United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and first flown in 1933. Designed for use as a fleet spotter to be catapult launched from cruisers or battleships, the Walrus was employed in other roles, notably as a rescue aircraft for aircrew in the sea; the Walrus continued in service throughout the Second World War, with the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New Zealand Air Force. It was the first British squadron-service aircraft to incorporate in one airframe a retractable main undercarriage enclosed crew accommodation and all-metal fuselage; the Walrus was developed as a private venture in response to a 1929 Royal Australian Air Force requirement for an aircraft to be catapult-launched from cruisers and was called the Seagull V, although it only resembled the earlier Supermarine Seagull III in general layout. Construction was started in 1930 but owing to other commitments Supermarine did not complete the aircraft 1933.
The single-step hull was constructed from aluminium alloy, with stainless-steel forgings for the catapult spools and mountings. Metal construction was used because experience had shown that wooden structures deteriorated under tropical conditions; the wings were swept back and had stainless–steel spars, wooden ribs which were covered in fabric. The lower wings were set in the shoulder position with a stabilising float mounted under each; the elevators were high on the tail-fin and braced on either side by N struts. The wings could be folded; the single 620 hp Pegasus II M2 radial engine was housed at the rear of a nacelle mounted on four struts above the lower wing and braced by four shorter struts to the centre-section of the upper wing. This powered a wooden pusher propeller; the nacelle contained the oil tank, arranged around the air intake at the front as an oil cooler. A supplementary oil cooler was mounted on the starboard side. Fuel was carried in two tanks in the upper wings; the pusher configuration had the advantages of keeping the engine and propeller further out of the way of spray when operating on water and reducing the noise level inside the aircraft.
The propeller was safely away from any crew standing on the front deck, when picking up a mooring line. The engine was offset by three degrees to starboard, to counter any tendency of the aircraft to yaw, due to unequal forces on the rudder caused by the vortex from the propeller. A solid aluminium tailwheel was enclosed by a small water-rudder, which could be coupled to the main rudder for taxiing or disengaged for takeoff and landing. Although the aircraft flew with one pilot, there were positions for two; the left-hand position was the main one, with the instrument panel and a fixed seat, while the right-hand seat could be folded away to allow access to the nose gun-position via a crawl-way. An unusual feature was that the control column was not fixed in the usual way but could be unplugged from either of two sockets in the floor, it became a habit for only one column to be in use. Behind the cockpit, there was a small cabin with work stations for the radio operator. Armament consisted of two.303 in Vickers K machine guns, one each in the open positions in the nose and rear fuselage.
Like other flying boats, the Walrus carried marine equipment for use on the water, including an anchor and mooring cables, drogues and a boat-hook. The prototype was first flown by "Mutt" Summers on 21 June 1933; such aerobatics were possible. On 29 July Supermarine handed the aircraft over to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe. Over the following months extensive trials were carried out, including shipborne trials aboard Repulse and Valiant carried out on behalf of the Royal Australian Navy and catapult trials carried out by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, becoming the first amphibious aircraft in the world to be launched by catapult with a full military load, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Sydney Richard Ubee; the strength of the aircraft was demonstrated in 1935, when the prototype was attached to the battleship Nelson at Portland. With the commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet, Admiral Roger Backhouse, on board the pilot attempted a water touch-down, forgetting that the undercarriage was in the down position.
The Walrus was flipped over but the occupants only had minor injuries. Soon afterwards, the Walrus became one of the first aircraft to be fitted with an undercarriage position indicator on the instrument panel. Test pilot Alex Henshaw stated that the Walrus was strong enough to make a wheels-up landing on grass without much damage; when flying from a warship, the Walrus would be recovered by touching-down alongside lifted from the sea by a ship's crane. The Walrus lifting-gear was kept in a compartment in the section of wing directly above the engine. A crewmember would climb onto the top wing and attach
Supermarine Stranraer
The Supermarine Stranraer was a 1930s flying boat designed and built by the British Supermarine Aviation Works company principally for the Royal Air Force. It entered operations in 1937 and many were in service at the outbreak of the Second World War undertaking anti-submarine and convoy escort patrols, it was withdrawn from operational service in March 1941 but continued to serve in a training capacity until October 1942. In addition to the British-built aeroplanes, the Canadian Vickers company in Montreal, built 40 Stranraers under licence for the Royal Canadian Air Force; the RCAF Stranraers served in anti-submarine and coastal defence capacities on both Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, remained in service until 1946. Following their withdrawal from military service, many Canadian Stranraers were sold off to fledgeling regional airlines and they served in commercial passenger and freighter operation well into the 1950s. Designed by R. J. Mitchell as a tender to Air Ministry R.24/31 Specification for a coastal reconnaissance flying boat for the RAF, it was turned down but Supermarine proceeded with the type as a private venture first known as the Southampton V.
