(Boulton Paul) Defiant @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant
    Boulton Paul Defiant
  • Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn
    Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn
  • Defiant Mk I - 264 Sqn<br>Kirton in Lindsey Defiant Mk I - 264 Sqn<br>Kirton in Lindsey
    Defiant Mk I - 264 Sqn
    Kirton in Lindsey
  • Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
    Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
  • Boulton Paul<br>Defiant Mk II Boulton Paul<br>Defiant Mk II
    Boulton Paul
    Defiant Mk II
  • RAF Museum RAF Museum
    RAF Museum
  • Turret Turret
    Turret
  • Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant
    Boulton Paul Defiant
  • Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940 Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940
    Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940
  • Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940 Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940
    Boulton Paul Defiant - 1940
  • RAF Kirton in Lindsey RAF Kirton in Lindsey
    RAF Kirton in Lindsey
  • RAF Museum RAF Museum
    RAF Museum
  • Rolls-Royce Merlin - 125 Sqn RAF at Fairwood Rolls-Royce Merlin - 125 Sqn RAF at Fairwood
    Rolls-Royce Merlin - 125 Sqn RAF at Fairwood
  • Boulton Paul Defiant - Royal Navy Boulton Paul Defiant - Royal Navy
    Boulton Paul Defiant - Royal Navy
  • Sqn Leader P A Hunter (left) CO of 264 Sqn Sqn Leader P A Hunter (left) CO of 264 Sqn
    Sqn Leader P A Hunter (left) CO of 264 Sqn
  • Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
    Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
  • Defiant TT Mk III target tug - 1944 Defiant TT Mk III target tug - 1944
    Defiant TT Mk III target tug - 1944
  • Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant
    Boulton Paul Defiant
  • Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn RAF<br>Kirton-in-Lindsey Lincolnshire - 1940 Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn RAF<br>Kirton-in-Lindsey Lincolnshire - 1940
    Boulton Paul Defiant - 264 Sqn RAF
    Kirton-in-Lindsey Lincolnshire - 1940

Boulton Paul Defiant

The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any forward-firing guns. It was a contemporary of the Royal Navy's Blackburn Roc. The concept of a turret fighter related directly to the successful First World War-era Bristol F.2 Fighter.

In practice, the Defiant was found to be reasonably effective as a bomber–destroyer, but vulnerable to the Luftwaffe's more agile, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Lack of forward armament proved to be a major weakness in daylight combat and its potential was only realized when it switched to night combat. It was supplanted in the night fighter role by the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito. The Defiant found use in gunnery training, target towing, electronic countermeasures (ECM) and air-sea rescue. Among RAF pilots it had the nickname "Daffy".

Design and development

The concept of a turret-armed defensive fighter emerged in 1935, at a time when the RAF anticipated having to defend Great Britain against massed formations of unescorted enemy bombers. Advances in aircraft design during the 1920s and 1930s had resulted in a generation of multi-engined bombers that were faster than the single-engined biplane fighters in service. The RAF believed that its turret-armed bombers, such as the Vickers Wellington, would be able to penetrate enemy airspace and defend themselves without fighter escort and also that the German Luftwaffe would be able to do the same.

In theory, turret-armed fighters would approach an enemy bomber from below or from the side and coordinate their fire. The separation of the tasks of flying the aircraft and firing the guns would allow the pilot to concentrate on putting the fighter into the best position while the gunner could engage the enemy. Previously the Hawker Demon had tested the concept with 59 of the biplane fighters (manufactured by Boulton Paul under a sub-contract) equipped with a powered rear turret while the remainder of the series already manufactured were converted.

Air Ministry Specification F.9/35 required a two-seater day and night "turret fighter" capable of 290 mph at 15,000 ft. It followed the earlier F.5/33 which was for a pusher design with a front turret. F.5/33 had been abandoned as it offered little over existing fighters and the Armstrong Whitworth AW.34 design which had been ordered was not completed.

