Tony Blackman – författare

Blind Landing is a detective mystery aviation thriller about the latest super jumbo aircraft that crashes at London Airport after a non-stop flight from Sydney. The story is woven around an aviation expert, Peter Talbert, his lawyer girl friend and the beautiful girl on the beach in Sydney who gives Peter the information he needs. The technology of the book is right up to date but the story is told in a way that makes it very readable to the non-aviation aficionado. A must read for any mystery lover.

This book is a Bermuda Triangle Mystery. A modern airliner flying from the Caribbean to Bermuda carrying 10 priceless impressionist paintings disappears near Bermuda. Peter Talbert, aviation expert and working for the airline, investigates the loss of the aircraft. He meets an art insurance specialist who has no time for all the aviation experts making technical guesses of the problem but she finally realises that she must work with Peter if she has any chance of discovering what has happened. Together they watch the progress of the search, consider the circumstances and finally all is revealed. This book is the second of an ongoing series of aviation mysteries featuring Peter Talbert and Mandy, his solicitor partner , and will appeal to all who fly, not just aviation enthusiasts.

The Right Choice describes a competition between two manufacturers trying to sell their latest aircraft to an airline in the Philippines, both firms desperate to win. In the real world many tales are told about how such competitions are won and lost using every trick available. The contest in this book describes such a competition and the enormous pressures on the sales teams and demonstration pilots to win. The competing aircraft have to fly into small airfields in monsoon weather conditions, the critical airfield being on the side of a volcano surrounded by hills. Peter Talbert, aviation expert, is asked by the airine's insurance company to evaluate not only the airline but also the aircraft and finds himself a key player in the middle of the fight. Underhand methods are used in an attempt to win an advantage and the resulting deceit ends in disaster. This book is the third of an ongoing series of aviation mysteries featuring Peter Talbert and Mandy, his solicitor partner , and will appeal to all who fly, not just aviation enthusiasts.

Flight to St Antony is a modern accurate aviation mystery/thriller where the detective Peter Talbert, an aviation insurance expert, is instrumental in solving the reason why an airliner with over two hundred people on board is forced to ditch at night in the Caribbean near the island of St Antony. There are only a few survivors, all from the rear of the aircraft and they were saved through the efforts of two stewardesses. Talbert is helped in his investigation by one of the stewardesses but the situation is complicated by the disappearance of one of the two crash recorders and the incorrect operation of the other. In addition a well know criminal and drug runner was travelling in the aircraft. By travelling to San Francisco, Seattle and back to the UK Talbert starts to gather valuable clues as to what might have happened. The stewardess is kidnapped and Peter not only manages to find and rescue her but also discovers the missing recorder. However the vital memory module with the conversation between the pilots is missing. Modern airliners are incredibly safe and it takes all Peter's expertise and understanding of human nature finally to establish what really happened. This is the fourth book in a series and Peter shows all his usual skills and aptitudes. A must read book for all lovers of crime, thrillers, mystery and aviation.

This book is the fifth in an aviation mystery series featuring Peter Talbert insurance investigator. Two aircraft crash in fog on opposite sides of the World, in New York and Hong Kong. Talbert discovers that things are lot more complicated and dangerous than they seem. Meanwhile he applies to be Chairman of the new UK Transport Safety Board but again deceit is in evidence. The reader accompanies Talbert as he travels to Australia three times in tragedy and renewal, as he flies across Greenland and Iceland, and as he tries to sort his own life out as well as the aircraft. A must read book for all lovers of aviation, mysteries, crime and thrillers.

No aircraft is absolutely safe. This book is about Aviation, from learning to fly, becoming a test pilot, flight testing, demonstrating on some of the third world's worst airfields, then specializing in Avionics and finally joining the Board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, helping to formulate the regulations that the author had spent so many years living by. Many stories are told, including flying with the legendary Howard Hughes when the world thought him a mad recluse, and testing many aircraft including all three V Bombers, an almost unique experience. The book, well illustrated, makes the point that flying is inherently risky, that regulations always try to quantify acceptable risk, that safety is a cost, and that test pilots have to sell their aircraft and should not try to make an aircraft safer than the rules require. It emphasizes the almost unbelievable changes in aviation in one working lifetime, whilst painting a picture of a much simpler world, now gone beyond recall.