A contract was placed in 1933 for a prototype powered by two 820 horsepower Bristol Pegasus IIIM engines and the type became known as the Stranraer. The structure was duralumin, with the hull covered with sheet metal and the wings with fabric. Following the initial flight-test programme, the Stranraer prototype on 24 October 1934 was delivered to the RAF. On 29 August 1935, an initial order was placed for 17 aircraft to the Air Ministry Specification 17/35; the production version was fitted with the 920 horsepower Pegasus X and first flew in December 1936, entering service operations on 16 April 1937. An additional order for six aircraft was placed in May 1936, but subsequently cancelled. A total of 40 Stranraers were built in Canada by Canadian Vickers Limited. In service, only 17 Stranraers were operated by the RAF 1937–1941 by No. 228, No, 209 and No. 240 Squadrons along with limited numbers at the No. 4 OTU. The aircraft was not well-received as its performance was considered marginal. Due to its less than favourable reception by flight and ground crews, the Stranraer gained a large number of derisive nicknames.
It was sometimes referred to as a "whistling shithouse" because the toilet opened out directly to the air and when the seat was lifted, the airflow caused the toilet to whistle. The Stranraer acquired "Flying Meccano Set", "The Marpole Bridge", "Seymour Seine Net", "Strainer", "Flying Centre Section of the Lion's Gate Bridge", as well as a more genteel variant of its usual nickname, "Whistling Birdcage". Royal Canadian Air Force Stranraers were exact equivalents of their RAF counterparts and they were employed in coastal patrol against submarine threats in a similar role to the British Stranraers. One source states. However, the crew of a 5 Squadron Stranraer, flown by Flight Lieutenant Leonard Birchall, were responsible for the capture of an Italian merchant ship, the Capo Nola, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, hours after Canada declared war on Italy on 10 June 1940; the Canadian Vickers-built Stranraers served with the RCAF until 1946. Thirteen examples were passed into civilian use after the war.
A re-engine project by the airline substituted 1,200 horsepower Wright GR-1820-G202GA engines in place of the original Pegasus units. Queen Charlotte Airlines became at one point the third largest airline in Canada. With limited money, it flew an eclectic mixture of types that were the cast-offs of other operators. However, in QCA use, the Stranraer gained a more suitable reputation and was "well liked" by its crews. A total of eight surplus Stranraers were sold to Aero Transport Ltd. of Tampa, Florida. Canada Royal Canadian Air Force – Operational Squadrons of the Home War Establishment Eastern Air Command No. 5 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 117 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer Western Air Command No. 4 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 6 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 7 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 9 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 13 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer No. 120 Squadron RCAF Used Supermarine Stranraer -Operational Training.
CanadaPacific Western Airlines Queen Charlotte Airlines Data from "Database: Supermarine Stranraer." General characteristics Crew: 6–7 Length: 54 ft 9 in Wingspan: 85 ft 0 in Height: 21 ft 9 in Wing area: 1,457 ft² Empty weight: 11,250 lb Loaded weight: 19,000 lb Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Pegasus X radial engines, 920 hp eachPerformance Maximum speed: 165 mph at 6,000 ft Range: 1,000 mi Service ceiling: 18,500 ft Rate of climb: 1,350 ft/min Wing loading: 13 lb/ft² Power/mass: 0.097 hp/lb Armament Guns: 3 × 0.303 in Lewis guns A single intact Stranraer, 920/CF-BXO, s
Mitchell High School, Stoke-on-Trent
Mitchell High School was a comprehensive school located in Bucknall, Stoke on Trent, England. Situated in the east of Stoke-on-Trent in Townsend on the A52, it had a catchment from the communities of Bucknall and Abbey Hulton and educates pupils of ages 11–16. Before closure there were around 650 students on roll drawn from a community that has high levels of social deprivation; the headteacher appointed in 2007 was Paul Liddle. In 2009 the Mitchell High was the most improved National Challenge school in England. In 2010 Mitchell made further improvements with the school gaining 18% above FFTD targets for the % of students gaining 5 or more A*-C Grades inc English & Maths. In addition, the CVA placed the school in the top 5% of schools. Hanley High School was a co-educational grammar school based in the centre of Stoke on Trent which opened under its name in 1905. In 1938, the girls moved to Thistley Hough High School for Girls. In 1940, because of mining subsidence, the school was moved and became a bi-lateral school from 1948 to 1953 with Chell Secondary Modern School.