P.82

Boulton Paul, who had considerable experience with turrets from their earlier Overstrand bomber, submitted their P.82 design. Of the seven designs tendered, the P.82 was ranked second after Hawker's but ahead of Armstrong Whitworth's twin-engined design. The Air Ministry wanted several designs investigated and two prototypes of each. The Treasury agreed to seven prototypes (two Hawker, two Boulton Paul, two Fairey and one Armstrong Whitworth). Nonetheless, only prototypes of the P.82 and Hawker were built. Production orders were prepared for the Hawker but the Boulton Paul turret had the Air Ministry's attention. Delays by Hawker who were more focused on the Hurricane led to the P.82 receiving a production order in 1937 and the Hotspur order was cancelled in 1938.

The P.82 was a monocoque design constructed by bolting the sections together. This was the same as BP had used on other aircraft. The design had room for small bombs in recesses in the outer wing. Some of the development work from their B.1/35 tender carried over into the P.82

The central feature of the P.82 was the four-gun turret based on a design by French aviation company SAMM which had been licensed by Boulton Paul for use in the earlier Boulton Paul Sidestrand bomber but eventually installed in the "follow-up" design, the Boulton Paul Overstrand and Blackburn Roc naval fighter. The turret, 'Type A' was an electro-hydraulically powered "drop-in" unit with a crank-operated mechanical backup. The Defiant was armed with a powered dorsal turret, equipped with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns. The fuselage was fitted with aerodynamic fairings that helped mitigate the drag of the turret; they were pneumatically powered and could be lowered into the fuselage so that the turret could rotate freely. The Brownings were electrically fired and insulated cut-off points in the turret ring prevented the guns firing when they were pointing at the propeller disc or tailplane. The gunner could rotate the turret directly forward and transfer firing control of the guns to the pilot, with the guns firing along each side of the cockpit canopy. However, in practice this was rarely done as the turret's minimum forward elevation was 19° and the pilot did not have a gunsight.

The gunner's hatch was in the rear of the turret, which had to be rotated to a side to enable entry and exit. There was not enough room in the turret for the gunner to wear a seat-type or back pack parachute so gunners were provided with a special all-in-one garment nicknamed the "rhino suit". To quote Frederick "Gus" Platts, air gunner in 230, 282 and 208 squadrons, "The Rhino suit we had to wear on Defiants was a bear but I couldn't come up with an alternative, even though it killed dozens of us. I forget the details of it but we could not have sat on our chute or even keep it nearby as in other turrets, so you wore – all in one – an inner layer that fitted a little like a wetsuit of today. The chute fitted around this, and then the dinghy and the outer clothing. There was inner webbing and pockets that literally fell apart (I presume) when one bailed out".

The first P.82 prototype (K8310) was rolled out in 1937 without its turret, looking like the Hawker Hurricane, although it was at least 1,500 lb (680 kg) heavier. A clean, simple and compact monoplane structure had been achieved with main landing gear retracting into a broad mainplane section. The pilot's cockpit and rear turret were faired into a streamlined upper fuselage section. Fuel was carried in the wing centre section along with a large ventral radiator that completed the resemblance to the Hawker fighter. With a 1,030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin I, the newly named Defiant prototype first flew on 11 August 1937, nearly a year ahead of the Hotspur. A second prototype, K8620 equipped with a turret was modified with telescopic radio masts, revision to the canopy and changes to the undercarriage fairing plates.

Completing its acceptance tests with the turret installed, the Defiant reached a top speed of 302 mph (486 km/h) and subsequently was declared the victor of the turret fighter competition. Apart from detail changes, the production Defiant Mk I looked similar to the two Defiant prototypes. As Boulton Paul were busy producing the Blackburn Roc naval turret fighter, the Defiant's service entry was delayed to such an extent that only three aircraft had reached the RAF by the start of the war. The Mk I was powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin III (1,030 hp/768 kW or 1,160 hp/865 kW) with a total of 713 aircraft built.

P.85

The P.85 was Boulton Paul's tender to Specification O.30/35 for the naval turret fighter. A version of the Defiant for Fleet Air Arm (FAA); it had a deeper fuselage and leading edge slats for lower landing speeds required of carrier aircraft. The engine would be either a Bristol Hercules radial or the Merlin. Despite a higher estimated top speed, the Blackburn Roc was selected. With Blackburn already busy producing other projects, the detail design and production of the Roc was given to Boulton Paul. The only FAA use of the Defiant was as the target tug version.

