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  • Seen from the air at dawn, dozens of F-4 Phantom fighters from the Cold War-era are laid out in grids across the arid desert at Davis-Monthan Air Forbe Base near Tucson Arizona. These retired aircraft whose air frames are too old for flight are being stored then recycled, their aluminium worth more than their sum total at this repository for old military fighter and bomber aircraft. They sit in neat rows in low light, their shadowy wings are blue in colour but their fuselage are stripped of markings, being taped up against the dust. This is a scene of once-great flying machines relegated to sad scrap, long-after the Soviet Union's own demise when western armies fought a war of propaganda. .
    davis_monthan01-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • B-52 Cold War bombers of the US Air Force lie abandoned at Davis-Monthan aircraft graveyard awaiting recycling for scrap..
    B52s_graveyard01-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Deep below-decks, we see the highly-classified Conflict Direction Center or War Room on the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf. This top secret office is used for planning and executing sophisticated tactical electronic warfare that fighter jets and surveillance aircraft engage in from air operations mounted from the carrier. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south.
    uss_truman_computers-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Now an overgrown, mildew-ridden farm shack in woodland in Seething, Norfolk England, this wall mural was once one of the barracks housing 3,000 young World War 2 bomber crews so was probably painted by a young aspiring artist and aviator with the 448th Bomb Group, a fleet of bombers based in England from November 1943 to July 1945. The picture depicts a confrontation between US Air Force B-24 Liberators, a P-51 Mustang and probably a German Dornier. There are hairline cracks in the plaster but the yellow hue of the hand-painted wall is largely intact despite damp conditions in the shed. There are however, other artistic details now faded. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis18-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Deep below-decks, we peer through a striped window of the highly-classified Conflict Direction Center or War Room on the aircraft carrier US Navy USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-flyzone in the Persian Gulf, near the Kuwaiti coast. This top secret office is used for planning and executing sophisticated tactical electronic warfare that fighter jets and surveillance aircraft engage in from air operations mounted from the carrier. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.  .
    RB-0046.jpg
  • The below-deck highly-classified Conflict Direction Center or War Room on the aircraft carrier US Navy USS Harry S Truman. This top secret office is used for planning and executing sophisticated tactical electronic warfare that fighter jets and surveillance aircraft engage in from air operations mounted from the carrier. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by US, UK and French aircraft patrols until France withdrew in 1998.  .
    us_navy_carrier13-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Awaiting recycling and destruction are Boeing B-52 bombers from the Cold War era, now aluminium junk in the arid desert, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998_4.jpg
  • Awaiting recycling and destruction are Boeing B-52 bombers from the Cold War era, now aluminium junk in the arid desert, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998_5.jpg
  • Awaiting recycling and destruction are Boeing B-52 bombers from the Cold War era, now aluminium junk in the arid desert, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998_6.jpg
  • Up on the top deck, we see a lone sailor brushing off the grubby surfaces of parked F/A-18C Hornets and S-3 Vikings on the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf. Stacked together in tight formation to fit them all together during a daytime break in operations, the man bends into his task during the hottest time of day. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the .
    uss_truman_deck-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Awaiting recycling are the tails of various Air Force and National Guard of jet fighter aircraft, now junked in the arid desert, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Awaiting re-use or recycling are F-16 fighter jets, sealed up against the dust in the arid desert, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998_3.jpg
  • Awaiting recycling are various remains of now-retired old aircraft, on 15th August 1998, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    arizona_boneyard-15-08-1998_7.jpg
  • In a farmer's tool shed, a painted mural depicting B-24 Liberators sweeping over the cracked brick wall of what was once an officers? mess at the WW2 Wendling airfield, Norfolk England. Below this scene of heroic military might, young officers flying Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group gathered before and after raids into Germany from November 1943 to July 1945. The runway is now partly covered by a turkey farm and this building is now full of car and tractor parts. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis19-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Up on the top deck, a sailor cleans critical wing and flight surfaces from of a parked S-3 Viking on the deck of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf, on 8th May 2000, in the Persian Gulf. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    truman_carrier01-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Red-shirted US Navy ordnance crewmen prepare to fit smart bombs and missiles to an F/A-18 fighter jet on the deck of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf, on 8th May 2000, in the Persian Gulf. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    truman_carrier03-08-05-2000.jpg
  • A US Navy crewman cleans the underside of flight-critical surfaces on the deck of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf, on 8th May 2000, in the Persian Gulf. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    truman_carrier02-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Dirty US Nacy crewmen on the deck of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf, on 8th May 2000, in the Persian Gulf. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    truman_carrier04-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Portrait of a female US Navy crew member on the deck of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf, on 8th May 2000, in the Persian Gulf. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    truman_carrier05-08-05-2000.jpg
  • Delegates at the French government-owned weapons manufacturer Nexter near nose-mounted helicopter cannon.
