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.
Pan Am’s groundbreaking Boeing 707 freighter services
Pan Am was a pioneering airline in many ways with this article on its Boeing 707 -321Cs, from the June 27, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’, an example of how it was at the vanguard of exploring new opportunities
BOAC’s first DC-7C
On October 31, 1956 the initial Douglas DC-7C for BOAC touched down in the UK and ‘The Aeroplane’ was there to cast an eye over this new addition to the fleet
First sighting of a Russian Classic
The Ilyushin Il-62, which NATO assigned the reporting name of ‘Classic’, has had a lengthy career and some examples are still flying. ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’ in its October 4, 1962 issue published the first photos of the jetliner to be publicly seen in the West
First-ever jet combi scheduled service
Detailed insights into the TCA DC-8F Combi scheduled service from Montreal to London via Prestwick, which was covered in the March 7, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’
Flashback to 1963 – HS748 Sales Demo Tours
A report on two intense sales tours Hawker Siddeley sent its 748 Series 2 demonstrator, as described in the August 15, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’
Designer Tupolev’s first-hand insights into supersonic Tu-144
In an article published in the Aeroflot magazine ‘Grazhdanskaya Aviatsiya’ famous aircraft designer, A N Tupolev detailed the aeronautical engineering knowledge which led to the design adopted for the Tu-144 supersonic airliner.
BEA Heralds herald new dawn on Scottish routes
The November 15, 1962 issue of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’ reported on the introduction of the Handley Page Herald on the challenging Scottish Highlands and Islands routes operated by BEA at the time
1966 Afghanistan civil aviation flashback
A fascinating snapshot of the growing part aviation was playing in Afghanistan, as told in the July 28, 1966 ‘Aeroplane’
BEA’s first BAC One-Eleven Series 500
The BAC One-Eleven had achieved enough orders and sufficient potential for the stretched 500 series to be offered. BEA was the launch customer with details of the development of the variant explained in the February 7, 1968 issue of ‘Aeroplane’
On the wings of a (de Havilland) Dove
This intriguing flight test of a de Havilland Dove appeared in the October 7, 1960 issue of ‘The Aeroplane and Astronautics’