P.94

The first Defiant prototype had not been initially fitted with a turret and therefore had an impressive top speed. In 1940, Boulton Paul removed the turret from the prototype as a demonstrator for a fixed-gun fighter based on Defiant components. The armament offered was either 12 .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns (six per wing) or four 20 mm Hispano replacing eight of the Brownings. The guns could be depressed for ground attack. By that time, the RAF had sufficient quantities of Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfire and did not require a new single-seat fighter. With a calculated top speed of about 360 mph (579 km/h) at 21,700 ft, the P.94 was almost as fast as a contemporary Spitfire although less manoeuvrable.

Operational history

Air combat

In October 1939, No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron was reformed at RAF Sutton Bridge to operate the Defiant. Initial training and development of tactics began with other aircraft as it received its first Defiants only in early December at Martlesham Heath. They began night fighter training in February 1940. The squadron tested its tactics against British medium bombers – Hampdens and Blenheims – and 264's CO flew against Robert Stanford Tuck in a Spitfire, showing that the Defiant could defend itself by circling and keeping its speed up. By March, 264 Squadron had two flights operational with Defiants and No. 141 Squadron received its first Defiant. When the Defiant was first introduced to the public, the RAF put out a disinformation campaign, stating that the Defiant had 21 guns: four in the turret, fourteen in the wings and three cannon in the nose.

The first operational sortie came on 12 May 1940. Defiants flew with six Spitfires of 66 Sqn, and a Ju-88 was shot down over the Netherlands. The following day, in a patrol that was a repetition of the first, Defiants claimed four Ju 87s, but were subsequently attacked by Bf 109Es. The escorting Spitfires were unable to prevent five of the six Defiants being shot down by a frontal attack.

During the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, the squadron was forward-based at RAF Manston, as one of the 16 squadrons that No. 11 Group had available to cover the evacuation. On the 27th 264 Sqn claimed three He 111 and two damaged. On the 28th, shortly after takeoff, ten Defiants were attacked by about 30 Bf 109s – forming a circle, they claimed six German fighters for the loss of three Defiants.

The Defiant was initially successful against enemy aircraft. Its best day was 29 May 1940, when No. 264 Sqn claimed 37 kills in two sorties: 19 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, mostly picked off as they came out of their dives, nine Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engined heavy fighters, eight Bf 109s, and a Ju-88. One Defiant gunner was lost after he bailed out, although the aircraft made it back to its base to be repaired.

Initially, Luftwaffe fighters suffered losses when "bouncing" flights of Defiants from the rear, apparently mistaking them for Hurricanes. The German pilots were unaware of the Defiant's rear-firing armament and encountered concentrated defensive fire. With a change in Luftwaffe tactics, opposing fighters were able to outmanoeuvre the Defiant and attack it from below or dead ahead, where the turret offered no defence. Defiant losses quickly mounted, particularly among the gunners, who were often unable to leave stricken aircraft. The additional weight of the turret and the second crewman plus the aerodynamic drag gave the Defiant a lower performance than conventional single-seat fighter aircraft.

According to the book "The Turret Fighters" by aviation historian Alec Brew, 264 Sqn. developed a counter against single-seat aircraft such as the Bf 109. By flying in an ever-descending Lufbery circle, Defiant crews sacrificed the advantage of height but eliminated the possibility of attack from underneath, while giving 360° of defensive fire. This tactic was used successfully by 264 Sqn. but when the Defiants of 141 Sqn were committed to combat a few months later during the Battle of Britain, it chose to ignore their advice - with devastating consequences. On 19 July 1940, seven out of nine Defiants of 141 Sqn sent to cover a convoy off Folkestone were shot down by Bf 109s of JG 51 and the remaining two only survived, one badly damaged, thanks to the intervention of Hurricanes of 111 Sqn. The Hurricanes reported that the Defiants had shot down four Bf 109s. Although 264 Squadron claimed 48 kills in eight days over Dunkirk, the cost was high with 14 Defiants lost. The actual German losses were no more than 12 to 15 aircraft; the turret's wide angle of fire meant that several Defiants could engage the same target at one time, leading to multiple claims.

