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Author Archives: navalairhistory

The Flycatcher’s Rival – the Parnall Plover naval fighter

May 13, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The Parnall Plover is a footnote in the Fleet Air Arm’s record. The Plover lost the competition to equip the FAA with a single-seat fighter to the Fairey Flycatcher, and […]

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Golden age of flight, Interwar history, Pre-war fleet air arm

When God of Thunder became Mighty Hunter

May 6, 2012by navalairhistory 1 Comment

The Avro Vulcan was a truly versatile aircraft, whether as a part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, a conventional bomber at low and medium altitude and even as a tanker. However, […]

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Cold War, Restoration and preservation

The birth of modern Air-Sea Rescue

April 28, 2012by navalairhistory 4 Comments

The Air Sea Rescue service that saved so many airmen in the Second World War could be said to have its roots in the early 1930s, with the development of […]

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History and its lessons, Restoration and preservation, WW2 History

The Worst Specification Ever?

March 15, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The specifications N.8/39 and N.9/39 must quite possibly rate as the most convoluted in the history of naval aviation. These two ‘sister’ requirements for naval fighters were first discussed in […]

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History and its lessons, WW2 History

Flying boat ‘lighter stunts’

March 14, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The UK’s new aircraft carriers are once again mired in controversy, with spiralling costs and disagreement over which landing/take-off concept should be applied. The chance that Britain may be moving […]

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Restoration and preservation, RNAS, Surviving WW1 ships, WW1 History

The Fulmar in army co-op service

March 12, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The Fairey Fulmar was a two-seat fleet-fighter in use by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm between 1941 and 1945. It stood between the multi-role Blackburn Skua, which was quickly […]

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WW2 History

Naval air-telegraphy at the start of WW2

March 8, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

Operating a radio in a naval aircraft at the beginning of the Second World War was no easy matter. Radio Telephony (‘R/T’) was a distant dream for naval aviators in […]

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WW2 History

Falklands hardware today

March 5, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

Today’s news stories about the Falklands have prompted me to create a quick ‘photo essay’ showing some of today’s versions of the materiel that was in action in the South […]

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Falklands conflict, History and its lessons, Postwar history

Carrier Air and the Falklands

March 5, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The vocal heat level around Falkland Islands sovereignty has definitely gone up in recent months. Tensions have been ratcheted up by various means: the refusal to allow cruise ships to […]

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Falklands conflict, Fleet Air Arm, History and its lessons, HMS Illustrious, Postwar history, Restoration and preservation

Fairey Barracuda wreckage and recollections

March 2, 2012by navalairhistory 1 Comment

The Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, has amassed a huge amount of Barracuda wreckage over the years, in the hope of gathering enough to rebuild a full aircraft. A plan […]

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Restoration and preservation, WW2 History

Barracuda rising from the wreckage

March 1, 2012by navalairhistory 1 Comment

On the 27th October 2011, The Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton announced that after many years it is preparing for the restoration of a Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber. The […]

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Fleet Air Arm, Restoration and preservation, WW2 History

In Memoriam Derrick Edwards, Fleet Air Arm pilot

February 29, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

I heard today the sad news that former Fleet Air Arm pilot Derrick Edwards had died late last year. Derrick had flown a number of Fleet Air Arm types during […]

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Obituary

Plus ca change…

February 27, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

The Fleet Air Arm has been destined to repeat scenarios imposed upon it by others, several times. Before the First World War the nascent naval air service was absorbed into […]

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History and its lessons

Welcome to Naval Air History

January 18, 2012by navalairhistory Leave a comment

Naval Air History is a blog about marine and maritime aviation through the ages as explored by journalist Matt Willis. Naval aviation has always presented unique problems which have been […]

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Miscellaneous

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Naval Air History News

The first of three novellas from Sharpe Books was released in June 2019 – ‘Harpoon’ chronicles the struggles of a Sea Hurricane pilot on the vital Malta convoys of 1942. Available from Amazon

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A full list of Matthew Willis' non-fiction publications can be found here

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