Sydney Camm

Author: John Sweetman
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526756234
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
“Looks at the pioneering designer, Sydney Camm and examines his legacy, which was the design of two of our most iconic fighter planes . . . Brilliant!” —Books Monthly “This Man Saved Britain” ran a headline in the News Chronicle on 18 February 1941, in a reference to the role of Sydney Camm, designer of the Hawker Hurricane, during the Battle of Britain. Similarly, the Minister of Economic Warfare, Lord Selborne, advised Winston Churchill that to Camm “England owed a great deal.” Born in 1893, the eldest of twelve children, Camm was raised in a small, terraced house. Despite lacking the advantages of a financially secure upbringing and formal technical education after leaving school at 14, Camm would go on to become one of the most important people in the story of Britain’s aviation history. Sydney Camm’s work on the Hurricane was far from the only pinnacle in his remarkable career in aircraft design and engineering—a career that stretched from the biplanes of the 1920s to the jet fighters of the Cold War. Indeed, over fifty years after his death, the revolutionary Hawker Siddeley Harrier in which Camm played such a prominent figure, following “a stellar performance in the Falkland Island crisis,” still remains in service with the American armed forces. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore, as the author reveals in this detailed biography, that Camm would be knighted in his own country, receive formal honors in France and the United States, and be inducted into the International Hall of Fame in San Diego. “John Sweetman’s new biography ably recounts the life of one of the most remarkable figures in 20th-century aviation history.” —Aviation History Magazine

London's Statues and Monuments

Author: Peter Matthews
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1784422576
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
The streets and public spaces of London are rich with statues and monuments commemorating the city's great figures and events – from Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square and Sir Christopher Wren's Great Fire Monument to the charming Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. Executed in stone, bronze and a range of other materials, London's statues and monuments include work by some of the world's greatest sculptors. This newly revised book takes account of the many statues erected between 2012 and 2017, including those of Mary Seacole at St Thomas' Hospital and Amy Winehouse in Camden. London's Statues and Monuments is a fully illustrated guide to these artworks and their stories: sometimes surprising and occasionally controversial, but always fascinating

Hawker's Early Jets

Author: Christopher Budgen
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526792184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
A study of the British manufacturer’s efforts to get its Hunter aircraft into service following World War II. On September 2 1947, Hawker Aircraft Ltd figuratively and literally took to the air with their first jet design, the P.1040. Conceived in the latter days of the Second World War, and developed in the straitened times of post-war austerity, the aircraft allowed Hawker to explore the new technology before moving on to more ambitious programs. Rejected by the Royal Air Force, subsequent development of the aircraft allowed the Royal Navy to find in it a useful role at sea. As this project slowly wound its way through the government bureaucracy against a background of national insolvency, Hawker continued their research into more potent forms of jet travel with their first swept wing aircraft, the P.1052, their first rocket powered example, the P.1072, and, finally, the sleek, all swept P.1081. These essentially research aircraft gave the company the experience and expertise it required to produce a powerful, transonic fighter with which to equip the RAF for the defense of the UK and other friendly nations at a time when the Cold War threatened to engulf the world in a truly global nuclear conflict. That aircraft, the P.1067 Hunter first flew in 1951 and was, at the time, the fastest fighter in the world as evinced by gaining the World Airspeed Record in 1953 prior to entry into RAF service; at a stroke revolutionizing the potential of the UK’s air arm. Such was the haste with which this occurred that many teething problems remained to be resolved, as detailed here, but eventually the aircraft would become the day fighter of choice for many of the world’s air forces and remain in service for decades to come.

Hurricane

Author: Leo McKinstry
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1848543948
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
In the summer of 1940 the fate of Europe hung in the balance. Victory in the forthcoming air battle would mean national survival; defeat would establish German tyranny. The Luftwaffe greatly outnumbered the RAF, but during the Battle of Britain it was the RAF that emerged triumphant, thanks to two key fighter planes, the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Hurricane made up over half of Fighter Command's front-line strength, and its revolutionary design transformed the RAF's capabilities. Leo McKinstry tells the story of the remarkable plane from its designers to the first-hand testimonies of those brave pilots who flew it; he takes in the full military and political background but always keeps the human stories to the fore - to restore the Hawker Hurricane to its rightful place in history.

The RAF in 100 Objects

Author: Peter Jacobs
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750986239
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
It was in the closing year of the First World War, on 1 April 1918, that the Royal Air Force was born from the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Since then, the RAF has helped lead the world in the development of aviation and air warfare. From the fighters and bombers of the Second World War, through the early jet age and into modern remotely piloted air systems, the last hundred years' development has been astronomical, and the human story no less impressive. Here Peter Jacobs gathers the most poignant objects of the RAF's proud history and displays them together, in full splendid colour, for the first time. Aircraft, memorials, uniforms, equipment, and some items you would never expect – it's all here, ready to be explored.

