With nearly 4000 downloadable images, Rosebud's WWI and Early
Aviation Image Archive is a treasure trove for old-aircraft aficionados.
"Rosebud", the designer and producer of this wonderful Web site, begins by
explaining that "this project attempts to archive vintage photographs of flying
machines flown before and during the first two decades of the 20th century."
From the first powered flight by an obscure Bavarian immigrant (Gustave
Whitehead) to the aerial arsenal flown by the Red Baron (Manfred von Richtofen),
you'll find it here. Images of old airships are available, too.
Three Main Sections
Rosebud's Early Aviation Image Archive is divided into three
main sections: aeroplanes and airships before 1920, submitted collections, and
a bulleted list of early aircraft. The aeroplanes and airships before 1920
section has seven categories: Guynemer's gun camera, faked aerial combat,
poster art and postcards, aerodromes and bombs, airships and captive balloons,
wings and pilot badges, and death photos. The first of these seven categories,
Guynemer's gun camera, refers to Georges Guynemer, a French fighter pilot who
downed over 50 German aircraft during World War I. There's even a photograph of
the Gotha
G.III Bomber that Guynemer defeated in the winter of 1917.
The Ace and The Aviatrix
The second section of Rosebud's Early Aviation Image Archive
contains links to 12 different collections. These collections include images of
Guido Scheffer, a fighting member of "Richtofen's flying circus"; early
airships such as the Santos-Dumont and the Astra-Torres; and photographs of
Marie Louise Driancourt, a pioneering aviatrix. According to a text
file in the Driancourt collection, little is known about this French pilot
because her interest in aviation "was very badly perceived by the family of her
late husband and the majority of her photographs and newspaper articles were
destroyed."
Birds of Prey and Beyond
A lengthy, bulleted list of aircraft images rounds out
Rosebud's Early Aviation Image Archive. There are numerous images of the Etrich Taube and the
Rumpler Taube, a pre-WWI monoplane that was the first mass-produced military
aircraft in Germany.
Until the beginning of World War I, the Taube (the German word for "dove") was
used as a fighter, bomber, surveillance plane, and military trainer. Other
aircraft in this list include planes built by Louis Bleriot, a French
engineer and aircraft designer who flew the first motorized aircraft across the
English Channel. There are also images of
several aircraft built by the Wright Brothers.
Truly, Rosebud's Early Aviation Image Archive has a treasure
trove of photos. There is some absolutely spectacular stuff here, including
many aircraft that are totally unfamiliar to me. I'd like to hear your feedback
on this one!
Editor's Note: CR4
would like to thank Ron Darner for
sharing this story. A longtime CR4er, Ron is also the newsletter editor for
Chapter 320 (Watertown,
Wisconsin) of the Experimental
Aircraft Organization (EAA). If you'd like to subscribe to Ron's newsletter, click here to send him a private message on CR4.
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