raf fighter command

RAF Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock, who flew a Hawker Hunter jet under Tower Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament, has passed away at the age of 89 years. :( Sources: https://www.forcesnews.com/services/raf/flight-lieutenant-alan-pollack-who-flew-raf-plane-under-tower-bridge-dies-age-89...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1z42pkj8o https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0318/1502596-hemingway/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/18/john-paddy-hemingway-last-pilot-battle-of-britain-dies-105/...

Hi, The Hawker-Siddeley HS.1201 was a lightweight air superior fighter project,1967, https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=2303

Ever since the first Zeppelin raids in World War 1 the vulnerability of the civilian population of the UK to attack from the air has been a major factor in shaping our armed forces. The tile "Air Defence of Great Britain" comes from the organisation set up to meet the only air threat imagined in...

As any deeply invested Spitfire fan knows, the intended major developments never eventuated and the history of the Spitfire was one of interim variants that did very well. The dead ends are as follows: SPITFIRE III: Merlin 20 development with four cannon and major airframe revisions; abandoned...

Part of the one documentary threads on this channel. States it’s considered one of the worst aircraft to fly with the RAF. View: https://youtu.be/OO_t3HFGrhw?si=BJGkVc9QwQeiINZa

I should have posted this yesterday (the birthday was actually the day before but I only saw it on Thursday). Group Captain John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0717/1460456-raf-hemingway-birthday/...

Nothing in military history has given the RAF such a hold on the public imagination as the gallant Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of the Battle of Britain. Sadly in the postwar nuclear world their successors have only been tasked with wartime defence of key military infrastructure in the UK. It...

It struck me recently why we haven't examined what might have happened if Gloster's Javelin had been a better aircraft. Of all the twin engined fighters for the RAF, the Javelin was produced in the largest quantity and of all of them was the most heavily armed. But ultimately let down by too...

I've seen a few references to a Supermarine early World War II project called the Type 312. From what I've read, it was a derivative of the Spitfire but with standard cannon armament and a ventral radiator instead of the Spitfire's underwing radiators. Does any photos or plans or other details...

The thread about the V Force has shown how brilliant some of the researchers here are at providing us with material unique to this site. So as we are still a bit limited in where and what we can do this Summer, I am adding the subject which has cropped up in many other threads: RAF Fighter...

https://apnews.com/05569875820b15fd4639ff46e9d24670 Rest In Peace. :(

Request for a pure research machine April '49. May '50 ordered prototypes. ER.100 Contract placed October ER.103 Gannet Superpriority delayed work. construction summer 1952. First flight 28 Oct 1955. Assuming a supersonic fighter is produced based on this research.

This is posted in the alternative history and future speculation section. So it is not history, but it is close to history. What if.....what if the P1154 is proceeded with? How does that happen? And what are its effects? ............. It could happen partly by not merging RN and RAF...

A much reproduced painting of the RAF F111K from General Dynamics (it heads up the Wikipedia entry) shows the plane in a non-standard green and brown camouflage pattern. I had always put this down to artistic licence but then I found a similar colour scheme on the cover of the 1970 RAF Souvenir...

I know that this is a well trodden subject but I thought that it would be interesting to compare the plans with what happened in reality. Ground Attack/Recce Squadrons It was planned to replace the Hunter with the 1154 Harrier in 8 squadrons: 2 in the UK, 2 in Germany, 2 in the Gulf and 2 in...

The Vickers 279 Venom has always seemed like a missed opportunity to me, a solid little eight-gun fighter almost as fast as a Hurricane on only 625 hp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Venom http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/1960.htm (source of images below) I have never understood why...

Movietone News "The Mosquito" http://youtu.be/-cb6SmK_c2g

The F4 Phantom might have failed to materialise as the wonderful plane which the RAF and RN used to fill various gaps from the 60s onwards. In a Phantomless world would P1154 have been developed as planned in 1963 for both RAF and RN or would the Lightning have been developed in its swing wing...

Hi, here is the Boulton & Paul P-122,it was a rocket-propelled interceptor, powered by an AS Screamer,it had a twin-boom configuration. http://www.unicraft.biz/