1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
3.
RAF Coningsby
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The station is commanded by Group Captain Jez Attridge. No 11 Squadron joined the station as a Typhoon unit in 2006, the station is also home to No.121 Expeditionary Air Wing. RAF Coningsby was opened in 1940 as a bomber station, No.106 Squadron RAF arrived in February 1941 and No.97 Squadron arrived in March 1941. Hard runways were laid in early 1943 in preparation for heavy bombers being stationed, No.617 Squadron were at the station from August 1943 – January 1944. Their officers mess was the Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa,61 Squadron were stationed with Lancasters from February–April 1944. On 12 November,61 Squadron aircraft equipped with Tallboy bombs sank the Tirpitz in Operation Catechism,175 aircraft were lost during the war. Following the Second World War, it had the Mosquito-equipped 109 Sqn and 139 Sqn, then part of 3 Group. On 17 August 1953 52-year-old Air Vice-Marshal William Brook, the AOC of 3 Group, took off from the base in a Gloster Meteor, the airfield received its first jet aircraft—the English Electric Canberra—in 1953. During 1956 the station expanded with the runway being extended, avro Vulcans arrived in 1962, which were transferred to RAF Cottesmore in November 1964. The TSR2 was planned to join 40 Sqn at Coningsby in 1968, TSR = Tactical Strike Reconnaisance, it was a replacement for the successful Canberra. The TSR2s intended replacement—the General Dynamics F-111—was shelved on 16 January 1968 when its costs overshot the UKs budget, the TSR2 had large development costs, whereas the F-111 could be bought off the shelf. 50 F-111Ks were planned with 100 AFVGs, Denis Healey claimed the F-111s and AFVGs would be cheaper than the TSR2 programme by £700m.1154 and HS.681 were cancelled at the same time. After a parliament debate on 1 May 1967 about the prices of both F-111 and TSR2, Denis Healey simply wanted an aircraft programme that involved no research & development. AFVGs were also planned to replace the Buccaneer in the Royal Navy—Tornados were never were flown by the Royal Navy, as the carriers for them, the CVA-01s, were cancelled. Eagle was never converted to Phantom use as it was deemed too expensive, Phantoms first saw operational service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1970. The first Phantom FGR2 arrived at Coningsby on 23 August 1968, air-defence Phantoms also entered service in 1969 at RAF Leuchars. On 18 May 1970, a Phantom flew from the base non-stop to RAF Tengah, in April 1968, Strike Command was formed and the airfield was transferred to 38 Group. 41 Sqn joined in April 1972, and stayed until 1977, the other ground attack Phantom squadrons were at RAF Bruggen
4.
Bomber
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A bomber is a combat aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry, firing torpedoes or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. In 1912, during the First Balkan War, Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of aircraft to drop bombs on Turkish positions, captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload. This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber, the first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T. B.8, both of 1913. The Bristol T. B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914. The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century, early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin. Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and these were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured. The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships, the Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy. It was a biplane with three 67 kW Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, the improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915. Bombing raids and interdiction operations were carried out by French. Sustained attacks with a view to interrupting the enemys railway communications, in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies. The most important bombers used in World War I were the French Breguet 14, British de Havilland DH-4, German Albatros C. III, the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, was the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I. This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the stages of the war. With engine power as a limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors. By the start of the war included, dive bomber — specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy. Light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber — subjective definitions based on size, torpedo bomber — specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes. Ground attack aircraft — aircraft used against targets on a such as troop or tank concentrations
5.