    paris_air_show107-20-06-2007.jpg
  • An information board in the Remembrance Garden (opened 2015), detailing the service and sacrifice of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-27-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-24-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-25-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-20-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-21-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-22-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-19-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-17-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-16-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-15-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-14-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-13-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-12-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-11-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-07-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, are the front gates of Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-04-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, are the front gates of Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-02-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, are the front gates of Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-01-06-11-2019.jpg
  • An information board in the Remembrance Garden (opened 2015), detailing the service and sacrifice of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-26-06-11-2019.jpg
  • An information board in the Remembrance Garden (opened 2015), detailing the service and sacrifice of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-23-06-11-2019.jpg
  • Among autumn leaves are the names of fallen WW2 Polish air crew at the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-18-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-10-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-09-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-08-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, are the front gates of Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-05-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, is the Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-06-06-11-2019.jpg
  • In memory of fallen WW2 Polish Air Force crews, are the front gates of Polish War Memorial, on 6th November 2019, in South Ruislip, Northolt, London, England. The Polish War Memorial is in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. The memorial was designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski, who had been interned in a forced labour camp during the war. It is constructed from Portland stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle, the symbol of the Polish Air Force. The original intention was to record the names of all those Polish airmen who lost their lives while serving during WW2 (a total of 2,408) but there was not enough space for this and, as a compromise, the names of the 1,241 who died in operational sorties are there instead.
    polish_memorial-03-06-11-2019.jpg
  • 'Counting the Cost' is a memorial sculpture in glass designed by Renato Niemis which is outside at the American Air Museum at the Imperial War Museum, RAF Duxford, England. The sculpture comprises of 52 toughened clear float glass panels, each etched with the outlines of 7,031 aircraft missing in action in operations flown by American air forces (Air Force and Navy Groups) from Britain during the Second World War. The images are scaled at 1:240, diagonally pointing towards the blue summer sky once filled with bombers and fighters during the air campaign over Germany and France. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis16-12-12-1997.jpg
  • The statue of Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding,  outside St Clement Danes (RAF) church, on 17th April 2018, in London, England. Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
    dowding_statue-04-17-04-2018.jpg
  • The statue of Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding,  outside St Clement Danes (RAF) church, on 17th April 2018, in London, England. Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
    dowding_statue-05-17-04-2018.jpg
  • The statue of Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding,  outside St Clement Danes (RAF) church, on 17th April 2018, in London, England. Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
    dowding_statue-02-17-04-2018.jpg
  • The statue of Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding,  outside St Clement Danes (RAF) church, on 17th April 2018, in London, England. Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
    dowding_statue-03-17-04-2018.jpg
  • The statue of Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding,  outside St Clement Danes (RAF) church, on 17th April 2018, in London, England. Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, GCB, GCVO, CMG (24 April 1882 – 15 February 1970) was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. During the inter-war years he became Air Officer Commanding Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain and then joined the Air Council as Air Member for Supply and Research. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
    dowding_statue-01-17-04-2018.jpg
  • The nose detail of a de Havilland Comet in the colours of the long-defunct airline Dan Air is seen in profile at the Imperial War Museum's Duxford airfield, Cambridgeshire, England. The British de Havilland Comet first flew in July 1949 and is noted as the world's first commercial jet airliner as well as one of the first pressurized commercial aircraft. Early models suffered from catastrophic metal fatigue and the aircraft was redesigned. Here, the nose structure is held together with rivets that sit askew of the aircraft skin making it aerodynamically unfit to fly. It remains however, one of the classic and iconic designs in the history of commercial aviation. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis15-12-12-1997.jpg
  • The semi-derelict bunkhouse at the former WW2 Wendling air base, Norfolk, England. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). During the war it was used primarily as a bomber airfield, being the home of the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 392nd Bombardment Group. The group flew B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The 392d BG entered combat on 9 September 1943 and engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives on the Continent until April 1945. The group attacked such targets as an oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen, a marshalling yard at Osnabrück, a railroad viaduct at Bielefeld, steel plants at Brunswick, a tank factory at Kassel, and gas works at Berlin. With the end of military control the airfield has become a turkey farm.
