Post-WWII

This unique special edition commemorates five decades of Éclat, the motto of the team. Unprecedented access to the team’s archives has enabled a year by year history of the team to form the centre of the publication

Duncan Menzies flew with the RAF, the Aeroplane and Armament Evaluation Establishment, and Fairey Aviation in a twenty-five-year flying career, seeing the world of flying change from open cockpits and few rules to the jet age, with its complexities and crowded skies.

From the Fokker biplanes to World War II fighters like the Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109, and from heft bombers like the Boeing B-17 to Cold War classics such as the MiG-21 and on to stealth aircraft such as the SR-71 and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, each entry in 'Top 50 Military Aircraft' tells you all you need to know about the best there has been.

The West was stunned when the Soviet Union dropped its first atomic bomb in August 1949. In the wake of the Second World War, funding for the RAF had fallen away dramatically but now there was an urgent need for new jet fighters to meet the threat of Russian bombers head-on. 

Key drivers to a fifth destination for future world fighter forces In time, all fighters will have qualities that deceive, evade, confuse, lock-on to a target and kill it - without being seen, heard or detected There is no place to hide and when the fourth generation know they are under attack - they are already dead. 

The sequel to the bestselling The Lightning Boys, Lightning Boys 2, now available in paperback for the the first time, is a must-have companion and continues the theme of tales from pilots and other crew connected with this iconic aircraft, giving a rare insight into post-war fighter operations.

As present-day political and military hostilities between Russia and the West threaten to escalate, The Cold War looks back at a global drama that positioned the world on the brink of nuclear Armageddon.

Witness the daring exploits and dangerous challenges that form the story of flight in this beautifully illustrated book, filled with rare photographs and historical documents. Celebrating 50 years since the first flight of the Boeing 747 and of Concorde, it describes the early pioneers, such as the Wright brothers and Alcock & Brown, as well as the highly skilled engineers developing aircraft today.

This book looks at the development of the original air-superiority McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, from the F-15A through to the current F-15C, as well as modern upgrades in the pipeline or proposed by Boeing, who from 1997 took over the type.