|
RAF Desford
Royal Air Force Desford or RAF Desford is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located south of Desford, Leicestershire, and west of Leicester, Leicestershire, England. Early history Flying at Desford began in 1916, during the World War I, First World War, when the Royal Flying Corps rented a field from a local farmer to be used as an emergency landing ground for No. 38 Squadron RAF, No. 38 (Home Defence) Squadron RFC, who were based at Melton Mowbray. It was then designated RFC Peckleton. After the war the site reverted to agricultural use, until the Leicestershire Aero Club rented 43 acres of land from farmer John Cart in late 1929. They built a clubhouse, a small hangar, and installed a fuel store and pump. The aerodrome was officially opened on 14 September 1929 by Under-Secretary of State for Air Frederick Montague, 1st Baron Amwell, Frederick Montague, with an air display which attracted a crowd estimated at 30,000. Desford was twice used as a turnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airfields Of Britain Conservation Trust
The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust (ABCT), founded 2006, is a non-profit organisation that works to preserve and protect airfields in Great Britain, as well as educating people about their history. The Trust is a registered charity. They place inscribed memorial stones on or near disused airfields, which have included a memorial at Fambridge, Essex in February 2009, at Windermere in Cumbria in 2011 and at Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre in May 2012. Other memorial locations include Harrowbeer, Hatfield, Lanark, Leavesden, Matlaske, Okehampton, Podington, Swannington, Westcott and Woburn Park Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, .... References External links * Charities based in Glasgow Conservation in the United Kingdom Aviation history of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Braunstone Frith , a town in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England
* Braunstone Park, a public park in Braunstone Town, Leicester, England
* Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields, a ward of the city of Leicester, England, encompassing the suburb of Braunstone Frith
* Braunstone, New South Wales, a locality in Australia
{{disambig ...
Braunstone may refer to: * Braunstone Town Braunstone is a civil parish and is the largest parish within the district of Blaby in Leicestershire, England, now known as the Town of Braunstone or more commonly, Braunstone Town. In 2007 the population was around 15,000. There are around ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
547th Bombardment Squadron
The 547th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated during World War II as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress unit. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe, strategic bombing campaign against Germany, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations. Following V-E Day, the squadron moved to France and was inactivated there in early 1946. The squadron was activated again in the military reserve force, reserves in 1947, but does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped before inactivating in 1949. It was activated in 1958 at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, when Strategic Air Command temporarily expanded its Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings from three to four squadrons, but was inactivated on 1 January 1962. History World War II Activation and training The squadron was first organized at Gowen Field, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. It was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. In a USAAC competition, Boeing's prototype Model 299/XB-17 outperformed two other entries but crashed, losing the initial 200-bomber contract to the Douglas B-18 Bolo. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, then introduced it into service in 1938. The B-17 evolved through numerous design advances but from its inception, the USAAC (later, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boulton Paul Defiant
The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns, also found in the Blackburn Roc of the Royal Navy. In combat, the Defiant was found to be effective at destroying bombers, the role it was designed for, but was vulnerable to the ''Luftwaffe''s more manoeuvrable, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. The Defiant had been designed to destroy unescorted bombers by means of beam or ventral attacks and therefore lacked forward-firing armament, that proved to be a great weakness in daylight combat with fighters. It did, however, find success when it was converted to a night fighter. It eventually equipped thirteen squadrons in this role,Cagill 2005, p. 44. compared to just two squadrons as a day-fighter, though this was mainly due to slow initial production. In mid-1942 it was replaced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era. The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a medium bomber for "world-wide use" which could carry a torpedo internally, and make shallow dive-bombing attacks. Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one of the versions, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle of France, Adolf Hitler, the German Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would accept his offer to end the war, and he reluctantly considered invasion only as a last resort if all other options failed. As a precondition, Hitler specified the achievement of both air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the proposed landing sites, but the German forces did not achieve either at any point during the war, and both the German High Command and Hitler himself had serious doubts about the prospects for success. Nevertheless, both the German Army and Navy undertook a major programme of preparations for an invasion: training troops, developing specialised weapons and equipment, and modifyin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Link Trainer
The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link Edwin Albert Link (July 26, 1904 – September 7, 1981) was an American inventor, entrepreneur and pioneer in aviation, underwater archaeology, and submersibles. He invented the flight simulator, which was called the "Blue Box" or "Link Trai ..., based on technology he pioneered in 1929 at his family's business in Binghamton, New York. During World War II, they were used as a key pilot training aid by almost every combatant nation. The original Link Trainer was created in 1929 out of the need for a safe way to teach new pilots how to fly by flight instruments, instruments. Ed Link used his knowledge of pumps, valves and bellows gained at his father's Link Piano and Organ Company to create a flight simulator that responded to the pilot's co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War. Initially known as the ''Avro 652A'', the Anson was developed during the mid-1930s from the earlier Avro 652 airliner in response to a request for tenders issued by the British Air Ministry for a maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Having suitably impressed the Ministry, a single prototype was ordered, which conducted its maiden flight on 24 March 1935. Following an evaluation in which the Type 652A bettered the competing de Havilland DH.89, it was selected as the winner, leading to Air Ministry Specification 18/35 being written around the type and an initial order for 174 aircraft being ordered in July 1935. The Type 652A was promptly named after British Admira ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), the active reserve for the RAF, by providing an additional non-active reserve. However during the Second World War the high demand for aircrew absorbed all available RAuxAF personnel and led the RAFVR to quickly become the main pathway of aircrew entry into the RAF. It was initially composed of civilians recruited from neighbourhood reserve flying schools, run by civilian contractors with largely RAF-trained flying instructors as well as other instructors in related air war functions, such as observers and wireless operators. After the war, and with the end of conscription in the early 1960s, the RAFVR considerably reduced in size and most functions were absorbed into the RAuxAF. The RAFVR now forms the working elements of the University ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Havilland Gipsy Major
The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintage aircraft types. Engines were produced by de Havilland in the UK and by the Australian arm of the company, de Havilland Australia, the latter modifying the design to use imperial measures rather than the original metric measurements. Design and development The engine was a slightly modified Gipsy III, which was effectively a de Havilland Gipsy engine modified to run inverted so that the cylinders pointed downwards below the crankcase. The Major was also bored-out (118 mm from 114 mm) compared to the Gipsy III, increasing displacement from 5 L to 6.1 L. The inverted configuration allowed the propeller shaft to be kept in a high position without having the cylinders blocking the pilot's forward view over the nose of the airc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Havilland Tiger Moth
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. In addition to the type's principal use for ''ab initio'' training, the Second World War had RAF Tiger Moths operating in other capacities, including maritime surveillance and defensive anti-invasion preparations; some aircraft were even outfitted to function as armed light bombers. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until it was replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk during the early 1950s. Many of the military surplus aircraft subsequently entered into civilian operation. Many nations have used the Tiger Moth in both military and civilian applications, and it remains in widespread use as a recreational aircraft. It is still occasionally used as a primary training aircraft, particularly for those pilots wanting to gain exper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
