This is a comprehensive study of every aircraft type ordered for the Royal Navy since 1908. It includes fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, rigid and non-rigid airships, unmanned aircraft and pilotless target aircraft. It also includes many designs that were ordered but not built so that the importance placed on them by the Naval Staff or their potential impact on aircraft carrier design and operations can be explained. Every type, even unsuccessful single prototypes, is described and the majority are illustrated by photographs, many of which come from the author’s own collection. The 50 most significant aircraft also have detailed 3-view drawings. The book describes over 400 different types of aircraft built by over 100 different manufacturers to offer the most detailed coverage of Royal Navy aircraft ever produced.

Research for the book took over forty years and reference material included Admiralty Archives and an array of material in the public domain including manufacturer’s data, individual aircraft pilot’s notes and a wealth of published sources. David Hobbs is uniquely well placed to write this book having served as a pilot in the RN for thirty-three years and retired with the rank of Commander. He flew both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and his log book contains 2300 flying hours with 807 day and night deck landings. He served in seven British aircraft carriers, flew over 20 of the aircraft types described in this book and spent four years in the RN Director General (Aircraft) Department where he was closely involved with Sea Harrier carrier trials, introduced new visual landing aids for night recoveries and liaised with the US Navy on carrier operating techniques. This is his eleventh book for Seaforth Publishing.