Pilot Gallery

Howard Hughes, US aviation pioneer

Howard Hughes (1905-1976), American aviation pioneer. Hughes was 16 when his mother died. When his father died unexpectedly two years later, Hughes inherited the family estate and dropped out of university. In 1932, Hughes formed the Hughes Aircraft Company to indulge his passion for aircraft. Two years later, Hughes built and test- piloted the world's most advanced plane, the H-1, in which he set a new speed record of 352 miles per hour. Hughes went on to set two more transcontinental records. Hughes died in 1976, having lived as recluse for the last 20 years of his life

© SCIENCE, INDUSTRY & BUSINESS LIBRARY/NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Usa-Aviation-Boeing 747

Family picture taken on January 13, 1970 of the aircrew of the first commercial flight of the Boeing 747 from New York to London for Pan American. On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the Everett assembly building before the world's press and representatives of the 26 airlines that had ordered the plane, and first flight took place on February 09, 1969. The Boeing 747, called also "Jumbo Jet", entered service on January 21, 1970, on Pan Am's New York–London route. / AFP PHOTO / CENTRAL PRESS

© Agence France-Presse (AFP) - All Rights Reserved

Airmail postcards at Gamages, London

People at Gamages in Holborn, Central London, addressing postcards and posting them in the special London Aerial Postbox, in time for the first aerial mail service from Hendon to Windsor and back again. The service flew on 9 September 1911. King George V gave permission for the aeroplanes to land in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Gustav Hamel was the first pilot to deliver by airmail. During September 1911 the Grahame-White company operated an experimental air mail service for two weeks between Hendon and Windsor. As well as commemorating the coronation of King George V, and raising money for charity, the event publicised the possibilities of the aeroplane as a means of transport

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10410838