Aircraft brought to Nelson by steamer by American pilot Walter Edwards (real name Walter Edward Kittel) to fly at the annual Nelson Fruit Fair. He found the fairground a dangerous site with buildings and power lines surrounding it. Nevertheless he flew the Curtiss and thrilled the townspeople who had not seen an aircraft before. Edwards resumed using the name Kittel in his post-aviation business career. He died of heart disease, aged 42, in his home town of Seattle in 1922. The Fairgrounds are no longer existing. After the main fair building burned down in 1935, the site was redeveloped quickly as a theater. Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

Built for inventor Alexander Graham Bell to test his tetrahedral structure. Much simpler triplane configuration compared with the AEA Cygnet unsuccessfully tested in 1909. Attempted test flights with the Oionus on the day of the photo saw three wheels lift off but not all four. Melting ice ended any further attempts to fly it. Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

Flown by J.V. Cavanaugh. The rudder of this Model D is different to the normal rectangular rudder fitted to this type of aircraft. It retains the canard elevators that had been largely dispensed with by 1912. Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

Design commissioned by Boston resident Gardiner Greene Hubbard II and built at Baddeck by Canadian Aerodrome Company. The Hubbard attended the 1910 Montreal Aviation Meet but its owner was unable to coax it into the air because it was underpowered. It was then shipped to Boston where it attended the Harvard-Boston Aero Meet. Again it did not fly. Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

The Baddeck No.2 was built at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, where under the encouragement of inventor and local resident Alexander Graham Bell aviation experimentation flourished. It participated in the Montreal Aviation Meet held in a paddock at Lakeside, now known as Pointe-Claire. The photo shows an apparent forced landing at that meet. The Baddeck No.2 made at least 60 flights before being grounded in November 1910. Canadian Aerodrome was the successor to the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

Yes, this is a real aircraft and yes it did fly - eventually. But it required more power than in 1909 and even then it was only in ground effect as the Cygnet III. Soon after the March 1, 1912 hop the tetrahedral cell wing collapsed, ending the project. Baddeck was the centre of Canadian aviation development with famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell a local resident and keen proponent of aviation. The frozen lake provided a large, flat, low friction surface for test flights. Photo from: Ken Molson fonds - Ingenium

This early US airline offered flights from Key West to Havana and from Miami to Bimini - both international destinations which still allowed drinking. Photo from: Monroe County Public Library

This Mi-8 was built in March 1979 and delivered to the Iraqi Army as 204. In 1989 it was sent to Hungary for overhaul at Tököl but placed into storage upon completion due to the sanctions against Iraq. In August 1992 it became property of the Hungarian AF, given the serial 6204 and became based at Szolnok. After a period of storage it acquired the Ukranian registration UR-PLF but is now parked (preserved or operational?) at the M-Air facility in Chocznia without a visible reg.

Spectacular livery at a time when it had to be hand-painted, Big Fish was operated by American Trans Oceanic from the shores of Lake Worth to New York. The aircraft was never civil registered - it was not a requirement at the time -but was given the number 5, presumably a fleet number. Big Fish crashed sometime during 1921. Photo from: Canada Science and Technology Museum

The Stansted Carvair assembly line was shut down in 1967. Three Southend-built unused nose sections remained there along with unsold Carvair no. 17 LX-IOF (which subsequently became G-AXAI). The three nose sections were brought back to Southend where one was used in the conversion of C-54E VH-INM as Carvair no. 21, the final one built. The subject of this photo is nose section no. 22 or 23 on the dump at Southend over 4 years later.

This homebuilt, but unfinished, plane has sat at the back of this hangar for many years. It probably will never be finished and, of course, has never received a registration.

D- reg not yet allocated

D- reg not yet allocated, later registered as D-AZYF.

The Boeing Bird of Prey was a black project aircraft, intended to demonstrate stealth technology. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in the 1990s. As an internal project, this aircraft was not given an X-plane designation. The first flight was in 1996, and some forty flights were performed through the program's conclusion in 1999. The aircraft, which had given the designation "YF-118G" as a cover, was made public on 18 October 2002. The Bird of Prey was put on display at the National Museum of the USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB on 16 July 2003.

Forward fuselage section built in 1961 for pressurisation fatigue testing. Later used for other tests. Donated to the Brooklands Museum in 1986. BOAC markings being removed for repaint into the overall white scheme it carried during testing.

The first Stout AT-2, unregistered and named Maiden Dearborn (I). Photo from: Library of Congress