Laffly V15
I love this quirky little French 6-wheeler from 1939. It’s a Laffly V15T with 4-wheel drive, plus an extra two wheels to get it over lumps & bumps! It had a top speed of 58 kph and was used primary by the French cavalry as an artillery...
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Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC
The Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC (South African Reconnaissance Car) was introduced to Allied forces in 1943 after wheeled vehicles had proved very useful in the first engagements with the Afrika Korps. The SARC was a speedy (85 km/h, 53 mph) reconnaissance vehicle, lightly armoured (12mm – 30mm)...
There’s a new aviation museum coming to El Reno, Oklahoma
The Caldwell Collection at Mustang Field, will be opening to the public in October at the El Reno Regional Airport just west of Oklahoma City. The museum will have approximately two dozen historic aircraft on display from the pioneering years of aviation in the 1920s & 30s....
The Science Museum opens its new ‘Space’ gallery
London’s Science Museum has today (20 Sep 2025) opened its new ‘Space’ gallery showcasing some historic pieces of space equipment, together with some new technologies from the UK space industry. The ‘stars of the show’ are two historic space vehicles: the Soyuz TMA-19M Descent Module and the...
The Mighty Eighth Monument, Normandy
This is the new monument dedicated to the men of ‘The Mighty Eighth’ in Normandy. The set of four life-size bronze statues of medal-awarded USAAF Airmen was unveiled at the La Fière Memorial Park near Sainte-Mère-Eglise on 5th June. The four airmen (L-R) are Staff Sgt. Maynard...
The Wellington Quarry tunnels under Arras
The Wellington Quarry, or Carrière Wellington, is a World War I memorial, museum and battlefield site, in, or rather under, the streets of Arras in Pas-de-Calais, France. It played a significant role in hiding thousands of British & Commonwealth troops for weeks before unleashing them in a...
A short documentary reveals ‘Pigeon Mission’ a little-known end-of WW2 mission to rescue Allied POWs
There’s an interesting 16-min documentary that has just been released by the Hainan International Media Center (HIMC), highlighting a little-known chapter of WW2 history: a daring rescue of Allied Prisoners of War (POWs) on China’s Hainan Island in 1945. Unlocking Pigeon Mission, released in time to commemorate...
Puy du Fou submit plans for their theme park in Oxfordshire
Phase one of the much anticipated UK version of Puy du Fou, the historical ‘theme park with no rides’, could be open in 2029 if the outline planning proposal, just submitted to Cherwell District Council, is approved. The French theme park company, with sites in France, Spain,...
How many autonomous vehicles can one person safely monitor remotely?
It’s a good question. Especially as self-driving vehicle trials expand across the UK and there is a need for remote oversight on services such as driverless buses, delivery vehicles and robotaxis (not private vehicles), where one person can monitor several vehicles as they follow fixed routes and...
Voisin 10 – Armed to the Teeth!
This is the fuselage, or ‘gondola’, of the rather extraordinary French WW1 Voisin X bomber and gunship. The Voisin X was a two-seat pusher biplane produced either as a night bomber or a gunship armed with a 37 mm (1½”) Hotchkiss cannon and a defensive 7.7mm machine...
First electric flight lands at London Gatwick
The first ever electric flight to land at London Gatwick airport, did so yesterday (9 July) as part of the VINCI Airports Network Elektro Tour. The Elektro Tour is taking place over 17 days with a Pipistrel Velis Electro* light aircraft flying between nine VINCI airports in...
Architect Richard Rogers Exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum
The Sir John Soane’s Museum has opened a new temporary exhibition of the life and revolutionary work of British-Italian architect Richard Rogers. Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings was opened yesterday by the Soane’s Director, Will Gompertz and the curator of the exhibition, Richard’s son, Ab Rogers. The small...
Bicester Vertiport ready for eVTOLs
Skyports Infrastructure held a preview last week of its now complete vertiport at Bicester Motion in Oxfordshire. This is one of the UK’s first testing grounds and hubs for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flights. Vertiports are a key component of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)...
A new rocket engine could open the way to hypersonic airliners
A Texas-based start-up, Venus Aerospace, is developing a next-generation rocket engine that could power hypersonic* aircraft. This includes passenger aircraft flying from conventional runways. They aim to reach speeds between four to six times the speed of sound. At Mach 4, passengers could leave London and arrive...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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