Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)

@navalairhistory

Writer naval/aviation history. Words. Art. Photography. Silken Windhounds. He/him. Free Palestine.

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¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y navalairhistory.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 18d

If you see this, quote a pic of you in sunglasses

Me, in the forward cockpit of a de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane, with aviator sunglasses on my face

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 19d

If you ever feel like allowing dogs…

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 20d

Obelisk, Holkham Hall 📷 Voigtlander Bessa T/ Seagull 35mm f1.7 🎞️ @ilfordphoto.com FP4 #BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography

Black and white photo of a limestone obelisk atop a grassy rise, against a clear sky broken only by a few wispy clouds. Through a gap in the trees, the Palladian grandeur of the distant Holkham Hall is just visible

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 20d

Bronze lion, Holkham Hall 📷 Voigtlander Bessa T/ Seagull 35mm f1.7 🎞️ @ilfordphoto.com FP4 #BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography

Black and white photo of a weathered bronze lion on a pedestal in front of a courtyard before a Palladian house

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 20d

Brancaster beach just before sunset 📷 Voigtlander Bessa T/Seagull 35mm f1.7 🎞️ @ilfordphoto.com FP4 #BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography

Black and white portrait format photo of a beach, dark wet sand formed into ripples reflecting the low sun

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 23d

First pic didn’t load properly (and needs an edit to knock the sky down a bit anyway)

A rust-streaked VW Beetle hot rod from the front left at a low angle with lowered suspension, sitting on a hillside meadow with empty landscape in the background

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 23d

Photographed this artfully weatherbeaten Beetle hot rod at an event today... And it just looked abandoned

A rust-streaked VW Beetle hot rod from the front left with lowered suspension, sitting on a hillside meadow with empty landscape in the background

A rust-streaked VW Beetle hot rod from the rear left with lowered suspension, sitting on a hillside meadow with mostly empty landscape in the background

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 26d

Trying this again because the photo was so horrible it was embarrassing Mount Fitzroy, Patagonia. Oil on wood panel

Portrait format oil painting of the black rock needle-like peaks of Mount Fitzroy, partially visible through swirling, backlit cloud

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 26d

I am attempting a small piece depicting Mt Fitzroy wreathed in cloud and I will be honest, it ain't easy. I've got to the stage of waving the brush about and hoping a picture emerges

Small oil painting supposedly showing the black, needle like peaks of a Patagonian mountain partially visible through backlit cloud, but I can't honestly say it looks like that

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 26d

America, I beg you, develop a sense of irony ‘Freedom 250 Grand Prix’ lol Only the US could ban flags with a straight face

The ‘Freedom 250 GP gate regulations’, a list of prohibited items and activities that would shame North Korea. All bags must be clear and not exceed 12x12x6 inches. Restrictions are too many to list here but include chairs, food, flags, Flipper Zero (I have no idea), ammunition, video cameras and any video-capable devices, and Raspberry Pi enabled devices. All items subject to inspection!

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 27d

MG A Coupe and MG Midget at Gurston Down hillclimb 📷Voigtlander Bessa T, (new!) 7Artisans-Seagull 35mm F1.7 (190 of 500) 🎞️Kodak Ektar 100 #BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #FilmPhotography

Two red 1950s sportscars in a hillclimb paddock with a tent behind and trees in the background. Long shadows from a low sun fall across the tarmac. The photo is taken from a low angle, from the cars' front-left

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 27d

A rather rare MG Lenham Le Mans Midget 📷Voigtlander Bessa T, (new!) 7Artisans-Seagull 35mm F1.7 (190 of 500) 🎞️Kodak Ektar 100 #BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #FilmPhotography

Portrait format photo of the front ends of several sports cars. In the foreground, a white car with a longitudinal blue and red stripe offset to the left, with round headlights partially buried in a smooth nose, and spotlights mounted on the bonnet. Behind is a red MG A coupe, and beyond that, fading out of focus, a bustling paddock

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 27d

Caterham Sevens in the paddock at Gurston Down hillclimb 📷Voigtlander Bessa T, 7Artisans-Seagull 35mm F1.7 🎞️Kodak Ektar 100 #BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #FilmPhotography

A row of Caterham Seven open wheel sports cars under awnings, receding into the middle distance

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 27d

In fact I’ll help you with that

Net approval rating for the government of the UK 2022-2026
Published by D. Clark, Jun 10, 2026
In June 2026, the net approval rating of the United Kingdom's government was -51 percent, making the Labour government almost as unpopular as the Conservatives were just before they lost the 2024 general election.