    WW2_bomber_base04-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Known as 'Old Glory', a polished silver Boeing Mitchell B-25 is refuelled in readiness for a display flight at Oshkosh Air Venture, the world?s largest air show in Wisconsin USA. In afternoon light, a lady in a stars and stripes shirt stands arms behind her back admiring the lovingly restored polished twin-engine bomber, the most heavily armed airplane of the second world war used for high and low-level bombing, strafing, photoreconnaissance, submarine patrol and fighter. Close to a million populate the mass fly-in over the week, a pilgrimage worshipping all aspects of flight. The event annually generates $85 million in revenue over a 25 mile radius from Oshkosh. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903
    aviation_corbis45-28-08-1998.jpg
  • The sculpture forming the Bomber Command War Memorial on 16th March 2017, in Green Park, London, England. The 9-foot (2.7 m) bronze sculpture of seven aircrew, designed by the sculptor Philip Jackson look as though they have just returned from a bombing mission and left their aircraft. The figures represent L-R: Navigator, Flight Engineer, Mid-upper gunner, Pilot, Bomb aimer, Rear gunner and Wireless operator. The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries of the Commonwealth, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids. Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the memorial on 28 June 2012, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.
    bomber_command_memorial-03-16-03-201...jpg
  • With the runways and former nuclear silos of RAF Scampton below, Lincolnshire, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team swoop down to their home airfield during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight. Trailing white organic smoke before reforming in front of a local crowd they work through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. They curve round in a similar trajectory as seen on the bending taxi-way. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads, hedgerows and cold war nuclear solios are seen below on a perfect day for aerobatic displaying. After some time off, spare days like this are used to hone their manual aerobatic and piloting skills before re-joining the air show circuit. Since 1965 they've flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.   .
    Red_Arrows732_RBA.jpg
  • A young couple admire the Bomber Command War Memorial on 16th March 2017, in Green Park, London, England. The 9-foot (2.7 m) bronze sculpture of seven aircrew, designed by the sculptor Philip Jackson look as though they have just returned from a bombing mission and left their aircraft. The figures represent L-R: Navigator, Flight Engineer, Mid-upper gunner, Pilot, Bomb aimer, Rear gunner and Wireless operator. The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries of the Commonwealth, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids. Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the memorial on 28 June 2012, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.
    bomber_command_memorial-04-16-03-201...jpg
  • The sculpture forming the Bomber Command War Memorial on 16th March 2017, in Green Park, London, England. The 9-foot (2.7 m) bronze sculpture of seven aircrew, designed by the sculptor Philip Jackson look as though they have just returned from a bombing mission and left their aircraft. The figures represent L-R: Navigator, Flight Engineer, Mid-upper gunner, Pilot, Bomb aimer, Rear gunner and Wireless operator. The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in Green Park, London, commemorating the crews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries of the Commonwealth, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids. Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the memorial on 28 June 2012, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.