Tony Blackman, has written a very unusual story about a mystery submarine in the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea. A Royal Australian Air Force aircraft is lost in the Torres Strait and the wreckage is found by a Royal Air Force aircraft on an exercise with the Australians. It becomes clear that the Australian and UK Governments are keeping secrets from one another and the problem is compounded as the United States is also involved. Peter Talbert, helped by Mary the RAF's aircraft navigator with a special security clearance, gradually discovers what is really happening and helps to avert what might have become a global fight.This is the sixth book in a series featuring Peter Talbert, insurance investigator. The other titles are Blind Landing, The Final Flight, The Right Choice, Flight to St Anthony and Now You See it. They will appeal to anyone who likes a mystery story as well as to the aviation enthusiast and followers of Peter Talbert will feel very much at home! People who have read one book have great difficulty not going on to read the rest.

Java Waters Run Deep, is an aviation mystery set a few years into the future. An airliner flying from Singapore to Adelaide disappears off the air traffic controllers screen 250 miles before crossing the Australian Coast. A bomb is suspected but Peter Talbert, aviation insurance expert, doesn't believe the ISIS claim that it destroyed the aircraft. Helped by the very attractive Mary French, working for the UK accident investigation team, he suspects some military involvement and shuttling between Australia and London, he slowly pieces together what actually happens and arranges a settlement. However just after the accident report is issued Mary adds another dimension to this terrible accident. This book is the seventh aviation mystery in the series and is a must for any follower of Peter Talbert and lovers of a good story. The book is right up to date dealing with current issues of locating crashed aircraft under water, multi satellite internet/phone systems with coded transmissions, over the horizon radars, ISIS and Government terrorism, unmanned aircraft and even re-organises the UK accident investigation facilities to bring them in line with USA and Australian safety organisations.

In June 2007 a very special event will happen in the aviation world. A restored Avro Vulcan Mark 2 XH558 will take to the air again to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To coincide with this the memoirs of one of its test pilots, Tony Blackman, will be published the first ever book about test flying this monumental delta-wing aircraft which dominated the history of the late 20th century. Tony is the ideal man to write such a tale as he flew no less than 105 of the 136 built, logging 850 flights at over 1,327 hours. His book will describe in laymans terms what it was like to tame the first prototypes and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcans shape. Although Tony puts the developments, demonstrations, incidents and accidents in their political and historical context, his story is a highly personal one. He explains how this awesome aircraft became a national treasure and captured the imagination of the whole country. His words, descriptions and hitherto largely unpublished photographs will make people feel as he did the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster always in the knowledge that he had to be in complete charge all the time as the monster could and did bite back.

In June 2007 a very special event will happen in the aviation world. A restored Avro Vulcan Mark 2 – XH558 – will take to the air again to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To coincide with this the memoirs of one of its test pilots, Tony Blackman, will be published – the first ever book about test flying this monumental delta-wing aircraft which dominated the history of the late 20th century. Tony is the ideal man to write such a tale as he flew no less than 105 of the 136 built, logging 850 flights at over 1,327 hours. His book will describe in layman’s terms what it was like to tame the first prototypes and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcan’s shape. Although Tony puts the developments, demonstrations, incidents and accidents in their political and historical context, his story is a highly personal one. He explains how this awesome aircraft became a national treasure and captured the imagination of the whole country. His words, descriptions and hitherto largely unpublished photographs will make people feel as he did the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster always in the knowledge that he had to be in complete charge all the time as the monster could and did bite back.

The scrapping of the Nimrod program has been one of the most controversial events in the military aviation world for many a year. For most of its operational life, from 1969 to date, its contribution to the defense of the realm and its role in offensive duties was, of necessity, often shrouded in secrecy. It was the ‘eye in the sky’ which was absolutely vital to a host of activities – from anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, to support of land battles throughout the world, to the Falklands campaign, to combating drug-running, the Nimrod’s unsung role was paramount. And now the UK is bereft of such a multi-tasking reconnaissance aircraft. The full story of the Nimrod, and its significance, now needs to be told. Tony Blackman, who was there at the beginning, test-flew nearly every aircraft and was at Kinloss on the very day the project was canceled, has written this timely book, Nimrod Rise and Fall, covering every facet of its history, its weapons system developments and its tragic accidents. He writes in an approachable way, making technical subjects understandable but his conclusions will, inevitably, not be welcomed by everyone.

