The Air Staff and AEW: Royal Air Force Airborne Early Warning

northerndancer2000

ACCESS: Restricted
Joined
23 May 2011
Messages
48
Reaction score
8
The Admiralty and AEW was a great exposition of the Royal Navy's AEW work and, like many of the other denizens here, I've eagerly awaited the Chris' companion work The Air Staff and AEW. Yesterday I got a note from Amazon UK stating that The Air Staff and AEW is no longer available and cancelling my pre-order.


Has The Air Staff and AEW been cancelled? Chris cover a lot of the material in Battle Flight so he may feel like there is not enough new material for a book.


I thought there were some of Adrian's paintings that didn't make it to Battle Flight and possibly some of Chris' drawings.


Chris, is The Air Staff and AEW dead? If so, and there are images that didn't get to Battle Flight, is it possible for us to see them?


Thank you very much.


Hope your New Year is filled with love and joy.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Air-Staff-AEW-Airborne-Projects/dp/095619513X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357130102&sr=1-2
Nope, still in the works AFAIK, whilst Battleflight does cover some material there is alot more indepth material and respective projects earmarked for 'Air Staff & AEW'.
Don't forget Chris was doing Battleflight for Crecy Publishing so this eats into the time he has to research, draw up and write each book, i know he was working on Air Staff before Christmas. However i'm not sure if it will be Air Staff or Mike Pryce's Harrier Projects which will be published first in the Project Tech Profile series as being self published the costs must be recouped before the next can be printed.
 
Alive and well and awaiting replies from some of the chaps involved who've been reading the draft. After that it just needs laid out, edited and printed.

A year late is nowt in the world of UK AEW.

Chris
 
CJGibson said:
Alive and well and awaiting replies from some of the chaps involved who've been reading the draft. After that it just needs laid out, edited and printed.

A year late is nowt in the world of UK AEW.

Chris

And worryingly that trend appears to be set to continue with Crowsnest on a slow track due to funding rather than systems for a change.

Nice to hear its on track and do i take it that it will be the next Profile to be published ?
 
Chris

Happy New Year and all the best with the new profiles. Thanks again for the wonderful stuff last year!

Ralph
 
Thanks for all of the information and, especially to Chris for the great books. I will now wait patiently for the next profile to come out.


J F F
 
Not diving, but banking like a fighter and the image rotated.

I'm still awaiting input from some knowledgeable people, but it's taking shape. This'll probably change a bit, but I'm aiming for a homage to Wilf Hardy.

Chris
 

Attachments

  • Image1.gif
    Image1.gif
    133.1 KB · Views: 723
looking good, another must have for sure, being nosey whats the cover AEW. type, BAC. 1-11-475 or ne of the HS. types ?
would make for a neat model for sure for this years IPMS. display at Telford B)

cheers, Joe
 
Changed already! Adrian improved it!

Joe, so you've escaped from Furryboots at last. It's a BAC 1-11, AEW Scheme 2 from around 1964ish. Plenty more where that came from.

Chris
 

Attachments

  • TASAEW_cover.jpg
    TASAEW_cover.jpg
    45.7 KB · Views: 730
Update!

Adrian and I are just about finished The Air Staff and AEW - Awaiting one bloke to get back to me. Then it's final tweaks, send it to Ed the Geordie and I'll check the proof when I get back home at the end of the month.

With a bit of luck, it should be available by the middle of April.

48 pages, 68 images including Adrian's artwork, my drawings, company drawings, colour and mono photos.

Contents


Intro and Acks
1) Origins of Airborne Warning and Control
2) AEW in Service at Last
3) ASR.387 - The Early Contenders...
4) Brough's Andover
5) ASR.400 - AEW for the Eighties
6) The First Nimrod Debacle
7) Turning the Screw
8) After the Battle

Air Staff and AEW Timeline

App 1 Radar Aspects of UK AEW Developments
App 2 LAWACS and other Woodford Studies
App 3 Requirements

Glossary, Refs and Index


Attached are some sample pages.

Chris
 
Looks ground; except that AEW, bulbous radome aircraft painted 'hemp' don't look good. However I'm looking forward to another book full of ugly aircraft because I'm sure the UK MoD in their search for the one solution that was actually cheap enough to afford went through a myriad of concept designs.
 