    bomber_command_memorial-01-16-03-201...jpg
  • A detail of the bomb-aimer's window in the nose of a Victor bomber from the nuclear Cold War V-bomber era. The Handley Page Victor was a British jet-powered strategic bomber, developed and produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company and served during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF)
    victor_bomber01-07-08-2000.jpg
  • Masked protesters of western leaders Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher kiss at a 1986 demonstration by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) against the hosting by the UK of US nuclear cruise missiles on British soil. Amid a chaotic scene of protest and intimidating police presence, the two unidentified people touch lips outside the US embassy (background) in London’s Grosvenor Square. In the Cold War era, both world leaders Reagan and Thatcher symbolised the special relationship between the US and the UK, who shared a common ideology for conquering the threats of Communist domination. Their answer was for the proliferation of atomic arsenals in order to maintain world stability and public protest was ever-present outside US interests and especially at the many RAF air bases that were leased to the US Air Force from where bombers flew.
    cnd_thatcher-19-04-1986.jpg
  • A wall mural of WW2 bombers crossing the sky at the former RAF Hethel air for base in Norfolk, England. Built during 1942 for use by the Americans and was transferred to the USAAF from 14 September 1943 though to 12 June 1945. Hethel served as headquarters for the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the 2nd Bombardment Division. The group flew B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.  Strategic objectives in France, the Low Countries, and Germany included targets such as shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, industrial areas of Berlin, oil facilities at Merseburg, factories at Münster, railroad yards at Sangerhausen, and V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base03-05-10-2000.jpg
  • A wall mural of WW2 bombers crossing the sky and wreck of a Rolls-Royce at the former RAF Hethel air for base in Norfolk, England. Built during 1942 for use by the Americans and was transferred to the USAAF from 14 September 1943 though to 12 June 1945. Hethel served as headquarters for the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the 2nd Bombardment Division. The group flew B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.  Strategic objectives in France, the Low Countries, and Germany included targets such as shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, industrial areas of Berlin, oil facilities at Merseburg, factories at Münster, railroad yards at Sangerhausen, and V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base02-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Air show organiser Jock Maitland of the Biggin Hill displays is to be presented with a momento by members of  the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. We look down upon three pilots' backs (known as the Reds) who are lined up in their famous red flying suits during the ceremony and as speeches of thanks are made. A scaled model of a Hawk jet aircraft is hidden from view behind Flight Lieutenant Dave Slow's back before being handed to Mr Maitland as thanks for his contribution to the air show calendar. They stand at ease on the grass of this famous World War II airfield which saw much enemy action during the Batttle of Britain, patiently and relaxed with hands behind backs before leaving to perform their display routine in front of thousands of spectators.
    Red_Arrows727_RBA.jpg
  • An empty hangar after the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, have left their UK base at RAF Scampton for the sunnier climate and clearer skies of the Mediterranean at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. A lone engineer, left behind to continue the preparations before the start of the Summer air show season walks in the gap of the giant hangar doors. A yellow dustbin that collects foreign objects (FOD) is in the middle of the floor. The team will spend six weeks in Cyprus refining their air display techniques and skills before performing in front of the public from May onwards. Since 1965 they have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries. The hangar dates to World War 2, housing Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. This version of BAE Systems Hawks are low-tech, without computers nor fly-by-wire technology, Some of the team's aircraft are 25 years old and their airframes require frequent overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows056_RBA.jpg
  • Now an overgrown, mildew-ridden farm shack in woodland in Seething, Norfolk England, this wall mural was once one of the barracks housing 3,000 young World War 2 bomber crews so was probably painted by a young aspiring artist and aviator with the 448th Bomb Group, a fleet of bombers based in England from November 1943 to July 1945. The picture depicts a confrontation between US Air Force B-24 Liberators, a P-51 Mustang and probably a German Dornier. There are hairline cracks in the plaster but the yellow hue of the hand-painted wall is largely intact despite damp conditions in the shed. There are however, other artistic details now faded. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural use.
