Aeroplane Archive
The Key.Aero team have delved for treasure in the archive of Aeroplane Magazine dating back to 1911. Aviation history brought to life by the editors of the period.
New Zealand Bristol 170 Freighters Excel
An article in the January 12, 1967 issue of ‘Aeroplane’ looked at the expanding workload of New Zealand’s Straits Air Freight Express (SAFE) and its growing fleet of Bristol 170 freighters
The wartime trainer nobody wanted
Not only did Heston’s T1/37 trainer look faintly outsized for its role, but the requirement to which it was built seems to have been taken less than seriously by the Air Ministry
Aeroplane Meets...Stewart Dawson
One of the USA’s most experienced warbird pilots has been the ‘go-to guy’ for all kinds of historic aeroplanes, and a Reno racer to boot
BOAC Chairman’s Comet insights
The Chairman of BOAC gave his view from the top on the first jetliner as the Comet entered commercial service in this article he penned for ‘The Aeroplane’s’ May 2, 1952 issue
Nordair L-188 Electras – Hunting icebergs
A good view of the initial ice patrol modifications made by Nordair to its L-188C Electras: an under-fuselage radome taken from a CP-107 Argus, an astrodome that used to be a Sabre canopy, and bulging observation windows. Observers would take hour-long turns in the upper ‘bubble’.
The competition that tried to make flying safer
In the inter-war aviation industry’s efforts to improve the safety of commercial aeroplanes, a one-off contest in the USA sought to play its part — but it wasn’t without trouble and controversy
How the de Havilland Comet thrust MEA into the Jet Age
In early 1961 Middle East Airlines (MEA) introduced into service its first jet in the Comet 4C. The January 13 issue ‘The Aeroplane and Astronautics’ reported on how the airline had prepared for a new era
First impressions of Comet flying
Before the Comet entered service four of ‘The Aeroplane’s’ staff had flown in the jet and gave their thoughts in the May 2, 1952 edition on what this new form of travel was like compared with propeller-driven airliners
Meeting of the Comets
Only once did the two Comets, DH88 and DH106, fly together — and it was 30 years ago this year
Round the World in a Comet in 1992
Some said it couldn’t be done — that this old aircraft would fail somewhere along the way. However, the Defence Research Agency’s Comet 4 XV814 defied the doubters and, in the summer of 1992, made it round the world. The then head of experimental flying at Farnborough recalled a memorable trip in the May 2016 issue of ‘Aeroplane’