''Aircraft Illustrated '' was a British monthly

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

covering military and civil aviation topics with an emphasis on photographic features. It was first published in 1968, renamed ''Aircraft'' in 2009 (later, ''Classic Aircraft'') and ceased publication in 2012.

History and profile

The magazine was founded in 1968 by

Ian Allan Publishing Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in transport books. It was founded by Ian Allan. In 1942 Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at Waterloo st ...

. It included current civil and military aviation news, feature articles accompanied by large-scale (often colour) photography and other content aimed at the aviation enthusiast. Between 1995 and 1997 the title was extended to ''Aircraft Illustrated and Air Display International''. In March 2008 Ben Dunnell became the editor of the magazine. From the August 2009 issue it was renamed simply ''Aircraft'', and it became more focused on

warbird A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAAF Museum Historic Flight, or the ...

s and historic aviation. In February 2012, it was renamed again as ''Classic Aircraft'', shortly before the title was sold to

Key Publishing Key Publishing is a magazine publishing company specialising in aviation titles, based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. History '' Airliner World'' was launched in 1999. In 2005 it launched ''Airports of the World'', and in the same year i ...

. After the December 2012 issue, ''Classic Aircraft'' was merged into ''

Aviation News ''Aviation News'' is a British aviation magazine covering current military and civil aviation topics. It was first published in 1972 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1972 as a fort ...

''.

''Aircraft Illustrated Extra'' and ''Airextra''

From 1969, a small-format

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content (media), content. They are generally financed by advertising, newsagent's shop, ...

companion magazine, ''Aircraft Illustrated Extra'' was published. Each issue has a single theme (usually military). In 1973 it was renamed ''Airextra'' and increased in size to A4. It ceased publication in 1986.

References

{{Reflist Aviation magazines Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1968 Magazines disestablished in 2012 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Transport magazines published in the United Kingdom