“An attractive book . . . chock full with photos and drawings of all the planes that have been drawn and built in these years in the UK.” —AviationBookReviews.com It could be argued that the heyday of British military aircraft flight testing began in the 1940s, and continued throughout the three decades that followed, during the so-called Cold War period. As such, the authors have purposely chosen to focus on the first 30 years, The Golden Years, 1945 to 1975, from the end of World War Two until the mid-1970s. This was arguably the most exciting period with many wonderful and new types rubbing shoulders with wartime and immediate postwar designs that were utilized for development purposes, making for an eclectic mix of shapes and color schemes. Alongside the technical aspects of military testing and development, are the many and varied color schemes and markings carried by the aircraft themselves—not only by the brand-new experimental designs, but by existing production machines, suitably modified, to greater or lesser degrees, to develop the technical advances in systems and weaponry. Scores of different aircraft types are covered in British Military Test and Evaluation Aircraft: The Golden Years 1945-1975, with over 65 rarely seen contemporary photographs from private collections, and, differing slightly from previous Flight Craft book formats, over 50 pages of specially commissioned full color profiles and plan views, visually chronicling the diverse range of color schemes and markings applied to these fascinating airplanes. “The development of British military aircraft is examined in extraordinary and fascinating detail in Malcolm Lowe’s spectacular book.” —Books Monthly

The complex task of defence equipment acquisition has probably never been more challenging, given developments in defence technologies and the increasing pressures to minimise expenditure and improve best value for money. This publication considers how to address these challenges by applying the philosophy and techniques of defence systems engineering. Topics covered include: an overview of the UK defence environment; aspects of acquisition including Smart Acquisition, research and technology, public-private partnerships and the private finance initiative; operational and financial analysis; supplier issues; test processes and evaluation; effective management procedures; and future developments in defence systems acquisition and engineering in the 21st century.

“For any enthusiast and/or modeler of the Hawker Hunter this book will be like catnip . . . outstanding images of this classic post war aircraft.” —Vintage Airfix Initially introduced in 1954 as a swept-wing, transonic, single-seat day interceptor, the Hawker Hunter rapidly succeeded the first-generation jet fighters in RAF service such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Venom. Powered by the then newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet, the Hunter’s performance transformed the RAF’s day fighter squadrons from the mid-1950s until the advent of the English Electric Lightning from the early 1960s. Even then, as successively improved variants of the type were produced with increasingly more capable engines and expanded fuel capacity, the Hunter successfully transitioned into a strike/ground attack fighter-bomber and fighter reconnaissance platform. Two-seat variants were developed for training and other secondary roles with the RAF and the Royal Navy and a few remained in use until 2001, albeit with specialized MoD Test and Evaluation units—well over forty years after the type’s initial introduction. This addition to the Flight Craft series follows our well-established format in that it is split into three primary sections. The first covers the Hawker Hunter using numerous photographs, informative captions and tables. The second is a 16-page full-color illustration section featuring detailed profiles and 2-views of many of the color schemes and markings carried by Hunters. The final section lists as many injection-molded plastic model kits of the Hunter, in all the major scales, that the authors could obtain, plus a photo gallery of models made by some of the world’s best modelers. “A delight for anyone modeling a Hunter as it is so comprehensive.” —British Military History

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was arguably the Luftwaffe’s most outstanding piston-engine fighter of the Second World War, virtually dominating the skies over Europe for more than a year after its initial introduction into service in the summer of 1941. Continual development and improvements then kept it at the forefront of operations in the theaters of Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Eastern Front for the remainder of the war, while maintaining a competitive edge over many other types as well as gaining and retaining the grudging respect of those Allied pilots who faced it in combat. Despite being designed as a fighter, the BMW 801-powered Fw 190 sub-types performed practically every role possible for a single-engine, single-seat aircraft – including offensive and defensive day fighter, day and night fighter-bomber, ground attack, reconnaissance platform, night-fighter and trainer. The Fw 190A also served in the Hungarian Air Force during the later stages of the Second World War, the Turkish Air Force from mid-1942 to 1948, and post-war with the French, where the SNCAC aircraft company rebuilt over fifty Fw 190A-5/A-6s under the designation NC 900 for service with the new Armée de l’Air. Despite having standard factory-applied camouflage and markings schemes, many Fw 190s were also finished in a variety of ‘on unit’ and ‘seasonal’ and/or operational theater schemes which add to the aircraft’s story.