Aircraft Gallery

Aerial photography 1919 AFL03_aerofilms_c12930

"Wills, Shaw and Friese-Greene Ready to Film". A publicity shot for the foundation of the Aerofilms aerial photography company taken at the London Aerodrome, Hendon. Francis Lewis Wills was a former Royal Naval Air Service Observer and co-founder of Aerofilms. Claude Friese-Greene, holding the cine-camera, was technical director for Aerofilms in its early days, but is best known as a pioneering cinematographer. We know very little about Shaw, the pilot, probably an AirCo employee. K-109 was a biplane built and owned by AirCo - in 1920 the company was taken over by De Haviland and this model became the DH9b. Aerofilms Collection (see Links)

© Historic England

Red Arrows over Birmingham International JLP01_10_16460

Birmingham International Airport, Elmdon, Birmingham, Bickenhill, Solihull, West Midlands. A Hawker Siddenley Andover aircraft on the runway at Birmingham International Airport, with the Red Arrows flying overhead.
Construction of a new terminal building, extensions to runways, aprons, and a new noise barrier at Birmingham Airport began in May 1981. Also built was a services block, raised piers, a fire station, a control tower, and the Maglev system linking the airport with Birmingham railway station. The official handover ceremony took place in January 1984 and the site was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1984. The photograph was taken before the disembarkation of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip ahead of the official opening of the new terminal building and Maglev system

© Historic England Archive

Flying Boat JRU01_01_109

TOWER BRIDGE, TOWER HILL, TOWER HAMLETS, GREATER LONDON. A Short Sunderland flying boat on the River Thames at Tower Bridge, with the bridge in the background, during the Battle of Britain Week.
The Battle of Britain Week was an annual celebration by the Royal Air Force of the victory in September 1940. In 1951 it ran from 10th - 16th September, and included a fly-past over London on 15th September. The Short Sunderland was developed by Short Brothers as a flying boat and patrol bomber for the RAF, and was introduced in 1938. A Sunderland was shown on the River Thames every September in the 1950s as part of the Battle of Britain Week celebration, until the aircraft type was retired from the RAF in the late 1950s. In 1951, a Sunderland flying boat was moored on the River Thames opposite the Tower of London from 12th September

© Historic England Archive