Author: Alec Brew
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 143
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Book Description
The Boulton Paul Balliol was the last British aircraft powered by the iconic Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Also, the Balliol was the last piston-powered advanced trainer in both the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm, and yet it began life as the world’s first turbo-trainer. Conceived in the last days of the Second World War as a new trainer to be powered by a revolutionary turboprop engine, it became the first aircraft to be powered by a single prop-jet, beating the rival Avro Athena into the air by just two weeks. Policy was to change and it went into production powered by the trusty Merlin and Boulton Paul hoped for huge orders with a second production line opened at Blackburn Aircraft. Yet, policy was to change again and in the end only 200 planes were built as the RAF decided to switch to all-jet training. A dozen were sold to the Royal Ceylon Air Force and as yet another footnote in aviation history, the Balliol became the last aircraft built by Boulton Paul who were world leaders in the production of power controls such as its famous machine-gun turrets that saw action in the Second World War. Illustrations:164 black-and-white photographs
Author: Alec Brew
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 508
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Book Description
The ancient Norwich firm of Boulton & Paul were brought into aircraft construction in 1915, and quickly became one of the great innovators. They pioneered metal construction and built the frame of the largest aircraft ever built in Britain, the R.101 airship. The Overstrand, the last of their superlative medium bombers, was the first aircraft in the world to feature a power-operated gun turret, and after their move to Wolverhampton in 1936 and change of name to Boulton Paul Aircraft their gun turrets became a vital component of the war effort, not least in their own Defiant, which fought in the Battle of Britain and was the most successful night fighter in the dark nights of the Blitz. Their post-war Balliol trainer was the World's first single-engine turboprop and their last production aircraft, because the technology of their gun turrets was translated into their world lead as manufacturers of power operated control units, and then fly-by-wire. Becoming part of the Dowty Group and later GE Aviation, their advanced aerospace product line is now invested in the firm of Moog, still in Wolverhampton, still innovating.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 892
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Book Description
Author: Peter G. Dancey
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375
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Book Description
British Aircraft Manufacturers since 1909 traces one hundred years of the British aviation industry, its history, origins, mergers and takeovers. It details the evolution of the British aviation industry and is an epitaph to household famous names such as Armstrong-Whitworth, de Havilland, Chadwick, Claude-Graham White, Sopwith, A. V. Roe, Mitchell, Hawker, Handley Page, Petter and Fairey to name but a few. Of more recent times, the likes of Sidney Camm, Hooker and Hooper, all of whom, made VTOL more than just a dream, are also covered in astonishing and exhausting detail. Of the major firms, most at some time or other have been absorbed, merged or reorganised to form a single conglomerate, BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce are chronicled from the outset to the mighty companies they are today. Only PBN-Britten Norman - who on several occasions escaped extinction due to financial difficulties - and Westland, now part of AgustaWestland, and Short Bros of Northern Ireland remain independent, although even the latter, are part of Canadian, Bombardier Co. British Aircraft Manufacturers since 1909 tells the complete and enthralling story of how Britain ruled the world in terms of manufacturing and aircraft design from nimble but fragile biplanes and majestic airliners that united the world to the advanced bombers and fighters of today.
Author: Tony Blackman
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1411648250
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 334
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Book Description
No aircraft is absolutely safe. This book is about Aviation, from learning to fly, becoming a test pilot, flight testing, demonstrating on some of the third world's worst airfields, then specializing in Avionics and finally joining the Board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, helping to formulate the regulations that the author had spent so many years living by. Many stories are told, including flying with the legendary Howard Hughes when the world thought him a mad recluse, and testing many aircraft including all three V Bombers, an almost unique experience. The book, very well illustrated, makes the point that flying is inherently risky, that regulations always try to quantify acceptable risk, that safety is a cost, and that test pilots have to sell their aircraft and should not try to make an aircraft safer than the rules require. It emphasizes the almost unbelievable changes in aviation in one working lifetime, whilst painting a picture of a much simpler world, now gone beyond recall
Author: Frederick Thomas Jane
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 590
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Book Description
Author: Alec Brew
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783460296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353
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Book Description
When a pilot experiences a sudden loud bang or sudden total silence, he is often faced with the stark choice of the parachute or attempting to get the aircraft down to earth in as few pieces as possible. This book describes twenty-three remarkable and true instances when, for a variety of reasons, all seems lost—but life was not. These life-threatening incidents range through the history of powered flight and all over the globe from Arctic waste to desert sand and from English hillside to coral reef. Within the narrative are moments of humor, despair and utter joy. The author has gleaned his information from a myriad of sources and many personal accounts. For those who love to read of the human spirit and its determination to survive against all odds—this book makes splendid reading.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 796
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Book Description
Author: Tom Eeles
Publisher: Arena books
ISBN: 1911593285
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 114
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Book Description
Flying in Father's Slipstream describes the personal, technical details and the wider circumstances associated with a series of flights made by Harry and Tom Eeles when they served as Royal Airforce pilots between 1929 and 2010.
Author: Keith Wilson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473859859
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 451
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Book Description
This photographic record of the RAF during the 1950s looks set to appear widely. Featuring varied and dynamic visual representation throughout, the events of this important decade are enlivened to great effect. The 1950s was a pivotal decade in aviation for many reasons. The RAF were employed in a great number of post-WWII roles, and the beginning of the Cold War saw many advances in the field of developmental aviation. The early years of the decade saw the Coronation of HRH Queen Elizabeth II take place, and a variety of photographs taken at the Queen's Review flypast at RAF Oldham on the 15 July 1953 are arrayed here. Meteors, Sabres, Chipmunks, Canberras, Vulcans... the list goes on. A wide selection of action shots illustrate the impressive aesthetics of some of these aircraft in formation. Shots of aircraft utilised during the course of the Cold War also feature, as do highly intriguing photographs of the Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, stored on Bomber Command bases towards the end of the decade. Each chapter focusses on a specific year, relaying all the most fascinating highlights. This is a colourful, insightful and image-packed history, told with narrative flair and a clear passion for the subject matter at hand.
