Now available: "The Aero" Journal (1909)

32 issues of the 1909 "The Aero Journal" are now flipbooks at USHGA.AERO

Courtesy of The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology in Kansas City, 32 complete issues from the first year of the historic British aviation journal “The Aero” are now available for study at USHGA.AERO. Each page of these brittle, deteriorating journals (survivors of both world wars) has been lovingly photographed in high resolution by The Linda Hall Library, then converted for USHGA.AERO to the more readable Wordpress flipbook format.

The first issue begins with a reprint of Octave Chanute’s 1901 article from the British Flying Magazine, “Some Classic Aeronautical Experiments,” wherein he describes the evolution of hang gliders from Lillenthal and Pilcher to his own multi-wing designs.

Further in is a May 1909 article on the French Scrive hang glider. Look at the evolution - the wings look much like those of a modern hang glider! “The Aero” examines all modes of flight and will be of equal interest to balloonists and ultralight flyers. Mechanical engineers and engine devotees are going to go nuts.

Tucked away at the bottom of the web page is a special treat: Otto Lillenthal’s complete Birdflight As The Basis of Aviation (1911), translated to English and displayed in flipbook format.

There are several ways to best view these flipbooks. Cast from your phone to an HDTV. Computer monitors are great. Big tablets also work well. Phones suck.

If you are stuck with a small screen, Single Page Mode displays one page at a time in vertical format. Or view it wide and expand with your fingers, scrolling a paragraph or two at a time. I am presently building an index and splitting content into multiple pages which will allow the web pages to load faster.

Rick Masters
https://ushga.aero/masters/