Today's Royal Air Force.

James M Sandbrook

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Today's Royal Air Force - In Colour

Review written by J M Sandbrook. - ‎Tuesday, ‎3 ‎June ‎2003, ‏‎10:12:12 AM.

First published in the UK 1987 by Blandford Press

Link House, West Street, Poole, Dorset BH15 ILL

Photographs International - Swindon

Distributed in the United States by

Sterling Publishing Co, Inc,

2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016

ISBN 0 7137 1644 4 (Hardback)

Contents:

Introduction 7

RAF Strike Command 11

No 1 Group 13

Hercules 33

Air-To-Air Refueling 46

No 11 Group 51

No 18 Group 71

Nimrod 74

Search & Rescue 80

Overseas Bases 86

RAF Germany 88

RAF Support Command 100

Central Flying School 108

Air Cadets 112

RAF Regiment 123

Index 127

127 pages.

The book is divided into three parts and each part covers a major RAF Command.

The three parts are:

Strike Command.

RAF Germany.
Support Command.

This is a well presented book about the RAF that is full of wonderful timeless photos.

There is a certain beauty that can be found when an enthusiast views colour and black and white photos of aircraft and this beauty can be found in this book.

Whether the plane is stationary or in flight it doesn't make much difference, the creations made by man to fly against the forces of nature are full of aerodynamic curves and art.

At the beginning of the book is a photo of the past and present. Its a photo of a Tornado F.2 in formation with a Spitfire. They are flying over the countryside. The effect of showing the Spitfire with the Tornado over the countryside is majestic and full of history.

The Tornado uses a jet engine while the Spitfire is a piston engined driven aircraft.

The above mentioned photo is an example of how you are able to view the changes that mankind has made to create these two planes from different parts of our worlds history.

Both planes were designed for a purpose and both planes are works of art.

Each photo has an interesting paragraph or two of information about the photo which helps the reader to understand more about the contents of the photo.

There is lots to learn about the RAF and how they go about business which is useful if you are a student writing a study on the RAF or air warfare.

Each chapter has more information about what the chapter covers.

Example:

Nimrod:

'Power is supplied by four 12,500 lb Rolls-Royce Spey 250 turbojets, enabling the Nimrod to transit to the search area at speeds in excess of 400 knots and an altitude of about 30,000 ft - much faster than any of its contemporaries.'

'The RAF's Maritime Nimrod force is split between RAF Kinloss, with Nos 120, 201 and 206 Squadrons, in the North and RAF St Mawgan in the South, with No 42 Squadron and No 237 OCU.'

As you can read from the small examples above that this information is helpful for those doing studies on the RAF or in this case the Hawker Siddelely Nimrod itself.

This is an easy book to browse through and read at leisure, while at the same time it has lots of useful information for the enthusiast.

I have enjoyed reading the book and looking at the exciting photos, I am sure if you have an interest in this area, that you will also enjoy a look at this book as well.