The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936.
The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the Typhoon II, was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to address the Typhoon's unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude by replacing its wing with a thinner laminar flow design. Since it had diverged considerably from the Typhoon, it was renamed Tempest. The Tempest emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II and at low altitude was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war.
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric. After EE merged with other aircraft manufacturers to form the British Aircraft Corporation it was marketed as the BAC Lightning. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Kuwait Air Force (KAF), and the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF).
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph.
The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first known as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems. It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft.
The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by a single jet engine.
The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical combat aircraft, it was procured as a trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as well as by export customers, who used the Gnat in both combat and training capacities.
The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design originated from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk was the company's first jet aircraft.
The Supermarine Swift was a British single-seat jet fighter aircraft that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many of the new jet age innovations, such as a swept wing. On 26 September 1953, a Swift F.4 piloted by Commander Mike Lithgow broke the world absolute speed record, reaching a speed of 737.7 mph (1,187 km/h).
The Hawker Fury is a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft, and the first interceptor in RAF service faster than 200 mph (320 km/h) in level flight. It was the fighter counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber.
Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed the Fighting Cocks, was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous "aces". The squadron last operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland, in the air defence role, until it was disbanded in July 2009.
Number 54 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. On 1 September 2005, it took on the role of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operational Conversion Unit, and is now the Advanced Air ISTAR Academy, responsible for training all RAF crews assigned to the MQ-9A Reaper, Protector RG1 (MQ-9B), Shadow R1/R2, RC-135W Rivet Joint and Poseidon MRA1. It also controls the RAF ISR Warfare School (ISRWS) who run the Qualified Weapons Instructor Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and QWI Reaper Courses.
Royal Air Force Brawdy, or more simply RAF Brawdy, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1944 and 1992; it was used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy (1946–1971), before the site was turned over to the British Army and renamed Cawdor Barracks.
The CAC Sabre, sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CA-27, is an Australian variant of the North American Aviation F-86F Sabre fighter aircraft. The F-86F was redesigned and built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). Equipping five RAAF squadrons, the type saw action in the Malayan Emergency in the late 1950s, and was employed for air defence in Malaysia and Thailand in the 1960s. Ex-RAAF models also saw service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the Indonesian Air Force.
736 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was most recently recommissioned at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose in June 2013 to fly the BAE Systems Hawk, mainly in the maritime aggressor role, following the disbandment of the Fleet Requirements and Aircraft Direction Unit (FRADU) and operated up until March 2022. It initially formed as the School of Air Combat in May 1943 at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton. In September 1943 it moved to HMS Vulture, RNAS St Merryn, where it became the Fighter Combat School and it created an independent 'B' Flight for fighter affiliation work between March and September 1945. 736 Naval Air Squadron moved to HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose in February 1950 as the Naval Air Fighter School in the 52nd Training Air Group, but disbanded in August 1952. Immediately the following day, the squadron reformed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose out of 702 Naval Air Squadron as an Advanced Jet Flying School and in November 1953 it moved to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth. 736 Naval Air Squadron disbanded there in March 1965, but what was left became 764 Naval Air Squadron ‘B’ Flight. The squadron reformed the same day at Lossiemouth from 809 Naval Air Squadron as a Jet Strike Training Squadron. 1966. In March 1967, its aircraft were part of the group that bombed and set on fire the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon aground and leaking crude oil on Seven Sisters rocks off Cornwall. The squadron disbanded in February 1972.
Michael Henry Bruce Snelling is a former British fighter pilot, test pilot and airline pilot.
738 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA), which last disbanded during May 1970 at HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Brawdy. It initially formed as a Pilot Training Squadron formed at HMS Asbury, RNAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, in February 1943. The squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston, Maine, United States, at the end of July 1943 and also providing advanced carrier training to American-trained Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) pilots and it later provided complete Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance (TBR) aircrew for Grumman Avenger FAA squadrons. The squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, in February 1945 and disbanded there in July 1945. 738 Naval Air Squadron was next active as part of the Naval Air Fighter School, between May 1950 and March 1954, providing newly qualified FAA pilots the operational techniques of air-to-air and air-to-ground firing. It had formed at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall, England, moving to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth in 1953. It reformed in April 1954 at HMS Fulmar and now the squadron’s role was to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was also responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet aircraft. It became an Advanced Flying Training Squadron in June 1962 providing training for low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training.
764 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It initially formed in April 1940, at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent, as an Advance Seaplane Training Squadron. The Squadron moved to RAF Pembroke Dock in July 1940, and later to HMS Daedalus II, RNAS Lawrenny Ferry in October 1941 and remaining there until the Squadron disbanded in November 1943. It reformed at HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport, in February 1944, as the User Trials Unit, however, the squadron was decommissioned for the second time in September 1945. 764 Naval Air Squadron reformed again, at HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth, in May 1953, where it became an Advanced Training Unit. It moved to HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton, in September 1953, where it received its first jet aircraft. In November 1954 the Squadron disbanded.
