FlyPast Magazine May 2017 Edizione posteriore

The bumper, 132-page May issue of FlyPast pays tribute to one of the true greats of British Cold War design and engineering, the English Electric Lightning. Although there are no Lightnings currently flying in the UK, the type remains a source of great fascination, and is usually regarded as being Britain’s greatest fighter of its era. With a series of features and rarely seen images we look back at the Mach 2 jet’s origins and history.

Reaping the Whirlwind
Our Spotlight section profiles another, very different British aircraft, the World War Two-era Westland Whirlwind fighter. This somewhat maligned aircraft could have gone on to achieve great things had it not been hindered by unreliable engines. We take a dip into the Whirlwind archive.

Vulcan – what next?
An exclusive interview with Vulcan to the Sky Trust boss Dr Robert Pleming, as he reveals future plans for XH558 and other aircraft at Doncaster.

B-25 Mitchell
One of the most famous US twin-engined bombers of the war, we take a look at some of its operations, and present a list of airworthy survivors.

Hawker history
Ken Ellis takes us on a journey back in time, reflecting on the history of Hawker, one of Britain’s greatest aircraft manufacturers.

Midland Air Museum
A visit to the superb Coventry-based museum, and an account of the attraction’s long history.

We also present an account of the RAF’s XV Squadron in the latest of Andrew Thomas’s long-running series of unit histories, and we report from the Museum of Flight in Seattle, focusing on the attraction’s magnificent Boeing B-29 Superfortress, ‘T-Square 54’. We also look back on the Luftwaffe’s bizarre Mistel bomber-fighter combination, and bring you the latest heritage and restoration news.

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