Sub-titled 'True Tales from the RAF, Indian and Finnish Pilots Who Flew the Single-Seat Fighter and Two-Seat Trainer'. The Folland Gnat was used by the RAF mainly in the advanced training role in the 1960s and 70s, and was an ideal lead-in trainer for high-performance aircraft such as the iconic Lightning, the first RAF supersonic fighter. It was also used by the famous Yellowjacks formation aerobatic team, formed in 1964, the forerunner of the world-famous Red Arrows team which was equipped with the Gnat for over a decade before being replaced by the Hawk in 1980. Lesser known, the Gnat was also used as a lightweight fighter by both the Indian and Finnish air forces. Later called the Ajeet (Midge), it saw combat experience in the Indo-Pakistani wars, most notably in the Battle of Boyra. Today over 60 years since the aircraft first flew, several Gnats continue to be operated from North Weald Airfield in Essex under the brand the Gnat Display Team. Gnat Boys has become one of the most sought-after books about aviation covering a very special era in history, and this book relates the history of the aircraft and untold stories by those who flew in them. They include well-known and distinguished aviators including those from Indian and Finnish air forces and there is also a focus on the civilian life of the Gnat into the 21st century with accounts from those who continue to fly the aircraft with the Heritage Aircraft Trust. Smoke on, go! 254pp, very well illustrated with colour and other photos.

Sub-titled 'True Tales from Operators of the RAF's First Single-Engined Jet' and written by an aviator who helps crew for the last airworthy ex-RAF Vampire in the world, the T.11 WZ507. Sliding out of the shadows of WWII, the de Havilland Vampire with the distinctive whine of its Goblin engine, quickly proved itself an effective alternative to piston-powered fighters. It entered service with the RAF in 1946 and held a number of notable records - the first fighter to exceed 500mph, the first to set a world altitude record of almost 60,000ft, the first to take off and land from an aircraft carrier, and the first jet to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Not bad for something built partly of wood. The book brings to life the trials and tribulations of operating a first-generation jet across the globe and their insightful anecdotes and exceptional experiences on every page. We follow squadrons across the dusty deserts of Iraq to exercises in West Germany, tales of aerial handling, incidents and accidents including the much-maligned spin characteristics, and squadron life. Together they paint a portrait of a pioneering time in aviation advancement right up to the T.11 still flying from Coventry Airport. With unique images throughout in both colour and sepia and mono. 208 large pages.

The iconic London Routemaster bus in its familiar bright red and measuring over 20cm long, this model is ready to press out from the card pages and build. Grab a seat on the top deck and take a ride through London's historic centre as we look out for royal palaces, peaceful parks, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, the London Eye, Covent Garden, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, the Mall and Trafalgar Square. No cutting or gluing required, packed with facts about the capital's most famous landmarks. Eight huge 29.7 x 21cm board pages, colour. Suit ages 6-96.

Set includes Jet Provost Boys, Vampire Boys, Gnat Boys and Cold War Boys. Buy all four in the series and save more.

The vehicles of the Marvel comic universe are one of its many glories, and in this comprehensive guide superb graphics enhance the narrative surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D., the organisation tasked with defending the freedoms of every living human being. Not only graphics, but cutaway drawings and full tech specs tell the story of each vehicle piloted by different Avengers, Rangers and Guardians of the Galaxy, together with full information about enemy vehicles. Comment boxes by Cyclops, Nick Fury, Tony Stark, Chase Stein, Spiderman, Beta Ray Bill and others add a personal perspective to the overall picture. X-Vehicles include Stratijet, Dove, X-Copter and Blackbirds of several generations. The first Blackbird is a custom-design RS-150, successor to the Stratijet and leading to a new co-operation with the X-Men, while the second generation was destroyed when the X-men went after Count Nefaria. The third generation was overseen by the mutant technological savant known as Forge. The X on the fuselage came with the 4th generation and was taken over by Cyclops on the collapse of X-corporation. Featured Helicarriers include not only the Iliad but also HAMMER, an ugly vehicle destroyed in the siege of Asgard. The section on Aircraft includes the three Quinjets and Alpha Flight Omnijet Shield Flycar with its underwater capacity. Motorcycles and Guardians of the Galaxy ships are also featured. 110pp, softback, spectacular colour graphics on most pages.

