Britain's Glorious Aircraft Industry
Britain's Glorious Aircraft Industry

Author: J Paul Hodgson

Publisher: Air World

Published: 2021-03-03

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 1526774674

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“The rich and diverse history of the British aircraft industry is captured in superb detail by the author in this weighty tome.” —Aviation News Great Britain’s aircraft industry started in 1908, with the first formally registered organization in the world to offer to design and build an aeroplane “for commercial gain.” This book tells the complete story of the 110 years since the start, all the companies formed and the aircraft they produced, highlighting the advances in aeronautical ambition and technology. It is the story of the creation, survival and decline of all one hundred and twenty-three of the aircraft design and construction companies formed between 1908 and 2018. The exhilaration of success and the magic of aviation technology are vividly illustrated by the technical and political birth stories of iconic projects, such as the Cirrus/Gypsy Moths, the Tiger Moth, the flying boats of Imperial Airways, Spitfire, Lancaster, Viscount, Vulcan, Harrier, Buccaneer and many more. The rotary wing industry is not forgotten. The birth of the jet turbine engine and the quest for supersonic speed is included. The stories of the disappointments of failure and disaster, such as the Brabazon, Comet, Princess, Rotodyne and TSR-2, and the growth of international collaboration in Concorde, Tornado, Airbus, Eurofighter Typhoon and other projects are included, in the context of the international scene and domestic politics. The conclusion highlights the prominent reminiscences and speculates on the future of the aircraft industry in Britain. “An outstanding reference book and a thoroughly enjoyable canter through the decades, from the days of wood and fabric to the modern composite structure of the wings of the A400 Atlas.” —RAF Historical Society

Britain's Glorious Aircraft Industry
Britain's Glorious Aircraft Industry

Author: J. Paul Hodgson

Publisher: Air World

Published: 2020-12-19

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781526774668

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Great Britain's aircraft industry started in 1908, with the first formally registered organisation in the world to offer to design and build an aeroplane 'for commercial gain'. This was when the Short brothers, Oswald, Eustace and Horace, decided that aeroplanes would overtake balloons as a business opportunity in the aeronautical world and formed the partnership 'Short Brothers'.From this start, the UK aircraft industry expanded and grew rapidly, going on throughout the rest of the twentieth century to achieve many 'firsts' in the aeronautical world, with some remarkable technical successes and gaining a reputation to match. There were also setbacks along the way.This book tells the complete story of the 110 years since the start, all the companies formed and the aircraft they produced, highlighting the advances in aeronautical ambition and technology. It is the story of the creation, survival and decline of all one hundred and twenty-three of the aircraft design and construction companies formed between 1908 and 2018. The exhilaration of success and the magic of aviation technology are vividly illustrated by the technical and political birth stories of iconic projects, such as the Cirrus/Gypsy Moths, the Tiger Moth, the flying boats of Imperial Airways, Spitfire, Lancaster, Viscount, Vulcan, Harrier, Buccaneer and many more.The rotary wing industry is not forgotten. The birth of the jet turbine engine and the quest for supersonic speed is included. The stories of the disappointments of failure and disaster, such as the Brabazon, Comet, Princess, Rotodyne and TSR-2, and the growth of international collaboration in Concorde, Tornado, Airbus, Eurofighter Typhoon and other projects are included, in the context of the international scene and domestic politics. The conclusion highlights the prominent reminiscences and speculates on the future of the aircraft industry in Britain.

Britain Etc.
Britain Etc.

Author: Mark Easton

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-03-01

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 0857201433

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Mark Easton's Britain Etc.looks at the UK through its relationship to 26 subjects - one for each letter of the alphabet. From Alcohol, Beat Bobbies, Cheese and Dogs through Immigration, Justice, Knives and Murder to the Queen, Umbrellas, Vegetables and the Zzzz of a well-deserved rest, the book's meticulously researched but accessible essays map the back-story of contemporary Britain. With each lettered chapter, the reader is invited to look at the United Kingdom in a new way: standing back to see our small islands in a global or historical context, and then diving down to scrutinise vital details that may be overlooked. Taken together, the essays reveal a Britain that cannot be seen through the prism of daily news or current affairs. A park, a wedding, a beggar and a carrot all take on new significance once you have read Britain Etc. As the UK welcomes millions of visitors to its shores for the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, this is a book that offers insight into the psyche of Britain; a nation's obsessions, prejudices, values and idiosyncrasies. What sort of place is it, what are the natives like, and how did we get to where we are?