It moved to the outskirts of Stoke on the A52 in Bucknall in 1953. In September 1970 it became a co-educational comprehensive school for ages 12–16; the Mitchell High School, taking ages 11–16, was opened on 23 March 1990 by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The new school was formed by closing the Willfield High School on Lauder Place in Bentilee in 1989. In the late 1990s it was one of the fifty lowest schools for GCSE results in England. In March 1998 the headmaster, Len Wild, was punched to the ground by three intruders. Debbie Sanderson was appointed as headteacher in 2000 and was appointed an OBE for improvements made in the school in 2005. There had been a proposal since 2008 to merge the school with Edensor Technology College to produce an Academy at Adderley Green. Under the BSF proposals, the new Academy called Discovery Academy was formed in September 2011; the school was located over both former school sites until a new build was completed in 2013 at the old Willfield site. The school has been awarded Enterprise College status.
Ofsted inspected the school during January 2004 and rated "The overall effectiveness of the school" as "satisfactory", point four on a seven-point scale. However, an evaluation of "excellent", point one on the scale, was given for: "How well the school seeks and acts on pupils’ views" "The quality of the school's links with the community"In a letter dated 13 November 2006, following a supplementary inspection, Ofsted assessed the "overall effectiveness" of ICT to be "outstanding". In an innovative initiative to support pupils who were struggling to cope in class, the school invited parents to sit in with their children and found that the adults not only engaged in the lessons but obtained qualifications themselves. Professor Alan Tuckett at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education said "When adults and children learn together you get a surprising amount of behaviour change in young people, they pick up on the tone of commitment and seriousness that adults bring to their study.
And the adults get the energy and pizzaz that young people bring to their learning." The school was listed in the House of Commons as being one of only 25 secondary schools in the UK that had no pupils taking a language course and, in 2006, as a school where no pupils at the end of KS4 were entered at GCSE in geography. Prof Ely Devons, Professor of Economics from 1959 to 1965 at the LSE, Robert Ottley Professor of Economics from 1948 to 1959 Victoria University of Manchester, Chief Statistician from 1941–5 at the Ministry of Aircraft Production Prof Samuel Devons, Professor of Physics from 1960 to 1985 at Columbia University, New York, younger brother of Ely, worked at the Ministry of Aircraft Production during the war on microwaves and radar John Farnsworth, Chairman of the East Midlands Economic Planning Board from 1965 to 1972 Bernard Hollowood, economist and Editor from 1957 to 1968 of Punch Dr John Houghton, aeronautical engineer, Director from 1971–9 of Teesside Polytechnic, Principal from 1961 to 1970 of Constantine College of Technology Frank Kearton, Baron Kearton OBE, Chancellor from 1980 to 1992 of the University of Bath R. J. Mitchell, aeronautical engineer who designed the Supermarine Spitfire Jacob Rich, Editor from 1931–6 of The Jewish Chronicle Prof Eric Ryder, Professor of English Law from 1959 to 1982 at University College London Wilfred Scott, former managing director of English Electric Computers, involved in the building of the ACE computer in 1947 Harriet Slater, Labour MP from 1953 to 1966 for Stoke-on-Trent North Prof Robert Street, Vice-Chancellor from 1978 to 1986 of the University of Western Australia Ronnie Allen, footballer Rev Nigel Collinson, President from 1996–7 of the Methodist Conference Jeff Kent, writer and campaigner Jon Moulton, venture capitalist, managing director from Alchemy Partners from 1997– Prof Harold Perkin, historian Selwyn Whalley, footballer Prof David Wheeler, computer scientist, who invented the subroutine, the Burrows–Wheeler transform in 1994, Professor of Computer Science from 1978 to 1994 at the University of Cambridge Prof Ashley Woodcock OBE, Professor of Respiratory Medicine since 1988 at the University of Manchester Nigel Bamford, former member and manager of Discharge Phil Bainbridge, former professional cricketer Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and Durham County Cricket Club Official site Former school Staffordshire history Former school song EduBase Telegraph February 2011 Proposed closure in 2010 Telegraph January 2009
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world. Following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain; the RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence, which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism. The RAF describes its mission statement as "... an agile and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission". The mission statement is supported by the RAF's 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 an operational fleet of various types of aircraft, described by the RAF as being "leading-edge" in terms of technology; this consists of fixed-wing aircraft, including: fighter and strike aircraft, airborne early warning and control aircraft, ISTAR and SIGINT aircraft, aerial refueling aircraft and strategic and tactical transport aircraft. The majority of the RAF's rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces. Most of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. Although the RAF is the principal British air power arm, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the British Army's Army Air Corps deliver air power, integrated into the maritime and land environments. While the British were not the first to make use of heavier-than-air military aircraft, the RAF is the world's oldest independent air force: that is, the first air force to become independent of army or navy control.
