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 […]
Tag Archives: WW2 History
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 […]
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 […]
Malta convoys novella ‘Harpoon’ published
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 […]
Support Hawker Typhoon RB396 return to flight
What’s a Hawker Typhoon doing on the Naval Air History site? Hawker’s awesome fighter-bomber has more in common with the subject of this blog than you might think… To support […]
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 […]
New Test Pilot Biography Launched at BDAC Old Sarum
The first full-length biography of 1930s-40s test pilot Duncan Menzies (‘Flying to the Edge: The Groundbreaking Career of Test Pilot Duncan Menzies’ by Matthew Willis, Amberley Books) was formally launched […]
Hawker’s Fastest Fury – LA610
On 21 February 1945, the first Hawker Sea Fury flew, marking a new chapter in what would become an illustrious career, highly successful in combat and the pinnacle of piston-engined […]
Fairey Swordfish – fluke victor?
An acquaintance who has no small knowledge of military matters put the following to me recently: ‘We all have different perspectives and experiences and mine lead me to say this: […]
Postwar Fireflies and Seafires, HMS Illustrious
I am once again indebted to Dave Bull for sharing his fantastic collection of images of HMS Illustrious with Naval Air History. These photographs date from the immediate postwar period […]
The Rarest Seabird – FAAM Grumman Martlet
During the early part of 1940, Britain and France were scrambling to acquire sources of modern fighting aircraft from wherever they could. At that time there were serious fears that […]
Prototypes and trials, HMS Illustrious
Naval Air History is very lucky to have been given access to Dave Bull’s wonderful collection of photographs of aircraft on HMS Illustrious in the late 1940s-early 1950s. The first […]
An event in the early career of Captain Eric Brown
With the anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic making headlines, the legendary Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown has come to even greater prominence. Captain Brown flew a Grumman Martlet fighter […]
P-51D Mustang from the sea
North American Aviation P-51D Mustang 44-14574 ‘Little Zippie’ now resides in the East Essex Aviation Museum, Jaywick, Essex, after lying on the seabed for more than 30 years. The remains […]
The Aviation Historian – Issue 3 review
The Aviation Historian launched without fanfare in October 2012. This was a far quieter start than was deserved by a publication that is quite unique in the ranks of aviation […]
