Specialty Press

Farnborough and the Fleet Air Arm

by Geoffrey Cooper

Reviewed By Paul Bradley, IPMS #35554

MSRP: $56.95 Specialty Press: www.specialtypress.com Some of you may recall the review I did at the end of 2006 of Farnborough: 100 Years of British Aviation, a study of the role of aircraft development at the home of flight in Britain. That book concentrated on the activities of those departments involved with the RAF; now, there is a companion book that reveals the tests and trials undertaken in support of the Fleet Air Arm. This book is written by the father of the author of that book – it seems Farnborough was in their blood. The Royal Navy was the originator of many of the great advances in naval aircraft technologies, from arrestor systems to catapults and the angled deck to the modern "ski jump" for Harriers at sea. Many, if not all, these advancements were made through thorough testing and development at Farnborough with the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), and it is on these experiments that this book concentrates. This book does not tell any operational use, except in passing, and the accompanying photos are mostly of test equipment rather than aircraft, though fascinating nevertheless. The author was an engineer employed at RAE from 1936 to 1946, and so is well-placed to tell this story in which he was actively involved. This very comprehensive account covers the activities of the Naval Aircraft Department, previously the Catapult Section of the RAE, together with an overview of subsequent developments in the art and practice of 'Flying Navy'. This work introduced the provision of flight deck machinery and equipment by the RAE for operating aircraft from ships at sea. It covers the invention and development of ship-borne catapults, accelerators, arrester gears, safety barriers, the angled deck, and visual landing aids – all British inventions, and some or all of which have been adopted by all foreign navies who operate or operated carriers. The book also includes details of experimental work in mechanically-assisted launching of heavy bombers, such as the Manchester and Lancaster, flexible landing decks for undercarriageless aircraft, trialled by the Vampire, and arrester gear in the event of overshoot of airfields, including proposals for Concorde. While this is certainly a comprehensive book, I did find the descriptions of all the technical aspects of the work somewhat dry, but I am sure that is the nature of the beast. Not really a reading book, but a great resource with lots of interesting photos, this is a book I can reservedly recommend for the modeller, and will most appeal to the engineer/historian in us, rather than the modeller. Our sincere thanks to Specialty Press for the review sample; please see their website for more details and to order, or call 1-800-895-4585. A $6.95 shipping and handling fee is added to each order.