Not to disappoint, there are ugly aircraft in this book as well. BAE's HS.748 with AI24 FASS looks like the offspring of a platypus and a pushmi-pullya.

Chris
 
Hi Chris


In your last update on this project you estimated that it might be done by mid-April with luck. While it's not yet mid-April, could you please let us know when we can start ordering and what the most recent estimate is? (Can you tell that I was one of those kids who would listen for the mail truck coming and then sprint for the mailbox? ;) )


Thank you very much!


J F F
 
...soon...
 

Attachments

  • TASAAEW.jpg
    TASAAEW.jpg
    204.9 KB · Views: 435
It’s here at last!
The Air Staff and AEW is now available. Complements The Admiralty and AEW wonderfully and even Evie the cat (Skomer’s replacement) likes it.

Available for £9.95 plus P+P (first class / airmail in a stiffy) as of now.
Postage rates:
UK - £1.70 (First Class post)
Europe - £5.15 (Air Mail)
Rest of World - £7.90 (Air Mail)

Please order with Paypal payment to blue.envoy.services@googlemail.com, for prompt delivery.

I will endeavour to post same day if I’m at home or Mrs CJ will post each weekend if I’m away.
Amazon might be cheaper, I don’t know how they do it, but not quicker as I have to post them to the distributor in Sussex, who sends them to Fife, who posts them to you. Think of all that CO2 being generated, but more importantly you'll be drooling over some ugly aircraft sooner.

Chris
 

Attachments

  • Ready.jpg
    Ready.jpg
    197.3 KB · Views: 408
northerndancer2000 said:
Great News! My Tha Admiralty and AEW was getting lonely!


Order and PayPal payment sent.


Thank you very much!


J F F


Ditto
 
Order placed so should have some interesting reading for the weekend, the bad news is it should also give us more build ideas smack bang through trying to do some of the Admirality ones for Scale Model World this Novemeber ! :eek:
 
Can we order the naval AEW book at the same time? If so how much would 'Rest of World postage be for the two books?
 
Royal Mail are quoting £7.55 for 500g airmail to Australia. If you pay £27.45 and it's less, I'll refund the difference.

Chris
 
Bad news for Johnnie Foreigner!

I'm afraid the Royal Mail have scrapped the 'Printed Papers - reduced rate" rate and now charge top-whack for all post overseas.

UK - £1.70 (First Class post)
Europe - £5.15 (Air Mail)
Rest of World - £7.90 (Air Mail)

I will honour payments received up to 1700hrs BST today, after that, new prices apply.

All orders received by 1600hrs BST today have been posted.

Not much else I can do, if you want the books chop-chop.

Might be time to go electric as this price hike for postage will pretty much bugger the book business.

Chris
 
CJGibson said:
Not to disappoint, there are ugly aircraft in this book as well. BAE's HS.748 with AI24 FASS looks like the offspring of a platypus and a pushmi-pullya.

Chris

Uglier than the dumb-bell Buccaneer AEW? :eek:
 
JOHNNIE FOREIGNER?

HOW DARE YOU SIR!

I would have you know that I am a true born Englishman bringing the light of British civilization to the colonies.

That aside, I will visit the links today and try and order both (if this newfangled Paypal email thingy works).
 
Well, as a Scotsman living in Geordieland, I might soon be Johnnie Foreigner myself.

Chris
 
.


Received mine - thanks very much, a nice bit of production and looks interesting.


I am extremely please with the wartime piece (all I've read so far). The Avon Argosy looked really useful, I am surprised they didn't at least use one as a development aircraft - still ........


.
 
Will have wait and see what the Postman delivered today when i get home.
An Avon powered Argosy sounds an intereating development especially as an AEW platform !
 
Mine was waiting for me when i got home tonight, so excellent service once again Chris :D . Initial imprssions are that it looks to be an ideal companion to the earlier Admirialty volume and is going to be an interesting read with some very interesting model ideas for our lot to explore.

Cheers

Geoff
 
Whot??? Amazon US, Amazon Canada and Amazon UK have decided the book is invisible?
 
Received my copy today and I only ordered it yesterday evening! Fantastic service and a great book, a worthy addition to the PTP series. I thought I knew most of the AEW projects but have learnt so much,
Regards
Alan
 
Chris

Picked up a copy yesterday at the excellent Gatwick Aviation fair from the equally excellent Aviation Bookshop team.