On 26 August, 264 Squadron engaged a formation of 12 Dornier Do 17 bombers over north-eastern Kent, but was attacked by a large formation of Bf 109s. Three aircraft were lost (two to ace Hpt. Gunther Lutzow of JG 3) but six Do 17s and a Bf 109 were shot down. Three of those victories were awarded to one Defiant, crewed by Flight Sergeants E. R. Thorn (pilot) and F. J. Barker (air gunner). They shot down two Do 17s but were then engaged by a Bf 109 which set their Defiant on fire; however, they managed to shoot down the German fighter before making a forced landing. For this, they were awarded a bar to the Distinguished Flying Medal.

The squadron lost a further five aircraft (to JG 26) on 28 August, with the deaths of nine crew members. With these losses, the Defiant – which had been intended from the start as a day and night fighter – was transferred to night operations, and there it achieved some success.

Defiant night fighters typically attacked enemy bombers from below, in a similar manoeuvre to the later successful German Schräge Musik methods. Defiants attacked more often from slightly ahead or to one side, rather than from directly under the tail. During the winter Blitz on London of 1940–41, the Defiant equipped four squadrons, shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other type. The turret-fighter concept was not immediately discarded and the fitting of Defiant-type turrets to Beaufighter and Mosquito night fighters was tried to enable these aircraft to duplicate these methods, but the effect on performance proved drastic and the idea was abandoned. The Defiant Mk II model was fitted with the AI Mk. IV Airborne Interception radar and a Merlin XX engine. A total of 207 Mk II Defiants were built.

Other roles

After trials in 1940 with the School of Army Co-operation to assess its capabilities in that role, the Defiant was tested as a high-speed gunnery trainer with the Air Ministry agreeing to continue production. The Defiant was removed from combat duties in 1942 and used for training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue.

Two types of electronic countermeasures equipment were carried by the Defiant, both countering the German Freya early warning radar. The first system to be deployed was "Moonshine", which re-transmitted the radar's signals to simulate large formations of aircraft. As each "Moonshine" transmitter only covered part of the Freya's frequency, a formation of eight Defiants was needed, giving the appearance of over 100 aircraft. As the system required formation flying, it could only be used in daylight, where it could draw German fighters onto British fighters leaving another area relatively free for a British bombing raid. A "Special Duties Flight" was set up in May 1942 to use the new countermeasures equipment, with "Moonshine" being used for its first live test on 6 August 1942. Subsequently it was used operationally as part of "Circuses" against coastal targets and on 19 August in support of the Dieppe Raid. The Flight became No. 515 Squadron RAF on 1 October 1942, operations with "Moonshine" continuing until November 1942.

515 Squadron continued operations with the second countermeasures system, "Mandrel", a noise jammer which overwhelmed the signals from Freya. Individual Defiants were sent to orbit positions 50 miles (80 km) off the enemy coast. By using nine aircraft a 200-mile (320-km) gap could be made in the Germans' radar coverage. 515 Squadron flew its first mission using Mandrel on the night of 5/6 December 1942, continuing to use its Defiants for jamming operations until the spring of 1943, when it began to receive twin-engined Bristol Beaufighters which had longer range and could carry more electronic equipment. The Defiant flew its last jamming mission on 17 July 1943, with one aircraft being lost out of four sent out that night.

In air-sea rescue the Defiant was equipped with a pair of underwing pods that contained dinghies. A further 140 Defiant Mk III aircraft were built; this model lacked the dorsal turret and was used as a target tug. Many of the surviving Mk I and Mk II Defiants also had their turrets removed.

In this final target towing variant, the Defiant ended up with a number of overseas assignments with both the RAF and Fleet Air Arm in the Middle East, Africa and India. Further deployments occurred to Canada, where the Defiant was used as a target tug and trainer with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Defiants were also used for "special" work including tactical evaluations with the RAF Gunnery Research Unit and the Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) at Farnborough. Two Defiants were issued for ejection seat development work; to R Malcolm Ltd and Martin-Baker. On 11 May 1945, Martin-Baker used Defiant DR944 to test their first ejection seat with dummy launches.

The last operational use of Defiants was in India, where they were used as target tugs.