Tony Blackman OBE, MA FRAeS was educated at Oundle School and Trinity College Cambridge, where he obtained an honors degree in Physics. He learnt to fly in the RAF, trained as a test pilot, and then joined A V Roe where he became chief test pilot. As an expert in aviation electronics he was subsequently invited by Smiths Industries to join their Aerospace Board, initially as technical operations director, helping to develop the new large electronic displays and flight management systems. On leaving Smiths he joined the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. He is a fellow of the American Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators. Tony Blackman – Test Pilot covers Tony’s captivating career, from the RAF, national service and learning to fly, to squadron flying and testing aircraft at Boscombe Down. Tony gives great insight into the world of the aerospace industry and what it takes to be a test pilot. The book is testament to his fascinating life in aviation during which he flew with the legendary Howard Hughes and tested hundreds of aircraft, including Avros, Shackletons, Victors and all three Vulcan bombers – an almost unique experience.

The Handley Page Victor was the third of the three V Bombers and the most long lasting, serving in the RAF until 1993, and still doing invaluable service in the first Iraq war. Moreover, in 1982 it was only the Victor tanker fleet based on Ascension Island that made possible the Vulcan Black Buck bombing of Port Stanley airfield and the long-range reconnaissance of Argentina by Nimrods. Victor Boys tells the story of all the great things that were achieved, recounted first hand by the operators themselves, aircrew and ground crew. Starting with accounts by test pilot Johnny Allam, who undertook the major development of the aircraft, through its work as a nuclear bomber during the cold war, testing Blue Steel in Australia, to its superb performance during the Falklands war and later as a first class air-to-air refueling tanker and vital support tool for fighters and other aircraft. Published to coincide with the Victor’s 60th anniversary, the gripping text is superbly illustrated with photographs from the operators themselves, never released before.

Following on from the success of Victor Boys and Vulcan Boys, Tony Blackman, in collaboration with Anthony Wright, brings you Valiant Boys to complete the V Force set. This is a fascinating collection of personal accounts of operating Britain’s first V bomber by aircrew and ground crew. The book tells the story from the aircraft’s birth taking off from Vickers’ tiny airfield at Wisley near Brooklands to its premature death from fatigue. There are tales of testing atom bombs in the Australian desert, dropping hydrogen bombs in the middle of the Pacific and, as a complete contrast, attacking airfields with conventional bombs in Egypt during the very brief and abortive Suez campaign. We are reminded of how the Valiant provided the UK’s first nuclear deterrent by always having some armed aircraft on stand-by twenty-four hours a day, supported by their air and ground crews, ready to be flown at a moment’s notice on a one-way trip to launch an atomic war. Some Valiants were given a photographic role providing accurate images from high altitude and were used not only to gather military intelligence but also to survey the UK and countries overseas. Others were developed into flight refueling tankers breaking point to point records before enabling Britain’s fighter aircraft to be refueled and fly anywhere in the world. This book completes Tony Blackman’s trilogy of the three V bombers. As Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham makes it clear in his foreword: ‘It is good to have a book written by aircrew and ground crew telling their stories and how they operated the aircraft so that all these things are recorded and not forgotten.’ Not as well known as the Vulcan and Victor, the Valiant is often overlooked; this book will go a long way to redress the balance.

The Vulcan, the second of the three V bombers built to guard the UK during the Cold War, has become an aviation icon like the Spitfire, its delta shape instantly recognizable as is the howling noise it makes when the engines are opened for takeoff. Vulcan Boys is the first Vulcan book recounted completely first hand by the operators themselves. It tells the story of the aircraft from its design conception through the Cold War when it played out its most important job as Britain’s nuclear deterrent; before unbelievably, at the end of its service life, also playing a significant role, with its bombs and missiles, in liberating the Falkland Islands for which it gained much celebrity. The individual accounts detail how hours at a time were spent on readiness, waiting to be scrambled to defend their country in the event of a third world war. In addition how their aggressive skills were honed by carrying out Lone Ranger sorties flying to the States and westward around the world, and taking part in Giant Voice and Red Flag, competitive exercises against the United States Strategic Air Command. The attacks in the Falklands using Shrike missiles are described accurately and in great detail for the first time including the landing at Rio de Janeiro alongside a vivid account of Black Buck 2. Vulcan Boys is a fascinating and completely authentic read reminding us of the Cold War, how it was fought and the considerable effort required to prevent all-out nuclear war.

