FARNBOROUGH: 100 Years of British Aviation

Home to the famous biennial Farnborough Air Show, this Hampshire town has had a pivotal role in the history of British aviation from 1905 when flying first commenced there.
In 1908 His Majesty’s Balloon Factory was set up. This was replaced by the Royal Aviation Factory, later renamed the Royal Aeronautical Establishment to differentiate it from the Royal Air Force. The RAE rapidly expanded and was the scene of many significant developments in British aviation for many decades. After the Second World War it played host to a considerable variety of aircraft, including a number of Axis types captured during the war. Farnborough’s role as a development base continued after the war, although the name ‘RAE’ was to disappear when this part of Britain’s defence establishment was reorganised. This led to the creation of DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency) which was later partially privatised as QinetiQ. This is a fully illustrated history of Farnborough from 1905 onwards. It portrays in words and over 400 mono and colour illustrations the airfield and the aircraft associated with it. In the course of his research, the author has unearthed a large number of previously unpublished images which appear in the book.

Author: Peter J Cooper 
Format: HB 192 pages
Publisher: Midland Publishing
Pub date: July 2006 
ISBN 10: 185780239X
ISBN 13: 9781857802399