Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation
Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation

Author: Richard Edwards

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2012-10-24

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 1783034947

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Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation tells the dramatic story of a world leading aviation industry, from the sweat and grease of the workshop, to the board rooms and government nationalisations that ultimately fashioned its destiny.The heroes are Britains most innovative aviation pioneers and their aircraft, the men and women who persevered to be the first into the air, to fly the fastest, the highest and the furthest. This broad and highly accessible books ranges from the first man to fly across the English Channel from England to France to the development of the Spitfire and from the disastrous R101 airship to the development of the jet engine and ultimately the worlds first supersonic airliner.Each chapter looks at a different aviation pioneer and the flying machines that they designed, their engineering landmarks, their triumphs in the air and on occasion their disasters too. The book explores the great air races that were won and lost, the government contracts and political short-sightedness that cut short the development of leading aircraft designs and many of the dramatic air raids and sea battles from the First World War to the Falklands and the Middle East.Many of the industrys most prominent names are profiled, including Ernest Willows, the Short brothers, Geoffrey de Havilland, Vincent Richmond, George White, Thomas Sopwith, Harry Hawker, RJ Mitchell, Herbert Smith, Charles Rolls, Henry Royce, Reginald Pierson, Alliott Verdon-Roe, Frederick Handley Page, Robert Watson-Watt, Robert Blackburn and Frank Whittle.Behind the personal stories are the histories of the aircraft companies that these pioneers created, from those that went bankrupt to those that lasted the test of time and have become indivisible from British aviation folklore, such names as Sopwith, Handley Page, Avro, Supermarine, Blackburn, Bristol, Fairey and Rolls-Royce. The book covers the mergers and acquisitions that led to the creation of two major aircraft manufacturers, Hawker Siddeley Group and the British Aircraft Corporation, and how barely two decades later, before the century was out, they were nationalised to form British Aerospace.

The Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim

Author: Graham Warner

Publisher: Crecy Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 664

ISBN-13:

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Graham Warner is well known as the driving force behind the restoration of a Bristol Blenheim to airworthy status - not once, but twice - resulting in Spirit of Britain First taking to the skies above Duxford in 1987 and again in 1993. In The Bristol Blenheim, he draws on his unsurpassed knowledge of the aircraft to give a truly comprehensive account of its origins, development and frontline service. His account covers the Blenheim's service from the outbreak of war to the Battle of Britain and beyond, both in European and Far Eastern theatres of war. It includes details of not only the well-known Middle East campaigns in the Western Desert and from Malta, but also the lesser-known operations in Iraq, Syria and East Africa. Privately commissioned by Lord Rothermere as a personal aircraft in 1934, the prototype of the Blenheim named 'Britain First' was gifted to the Air Ministry because he feared that Britain was falling behind Germany in aircraft development. Military production gathered pace and by the time war broke out in 1939 there were more Blenheims serving in the RAF than any other aircraft.It played a vital and wide-ranging role in the early years of the war and was used as a day and night bomber, for low-level attacks on enemy troops and shipping, as a night fighter, long range day fighter and in reconnaissance. Losses were high and the bravery of the Blenheim crews unsurpassed as the aircraft was often sent on missions for which it was unsuited. The burden of the early war years fell heavily on the Blenheim and it served with distinction. Yet, it is remembered less than the Spitfire and the Lancaster, until now.

Lancaster - Halifax - Stirling
Lancaster - Halifax - Stirling

Author: Mantelli - Brown - Kittel - Graf

Publisher: Edizioni R.E.I.

