raf fighter command

Ever since the first Zeppelin raids in World War 1 the vulnerability of the civilian population of the UK to attack from the air has been a major factor in shaping our armed forces. The tile "Air Defence of Great Britain" comes from the organisation set up to meet the only air threat imagined in...

As any deeply invested Spitfire fan knows, the intended major developments never eventuated and the history of the Spitfire was one of interim variants that did very well. The dead ends are as follows: SPITFIRE III: Merlin 20 development with four cannon and major airframe revisions; abandoned...

Part of the one documentary threads on this channel. States it’s considered one of the worst aircraft to fly with the RAF. View: https://youtu.be/OO_t3HFGrhw?si=BJGkVc9QwQeiINZa

I should have posted this yesterday (the birthday was actually the day before but I only saw it on Thursday). Group Captain John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0717/1460456-raf-hemingway-birthday/...

Nothing in military history has given the RAF such a hold on the public imagination as the gallant Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of the Battle of Britain. Sadly in the postwar nuclear world their successors have only been tasked with wartime defence of key military infrastructure in the UK. It...

I've seen a few references to a Supermarine early World War II project called the Type 312. From what I've read, it was a derivative of the Spitfire but with standard cannon armament and a ventral radiator instead of the Spitfire's underwing radiators. Does any photos or plans or other details...

The thread about the V Force has shown how brilliant some of the researchers here are at providing us with material unique to this site. So as we are still a bit limited in where and what we can do this Summer, I am adding the subject which has cropped up in many other threads: RAF Fighter...

https://apnews.com/05569875820b15fd4639ff46e9d24670 Rest In Peace. :(

A much reproduced painting of the RAF F111K from General Dynamics (it heads up the Wikipedia entry) shows the plane in a non-standard green and brown camouflage pattern. I had always put this down to artistic licence but then I found a similar colour scheme on the cover of the 1970 RAF Souvenir...

I know that this is a well trodden subject but I thought that it would be interesting to compare the plans with what happened in reality. Ground Attack/Recce Squadrons It was planned to replace the Hunter with the 1154 Harrier in 8 squadrons: 2 in the UK, 2 in Germany, 2 in the Gulf and 2 in...

Movietone News "The Mosquito" http://youtu.be/-cb6SmK_c2g

The F4 Phantom might have failed to materialise as the wonderful plane which the RAF and RN used to fill various gaps from the 60s onwards. In a Phantomless world would P1154 have been developed as planned in 1963 for both RAF and RN or would the Lightning have been developed in its swing wing...

Hi All, Tried the search function and didn't find anything, Likewise tried searches on the net, zilch.. nada... I am after a drawing of the gloster F9/37 with the peregrine engines fitted, anyone seen any, or know of a link ? cheers Jerry

Hi folks, Some pics I recently came across of different armament rials for the Westland Whirlwind: 12 x 0.303: 1 x 37mm cannon: Apologies if already posted. Regards, Greg

Airspeed AS.31 aka Airspeed F.35/35. Does anybody know more about it?

The preferred UK AEW for the RAF was always the Nimrod as it was big and in production. In 1966 studies looked at various radar options, but lack of money delayed it. All of the above comes from 'Airborne Early Warning, design, development and operations' by Mike Hirst, Osprey, 1983.

Hi folks, Looking for information on rare Supermarine Spitfire variants (either one-offs or paper projects). I am especially interested in any possible radial engined proposals. Regards, Greg