The bus ride home wwas enlivened considerably by the wonderful world which again unfolds as with your other books. The Adrian Mann picture which really got me off to the land of dreams was Airbus AEW in front of a squadron of Bae 1216s all in desert finish...

All I can say is that I am so pleased to have all your recent opuses (opii?) and I suspect like others am hoping that your continued visits to the NAO will have more goodies in store for us.

All the best
UK 75
 
My copy arrived today. While not totally new to me. as I've read 'Battle Flight', a quick look shows lots of interesting stuff inside, and some really 'purposeful' aircraft...

cheers,
Robin.
 
My copy arrived today down under - very speedy service compared to Amazon. Thanks Chris!

I did read a draft manuscript, but seeing the finished book is a very different experience. Very nicely done. Great artwork, nice layout, very professional.

I'll post again after I read it.
 
Very interesting read.

What was the detection range for the VC-10 with a retractable spherical rotodome?
 
The numbers you require are:

8ft Antenna - 185nm (342km)
7ft Antenna - 170nm (315km)
5ft Antenna - 135nm (250km)

But remember that this was a PV project against no requirement and predates OR.387.

Chris
 
One mounting proposal that doesn't seem to have featured is the ventral bladed antennae as shown in your earlier 'The Admiralty and AEW'.

Presumably this was down to having a bit more space to play with?
 
It was never considered as ASR.387 and 400 were for all-round cover. Flank mounted antennae were discussed a couple of times, but the FASS was what was deemed best.

Chris
 
So, a belated review, with apologies to Chris for taking so long.

Back in 2003, I watched an episode of the series "7 Wonders of the Industrial World" on the development of the London sewerage system. It seemed like an unlikely "wonder", but the program was interesting, thought-provoking and made a good case for its choice.

Blue Envoy's Projecttech series has, with one exception to date, done an analogous task by taking less mainstream aviation subjects and treating them with the same care and attention he put into the more sales-friendly titles such as Vulcan's Hammer and Battle Flight.

So, to specifics. The book is professional in layout and production standards, putting some big publishers to shame. The part of me that worked on page layouts has a small quibble on the slimness of margins but the reader part is grateful for content crammed into each page.

There are numerous beautiful CGI illustrations of projects in action and the improvement in Adrian Mann's work since British Secret Projects : Hypersonics is impressive. These are beautiful pieces of commissioned artwork. Quite a lot of FASS (fore-and-aft-scanner) types, but that reflects the dominance of that layout in UK AEW thinking. Copious drawings and photos illustrate the book, and having read the manuscript in text-only form, I can say that the illustrations illuminate and clarify the narrative perfectly.

As to the narrative - very interesting. Stylewise, Chris's writing reminds me of Tony Buttler, with close attention to primary sources and minimal guesswork or speculation, with perhaps a little extra personality added. This book isn't just a list of AEW projects, and with its companion volume The Admiralty and AEW Chris has written a interesting and authoritative account of the troubled history of AEW development in the UK.

One thing I did note was something I had difficulty with in my own attempts to research radar technology was the nomenclature used to describe those radars which lie between the reasonably well understood simple pulse radar at one end and the coherent pulse-doppler radar at the other. In the middle are a range of hybrid radars such as pulse with AMTI, "quasi-coherent", "coherent-on-recieve", or the British favoured FMICW. Such hybrid designs are sometimes described in brochures as "pulse-doppler" or "coherent" when they might not fully qualify for it according to strict definitions, but this is most likely due to the manufacturer being somewhat disingenuous. FMICW seems to be an end-limit case (or specialised class) of high-PRF pulse doppler radar rather than a separate technology, but perhaps the specifics are eluding me as a layman.

I will also note that someone who worked closely with Ferranti and Marconi in the early 1980s had a very poor opinion of Marconi's ability to deliver on their promises based on his experiences, where Ferranti were by contrast reliable and made good kit. This may colour my view of how close Marconi were to really solving the AEW Nimrod's issues. Ultimately, Chris notes that the RAF really wanted the E-3, and the Nimrod was always going to be vulnerable to cancellation.

Given the long history of AEW development in the UK revealed by Chris Gibson in these two books, it is sad that so little ever came to fruition. Definitely a recommended read.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom