October 2016

Rolling Thunder – Welcome to my first issue of Aviation Classics as editor. Firstly, I would like to record my thanks to Jarrod Cotter for his work in creating and editing this superb magazine, he is a remarkable man and a great aviation historian. He is also a good friend. Jarrod has moved on to…

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When the prototype Vulcan VX770 first appeared at Farnborough in 1952, it rightly stole the show! A four-engined Delta-winged jet bomber, it represented a massive leap in technology over its famous Lancaster predecessor which had been a war-winning aircraft only seven years earlier – the Vulcan could fly more than twice as fast, more than…

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It was with some humility that I chose the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain as the subject for this issue of Aviation Classics. As I witnessed several occasions marking the event, it struck me how much widespread national respect there still is for those who fought that crucial aerial battle. But alas, as…

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It was a balmy autumnal morning at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire on 17 October 1984. That was the date of my passing out parade from basic recruit training in the Royal Air Force, and while we were promised the customary flypast, you weren’t told what aircraft it would be carried out by. I was hoping…

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Called the ‘Great War’, it was a name which described the extensive destruction and impact it left on the world. Highlighting the mass carnage of World War One, when the Battle of the Somme began at 07:30 on 1 July 1916 – following a brief and eerie silence as tens of thousands of men considered…

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“I have often wondered who the genius was who christened it Spitfire. It was a name that resounded round the free world in those dark days of Hitler’s tyranny, and perfectly symbolized the mood of Britain’s defence.” Powerful words from Sir Douglas Bader’s book Fight for the Sky, in which he later also wrote: “…in…

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I’d like to begin this issue of Aviation Classics by saying thank-you to the hundreds of people who came along to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Visitors Centre on 28 October 2009 to support our launch. The event exceeded expectations and it was fortunate that the weather was very kind, so that all those…

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Welcome to Aviation Classics, a new series of high-quality glossy publications centred on the world’s greatest aircraft, the events in which they played crucial roles and those who flew, maintained and supported them. We begin with the Avro Lancaster, a type held in high regard by Bomber Command aircrew and an aircraft still admired by…

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