The world has seen great changes since the Panther was originally conceived and built by George Parnall & Sons. The variety and availability of media for transmitting a message has expanded enormously and it is useful to consider how we can make use these devices whilst reflecting on Parnall’s aircraft building origins.
When the Panther was first being manufactured it was widely advertised to the public through adverts in the printed periodicals and pieces in industry specific print, like “Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft”. Traditional print media is designed to attract an advertising community that will appeal to the readers. It’s a fairly simple formula – provide content that people want to read and insert advertising for products and services that might appeal to the readership. The above photograph from 1920 shows a Parnall Panther at the Imperial War Museum display at Crystal Palace with a Nieuport Nighthawk. It’s a pleasing reminder of a time when Britain was at the forefront of technological development. The twenties were a time of optimism and prosperity and aviation was in focus. Parnall and Sons were one of a number of companies eager to exploit this wave of enthusiasm and bring their products to a public eager for news of the new and exciting world of aircraft.
In these days of greater access to content from the online media, and in particular user generated content, the role of the media has become harder to quantify, but remains essential to the success of any enterprise. In creating the Panther we rely on transmitting information to a wider audience for a variety of reasons.
For me the interaction with a wider community of enthusiasts and experts has been invaluable to ensuring that the Panther will be as faithful to the original as I can achieve. I am very grateful for the ongoing support and advice that been kindly offered. Telling people what we are doing here at Parnall Group maintains interest and I hope support. I feel that this project has a universal interest and the way in which it is being realised is interesting, and I welcome interaction from people who may be following the story.
