A fully illustrated history of the Royal Air Force while on operations, publishing to mark the centenary of its foundation in World War I. The world's first independent air force, the Royal Air Force celebrates its centenary in 2018. In the 100 years since the end of World War I, the service has been involved in almost continuous operations around the globe, giving the RAF the longest and most wide-ranging history of any air force in the world. But over the years this history has also become entangled with myths. The Royal Air Force: A Centenary of Operations sets the record straight, dispelling these as it uncovers – in both words and photographs – the true exploits and accomplishments of RAF personnel over the last 100 years. From its formation as an independent service in the dying days of World War I, its desperate fight against the Axis air forces in World War II, to its commitments during both the Cold War and modern times, this is the complete story of how the RAF has defended Britain for a century.

Years in the making, this book covers the wide variety of markings used by British aviation units in World War I. Organized numerically by squadron number the book includes both textual and photographic examples for nearly all RFC, RAF, and RNAS squadrons. Many of the photographs are published here for the first time, and the color profiles offer a representative selection of units, aircraft, and color schemes. A classic book.

It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that the physicist Wallace Clement Sabine developed his theory of reverberation, which has remained fundamental to architectural acoustics to this day, and has subsequently been applied to many building types, especially those for the performing arts. Yet the practice of architectural acoustics goes back much further with the impressive designs of the Greeks proving highly influential. This comprehensive book explores the development of acoustics in architectural design from the theatres of Classical Greece, through the early development of opera houses, concert halls and theatres, to the research work of Sabine and his successors and its influence on twentieth- and twenty-first-century buildings. Topics covered include: the fundamentals of acoustics; the influential legacy of the Greeks and Romans; the evolving design of opera houses, theatres and concert halls and, finally, the acoustics of schools, music schools and recital halls.

With the outbreak of World War II, British RAF officials sought to train aircrews outside of England, safe from enemy attack and poor weather. In the USA, six civilian flight schools dedicated themselves to instructing RAF pilots. Tom Killebrew explores the history of the Terrell Aviation School.

This is the second volume of the classified history of air defence in Great Britain. Written while World War II was still being fought, the account has an analysis of the defensive tactics of Fighter Command, and attempts a day-by-day analysis of the action as it took place.

By early 1941, the war raged in Europe and Great Britain stood alone against the aerial might of Nazi Germany. Although much of the Royal Air Force's pilot training program had been relocated to Canada and other Dominion countries, the need for pilots remained acute. The British looked to the United States for possible assistance. Passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 allowed for the training of British pilots in the United States and the formation of British Flying Training Schools. These unique schools were owned by American operators, staffed with American civilian instructors, supervised by British Royal Air Force officers, utilized aircraft supplied by the U.S. Army Air Corps, and used the RAF training syllabus. Within these pages, Tom Killebrew provides the first comprehensive history of all seven British Flying Training Schools located in Terrell, Texas; Lancaster, California; Miami, Oklahoma; Mesa, Arizona; Clewiston, Florida; Ponca City, Oklahoma; and Sweetwater, Texas. The first British students arrived in a still-neutral United States in June 1941. Many had never been in an airplane (or even driven an automobile), but they mastered the elements of flight, attended ground school classes, were introduced to the mysteries of the Link trainer and instrument flight, and then ventured out on cross country exercises. Students began night flying with the natural apprehension associated with taking off into a black sky, aided by only a few instruments, a flickering flare path, and limited ground references. Some students failed the periodic check flights and had to be eliminated from training, while others were killed during mishaps and are buried in local cemeteries. Those who finished the course became Royal Air Force pilots. But the story of the British Flying Training Schools is more than the story of young men learning to fly. These young British students would also forge a strong and long-lasting bond of friendship with the Americans they came to know. This bond would last not only during training, but would continue throughout the war, and still exist long after the end of the war.

An aircraft- and flight-themed puzzle book compiled by Dr Gareth Moore, author of the bestselling Mindfulness Puzzle Books among many others, done with the support of The RAF Association, a membership organisation and registered charity that has been providing welfare support to the RAF family for over 90 years. Their membership of 74,000 includes serving RAF personnel, veterans and members of the public.Pilots need to be able to think quickly and react immediately to unexpected, complex situations. This book consists of puzzles that test a wide range of skills that might be expected of a pilot.The book's five chapters cover: Cognitive challengesPuzzles which require the reader to solve logic puzzles of a range of types, testing many different types of reasoning skill. Just as pilots have to do, the puzzles require readers to focus on both the big picture - what they are trying to achieve - and the small picture of each individual deduction or decision.Survival skillsThe challenges in this section are all about speed. No complex logic is required, but all of the puzzles must be solved as quickly as possible - though without making any mistakes. This reflects a pilot's need to make quick, accurate decisions while flying.Visual abilitiesThe puzzles in this part of the book test 3D manipulation and other visual transformation skills, mirroring a pilot's need to be able to understand the world around them as more than just a flat picture.Memory testsDespite the advanced abilities of modern devices, it's still important to be able to maintain a ready awareness of the current situation and active goals, and so in this section the reader is helped to practise and improve their memorization and recall skills with a series of simple games.Knowledge trainingIn this section a reader's knowledge of the real-world aircraft and situations that the RAF and other air forces has handled is tested, with a range of quiz-related questions that are sometimes solved by cracking codes so that readers aren't required to have any specialist knowledge to take part. This section also includes specific tasks such as navigation.