangement inside, with a pilots hat. Date: C.1949

Propaganda poster: prime ministers statement
Second world war propaganda poster. Above a photograph of five brave airmen is a quotation from the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill: Never was so much owed by so many to so few. Date: early 1940s

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