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Tag Archives: fleet air arm

Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom (80th Anniversary Edition)

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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 […]

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HMS Ark Royal, WW2 History

Blackburn Skua artwork – video

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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 […]

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Fleet Air Arm, WW2 History

The First Jet Carrier Landing – On This Day (or not?)

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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 […]

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Postwar history, Prototypes, Test flying

Second Malta novella ‘Bastion’ published

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The second of three novellas from Sharpe publishing, set during the Malta convoys in the summer of 1942, has been published. ‘Bastion’ sees the main character, Sea Hurricane pilot Edmund […]

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WW2 History

RNAS Dale – a Fleet Air Arm ‘time capsule’

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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 […]

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WW2 History

Malta convoys novella ‘Harpoon’ published

June 6, 2019by navalairhistory Leave a comment

I am pleased to announce the publication of the first of three novellas from Sharpe publishing, set during the Malta convoys in the summer of 1942, when the island was […]

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Historical fiction, WW2 History

The Royal Navy Historic Flight stands down

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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 […]

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Air displays, Restoration and preservation

Fairey Barracuda progress

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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 […]

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Fleet Air Arm, Restoration and preservation
Vickers 141

More forgotten naval prototypes – Vickers fighters

December 13, 2018by navalairhistory Leave a comment

If you haven’t caught up with the latest Forgotten Naval Prototypes article on Global Maritime History yet, the link is here. This post covers the series of Vickers aircraft derived […]

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Interwar history, Pre-war fleet air arm, Prototypes, Test flying

Fleet Air Arm Veterans Honoured at Navy Wings event

November 5, 2018by navalairhistory 4 Comments

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 […]

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Fleet Air Arm, Interwar history, WW2 History

Long Live the ‘King

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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 […]

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Cold War, Falklands conflict, Fleet Air Arm, Postwar history

Forgotten naval prototype aircraft

September 5, 2018by navalairhistory 3 Comments

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 […]

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History and its lessons, Interwar history, Pre-war fleet air arm, Prototypes, Test flying

HMS Queen Elizabeth – more trials, fewer tribulations

June 21, 2018by navalairhistory Leave a comment

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 […]

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HMS Queen Elizabeth, Postwar history
Blackburn Blackburd

New series of blogs on Global Maritime History

May 14, 2018by navalairhistory Leave a comment

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 […]

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Prototypes, Test flying, WW1 History

Navy Wings at Night – Part 2

November 10, 2017by navalairhistory Leave a comment

I wouldn’t usually blog on the same subject twice in quick succession (See part 1 of Navy Wings At Night), but there’s a reason for a second post on the […]

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Fleet Air Arm, Restoration and preservation

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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

Matt Willis’ publications

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

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Categories

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