    WW2_bomber_base06-05-10-2000.jpg
  • A lone figure stands silhouetted against a hangar belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Two huge hangar doors are ajar revealing an orange glow spilling on to the concrete outside. A Hawk jet aircraft is parked awaiting overnight maintenance. Engineers talk inside as the door travels along its track. The men are the team's support ground crew and eleven trades are imported from some sixty that the RAF qualifies. The hangar dates to World War 2, housing Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. This version of BAE Systems Hawks are low-tech, without computers nor fly-by-wire technology, Some of the  team's aircraft are 25 years old and their airframes require frequent overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows074_RBA.jpg
  • At the start of another day's work, pilots belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, walk in single-file out into the pink morning light for the first winter training flight of the day at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Emerging from their squadron building the aviators make their way along a pathway towards the waiting Hawk jet aircraft known the world over. Wearing winter green flying suits and carrying their helmets, their day is spent flying and de-briefing up to six times a day when weather permits. Long shadows spill over on to the airfield's cropped grass. Scampton  is one of the original World War 2 RAF stations for the Lancaster bombers the 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. Today, it is used almost exclusively by the team.
    Red_Arrows011_RBA.jpg
  • A red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked in the hangar at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the home base for the squadron. Night is falling with only blue daylight remaining in the western sky and the warm light from the hangar spills out of the giant open doors on to the concrete. The aircraft awaits attention from the engineer's night-shift who service and maintain all 11 of the famous red aerobatic jets before flying the next morning. The hangaran original World War 2 shelter for the Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows use this and nearby offices administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year. .
    Red_Arrows007_RBA.jpg
  • On the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and following a flypast of 100 aircraft formations representing Britain's air defence history which flew over central London, guardsmen march up steps between the Foreign Office and the Churchill's War Rooms, on 10th July 2018, in London, England.
    RAF_100-39-10-07-2018.jpg
  • On the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and following a flypast of 100 aircraft formations representing Britain's air defence history which flew over central London, guardsmen march up steps between the Foreign Office and the Churchill's War Rooms, on 10th July 2018, in London, England.
    RAF_100-38-10-07-2018.jpg
  • On the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and following a flypast of 100 aircraft formations representing Britain's air defence history which flew over central London, guardsmen march up steps between the Foreign Office and the Churchill's War Rooms, on 10th July 2018, in London, England.
    RAF_100-37-10-07-2018.jpg
  • A Rolls-Royce turbofan has been fixed to the exterior of the company?s sales stand at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire, England. The British-owned company have been making aircraft engines since 1914 at the start of the First World War, in response to the nation's needs, Royce designed his first aero engine ? the Eagle. Modern airliners have the Trent engine's technology embedded in its power plants and Farnborough is a major showcase for its many designs. Here, their chalet has a mocked-up garden feature complete railings and the turbine blades attached to the wall above. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis25-23-07-2002.jpg
  • A visitor to Oshkosh Air Venture, the world?s largest air show in Wisconsin USA, stands by an A-10 Thunderbolt Tank Buster or Warthog. Wearing a t-shirt depicting a Cherokee Indian and a Bald Eagle, the tourist awaits family as aviation enthusiasts climb steps to the aircraft's cockpit. The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to provide close air support of ground forces by attacking tanks, armoured vehicles, and other ground targets. It has also been involved with British friendly fire incidents in Iraq. Close to a million populate the mass fly-in over the week, a pilgrimage worshipping all aspects of flight. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis46-29-08-1998.jpg
  • Looking down vertically upon the Hawk jet aicraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the team loop over agricultural countryside during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. Roman Ermine Street road is a diagonal line through the centre, dissecting wisps of organic white smoke left hanging in the air. Reforming in front of a local crowd at the airfield they work through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads, hedgerows plus former nuclear silos are seen below. After some time off, spare days like this are used to hone their manual aerobatic and piloting skills before re-joining the air show circuit. Since 1965 they've flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.   .
    Red_Arrows733_RBA.jpg
  • The wrecked remains of a Curtiss C-46 Commando WW2-era transport aircraft awaiting salvage or recycling in the desert airfield of Davis Monthan in Tucson, Arizona. The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C. Known to the men who flew them as "The Whale," the "Curtiss Calamity," the "plumber's nightmare" and the "flying coffin," At the time of its production, the C-46 was the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world, and the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II.