Published: 2017-01-26

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 2372973169

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L'Avro Lancaster era un bombardiere pesante quadrimotore utilizzato dalla RAF a partire dal 1942 e, assieme all'Handley Page Halifax, fu il principale bombardiere strategico della RAF e delle altre forze aeree dei paesi del Commonwealth. Venne utilizzato principalmente come bombardiere notturno. In tutto sono stati realizzati 7.378 Lancaster (prototipi esclusi), 430 dei quali in Canada e ne sono stati persi 3.932 in azione. L'Handley Page Halifax fu uno dei principali bombardieri pesanti quadrimotori britannici, rimanendo in servizio fino alla fine del conflitto, con numerosi compiti oltre al bombardamento. La carriera dell'Halifax cominciò nel novembre 1940 e proseguì fino alla fine della guerra. Questi quadrimotori, comunque, continuarono a operare, sia pure in ruoli secondari, fino al 1954-56. Nella pratica, però, il Lancaster dimostrò migliori prestazioni e non appena fu disponibile in numero sufficiente, rimpiazzò gli Halifax. Lo Short S.29 Stirling era un bombardiere pesante britannico, il primo della sua categoria. Insieme al Lancaster e all’Halifax costituisce i tre principali bombardieri utilizzati dalla Gran Bretagna nella seconda guerra mondiale con capacità di carico di bombe dai 6.000 kg fino ai 10.000 kg della Bomba Grand Slam, una tra le più pesanti bombe mai costruite.

The Stirling Story
The Stirling Story

Author: Michael J. F. Bowyer

Publisher: Crecy Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13:

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Conceived in the shadow of looming war, when the RAF's bomber force was largely made up of obsolete and outmoded aircraft, the Stirling became the first British four-engined 'heavy' bomber of the Second World War. Developed, tested and brought into service in the first desperate years of the Second World War, the arrival of the Stirling marked a turning point in the aerial warfare of that conflict, the moment when the Allies went on the offensive against the German homeland. In the years that followed Stirling squadrons were at the forefront of the developing tactics of the Allied bomber campaign - target marking, pathfinding, electronic navigation, the thousand bomber raids etc. - that were ultimately to lead to the utter devastation of so many German cities. Despite this leading role the Stirling has never enjoyed the standing of the Halifax and the even more celebrated Lancaster. Handicapped by an unrealistic peacetime design specification, it could not match the performance of its more famous successors and was withdrawn from frontline service as deliveries of Lancasters and Halifaxes gathered momentum. However, even then the Stirling proved to be versatile and adaptable as a glider tug, transport in secret SOE operations, and later as a civilian transport in the immediate post-war years.The Stirling Story is the culmination of years of exhaustive research by one of the world's foremost aviation authors. From original design specification and testing, through its development, introduction to service, developing marks and later adaptations the full story of the Shorts Stirling bomber is told with the aid of eyewitness accounts from the designers, production workers, engineers and above all the crews of the Stirling. Much more than the history of just one aircraft type, The Stirling Story is the story of RAF Bomber Command emerging from obscurity and failure to become a devastatingly effective weapon of war. It is an essential work of reference that no serious military aviation enthusiast or war historian can afford to be without, as well as a fascinating read for anyone with any interest in, or connection with, the Shorts Stirling.'

A Thousand Shall Fall
A Thousand Shall Fall

Author: Murray Peden

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 510

ISBN-13: 9781550024548

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In what has been hailed as one of the finest war memoirs ever written, Murray Peden recounts his experiences as a bomber with 214 Squadron during World War II.

No Prouder Place
No Prouder Place

Author: David L. Bashow

Publisher: Vanwell Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781551251059

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The Allied bombing of the Third Reich and its allies was part of Britain's overall war strategy to take the offensive to the enemy. It created a second front that bled off resources from the enemy's Soviet campaign, involving massive amounts of manpower and material just to address the threat.No Prouder Place provides a fresh and objective look at the bombing campaign by emphasizing the highly significant role it played in defeating the Axis powers. The story tells of sustained courage in the face of daunting odds as well as a celebration of the Canadian aircrew experience and its place in wartime Bomber Command.

Turner's Painting Techniques
Turner's Painting Techniques

Author: Joyce Townsend

Publisher: Tate

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13:

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This survey and scientific analysis of J.M.W. Turner's oils and watercolours, combined with documentary research, shows that the artist experimented with new pigments and paint formulations throughout his life, as well as taking an interest in scientific t