Empire of the Clouds
Empire of the Clouds

Author: James Hamilton-Paterson

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2010-10-07

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0571271731

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In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex. How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft manufacturer of any significance in the country? What became of the great industry of de Havilland or Handley Page? And what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age? James Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling book that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane spotter with a ruefully realistic history of British decline - its loss of self confidence and power. It is the story of great and charismatic machines and the men who flew them: heroes such as Bill Waterton, Neville Duke, John Derry and Bill Beaumont who took inconceivable risks, so that we could fly without a second thought.

Cold War at 30,000 Feet
Cold War at 30,000 Feet

Author: Jeffrey A Engel

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 0674027043

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In a gripping story of international power and deception, Engel reveals the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain. As allies, they fought Communism; as rivals, they clashed over which would lead the Cold War fight. In the quest for sovereignty and hegemony, Engel shows that one important key was airpower, which created jobs, forged ties with the developing world, and ensured military superiority, ultimately affecting forever the global balance of power.

Air empire
Air empire

Author: Gordon Pirie

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2017-03-01

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1526118491

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Air empire is a fresh study of civil aviation as a tool of late British imperialism. The first pioneering flights across the British empire in 1919-20 were flag-waving adventures that recreated an era of plucky British maritime exploration and conquest. Britain’s development of international air routes and services was approved, organised and celebrated largely in London; there was some resistance in and beyond the subordinate colonies and dominions. Negotiating the financing and geopolitics of regular commercial air service delayed its inception until the 1930s. Technological, managerial and logistical problems also meant that Britain was slow into the air and slow in the air. Propaganda concealed underperformance and criticism. The study uses archival sources, biographies, industry magazines and newspapers to chronicle the disputed progress toward air empire. The rhetoric behind imperial air service offers a glimpse of late imperial hopes, fears, attitudes and style. Empire air service had emotional appeal and symbolic value, but disappointed in practice.

Wings That Stay on
Wings That Stay on

Author: Edward V. Coggins

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

Published: 2000-05-01

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1681621770

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From the Preface: This book was required. As a former professor of military history at the American Military University (AMU) and a retired USAF Colonel, I wanted to teach a course on the effects of fighter aviation in war. In addition, I wanted to create a course that was a "hands-on" approach to fighter aviation history. Having flown USAF fighters for more than 20 years, I felt I had a good working knowledge of fighter aviation, but when I researched the subject I found I would have to ask my students to read scores of books to provide the background they would need. There was no "single-source" book that covered everything I wanted to cover. I determined to write that book. I wanted to write a straightforward book in plain language that would not bore fighter pilots and at the same time that would be simple enough to be attractive to laymen as well as air power historians. That is what I have done, I have covered some detailed thoughts about fighter flying in what Southern Americans might call "biscuits and gravy" language. The overriding premise of the text, is that the fighter has been the key element in the air power equation and continues in that role today although this role may be changing with the advent of good, reliable, beyond visual range air-to-air missies. This view has not been universally held over the years; however, it is a view that has been held by fighter pilots since the advent of the fighter. More and more historians are beginning to support this view. Table of Contents: World War I; Fighter Development Between Wars; The Air Wars Between World Wars; Fighter Development In World War II; The Korean War; The Fighter In The Vietnam War; The Arab-Israeli Wars; The India-Pakistani Conflicts; The Air War In The Falklands; Soviet Experience In Afghanistan; The Persian Gulf War; The Future; Summary And Conclusions.\; Appendices Definitions.

Home front heroism
Home front heroism

Author: Ellena Matthews

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2024-06-11

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1526162113

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Home front heroism investigates how civilians were recognised and celebrated as heroic during the Second World War. Through a focus on London, this book explores how heroism was manufactured as civilians adopted roles in production, protection and defence, through the use of uniforms and medals, and through the way that civilians were injured and killed. This book makes a novel contribution to the study of heroism by exploring the spatial, material, corporeal and ritualistic dimensions of heroic representations. By tracing the different ways that home front heroism was cultivated on a national, local and personal level, this study promotes new ways of thinking about the meaning and value of heroism during periods of conflict. It will appeal to anyone interested in the social and cultural history of Second World War as well as the sociology and psychology of heroism.