HMS Vanguard was completed during WWII against all the odds of wartime shortages and strategic restrictions, and was used by the royal family for state visits in the fifties. This tribute to a great ship comes with extensive specifications and cross sections as well as fascinating archive photography. The Washington naval treaty of 1921 put a limit on the size and displacement of battleships for the UK, USA, France and Russia, but all the major powers enhanced their battleship programmes in the thirties. Britain initially adhered to the restrictions although the US utilised an escalator clause, and in 1937 Britain laid down five battleships of the George V class with 14" guns and radar. Dual purpose secondary guns intended as anti-aircraft artillery were found to be too heavy. Japan was now using 16" guns and in 1938 as war became inevitable Britain initiated a new class of ship with 9 x 16" guns and a displacement of 40,000 tons. The Lion and Temeraire were laid down but never completed, and the slightly improved Vanguard was the only ship to be laid down and launched by the end of the war because of the constant interruption of all longer-term shipbuilding plans. The innovation of a flat stern was new on a capital ship. When Princess Elizabeth launched HMS Vanguard it was the first use of her personal standard, though details of the event are shrouded in wartime secrecy. There are some superb photos of Vanguard's maiden voyage down the Clyde, together with full specifications on pullout pages with diagrams and cross-sections, not only of the ship itself but also the guns and other machinery. After the war the ship was adapted for the Royal tour to South Africa in 1947, and several fascinating archive photos show the cabins of the King, Queen and young princesses. HMS Vanguard was finally scrapped in 1960, and a series of photos documents the progress of the demolition. 128pp, archive photos, a few in colour, and numerous diagrams and cross-sections and a splendid double gatefold of layout and decks. 25 x 29.5cm.
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Sub-titled 'True Tales from the Operators of the Jet Provost and Strikemaster', the book is written with all the know-how of an ex-RAF officer. As a versatile and undemanding aircraft, the Jet Provost established itself as the basic trainer for the RAF from the late 1950s until its retirement in September 1993. This magnificent flying machine is explored through the vivid memories of former air crew from the RAF and foreign air forces. The aircraft had relative success within the civilian and military display flying circuit in the 1960s and 70s. It was also part of the prestige Golden Eagle Flight at RAF Cranwell which taught the then Prince of Wales how to fly. When the Mk.5 model became the BAC 167 Strikemaster after some modifications, it assumed a counter-insurgency and light-attack role and allowed it to be sold to air forces including Ceylon, Nigeria, New Zealand, Sudan and Venezuela where it played an effective role in many border disputes and internal warfare. It was crucial to the Sultan of Oman Air Force during the Dhofar War. The book includes a foreword by Squadron Leader Terry Lloyd who was leader of the 1964-65 Red Pelicans display team and is one of the 'Boys' series not to be missed for all aviation fans. 176 large pages, packed with colour and other photos and advertising.

The much-hyped ascent of the Montgolfier balloon in 1783 ushered in a century and a half of balloon frenzy. Perhaps surprisingly, women were at the centre. By 1784 a queue to be the first woman in the sky had formed and the honours went to four aristocratic Parisian ladies, while two weeks later an opera singer ascended in Lyon and treated the crowds to the rendering of an aria. The King of Sweden was present to watch and the event was a diplomatic success, though the descent involved some ignominy. Once the initial excitement of flight died down, new methods of maintaining public interest included promoting the spectacle of women climbing into a balloon and having their skirts blown about, while the language of ballooning was a gift for cartoonists with its many double entendres. By 1785 the fever had spread to England, where the redoubtable Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, asked the Prince of Wales to support her plea to be the first female balloonist. The entrepreneur Count Zambeccari chose Miss Grice, but she proved too heavy for the balloon which also included the Count and a wealthy sponsor, so she was summarily, though metaphorically, dropped. The lightweight 14-year-old Rosine Simonet, followed by her sister Leonora, took flight from British soil, but the first British woman in the air was a well-known actress called Letitia Sage who wowed her fans with plunging necklines and vaudeville razzmatazz. Letitia ascended with the naturalist George Biggin as her only companion, and members of Brooks's Club immediately started betting on the possibility of having sex 1000 yards from the earth. Balloon fever spread to America, with trapeze artist Leonora Dare making a living with spectacular aerobatics. Finally with the advent of aeroplanes a new thrill took over. 16.5 x 24 cm, 175pp, photos.