Following publication of the "Smuts report" prepared by Jan Smuts the RAF 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 and the Royal Naval Air Service. At that time it was the largest air force in the world. After the war, the service was drastically cut and its inter-war years were quiet, with the RAF taking responsibility for the control of Iraq and executing a number of minor actions in other parts of the British Empire; the RAF's naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924 but handed over to Admiralty control on 24 May 1939. 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 these countries, exiles from occupied Europe served with RAF squadrons. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations approximately a quarter of Bomber Command's personnel were Canadian. 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. In what is the most prolonged and complicated air campaign in history, the Battle of Britain contributed to the delay and subsequent indefinite postponement of Hitler's plans for an invasion of the United Kingdom. In the House of Commons on 20 August, prompted by the ongoing efforts of the RAF, Prime Minister Winston Churchill eloquently made a speech to the nation, where he said "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".
The largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began immediately upon the outbreak of war, under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris, these attacks became devastating from 1942 onward as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available; the RAF adopted night-time area bombing on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden, developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron, or the Amiens prison raid known as Operation Jericho. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, as technological advances in air warfare saw the arrival of jet fighters and bombers. 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. Between 26 June and the lifting of the Russian blockade of the city on 2 May, the RAF provided 17% of the total supplies delivered du
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England. The county town is the city of Winchester, its two largest cities and Portsmouth, are administered separately as unitary authorities. First settled about 14,000 years ago, Hampshire's history dates to Roman Britain, when its chief town was Winchester; when the Romans left Britain, the area was infiltrated by tribes from Scandinavia and mainland Europe, principally in the river valleys. The county was recorded in the 11th century Domesday Book, divided into 44 hundreds. From the 12th century, the ports grew in importance, fuelled by trade with the continent and cloth manufacture in the county, the fishing industry, a shipbuilding industry was established. By the 16th century, the population of Southampton had outstripped that of Winchester. By the mid-19th century, with the county's population at 219,210 in more than 86,000 dwellings, agriculture was the principal industry and 10 per cent of the county was still forest. Hampshire played a crucial military role in both World Wars.
The Isle of Wight left the county to form its own in 1974. The county's geography is varied, with upland to 286 metres and south-flowing rivers. There are areas of downland and marsh, two national parks: the New Forest, part of the South Downs, which together cover 45 per cent of Hampshire. Hampshire is one of the most affluent counties in the country, with an unemployment rate lower than the national average, its economy derived from major companies, maritime and tourism. Tourist attractions include the national parks and the Southampton Boat Show; the county is known as the home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, the childhood home of Florence Nightingale and the birthplace of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Hampshire takes its name from the settlement, now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun meaning "village-town", so its surrounding area or scīr became known as Hamtunscīr; the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, from this spelling, the modern abbreviation "Hants" derives.
From 1889 until 1959, the administrative county was named the County of Southampton and has been known as Southamptonshire. Hampshire was the departure point of some of those who left England to settle on the east coast of North America during the 17th century, giving its name in particular to the state of New Hampshire; the towns of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Portsmouth, Virginia take their names from Portsmouth in Hampshire. The region is believed to have been continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time, Britain was still attached to the European continent and was predominantly covered with deciduous woodland; the first inhabitants were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The majority of the population would have been concentrated around the river valleys. Over several thousand years, the climate became progressively warmer, sea levels rose. Notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, with it a neolithic culture.
Some deforestation took place at that time, although during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from these early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 and 2200 BCE. In the late Bronze Age, fortified hilltop settlements known as hillforts began to appear in large numbers in many parts of Britain including Hampshire, these became more and more important in the early and middle Iron Age. By this period, the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, their culture shared much in common with the Celts described by classical writers. Hillforts declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Around this period, the first recorded invasion of Britain took place, as southern Britain was conquered by warrior-elites from Belgic tribes of northeastern Gaul - whether these two events are linked to the decline of hillforts is unknown.