Avro Lancaster
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The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force. The Lanc, as it was known, thus became one of the more famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers. The Lancaster, an evolution of the troublesome Avro Manchester, was designed by Roy Chadwick and was powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins, or, in one version and this was the largest payload of any bomber in the war. In 1943, a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet, Lancasters were later used to test other engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops, and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern turbojets. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the RAFs main strategic bomber by the Avro Lincoln, the Lancaster took on the role of long range anti-submarine patrol aircraft and air-sea rescue. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport, the resulting aircraft was the Manchester, which, although a capable aircraft, was underpowered and troubled by the unreliability of the Vulture engine. Only 200 Manchesters were built, with the type withdrawn from service in 1942, at first the aircraft was called Avro Type 683 Manchester III and later renamed the Lancaster. The prototype aircraft BT308 was assembled by the Avro experimental flight department at Ringway Airport, test pilot H. A. Bill Thorn took the controls for its first flight at Ringway, on Thursday,9 January 1941. The aircraft proved to be an improvement on its predecessor. Some of the orders for Manchesters were changed in favour of Lancasters. The Lancaster discarded the stubby central third tail fin of the early Manchesters and used the wider span tailplane, the majority of Lancasters built during the war years were manufactured by Avro at their factory at Chadderton near Oldham, Greater Manchester and test flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire. Other Lancasters were built by Metropolitan-Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth, the Lancaster B III had Packard Merlin engines but was otherwise identical to contemporary B Is, with 3,030 B IIIs built, almost all at Avros Newton Heath factory. The B I and B III were built concurrently and minor modifications were made to both marks as new batches were ordered, of later variants, only the Canadian-built Lancaster B X, manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario, was produced in significant numbers. The first Lancaster produced in Canada was named the Ruhr Express, the first batch of Canadian Lancasters delivered to England suffered from faulty ailerons. This was traced to the use of unskilled labourers, the Lancaster is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with an oval all-metal fuselage. The wing was constructed in five sections, the fuselage in five sections. All wing and fuselage sections were built separately and fitted all the required equipment before final assembly. The tail unit had twin fins and rudders
6.
Fighter aircraft
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A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are designed as dual-purpose fighter-bombers, often aircraft that do not fulfill the standard definition are called fighters. This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, a fighters main purpose is to establish air superiority over a battlefield. Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare, the word fighter did not become the official English-language term for such aircraft until after World War I. In the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force these aircraft were referred to as scouts into the early 1920s, the U. S. Army called their fighters pursuit aircraft from 1916 until the late 1940s. In most languages a fighter aircraft is known as a hunter, exceptions include Russian, where a fighter is an истребитель, meaning exterminator, and Hebrew where it is matose krav. As a part of nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use. In Russia I was used, while the French continue to use C and this has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other fighting scouts of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations but had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons, the F-111B variant was originally intended for a fighter role with the U. S. Navy, but it was cancelled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for attack or strike operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs, versatile multirole fighter-bombers such as the F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having a range of specialized aircraft types. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate, fighters were developed in World War I to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles the ability to gather information by reconnaissance. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were built with a wooden frame, covered with fabric. As control of the airspace over armies became increasingly important all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations, between the wars, wood was largely replaced by steel tubing, then aluminium tubing, and finally aluminium stressed skin structures began to predominate. By World War II, most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of guns or cannons. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the engine was so less than on piston engined fighters. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, in the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for any opposition. Since then, radar capabilities have grown enormously and are now the method of target acquisition
7.
Hawker Hurricane
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The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force. In late 1934, the Air Ministry placed an order for Hawkers Interceptor Monoplane, on 6 November 1935, the prototype Hurricane, K5083, performed its maiden flight. In June 1936, the Hurricane was ordered into production by the Air Ministry, the Hurricane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, by which point, the RAF operated a total of 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons. It is perhaps best known for its contribution to Britains home defences during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as fighters, bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers and ground support aircraft. By the end of production in 1944, in excess of 14,583 Hurricanes had been completed, at the time, there was an institutional reluctance towards change within the Air Staff, according to aviation author Francis K. In 1934, the British Air Ministry issued Specification F. 7/30 in response to demands within the Royal Air Force for a new generation of fighter aircraft. Earlier, during 1933, British aircraft designer Sydney Camm had conducted discussions with Major John Buchanan of the Directorate of Technical Development on a monoplane based on the existing Fury. Camms initial submission in response to F. 7/30, the Hawker P. V.3, was essentially a version of the Fury biplane. However, the P. V.3 was not among the proposals which the Air Ministry had selected to be constructed as a government-sponsored prototype, after the rejection of the P. V. By January 1934, the detail drawings had been finished. In August 1934, a scale model of the design was produced and dispatched to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. A series of wind tunnel tests confirmed the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft were in order and this time, the Ministrys response was favourable, and a prototype of the Interceptor Monoplane was promptly ordered. In November 1934, the Air Ministry issued Specification F. 5/34 which, drawing on the work of Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley, however, by this time, work had progressed too far to immediately modify the planned four-gun installation. In July 1935, this specification was amended to include installation of eight guns, ground testing and taxi trials took place over the following two weeks. On 6 November 1935, the prototype K5083 took to the air for the first time at the hands of Hawkers chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant George Bulman. Bulman was assisted by two pilots in subsequent flight testing, Philip Lucas flew some of the experimental test flights. As completed, the prototype had been fitted with ballast to represent the aircrafts armament prior to the acceptance of the final multi-gun wing armament. In early 1936, the prototype was transferred to RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, in the course of further testing, it was found that the Hurricane had poor spin recovery characteristics, in which all rudder authority could be lost due to shielding of the rudder
8.