The 1970s was the first decade in London's history where following the creation of London Transport in 1933 and the removal of independent operators from the streets, buses and coaches were not necessarily painted in the traditional mainly red or green liveries. A Routemaster appeared in 1961 in unpainted aluminium, the so-called Silver Lady, and by 1969, all-over bus advertising dominated for limited periods. Pictured on the front cover is an RML 2280 which advertised Hanimex Projectors 'Bring all the fun back home' in what would today look like graffiti with a blue and yellow background. It is racing an RM643 to Trafalgar Square. The hundreds of pictures in this colour album appear in strict date order, mostly taken in Central London, taken by both the enthusiastic author and also Bob Greenaway, an employee of LT who died tragically young and whose collection now reaches a wider audience, together with photographs credited to Roger Harrison and Charles Firminger. None of the pictures appearing in this book have ever been published before. Sometimes just as fascinating are the shops and offices, such as those designed by Nash and built between 1830 and 1832 on the Strand, and the clothing and activities of the people passing by in images from around August 1969. An RM1611 passes the Portland stone façade of the Park Lane Hotel Piccadilly in May 1970. The bus entered service in June 1963 and was withdrawn in July 1984. It then operated in Scotland for Stagecoach and Magicbus until withdrawn once more and exported to Missouri, USA, in 1996. The bus is pictured taking part in the Festival of London Stores to promote British exports. Here are gleaming red buses galore, photographed mostly in colour and with many advertising examples in a variety of designs with typography and advertising of the time to take us back to the nostalgic 1970s with Dinky Toys, Esso Blue and the gaudy colours of the Chappell's livery on an AEC Merlin MBA606. Marks & Spencer's new first floor now open, the Evening News, Danone, Ladbrokes plus buses on their side submitting to an underside steam clean after being rotated in Aldenham's inverting frame to remove road debris etc, but most are photographed in service, with every model featured, ending with a rare example of a 1925 bus which was discovered in a shed in Essex in 1971 and which was acquired by the London Bus Museum in 1984. 168 landscape pages, 25.4 x 19.7cm. Hundreds of colour photos.

Bowman is one of Britain's best known WW2 aviation historians and authors and here he looks at Jet Engines 1972 to the present, illustrating how fighter-bombers and tactics have developed and evolved since the 1970s. It covers all the most significant military conflicts including the Eleven Day War of Christmas 1972 in Vietnam and the Falklands Air War 1982, when Harrier pilots engaged in aerial battles with Skyhawks and when Vulcans, supported by Victor tankers, flew 'Black Buck' raids on Argentine positions. It also explores the era of the Gulf War, which witnessed the Victor and the B-52 fighting alongside Buccaneers, Tornadoes and F-111s. Then there is the ongoing war against terror, culminating in the opening stages of 'Inherent Resolve' which has seen Tornadoes, F/A-18 Hornets, Soviet-built Su-24M2 and Su-30CM jet fighters, Su-25 SM armoured subsonic close air support/attack aircraft, Su-34 multi-role fighter/bombers and the Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' heavy strategic bombers employed in the war against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Eight individual chapters look at the part played by the earliest V-bombers - the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant - and fighter-bombers in the Nuclear Age. There are a range of first-hand accounts and snippets from pilot testimony plus well researched historical narrative to create a rounded sense of events as they played out during this dynamic period of aviation history. There are gripping descriptions of the B-52 raids on Hanoi, intended to force the North Vietnamese back to the conference table, US raid on Libya. Includes many colour and dozens of mono plates, 256pp.