Hawker's Secret Cold War Airfield

Author: Christopher Budgen
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526771764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Book Description
A military aviation expert chronicles the decades of breathtaking innovation that took place at Britain’s secret airbase. In 1951, Hawker Aircraft started using Dunsfold Aerodrome to test its new jet projects. The Sea Hawk was followed by the superlative Hunter. Then came a radical new engine design for an aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing. While nay-sayers claimed it would never work, the Harrier proved them wrong, becoming a vital asset during the Falklands War. Then came the Hawk, which—after completion of the RAF requirement—was sold into air arms across the world, including the US Navy. It was an incredible achievement for a UK design. British Aerospace then brought forth its upgraded Harrier, the Harrier GR.5. One might expect that this prolific output was the result of some massive industrial plant in the Midlands rather than an isolated aerodrome tucked in the rural hinterland of south Surrey. Shrouded in secrecy for most of its life, Dunsfold has largely escaped the notice of the general public. This volume shines a light on the remarkable work carried out there.

A History of Aviation at Brooklands in 100 Objects

Author: Nigel Spooner
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526790947
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
At the dawn of the twentieth century mankind had not yet achieved powered flight. The main motive power then was provided by steam engines – heavy, dirty and inefficient. If one wanted to travel ‘over seas’ one had to travel on them. A journey from London to New York, by steam-driven train and ship, took more than 6 days. By the time the same century drew to a close in December 1999, air travel was the normal choice for long journeys. Millions of people every day flew comfortably and safely in pressurised aluminium airliners propelled by simple, clean and efficient gas turbine engines. The same journey from London to New York could be achieved at supersonic speed in less than 6 hours. For much of that century, many of the extraordinary developments that moved aviation from fragile wood and fabric biplanes to supersonic transports were achieved on 330 acres of low-lying former estate farmland in Surrey, England. The estate was called Brooklands. Those marshy acres were transformed from 1907 into the world’s first custom-built motor-racing circuit, then a rapidly developing aerodrome, and finally one of the country’s largest aircraft factories, employing tens of thousands of people. Nearly 19,000 aircraft of many different types were built at Brooklands during nine decades of peace and war. By the 1980s however it was being eclipsed by larger manufacturing sites elsewhere, with longer runways and better communications links; its owner, by then called British Aerospace, finally closed the factory in 1989. This book tells the history of those amazing developments through 100 of the key aircraft, engines, places and other objects that can still be seen, either in or near Brooklands Museum or in other locations around the country. It also highlights the stories of six designers whose inspiring creativity produced aircraft, engines and weapons ranging from Camel to Concorde, Fury to Harrier, Wellington to Viscount, Merlin to Olympus. Between them, Thomas Sopwith, Barnes Wallis, Rex Pierson, Sydney Camm, Stanley Hooker and George Edwards were responsible for much of what was designed, built and flown, not only at Brooklands but elsewhere too. The book is arranged in successive historical episodes but the many links between the objects and the designers should allow readers to follow different paths if they so wish. It is not intended as a technical reference but rather to inspire the reader to seek out the objects and discover more about them.

Hurricane

Author: Jacky Hyams
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1789294908
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Book Description
Britain's first-ever wartime fighter plane, the Hawker Hurricane, shot down more enemy planes than any other fighter. It was the true aviation hero of the Battle of Britain, and fought in all the major missions of the Second World War.

Hawker's Secret Projects

Author: Christopher Budgen
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399047922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Kingston was arguably the most successful and long-lasting manufacturer of military aircraft in Great Britain and Europe. In its various evolved manifestations – Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, British Aerospace – its output of war winning aircraft, mainly fighters, was unsurpassed. From the Hart and Hurricane through the Hunter, Harrier and Hawk, the company consistently produced aircraft that the UK fighting services wanted. But some designs, for whatever reason, failed to reach flight or were declined by the services. With their sometimes advanced aerodynamics and technology, these aircraft could have had successful service careers but instead were abandoned, their stories failing to reach mainstream consciousness. Having not received their just dues, the present book seeks to redress this omission. The reasons for failure are many and varied, often financial or political, but in each case the reasons behind the failure of the design are examined. In a wide-ranging investigation that documents the origins of Hawker Aircraft Ltd and its famous Project Office, this work, the third in Christopher Budgen’s investigation of the inner workings of Hawker Aircraft, is a fitting tribute to the many who made the company the success it was.

Cold War Interceptor

Author: Dan Sharp
Publisher: Tempest
ISBN: 1911658840
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description
The West was stunned when the Soviet Union dropped its first atomic bomb in August 1949 and a year later the Korean War showcased Russia’s incredible technological progress in the form of the MiG-15 – a fighter capable of besting anything the RAF had to offer at that time. In the wake of the Second World War, funding for the RAF’s Fighter Command had fallen away dramatically but now there was an urgent need for new jet fighters to meet the threat of Russian bombers head-on. Britain’s top aircraft manufacturers, including Hawker, English Electric, Fairey, Vickers Supermarine, De Havilland, Armstrong Whitworth and Saunders-Roe, set to work on designing powerful supersonic aircraft with all-new guided missile systems capable of meeting a Soviet assault and shooting down high-flying enemy aircraft before they could unleash a devastating nuclear firestorm on British soil. The result was some of the largest, heaviest and most powerful fighter designs the world had ever seen – and a heated debate about whether the behemoths should be built at all as guided weapons became ever more advanced. This is the story of Britain’s secret cold war fighter jet designs, fully illustrated with a host of drawings, illustrations and photographs.