Following on from the success of Victor Boys and Vulcan Boys, Tony Blackman, in collaboration with Anthony Wright, brings you Valiant Boys to complete the V Force set. This is a fascinating collection of personal accounts of operating Britains first V bomber by aircrew and ground crew. The book tells the story from the aircrafts birth taking off from Vickers tiny airfield at Brooklands to its premature death from fatigue. There are tales of testing atom bombs in the Australian desert, dropping hydrogen bombs in the middle of the Pacific and, as a complete contrast, attacking airfields with conventional bombs in Egypt during the very brief and abortive Suez campaign. We are reminded of how the Valiant provided the UKs first nuclear deterrent by always having some armed aircraft on stand-by twenty-four hours a day, supported by their air and ground crews, ready to be flown at a moments notice on a one-way trip to launch an atomic war. Some Valiants were given a photographic role providing accurate images from high altitude and were used not only to gather military intelligence but also to survey the UK and countries overseas. Others were developed into flight refuelling tankers breaking point to point records before enabling Britains fighter aircraft to be refuelled and fly anywhere in the world. This book completes Tony Blackmans trilogy of the three V bombers. As Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham makes it clear in his foreword: It is good to have a book written by aircrew and ground crew telling their stories and how they operated the aircraft so that all these things are recorded and not forgotten. Not as well known as the Vulcan and Victor, the Valiant is often overlooked; this book will go a long way to redress the balance.

The Handley Page Victor was the third of the three V Bombers and the most long lasting, serving in the RAF until 1993, and still doing invaluable service in the first Iraq war. Moreover, in 1982 it was only the Victor tanker fleet based on Ascension Island that made possible the Vulcan Black Buck bombing of Port Stanley airfield and the long-range reconnaissance of Argentina by Nimrods. Victor Boys tells the story of all the great things that were achieved, recounted first hand by the operators themselves, aircrew and ground crew. Starting with accounts by test pilot Johnny Allam, who undertook the major development of the aircraft, through its work as a nuclear bomber during the cold war, testing Blue Steel in Australia, to its superb performance during the Falklands war and later as a first class air-to-air refuelling tanker and vital support tool for fighters and other aircraft. Published to coincide with the Victors 60th anniversary, the gripping text is superbly illustrated with photographs from the operators themselves, never released before.

The Vulcan, the second of the three V bombers built to guard the UK during the Cold War, has become an aviation icon like the Spitfire, its delta shape instantly recognisable as is the howling noise it makes when the engines are opened for take-off. Vulcan Boys is the first Vulcan book recounted completely first hand by the operators themselves. It tells the story of the aircraft from its design conception through the Cold War when it played out its most important job as Britains nuclear deterrent; before unbelievably, at the end of its service life, also playing a significant role, with its bombs and missiles, in liberating the Falkland Islands for which it gained much celebrity. The individual accounts detail how hours at a time were spent on readiness, waiting to be scrambled to defend their country in the event of a third world war. In addition how their aggressive skills were honed by carrying out Lone Ranger sorties flying to the States and westward around the world, and taking part in Giant Voice and Red Flag, competitive exercises against the United States Strategic Air Command. The attacks in the Falklands using Shrike missiles are described accurately and in great detail for the first time including the landing at Rio de Janeiro alongside a vivid account of Black Buck 2. Vulcan Boys is a fascinating and completely authentic read reminding us of the Cold War, how it was fought and the considerable effort required to prevent all-out nuclear war.

Nimrod Boys is a complementary book to Nimrod Rise and Fall from acclaimed author Tony Blackman. It is a collection of over twenty first-hand accounts of operating the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod – an aircraft which served at the forefront of the Cold War. As the first jet-powered maritime aircraft, it could reach critical points for rescues or for operational requirements in rapid time. Its outstanding navigation and electronics systems also allowed the Nimrod to be a first-class machine in anti-submarine warfare.The book focuses on the Nimrod’s UK-based and worldwide operations. With detailed accounts of the Nimrod’s role during the Falklands Campaign and in later conflicts such as the First Gulf War to modern-day anti-drug smuggling operations in the Caribbean. There are also descriptions of the Nimrod’s achievements in the International Fincastle Competition – where RAF squadrons competed against counterparts from Australia, Canada and New Zealand.With a variety of perspectives on Nimrod crew life, including from a female air electronic operator, readers will find dramatic, engaging and occasionally humorous stories. One flight test observer also reflects on the cancelled Nimrod MR4 project. Nimrod Boys written by Tony Blackman with Joe Kennedy and with a foreword by AVM Andrew Roberts is more than worthy addition to the celebrated Boys series.