royal air force

The possibility of the UK avoiding the 1965 aircraft cancellations has been discussed ad nauseam. I don't propose to get into it here - assume a collective delusion of the UK government, the discovery of a massive gold deposit, or intervention from extra-terrestrial intelligences, as you see...

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...

Dear Boys and Girls, here is a picture with a caption in French of what I believe to be the Sikorsky S-61N full-size mock-up brought to the 1959 Paris Salon; it shows an aerodynamic saucer-shaped fairing covering the main rotor hub. The accompanying article describes the Sikorsky S-61N as being...

I have the Lost British Projects 1/72 scale resin model of the Bristol 204 which includes two small underwing pods which are shown in the drawings to be found on this esteemed site - but what are they?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQZgi1O1Vb4 Some background on decoy airfields: https://www.aviationmuseum.net/AirfieldDecoys.htm

Hi I don't know if anyone will be able to help me, but I live in hope. For Specification F.29/27, the Westland COW Gun Fighter and the Vickers Type 161 are well documented in both text and pictorial form. However the third entrant to the specification, the Bristol Type 112 seems to be bereft of...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/25/spitfire-crashes-battle-of-britain-event/ RIP :(

IIUC the P1083 was a Hunter with a thinner 50 degrees swept wing and an afterburner, giving it mach 1.1 performance like the Super Mystere. When it was almost ready to fly in early 1953 the RAF decided it wanted it to have a radar and AAMs, these proved to be too hard to incorporate and the...

What it says on the tin...

Anybody know anything about this?

I'd like to inquire about the time span of the VHF AM radios usage on the RAF jets. The VHF AM radios became omnipresent on RAF fighters during the early years of WW II. They replaced the troublesome TR9 HF sets, which were plagued by failures and short range. There were numerous VHF AM sets...

Have I missed something? Have I overlooked something? See Chris Gibson's (new?) Avatar ...

In a September 20, 2020 article posted on Wavell Room, defense and international affairs analyst Dr. James Bosbotinis examines the United Kingdom’s options for investing in long-range strike capability. One option briefly explored is for the UK to purchase surplus B-1 or B-52 bombers from the...

Good evening people! Once again, I am flummoxed as to how secret our projects can or can't be !?! I have just became the proud owner of Aerocraft Models (I must add for the sake of conformity, that other Model Brands are available), Fairey Tactical Strike Aircraft GOR.339 Project 75. Now...

https://www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/product/view/productCode/15817/westland-aircraft-rotorcraft-secret-projects-cutting-edge-technology

P.1224-1 from May 1983 was the first variant of the unmanned fighter aircraft (UFA) studies conducted at BAe Kingston during the 1980s. More info can be found in the recent Hawker's Secret Projects book.

Now that TSR2 has been the subject of a conference of current experts on the subject, I am asking the BIG question. Could TSR2 have been made to work? By which I mean could it have been designed and developed in such a way as to let the RAF take delivery of say 50 machines by 1970? All...

What happens if the Bristol T.188 research aircraft doesn't underperform? What happens if it flies upto Mach 2.8 and reaches the thermal limit of the windscreen? We now know that it's underperformance is related to lack of interest and investment in the Gyron Junior engines after the...

'Mustard Plasters' are mentioned in my wartime notes of trials carried out by the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, Helensburgh. More information appreciated.