RAF in Camera, 1950s

by Keith Wilson

ISBN: 9781473827950

Published: 2015

For aviation, the 1950s was a fascinating decade. For the Royal Air Force, it witnessed the transition from propeller to jet aircraft in the fields of fighter, bomber, trainer and transport aircraft. The 1950s saw the end of the Second World War veterans - Lancasters, Spitfires, Mosquitoes and Sunderlands. They were replaced by the first generation of jet aircraft including the Vampire, Hunter, Javelin and, at the end of the decade, the English Electric P.1 - later named the Lightning. This photographic record of the RAF during the period illustrates all the varied and wonderful array of equipment in use and also considers the important events of the decade including Korea, the Malayan Emergency, Kenya and the Suez Crisis. The decade also saw the beginning of the Cold War, which in turn led to significant developments in military aviation. For the RAF this included the V-bomber force of Valiant, Victor and Vulcan. Another development was the nuclear weapon and this volume includes...