Malcolm Fife - Böcker

The 1970s were a decade of great change for Britain’s military air arms. The RAF handed over the role of operating Britain’s nuclear deterrent to the Royal Navy in 1969. Its primary role once again became that of providing battlefield and tactical support. For this, new aircraft in the form of Jageurs and Harriers joined the ranks of the RAF. Nimrods replaced Shackletons in guarding Britain’s seaways. Several older types were phased out of service including the Belfast, Britannia and Comet. Many other aircraft, however, which were in service in the 1960s lingered on throughout the following decades. The world of the RAF also grew smaller with the withdrawal of the forces east of Suez.The Royal Navy also had its wings clipped in the 1970s with the retirement of its last large aircraft carrier for fixed wing aircraft. In its place the vertical take-off and landing Sea Harrier was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm. Helicopters now had a more dominant role. Sea Kings and Wasps operated from nearly all the Royal Navy’s warships.Unlike the other two air arms, the Army Air Corps saw its role expanded in the 1970s. It changed from purely providing support to a role of an offensive nature. Large numbers of new helicopters equipped in squadrons in the form of the Lynx and Gazelle which were capable of being armed. A small number of fixed wing aircraft were also on strength.The Americans who first established air bases in Britain in the Second World War still retained a large number of combat aircraft in the country. Phantoms and the larger F-111 countered a potential Russian threat when the Cold War was at its height.In this book, Malcolm Fife uses his wonderful collection of photographs to display many of the military aircraft types that could be seen in British skies during the 1970s.

In the decades leading up to the 1970s, passenger air transport was the preserve of the well-to-do who flew on airliners driven by propellers. Over the next few years all this was about to change. The passenger air transport industry underwent a great transformation with the introduction of many innovations that established the foundations for today.The state airlines, BEA and BOAC, were merged to form British Airways in 1974. Throughout the decade they were far and away the most important operator of scheduled services in the country. To provide competition, however, the independent carrier British Caledonian was created.The first Boeing 747 jumbo jet was delivered to BOAC in 1970. This wide-body airliner enabled fares to be reduced and opened up air travel to many people who could not previously afford it. Laker Airways pioneered the concept of the low-cost airline. It was the first British independent airline to operate wide-bodied jets in the form of DC-10s, which entered service in 1972. Most of the other British independent airlines had to make do with a motley collection of old airliners, many of them turboprops. The charter and holiday market was the main market for a large number of these carriers. They were regular visitors to the main airports throughout Britain, particularly at weekends.There were, however, few scheduled passenger air services to foreign countries from airports other than Heathrow and Gatwick. Almost all were either flown by British Airways or a state-owned carrier from another country. Overseas independent airlines, like their British equivalents, generally only served the holiday market.In this book, Malcolm Fife uses his excellent collection of colour photographs to illustrate the airliners in commercial use that could be seen at airports during the 1970s.

Edinburgh has always been different. It was affected less than most other cities in Britain by the Industrial Revolution, remaining essentially professional rather than industrial, while enjoying a reputation as a hub of intellectual thought during the Scottish Enlightenment of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Adam Smith, David Hume, James Hutton and John Playfair are only a few of the many eminent thinkers associated with the city. It was also during this period that the city began to spread beyond the confines of the cramped Old Town tenements, extending northwards with the building of the Georgian New Town, and eventually swallowing up many smaller surrounding settlements, including the port of Leith.Edinburgh at Work explores the working life of this great city, from humble beginnings to its current status as the UK’s second financial centre after London and the fourth largest in Europe. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations it looks at the consequences of rapid urbanisation, the rise in the city’s economic fortunes through the nineteenth century, the growth of tourism from the postwar period and the opening of the Scottish Parliament. Along the way it explores the development of Scotland’s capital from relative obscurity to international renown as home to the world’s largest arts festival and the strongest economy of any city in the UK outside London.

A comprehensive history of the Second World War Fighter Command airfield at RAF Drem located near Edinburgh. It was one of Scotland's most important airfields in this conflict. Its predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps Gullane air station is included in the account. When war broke out in 1939 among the first targets attacked by the Luftwaffe was the Royal Navy base at Rosyth. The Spitfires at RAF Drem were scrambled to protect this vital installation and were engaged in some of the first air battles over Britain. The exploits of its pilots received much attention from the press at the time. By mid-1940, much of the fighting had gravitated to the south of England. Spitfires and Hurricanes based at Drem would, however, continue to patrol the skies over the Firth of Forth until the end of the war. Night fighter squadrons were also based here, first flying the Blenheim and later the Mosquito. Appropriately the Drem lighting system for assisting the landing of aircraft at nightwas invented here. The Fleet Air Arm also had a presence at RAF Drem, with a squadron for the training of night fighter pilots.The airfield ended the war on a high note when three white painted Ju 52s arrived with German generals to surrender their forces in Norway. Like many other military airfields, Drem closed shortly after the end of hostilities and the runways were ploughed up and returned to agriculture.

The end of the First World War brought with it the closure most of the military aerodromes in Scotland. It, however, retained its links with naval aviation with aircraft carriers frequently exercising off the coast. In the latter part of the decade Auxiliary Air Force squadrons were formed at Edinburgh and Glasgow manned by civilians. With the rise of the Nazis in Germany, the RAF responded by building new airfields or re-opening former First World War sites. They included armament practice camps at Evanton and West Freugh where pilots could practice their skills in bombing and firing their weapons. RAF flying boats also visited various coastal locations around Scotland in the years leading up to the War. The inter-war services also saw the development of scheduled airline services within the country. They were, however, not between major towns but linked remote islands with major towns of the mainland. An air ambulance service was also created to serve isolated communities. All of these developments are covered as well as private flying and gliding. There is also a section on aerodromes that were planned but never built.