Trainer (aircraft)
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A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. Civilian pilots are trained in a light aircraft, with two or more seats to allow for a student and instructor. The aircraft may be modified to withstand the conditions imposed by training flights. The two seating configurations for trainer aircraft are, pilot and instructor side by side, or in tandem, usually with the pilot in front, the tandem configuration has the advantage of being closer to the normal working environment that a fast jet pilot is likely to encounter. It is now the norm for pilots to begin their training in an aircraft with side by side seating. This, however, has not always been the case, given the expense of military pilot training, air forces typically conduct training in phases to eliminate unsuitable candidates. The cost to air forces that do not follow a graduated training regimen is not just monetary. There are two areas for instruction, flight training and operational training. In flight training a candidate seeks to develop their flying skills, in operational training the candidate learns to use his or her flying skills through simulated combat, attack and fighter techniques. Typically, contemporary military pilots learn initial flying skills in an aircraft not too dissimilar from civilian training aircraft. In this phase candidates are screened for mental and physical attributes. Aircraft used for this include the Slingsby Firefly, as at one time used by the United States Air Force Academy. The U. S. replaced the Firefly and the Enhanced Flight Screen Program with the Diamond DA20, at the end of this stage, pilot trainees are assessed as to where their attributes lie, as fast jet, multi-engine or rotary wing pilots. Those who are judged unsuitable for a commission, but show other attributes, may be offered the chance to qualify as navigators. Smaller and more financially restricted air forces may use ultra-light aircraft, gliders, after the ab-inito phase a candidate may progress to basic, or primary, trainers. These are usually turboprop trainers, like the Pilatus PC-9 and Embraer Tucano, prior to the availability of high performance turboprops, basic training was conducted with jet aircraft such as the BAC Jet Provost, T-37 Tweet, and Fouga Magister. Those candidates who are not suitable to continue training as fast jet pilots may be offered flying commissions, examples of such jet trainer aircraft include the supersonic T-38 Talon, the BAE Hawk, the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, the Aero L-39 and the Yakovlev Yak-130. Effective combat aircraft are a function now electronics as much as, if not more so than and it is at this stage that a pilot begins to learn to operate radar systems and electronics
9.
De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk
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The de Havilland Chipmunk was the first postwar aviation project of de Havilland Canada. Today, over 500 DHC-1 Chipmunk airframes remain airworthy with more being rebuilt every year, the Chipmunk was designed to succeed the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainer that was widely used during the Second World War. Wsiewołod Jakimiuk, a Polish prewar engineer, created the first indigenous design of the aircraft at de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd and it is an all-metal, low wing, tandem two-place, single-engined aircraft with a conventional tailwheel landing gear and fabric-covered control surfaces. The wing is also fabric-covered aft of the spar, a clear perspex canopy covers the pilot/student and instructor/passenger positions. CF-DIO-X, the Chipmunk prototype, flew for the first time at Downsview, Toronto on 22 May 1946 with Pat Fillingham, test pilot from the parent de Havilland company, at the controls. The production version of the Chipmunk was powered by a 145 hp inline de Havilland Gipsy Major 8 engine while the prototype was powered by a 145 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major 1C. Three Chipmunk aircraft serial numbers 1,10 and 11, were evaluated by the Aeroplane, as a result, the fully aerobatic Chipmunk was ordered as an ab initio trainer for the Royal Air Force. The Royal Canadian Air Force also adopted the Chipmunk as its primary trainer, british-built and early Canadian-built Chipmunks are notably different from the later Canadian-built RCAF/Lebanese versions. From the 1950s onward, the Chipmunk also became a civilian aircraft, being used for training, aerobatics. A cabin development of the Chipmunk with side-by-side seating was designed as the DHC-2, the RAF received 735 Chipmunks, designated de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, manufactured in the UK by the de Havilland parent company to Air Ministry specification 8/48 as a Tiger Moth replacement. Production began at the DH Hatfield factory but soon transferred to their plant at Hawarden Airport and they initially served with Reserve Flying Squadrons of the RAF Volunteer Reserve as well as the University Air Squadrons. Chipmunks were pressed into service in Cyprus on internal security flights during the conflict in 1958, eight disassembled aircraft were flown out in the holds of Blackburn Beverley transports. After reassembly, they operated as 114 Squadron for some months into 1959, from 1956 to 1990 the Chipmunks of the RAF Gatow Station Flight were used for covert reconnaissance by BRIXMIS over the Berlin area. Chipmunk T. 10s were also used by the Army Air Corps, Chipmunks remained in service with ATC Air Experience Flights until 1996 when they were replaced by the Scottish Aviation Bulldog. The cockpit sections of some former RAF Chipmunks have been used as training aids. These are colloquially known as Chippax trainers, the RCAF accepted its first DHC-1 Chipmunks in 1948, as the first of a long production run of the 217 Chipmunks made in Canada. Of the 113 in RCAF service,79 Chipmunks were assigned as ab initio trainers with 34 assigned to flying clubs for use in training for RCAF Reserve pilots. The last example remained in service as a CF trainer until 1972, the Chipmunks long service was due, in part, to its fully aerobatic capabilities and superb flying characteristics, which made it a delight to fly
10.
Cargo aircraft
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A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger amenities and generally one or more large doors for loading cargo. Freighters may be operated by passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals or by the armed forces of individual countries. Cargo aircraft represent a small proportion of the air freight market. The majority is carried in special ULD containers in the holds of normal passenger aircraft. Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of air mail as early as 1911, although the earliest aircraft were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid-1920s aircraft manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft. The Vickers Vernon, a development of the Vickers Vimy Commercial, in February 1923 this was put to use by the RAFs Iraq Command who flew nearly 500 Sikh troops from Kingarban to Kirkuk in the first ever strategic airlift of troops. The Victorians also helped to pioneer air routes for Imperial Airways Handley Page HP.42 airliners, the World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232 was the first purpose built cargo aircraft. The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, most other forces used freighter versions of airliners in the cargo role as well, most notably the C-47 Skytrain version of the Douglas DC-3, which served with practically every Allied nation. This aircraft, like most of its era, used tail-dragger landing gear caused the aircraft to have a decided rearward tilt when landed. A similar rear loading ramp even appeared in a different form on the nosewheel gear-equipped. Postwar Europe also served to play a role in the development of the modern air cargo. To rapidly supply the numbers of aircraft, many older types. In operation it was found that it took as long or longer to unload these older designs as the much larger tricycle landing gear Douglas C-54 Skymaster which was easier to move about in when landed. The C-47s were quickly removed from service, and from then on flat-decks were a requirement of all new cargo designs, in the years following the war era a number of new custom-built cargo aircraft were introduced, often including some experimental features. For instance, the USs C-82 Packet featured a cargo area. Although larger, smaller and faster designs have been proposed for many years and these designs offer the ability to carry the heaviest loads, even main battle tanks, at global ranges. The Boeing 747 was originally designed to the specification as the C-5
11.
Douglas C-47 Skytrain
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The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II, the specialized C-53 Skytrooper troop transport started production in October 1941 at Douglas Aircrafts Santa Monica, California plant. It lacked the cargo door, hoist attachment and reinforced floor of the C-47, only a total of 380 aircraft were produced in all because the C-47 was found to be more versatile. During World War II, the forces of many countries used the C-47 and modified DC-3s for the transport of troops, cargo. The U. S. Naval designation was R4D, more than 10,000 aircraft were produced in Long Beach and Santa Monica, California and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Between March 1943 and August 1945 the Oklahoma City plant produced 5,354 C-47s, additionally, C-47s were used to airlift supplies to the embattled American forces during the Battle of Bastogne. Possibly its most influential role in aviation, however, was flying The Hump from India into China. The expertise gained flying The Hump was later be used in the Berlin Airlift, in which the C-47 played a major role, until the aircraft were replaced by Douglas C-54 Skymasters. A C-47 flown by the China National Airways Corporation pilot Moon Chin, Moon Chin was tasked with flying from Chungking to Myitkyina, a military base in Burma. His aircraft was jumped by Japanese fighters and, after landing at a small airstrip to wait for his pursuers to give up the game. When Chins DC-3 arrived at Myitkyina, he found that the base had, indeed, been severely bombed by the Japanese, eventually, Chin would carry sixty-eight passengers and a crew of four on the final leg to India. After arriving in India, the tattered American approached Captain Chin, believe me, Chin, he began, if I had had any idea that you were going to jam that many people into this old crate I would have gone home the way I came. Chin inquired as to how that might have been and the American replied I flew in, the short, balding, bedraggled American was none other than Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle returning from the historic raid on Tokyo. In Europe, the C-47 and a specialised paratroop variant, the C-53 Skytrooper, were used in vast numbers in the stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders. During the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, C-47s dropped 4,381 Allied paratroops, more than 50,000 paratroops were dropped by C-47s during the first few days of the invasion of Normandy, France, in June 1944. In the Pacific War, with use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean. About 2,000 C-47s in British and Commonwealth service took the name Dakota, the C-47 also earned the informal nickname gooney bird in the European theatre of operations. The United States Air Forces Strategic Air Command had Skytrains in service from 1946 through 1967, the US Air Forces 6th Special Operations Squadron was flying the C-47 until 2008
12.
Trooping the Colour
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Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, on battlefields, a regiments colours, or flags, were used as rallying points. Consequently, regiments would have their ensigns slowly march with their colours between the ranks to enable soldiers to recognise their regiments colours. Since 1748, Trooping the Colour has also marked the birthday of the British sovereign. It is held in London annually on a Saturday in June on Horse Guards Parade by St. Jamess Park, among the audience are the Royal Family, invited guests, ticket holders and the general public. The ceremony is broadcast live by the BBC within the UK and is shown in Germany. The Queen travels down The Mall from Buckingham Palace in a procession with a sovereigns escort of Household Cavalry. After receiving a royal salute, she inspects her troops of the Household Division, each year, one of the foot-guards regiments is selected to troop its colour through the ranks of guards. Then the entire Household Division assembly conducts a march past the Queen, parading with its guns, the Kings Troop takes precedence as the mounted troops perform a walk-march and trot-past. Returning to Buckingham Palace, the Queen watches a further march-past from outside the gates, following a 41-gun salute by the Kings Troop in Green Park, she leads the Royal Family on to the palace balcony for a Royal Air Force flypast. A regiments colours embody its spirit and service, as well as its fallen soldiers, the loss of a colour, or the capture of an enemy colour, were respectively considered the greatest shame, or the greatest glory on a battlefield. Consequently, regimental colours are venerated by officers and soldiers of all ranks, only battalions of infantry regiments of the line carry colours, the Royal Artillerys colours, for example, are its guns. Rifle regiments did not form a line and thus never carried colours and their battle honours are carried on their drums. The exception to this is the Honourable Artillery Company, which has both a stand of colours and guns and this was done before and after every battle. This ceremony has been retained through time and is largely ceremonial. In the United Kingdom, Trooping the Colour is also known as the Queens Birthday Parade and it has marked the official birthday of the sovereign since 1748, and has occurred annually since 1820. From the reign of King Edward VII, the sovereign has taken the salute in person and it was Edward VII who moved Trooping the Colour to its June date, because of the vagaries of British weather. Trooping the Colour allows the troops of the Household Division to pay a tribute to the sovereign with great pomp
United Kingdom
Royal Air Force
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