The illustrated memoir of the most advanced fighter jet of the 1950s. At its creation in the mid-1950s, the Avro Arrow was a fighter jet without equal. This Cold War aircraft was twenty years ahead of its time. Unfortunately, political realities resulted in the complete termination of the Arrow project. Cancellation of the Arrow called for the destruction of all photos, drawings, models, specifications and tooling. Even the aircraft themselves were disassembled and destroyed. Avro Arrow is a fascinating historical record with an extensive collection of rare and highly prized photos, drawings and diagrams. Using two hundred images, the book traces the story of the Arrow from its inception to roll out and flight test, including advanced proposals for the development of future version. Primary sources include: Taped interviews, test pilots' firsthand impressions, Avro officials and many plant personnel Surviving company records Declassified government documents. Diagrams offer stunning details such as the North American strategic defense zones and interception tactics proposed for bomber attacks. This book concentrates solely on the vision, design and technical excellence of the airplane itself rather than the politics of its demise.

In its earliest, dark days, Bomber Command operated deep into occupied Europe with the underdeveloped Avro Manchester. Powered by the Rolls Royce Vulture, it was the only British aircraft to use this engine operationally. The design was revised and amended several times, with three enlargements of the flying surfaces required to provide an adequate flight envelope. Nevertheless, Manchesters entered service without adequate type-testing, leading to four groundings in the first ten months of use. Aircrews were faced with airframe and engine challenges, and the Manchester continued to evolve as the war was being fought. Despite this, seven RAF squadrons would eventually use 202 Manchesters (with 538 Vultures) on 1,260 sorties. Manchesters may have contributed to Bomber Command failures (as set out in the Butt Report of August 1941), but they also contributed to its success in denying German capital ships the naval base at Brest. Bomber Command’s persistence with the type was soon shown to be wise, as the Manchester was developed into the famous and war-winning Avro Lancaster. This second edition of The Avro Manchester: The Legend Behind the Lancaster retains the keen analysis and gripping narrative of the first, but it also fills many gaps, revises key passages, and provides six appendices for references. It is richly illustrated with 200 images, many of which are previously unpublished. Illustrations: 190 black-and-white photographs

In his celebrated manifesto, "Aircraft" (1935), the architect Le Corbusier presented more than 100 photographs celebrating airplanes either in imperious flight or elegantly at rest. Dwelling on the artfully abstracted shapes of noses, wings, and tails, he declared : "Ponder a moment on the truth of these objects! Clearness of function!" In Aircraft, David Pascoe follows this lead and offers a startling new account of the form of the airplane, an object that, in the course of a hundred years, has developed from a flimsy contraption of wood, wire and canvas into a machine compounded of exotic materials whose wings can touch the edges of space. Tracing the airplane through the twentieth century, he considers the subject from a number of perspectives: as an inspiration for artists, architects and politicians; as a miracle of engineering; as a product of industrialized culture; as a device of military ambition; and, finally, in its clearness of function, as an instance of sublime technology. Profusely illustrated and authoritatively written, Aircraft offers not just a fresh account of aeronautical design, documenting, in particular, the forms of earlier flying machines and the dependence of later projects upon them, but also provides a cultural history of an object whose very shape contains the dreams and nightmares of the modern age.

Some years ago, Aidan Williams published two articles for Cross and Cockade, the Journal of the First World War Aviation Historical Society. The subject of both articles was the relatively little-known Engine Repair Shops of the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) in France during the Great War. Aidan has updated the information, added background stories, and included more photographs and extra details to introduce the history of the Engine Repair Shops to a whole new readership. In 1915, Scarborough-born Second Lieutenant Louis Frederick Rudston Fell joined the Engine Repair Shops as Assistant Equipment Officer; by 1919, he was Lieutenant Colonel L. F. R. Fell DSO OBE, and he continued to play an important role in British aero engine development up to the Second World War. In addition, Air Mechanic Thomas Boland's working day in the rotary engine section is described.