Variants

  • Defiant Mk I : Two-seat turret fighter for the RAF, powered by a 1,030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin III piston engine; 723 built.
  • Defiant NF Mk I : Defiant Mk I converted into night fighters
  • Defiant NF Mk IA : NF Mk I with Airborne Interception radar.
  • Defiant ASR Mk I : Mk I carrying air-dropped dinghies for air-sea rescue.
  • Defiant TT Mk I : Defiant Mk IIs converted to target tugs; 150 conversions.
  • Defiant Mk II : Two-seat night fighter for the RAF, powered by a 1,280 hp (954 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin XX piston engine, and fitted with the AI Mk IV airborne interception radar; 210 built.
  • Defiant TT Mk III : Dedicated turret-less target tug; 140 built from new.

Operators

Australia, India British India, Canada, Poland, United Kingdom, United States.

Survivors

The single surviving complete example of the type is a Defiant I, N1671, on display as a night fighter at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, London. It was one of four Defiants delivered to No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron at RAF Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England on 17 September 1940. It was passed to No. 153 Squadron at the end of October 41 and 285 Sqn in 1942. In 1954 it was identified for storage as a historical aircraft and passed to the RAF Museum in 1971.

The aircraft was moved on 20 May 2009 to Rochester Airport, where it was restored by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society (MAPS). It was returned to Hendon on 6 December 2012.

Major parts of at least two other Defiants survive; N1766 and N3378, both Mk Is.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Boulton Paul Defiant of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (Mk I)

  • Crew : two : pilot, gunner.
  • Length : 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m).
  • Height : 11 ft 4 in (3.46 m).
  • Wingspan : 39 ft 4 in (12 m).
  • Wing area : 250 ft² (23.2 m²).
  • Wing loading : 33.27 lb/ft² (163 kg/m²).
  • Empty weight : 6,078 lb (2,763 kg).
  • Loaded weight : 8,318 lb (3,781 kg).
  • Max. takeoff weight : 8,600 lb (3,909 kg).
  • Maximum speed : 304 mph (264 kts, 489 km/h) at 17,000 ft (5,180 m).
  • Cruise speed : 175 mph (152 kts, 282 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,570 m).
  • Range : 465 mi (404 nmi, 749 km).
  • Endurance : 1.45 hr.
  • Service ceiling : 31,000 ft (9,250 m).
  • Power/mass : 0.124 hp/lb (204 W/kg).
  • Climb to 15,000 ft (4,600 m) : 8.5 min.
  • Powerplant : One Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V12 engine.
  • Power : 1,030 hp (768 kW).
  • Armament : Four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in hydraulically powered dorsal turret (600 rpg).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Boulton Paul Defiant of Wikipedia ( authors )
Boulton Paul Defiant : Your comments on this subject
Powered by Disqus
Top
Legal Credits FAQ Help Site Map

Terms of use for the services available on this site

By using this Website, Users agree to the following terms of use and rules :

Definitions

  • Webmaster : Head Administrator with all authority over the management and development of the Website.
  • Administrator : Anyone that was given by the Webmaster full or partial access to the Website's structure or with moderation rights on messages posted by Users.
  • User or Visitor : Any person visiting the Website pages.
  • Website : The following provisions apply to a single Website accessible via the www.aircraftube.com, www.aircraftube.org, www.aircraftube.net and www.all-aircraft.com. URL's
  • Service : All free informations and tools contained on the Website.
  • Comments : All text written by users on Blogs and comment pages available on the Website.
  • Media : All media available on or through the Website. One must distinguish the local media (photos, curves, drawings) and the external media (videos) which the Website refers.

    • Purpose of this site

    The purpose of this non-commercial site is purely educational. Reflecting a passion, it is also there to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives, their health or energy in the name of freedom, aviation safety or simply our passenger comfort.

    Copyright

    Some media may have escaped the vigilance of Administrators with regard to copyrights. If a user reports copyright infringement, he will be asked to prove that he is indeed the rights's owner for the concerned media. If so, his decision on the Administrator's next action will be respected: A total suppression of the Media on the Website, or the addition of some owner's reference. The publication of a media on the internet normally having as a goal to make it visible to many people, the Administrators expect in any case that the second option will be most often chosen.

