Huitzilopochtli and the Mexican Air Force

The Aztecs were a pagan group that flourished in Mexico several centuries ago and worshiped many deities, one of which was Huitzilopochtli, whose name is loosely translated to "Blue Hummingbird of the South." Despite that rather timid appellation Huitzilopochtli was the fearsome God of War in the hierarchy of Aztec religion.
 

Huitzilopochtli

 



Most images of Huitzilopochtli show him holding in his right hand an atlatl, essentially a stick with a handle on one end and a hook that engaged a light spear on the other; the flipping motion propelled the spear faster and farther than it could be thrown by hand alone. The atlatl was the weapon of choice for the Aztecs, who had not yet been introduced to firearms.

 

A real atlatl

A select group of latter-day Aztec warriors was equipped with "atlatls with wings" that helped them hasten the downfall of the Axis nations in WW II. In his imaginary persona Huitzilopochtli would have been proud of these fighters.

THE ADAMS AND EVES OF AVIATION

Do you think female pilots are as competent as their male counterparts? Do women aviators have the ability, knowledge, skill and strength to operate aircraft as well as men? These questions have been debated ever since the Wright brothers flew but it was a daring young American woman who opened the door to the male/female pilot controversy.




Harriet Quimby and her Bleriot monoplane

In August 1911 Harriet Quimby was the first woman in the United States to be granted a pilot certificate and eight months later she flew her Bleriot across the English Channel, another first for female pilots. Apparently well aware of the public relations she would generate, Harriet's flying garb included included knee-high leather boots and a hooded, full-length, purple satin flight suit.

The story of an over-water flight with an unexpected ending

The first four decades of the 20th century witnessed exponential growth in aviation, both civilian and military. Following the Wright brothers' breakthrough flights in 1903 (eat your heart out, Gustav Whitehead) aeronautical inventions were piled one upon the other in a virtual flood of flying machines; some of them flew quite well but many of them never got off the ground.

The pilots who flew these aircraft played leading roles in the development of manned flight; without people who were willing to explore the limits of altitude, distance, speed, duration etc., aviation would have died on the vine. These pilots were record-setters and tested new aircraft (Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager et al come to mind) but most amateur pilots flew just for fun…and some of them made aviation history in the process. Douglas Corrigan was a  pilot who fit comfortably into the latter category.
 

Douglas G. Corrigan