By the Roman conquest, the oppidum at Venta Belgarum, modern-day Winchester, was the de facto regional administrative centre. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England in 55 and again in 54 BCE, but he never reached Hampshire. Notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, a major port; the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia quickly. It is believed their political leaders allowed themselves to be incorporated peacefully. Venta became the capital of the administrative polity of the Belgae, which included most of Hampshire and Wiltshire and reached as far as Bath. Whether the people of Hampshire played any role in Boudicca's rebellion of 60-61 CE is not recorded, but evidence of burning is seen in Winchester dated to around this period. For most of the next three centuries, southern Britain enjoyed relative peace; the part of th
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence, before losing its identity in mergers with other institutions. The first site was at Farnborough Airfield in Hampshire to, added a second site RAE Bedford in 1946. In 1988 it was renamed the Royal Aerospace Establishment before merging with other research entities to become part of the new Defence Research Agency in 1991. In 1904–1906 the Army Balloon Factory, part of the Army School of Ballooning, under the command of Colonel James Templer, relocated from Aldershot to the edge of Farnborough Common in order to have enough space to inflate the new "dirigible balloon" or airship, under construction. Templer's place was taken by Colonel John Capper and Templer himself retired in 1908. Besides balloons and airships, the factory experimented with Samuel Franklin Cody's war kites and aeroplanes designed both by Cody and J. W. Dunne.
In October 1908 Cody made the first aeroplane flight in Britain at Farnborough. In 1909 Army work on aeroplanes ceased and the Factory was brought under civilian control. Capper was replaced as Superintendent by Mervyn O'Gorman. In 1912 the Balloon Factory was renamed the Royal Aircraft Factory, its first new designer was Geoffrey de Havilland who founded his own company. Later colleagues included John Kenworthy who became chief engineer and designer at the Austin Motor Company in 1918 and who went on to found the Redwing Aircraft Co in 1930 and Henry Folland – chief designer at Gloster Aircraft Company, founder of his own company Folland Aircraft. One of the designers in the engine department was Samuel Heron, who went on to invent the sodium-filled poppet valve, instrumental in achieving greater power levels from piston engines. While at the RAF, Heron designed a radial engine that he was not able to build during his time there, however upon leaving the RAF he went to Siddeley-Deasy where the design, the RAF.8, was developed as the Jaguar.
Heron moved to the United States where he worked on the design of the Wright Whirlwind. Other engineers included Major F. M. Green, G. S. Wilkinson, James E. "Jimmy" Ellor, Prof. A. H. Gibson, A. A. Griffith. Both Ellor and Griffith would go on to work for Rolls-Royce Limited. In 1918 the Royal Aircraft Factory was once more renamed, becoming the Royal Aircraft Establishment to avoid confusion with the Royal Air Force, formed on 1 April 1918, because it had relinquished its manufacturing role to concentrate on research. During WWII the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment based at Helensburgh in Scotland, was under the control of the RAE. In 1946 work began to convert RAF Thurleigh into RAE Bedford. Engineers at the Royal Aircraft Establishment invented high strength carbon fibre in 1963. In 1961, the world's first grooved runway for reduced aquaplaning was constructed. In 1965, a US delegation visited to view the new surfacing practice and initiated a study by the FAA and NASA. On 1 May 1988 the RAE was renamed the Royal Aerospace Establishment.
On 1 April 1991 the RAE was merged into the Defence Research Agency, the MOD's new research organisation. On 1 April 1995 the DRA and other MOD organisations merged to form the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency; the Bedford site was shut down in 1994. In 2001 DERA was part-privatised by the MOD, resulting in two separate organisations, the state-owned Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the privatised company QinetiQ. Between 1911 and 1918 the Royal Aircraft Factory produced a number of aircraft designs. Most of these were research aircraft, but a few went into mass production during the war period; some orders were met by the factory itself, but the bulk of production was by private British companies, some of which had not built aircraft. Up to about 1913 the designation letters referred to the general layout of the aircraft, derived from a French manufacturer or designer famous for that type: S. E. = Santos Experimental B. E. = Blériot Experimental F. E. = Farman Experimental From 1913/4 onwards this was changed to a designation based on the role for which the aircraft was designed: A.
E. = Armed or Armoured Experimental C. E. = Coastal Experimental F. E. = Fighting experimental N. E. = Night Experimental R. E. = Reconnaissance experimental S. E. = Scout experimental fast single-seat aircraft. The B. S. 1 of 1913 was a one-off anomaly. R. T. & T. E. were used for one off prototypes. Several aircraft were produced during the days as the Army Balloon Factory; these include the airships as well as the Dunne designs. Subsequent Royal Aircraft Factory type designations are confusing. For instance the "F. E.2" designation refers to three quite distinct types, with only the same broad layout in common, the F. E.2, the F. E.2, the famous wartime two-seat fighter and general purpose design, the F. E.2. This last aircraft was the one that went into production, had three main variants, the F. E.2a, F. E.2b, the F. E.2d. As if this wasn't enough, there is the F. E.2c. E.2b's that experimentally reversed the sea