    davis_monthan_boneyard01-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In pouring rain, United States Air Force pilots stand like canmouflaged statues in the undergrowth near Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington. They are listening to a USAF survival instructor giving them advice about another challenge they are about to face, a few hundred yards ahead in the woods, so they listen intently in the saturatedconditions. They stand motionless, green figures in a green maze of foliage, wearing waterproof cagoules covering their backpacks which are shiny as the rain trickles down. They look like hunchbacks of the forest. The week-long survival course is held at the military facilities around Fairchild where the Air Force conducts a survival, escape and evasion course which combat pilots need to pass before rejoining their units for real-time warfare. This part of the lecture is held in the forest and forms part of an extensive physical and psychological assessment for young aviators on active service. In the future any one of them may be shot down behind enemy lines and need to use the lessons passed-on here to help facilitate their rescue by US forces. One pilot who passed this course in 1991, himself a Spokane-born boy, was F-16 pilot Scott O'Grady. He put his skills learned here to the test while evading Serb forces before being airlifted to safety and a hero's Presidential welcome.
    RB-0163.jpg
  • We see the head and shoulders of a man in military uniform who stands motionless beside the American flag.  he is at a graduation ceremony for United States Air Force pilots who have just passed a week-long survival courseheld at the Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington. Its highy-trained personel conducts a survival, escape and evasion course which combat pilots and air crew need to pass before rejoining their units for real-time warfare. Conducted, in hangars and the surrounding forests, it forms part of an extensive physical and psychological assessment of young aviators on active service. In the future any one of them may be shot down behind enemy lines and need to use the lessons passed-on here to help facilitate their rescue by US forces. One pilot who passed this course in 1991, himself a Spokane-born boy, was F-16 pilot Scott O'Grady. He put his skills learned here to the test while evading Serb forces before being airlifted to safety and a hero's Presidential welcome.
    RB-0164.jpg
  • Painted lettering from a staff shop (stores) at the former WW2 Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was the home of the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadron of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base13-05-10-2000.jpg
  • WW2 emblem painting at the former Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was a former airfield located around 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Bungay and home  to the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadrons of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base09-05-10-2000.jpg
  • The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial,in Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey. This memorial is dedicated to 20,456 men and women from the British Empire who were lost in operations from World War II. Those recorded have no known grave anywhere in the world, and many were lost without trace. The name of each of these airmen and airwomen is engraved into the stone walls of the memorial, according to country and squadron.
    runnymede01-10-01-2003.jpg
  • RAF Fylingdales is a British Royal Air Force station high on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Before their demolition by Ministry of Defence contractors this early attack warning Cold War facility, consisted of three 40-metre-diameter 'golfballs' or geodesic domes (radomes) containing mechanically steered radar. They became a local tourist attraction and coach tours drove past the site listening to the interference on radios emitted by the radomes. They have since been replaced by the current tetrahedron ('pyramid') structure and is still a secret location. Its Motto is "Vigilamus" ("We are watching"). It is now a radar base and part of the United States-controlled Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS)...
    RB_104-05-05-1994.jpg
  • A wall mural painting of a sexy woman at the former WW2 Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was the home of the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadron of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base12-05-10-2000.jpg
  • WW2 wall map mural showing American states at the former Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was the home of the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadron of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base10-05-10-2000.jpg
  • WW2 wall map mural showing American states at the former Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was the home of the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadron of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base11-05-10-2000.jpg
  • WW2 emblem painting at the former Flixton air force base in Suffolk, England. Flixton was a former airfield located around 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Bungay and home  to the 706th Bombardment Squadron, an operational squadrons of the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 446th operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent from December 1943 until April 1945. Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball-bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, marshalling yards at Coblenz, motor works at Ulm, and oil refineries at Hamburg. After the war, the buildings reverted to agricultural and industrial use.
    WW2_bomber_base08-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Thorns coming through broken window at the former WW2 Old Buckenham airfield, built during 1942-43 for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force. It was given designation USAAF Air Station 144. The group flew B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. Throughout combat, the unit served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization. Targets included a fuel depot at Dulmen, marshalling yards at Paderborn, aircraft assembly plants at Gotha, railway centres at Hamm, an ordnance depot at Glinde, oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, chemical works at Leverkusen, an airfield at Neumünster, a canal at Minden, and a railway viaduct at Altenbeken. James "Jimmy" Stewart, the Hollywood movie star, was Group Operations Officer at Old Buckenham during the spring of 1944.
