Fonthill Media has published ‘A Hundred Years of RAF Air Displays 1920-2020’ by Ian Smith Watson. A comprehensive study of the RAF’s lesser-known brilliance: the spectacle of aviation over 100 years on centre stage


Founded on 1 April 1918, the Royal Air Force has forged a distinguished operational record. As the first independent air force, the service also had to fight initial scepticism from the Army and Navy. The first CAS, Lord Trenchard, courted public support through a field of endeavour, which the RAF was perfectly placed to present: the air display. The first event was held at Hendon in north London in 1920. With the facilities to accommodate large audiences, essentially an airfield, and the resources to facilitate impressive flying demonstrations, the RAF’s survival was assured. From 1934, ‘Empire Air Day’ expanded the opportunity for public attendance by involving several RAF stations across the country until war intervened in 1939. True prominence for the ‘junior service’ came during the Second World War, particularly during the Battle of Britain, later the focal point of celebration and commemoration in the post-war era. As the years passed, the RAF has contracted, and other factors have conspired to make air displays ever more challenging, while military displays remain in high demand.

• Many unpublished personal accounts of pilots, aircrew and the viewing public

• Essential for military/historians, modellers, flight-sim enthusiasts (War Thunder, IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles and DCS) and those interested in RAF air displays and aerobatics

• Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished colour and mono photographs from private archives and collections

Publication: 2 July 2022

Price: £30.00/$45.00

ISBN: 978-1-78155-843-0

Size: 238 x 172 mm

Binding: Hardback

Extent: 320 pages

Illustrations: 228 mono

Rights: World, all languages

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here – on Aeroscale.

YOUR REACTION?

SUPPORTER ADVERTISEMENT

You may also like