Rivet counting the Fairey Fulmar
When you start to work on a book or article, things that seemed straightforward can rapidly become surprisingly complex. I am currently working on the third title in the Fleet […]
Author Archives: navalairhistory
Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom (80th Anniversary Edition)
Iain Ballantyne, Agora Books 2021 Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom is an intensely readable account of the final days of the titular battleship, centring the voices of those who were […]
Blackburn Skua bridge stunt
During the Second World War, many pilots flew under bridges to test their skill or alleviate the boredom of routine, second-line flying. One of these was Derrick Edwards, a Fleet […]
The First Jet Carrier Landing – On This Day (or not?)
On this day in 1945, the first jet-powered landing on an aircraft carrier took place. Or did it? Ever since that time, there has been a debate over whether the […]
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway review
Today (21 October 2019) is the release date for ‘Dauntless: The Battle of Midway’ on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download/streaming, and as a rare example of a feature film about […]
Fourteen hours over the Med in a biplane – Solo2Darwin
The story of aircraft over water can take many forms, but few can be more inspiring than the pioneering flights of aviation’s golden age. Amy Johnson has been a hero […]
RNAS Dale – a Fleet Air Arm ‘time capsule’
On Saturday 23 March 2019, I took a trip to Dale in Pembrokeshire with Fairey Barracuda Project volunteer Tony Jupp to see a remarkable ‘time capsule’ of life on a […]
The Royal Navy Historic Flight stands down
Today marks the end of an era. The Royal Navy Historic Flight, charged with celebrating and commemorating the heritage of the Fleet Air Arm by maintaining historic examples of the […]
Fairey Barracuda progress
I visited the restoration of Fairey Barracuda DP872 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum last week, and saw the significant progress since I was there in July 2017. It’s fair […]
Fleet Air Arm Veterans Honoured at Navy Wings event
On 21 September, twelve Fleet Air Arm veterans were honoured at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, at an event dedicated to the immortal Fairey Swordfish and the men and women […]
From Essex Field to Atlantic Crossing
On 24 September 1916, the destiny of British airship flying changed dramatically. Until that time, British designers and constructors in government and private industry had lagged behind their German counterparts. […]
Long Live the ‘King
If all goes to plan on Wednesday 26 September, the last Westland Sea King helicopters in UK military service will make a farewell flight around the Devon-Cornwall peninsula, where the […]
Forgotten naval prototype aircraft
Matthew Willis is currently writing a series of blogposts for the Global Maritime History site about the weird, wonderful, and not-so-wonderful aircraft that were designed and tested for naval service […]
HMS Queen Elizabeth – more trials, fewer tribulations
The Royal Navy continues its preparations to bring the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers into service. Today, another major milestone was passed with the first refuelling at sea from one […]
New series of blogs on Global Maritime History
The first of a series of new blogposts by Naval Air History author Matthew Willis was published today on the Global Maritime History site. The series takes a look at […]
Naval Air History 