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· 28d

New lens, who dis Brabham BT16 Formula 2 car about to head out on its last timed run of the day at Gurston Down hillclimb 📷Voigtlander Bessa T, (new!) 7Artisans-Seagull 35mm F1.7 (190 of 500) 🎞️Kodak Ektar 100 #BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #FilmPhotography

Classic 1960s 'cigar' single-seat racing car, glossy black with number 159 in white disc on the side, waiting in paddock with driver installed on a bright, hot day. The car is in focus while the background is soft

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 11

The ice house at Holkham Hall, an idiosyncratic building in red brick with a thatched roof ending in a conical section at the left side. The icehouse is partly built into the slope of the hill

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 10

Sanguine sketch of a team of timber hauling horses

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 10

Nikolai the silken windhound on a grassy dune looking over an expanse of beach and the sea beneath the setting sun

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 10

The obelisk at Holkham with a Red Kite

A massive limestone obelisk on a woodland surrounded rise, with a Red Kite just visible beyond

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 10

Poor man's Leica in use this week

Voigtlander Bessa T rangefinder camera with a Seagull 35mm prime lens and a KMZ universal viewfinder

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 9

Britain: ’I can accept murder but I draw the line at noise pollution’

The ‘I can excuse racism but I draw the line at animal cruelty’ meme

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 9

Brancaster beach at 6.45 this morning

Nikolai the silken windhound standing on a wide expanse of sandy beach, backlit, his shadow reaching down to the bottom of the frame

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 7

IT'S HERE Long awaited (by me anyway) book on the Fairey Fulmar from Crowood

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 6

Whenever I see the thumbnail of my pfp I get the nagging sense that it reminds of something, and I think I just realised what

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 2

The Amstrad E-m@iler Plus of 2000, a hilariously misjudged effort to create a device for internet use which Alan Sugar sold to businesses at a loss with the intention that charges for phone calls, browsing sessions and emails would generate profit. It resembles an old pushbutton landline phone with an LCD screen stuck to one end and a retractable keyboard that slides out of the other end. This thing came out a year before the first Blackberry

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 2

So they're shame*fully* pandering to Nazis...

Chidi from The Good Place saying 'Okay, but that's worse. You do see how that's worse, right?'

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 2

What am I doing to 'celebrate' 250 years of the USA? I'm reading about the time the President came to stay in Britain

Contemporary engraving of the battle between USS President, one of the original six frigates of the US Navy, and HMS Endymion in 1815, after which President surrendered, then attempted to sneak away while Endymion was repairing her boats only to be apprehended by HMS Pomone. Her captain went home, squealing to anyone who would listen about how President was falling to pieces anyway after he'd run her aground earlier so really it didn't count. The genocidal monster Theodore Roosevelt wrote most of a book attempting to prove that President was defeated by a whole squadron rather than just one smaller ship

HMS President as a shore-based vessel on the Thames. In fact this is not the previous USS President but a near replica, built to rub the Yanks' noses in it after she was captured. The original was operated as HMS President for a while but turned out to have been so badly damaged during her capture that it was cheaper to build a new hull

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 2

IT'S SCHISM!

Chris Morris on that episode of The Day Today where they gleefully report on the war they just provoked

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jul 2

I have T shirts older than Catalonia giving up on independence

Me wearing a blue T shirt with the Catalonian flag and slogan Jo Bull Ser Lliure (loosely, 'I want to break free')

Matthew Willis (Naval Air History)@navalairhistory· Jun 29

The original temporary Cenotaph built for the first anniversary of the WW1 armistice was built of wood and plaster, and was unveiled 11 days after the design was approved