    Pursuant to the Law on copyright and related rights, the user has the right to download and reproduce information on the Website for personal use and provided that the source is mentionned. They cannot however be used for commercial or advertising purposes.

    Using Blogs and filing comments

  • Moderator : The Administrator reserves the right to prevent the publication of comments that are not directly related to the Service without providing any explanation. Similarly, all insults, out of scope or unethical material will be banned.
  • Identification : Persons wishing to post a comment or use any form of contact are required to provide identification by the means of a valid e-mail address.
  • Responsibilities : Comments are posted on the Website under the unique responsability of their authors and the Administrators may in no case be liable for any statements or claims that the users might have issued.

    • As the comment system is hosted and maintained on servers external to the Website, the Administrators may in no circumstances be held responsible for the use that administrators of these servers or other third parties may have with those comments or filed data.

    Content Liability

    The Administrators carefully check the reliability of the sources used. They cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy of any information contained on the Website, partly because of the multiple sources from which they come.

    JavaScript and cookies - Storing information

    This Website imperatively uses JavaScript and cookies to function properly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Website for the retention or disclosure of personal information about Visitors. Exceptions to this rule will involve storing the Users banned for inappropriate comments they might have given as well as contact information for Users wishing to subscribe to future newsletters.

    When a user accesses the Website, the corresponding servers may automatically collect certain data, such as IP address, date and time of Website access, viewed pages and the type of browser used. This information is kept only for the purpose of measuring the number of visitors to the different sections of the site and make improvements.

    Donations - Advertising

    To continue providing the Service for free, the Webmaster reserves the right to insert advertising or promotional messages on any page of the Site. In the same idea, any donations will only by used to cover the running costs of the site, such as hosting, connection fees, hardware and software necessary for the development and maintenance of the Website.

    Links and other websites

    Administrators shall in no case be liable for the non-availability of websites operated by third parties to which users would access through the Website.

    Administrators assume no liability for any content, advertising, products and/or services available on such third party websites. It is reminded that those sites are governed by their own terms of use.

    Placing a link to third party sites or authorize a third party to include a link on their website refering to this Website does not mean that the Administrators recommend in any way the products or services offered by these websites.

    Modifications

    The Webmaster reserves the right to modify at any time without notification the present terms of use as well as all content or specific functionality that the Website offers.

    The modified terms and conditions immediately apply to the using Visitor when changes come online. Visitors are invited to consult the site regularly on the most current version of the terms and conditions

    Governing Law and Jurisdiction

    These general conditions are governed by Belgian law.

    In case of dispute regarding the interpretation and/or execution of the above terms, the parties agree that the courts of the district of Nivelles, Belgium shall have exclusive jurisdiction power.

    Credits page

    Wikipedia.org

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia.

    Youtube

    YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos.

    Special thanks to all Youtube quality aviation vids providers, specially (Those I forgot, please excuse me or report) :

    Airboyd
    Andys Video
    Aviation videos archives
    Bomberguy
    Classic Aviation TV
    Historical Aviation Film Unit
    Horsemoney
    Jaglavaksoldier
    Joluqa Malta
    Just Planes
    Koksy
    Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture
    Memorial Flight
    Octane130
    Okrajoe
    SDASM archives
    Spottydog4477
    The Aviators TV
    Valentin Izagirre Bengoetxea
    Vexed123
    VonBerlich
    Zenos Warbirds

    Bundesarchiv

    The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany.

    FAQ

    I don't see my comments any more!

    Please note that each page has it's own comment entry. So, if you enter a comment i.e. on the B-747, you will only see it on that related page.

    General comments are accessed via the "BLOG En" button.

    Comments are moderated, so please allow some delay before they appear, specially if you are outside Europe.

    Menus are developing below the page, because they are too long!

    But they remain accessible, for example by scrolling the mouse wheel, or with your finger (on the menu) on a smartphone or tablet.

    I see adds on all videos.

    Use a good free add remover software.

    The site is loading random pages at startup.

    We think it is a good way to bring back the memory of aircraft, persons or events sometimes quite forgotten.

    HELP PAGE

    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).