Aircraft encyclopedia: United Kingdom

Aircraft models with their history, specifications and variants.

Airwolfhound (CC BY SA), vía commons
Air Historical Branch-RAF (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Valder137 (CC BY), vía commons
Senior Aircraftman Angel Clarke (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Fighter · 1936
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is the British single-seat fighter with which the Royal Air Force fought the Second World War from beginning to end, and the aeroplane in which Britain invests its memory of 1940. It was designed by R. J. Mitchell…
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Airliner · 1936
Short Empire
The Short Empire was a four-engined monoplane flying boat developed by Short Brothers in the 1930s for Britain's imperial routes, carrying passengers and mail across two decks. Imperial Airways, BOAC, Qantas and TEAL operated it until…
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Flickr use "the real Kam75" : https://www.flickr.com/photos/perry-pics (CC BY SA), vía commons
Sgt Pete Mobbs (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
FS Graham Spark MBE (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Bomber · 1941
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster was the four-engined heavy bomber with which RAF Bomber Command sustained its night offensive over Germany from 1942 until the end of the Second World War. It first flew on 9 January 1941 and 7,377 were built across ten…
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Lars Söderström (CC BY SA), vía commons
Ken Fielding (CC BY SA), vía commons
Rob Hodgkins (CC BY SA), vía commons
Richard Goring (CC BY SA), vía commons
Richard Goring (CC BY SA), vía commons
Ken Fielding (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1952
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range turboprop airliner, conceived by the Bristol Aeroplane Company for the Empire routes and universally remembered as "The Whispering Giant" for its quiet exterior noise and…
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HawkeyeUK (CC BY SA), vía commons
Rob Hodgkins (CC BY SA), vía commons
G B_NZ (CC BY SA), vía commons
G B_NZ (CC BY SA), vía commons
Eduard Marmet (CC BY SA), vía commons
Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1955
Handley Page Herald
The Handley Page HPR.7 Dart Herald was a British regional airliner with a high wing, a pressurised cabin and two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops, conceived in the mid-1950s as a replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3 on short routes and…
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Ozzy Delaney (CC BY), vía commons
Rob Hodgkins (CC BY SA), vía commons
ozz13x (CC BY), vía commons
RuthAS (CC BY), vía commons
Ken Fielding (CC BY SA), vía commons
James E. Petts (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1959
Vickers Vanguard
The Vickers Vanguard was a British four-engined turboprop airliner for short and medium-range services, designed and produced by Vickers-Armstrongs as the direct successor to the Viscount. It grew out of discussions the manufacturer had…
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Pedro Aragão (CC BY SA), vía commons
Pedro Aragão (CC BY SA), vía commons
Pedro Aragão (CC BY SA), vía commons
Pedro Aragão (CC BY SA), vía commons
Pedro Aragão (CC BY SA), vía commons
Jan Heistermann - Flugzeug-Fotos.de (CC BY), vía commons
Airliner · 1960
Hawker Siddeley HS 748
The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was the regional turboprop with which Avro set out to replace the Douglas DC-3 on feeder routes around the world. It flew on 24 June 1960, and a ruggedness aimed at unprepared strips kept it working long after…
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Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland (CC BY SA), vía commons
Swissair (CC BY SA), vía commons
Swissair (CC BY SA), vía commons
David Dixon (CC BY SA), vía commons
VISIT YOUR LOCAL AIR MUSEUM (HawkeyeUK) (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1962
Hawker Siddeley Trident
The Hawker Siddeley Trident is a British short/medium-haul trijet airliner that first flew on 9 January 1962 and entered service with British European Airways on 1 April 1964. A total of 117 were built, and the last examples were retired…
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Cpl Laura Bibby (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
SAC Neil Chapman (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
SAC Sarah Burrows (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Sgt Laura Bibby (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Bahnfrend (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1962
Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 was a British long-range jet airliner designed to operate from the short, hot and high runways of BOAC's route network. It first flew in 1962 and, after its airline career, soldiered on with the Royal Air Force until 2013.
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HiFlyChick at English Wikipedia (CC BY SA), vía commons
Cpl Rich Denton (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Cpl Rich Denton (© Crown copyright) (OGL), vía commons
Biponacci (CC BY SA), vía commons
Dietmar Rabich (CC BY SA), vía commons
Huhu Uetersen (CC BY), vía commons
General aviation · 1965
Britten-Norman Islander
The Britten-Norman Islander is a British light utility twin carrying a pilot and up to nine passengers, designed in the 1960s for short-haul work between small and poorly prepared airstrips. It first flew on 13 June 1965, was certified in…
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Air Historical Branch-RAF (OGL), vía commons
Ragnhild&Neil Crawford from Sweden (CC BY SA), vía commons
Rob Schleiffert from Holland (CC BY SA), vía commons
Attack · 1967
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier was the first attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) capability to reach genuine operational service, and the only design of its kind to survive the wave of…
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Anna Zvereva (CC BY SA), vía commons
KS-U92 (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1980
BAe Jetstream
The BAe Jetstream was British Aerospace's rework of the small pressurised turboprop inherited from Handley Page. Renamed the Jetstream 31, it flew on 28 March 1980 and became one of the most common 19-seat airliners of the 1980s.
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David P Howard (CC BY SA), vía commons
Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland (CC BY SA), vía commons
Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland (CC BY SA), vía commons
Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK (CC BY), vía commons
www.mgaylard.co.uk and thanks for looking (CC BY), vía commons
Julien.scavini (CC BY SA), vía commons
Airliner · 1981
BAe 146
The BAe 146 is a British four-engined high-wing regional jet that first flew on 3 September 1981 and entered service with Dan-Air in 1983. Together with its modernised Avro RJ development, 394 were built, making it the most successful…
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Fighter
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane was the single-seat fighter with which the Royal Air Force went to war in 1939, and the first British fighter monoplane to combine a retractable undercarriage with eight machine guns buried in the wings. Designed by…
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