    WW2_bomber_base01-05-10-2000.jpg
  • The graffiti left on walls inside the Reichstag building by Soviet soldiers after their battles in the German capital at the end of the second world war. The building, having never been fully repaired since the fire, was damaged by air raids. During the Battle of Berlin in 1945, it became one of the central targets for the Red Army to capture due to its perceived symbolic significance. Today, visitors to the building can still see Soviet graffiti on smoky walls inside as well as on part of the roof, which was preserved during the reconstructions after reunification.
    reichstag_soviet_graffiti01-04-04-20...jpg
  • RAF Fylingdales is a British Royal Air Force station high on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Before their demolition by Ministry of Defence contractors this early attack warning Cold War facility, consisted of three 40-metre-diameter 'golfballs' or geodesic domes (radomes) containing mechanically steered radar. They became a local tourist attraction and coach tours drove past the site listening to the interference on radios emitted by the radomes. They have since been replaced by the current tetrahedron ('pyramid') structure and is still a secret location. Its Motto is "Vigilamus" ("We are watching"). It is now a radar base and part of the United States-controlled Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS)...
    RB_105-05-05-1994.jpg
  • Patriotic Londoners sing wartime songs during 1995 VE Day 50th anniversary celebrations in London. Looking up at the Britons who are singing the words of the national anthem, they wave their small union jack flags in the summer air. In the week near the anniversary date of May 8, 1945, when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Germany and peace was announced to tumultuous crowds across European cities, the British still go out of their way to honour those sacrificed and the realisation that peace was once again achieved. Street parties now – as they did in 1945 – played a large part in the country’s patriotic well-being.
    flags_women-06-05-1995.jpg
  • On a misty morning, a red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked in the hangar at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the home base for the squadron. The aircraft awaits attention from the engineer's night-shift who service and maintain all 11 of the famous red aerobatic jets before flying the next morning. The hangar, an original World War 2 shelter for the Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows use this and nearby offices administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year..
    Red_Arrows395_RBA.jpg
  • Vintage hangar door of 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, but once to 617 Dambusters Squadron. The hangar dates to World War 2, housing Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb.
    Red_Arrows226_RBA.jpg
  • A hangar belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Two huge hangar doors are ajar revealing an orange glow spilling on to the concrete outside. A Hawk jet aircraft is parked awaiting overnight maintenance. Engineers talk inside as the door travels along its track. The men are the team's support ground crew and eleven trades are imported from some sixty that the RAF qualifies. The hangar dates to World War 2, housing Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. This version of BAE Systems Hawks are low-tech, without computers nor fly-by-wire technology, Some of the  team's aircraft are 25 years old and their airframes require frequent overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows070_RBA.jpg
  • As an early sun rises, the twin stacks of Richborough cooling Towers make silhouettes against the golden morning light. Now decommissioned, these industrial giants of the landscape are sending clouds of steam vapour into the air, in the county of Kent. Nature can be seen competing with 20th Century technology as solar energy is seen against the war power being generated. From 1962-1971 Richborough burned coal from collieries. In 1971 the station was converted to burn oil. Too costly to run plant underwent trials on an experimental fuel called Orimulsion, a cheap heavy oil and water-based emulsion produced form natural bitumen from Venezuela. Initial results or trials suggested it would make a cheap clean fuel alternative to oil but high sulphur emissions from the plant caused nearby Acid Rain and after local protest, the site has since been derelict.
    cooling_towers01-19-05-1992.jpg
  • Wall mural showing WW2 bombing targets in what is now an overgrown, mildew-ridden farm shack in woodland at Seething, Norfolk England. Seething is a former Royal Air Force station, assigned to the 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) flying B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The group enered combat on 22 December 1943, and until April 1945 served primarily as a strategic bombardment organization, hitting such targets as aircraft factories in Gotha, ball-bearing plants in Berlin, an airfield at Hanau, U-boat facilities at Kiel, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, synthetic oil refineries at Politz, aircraft engine plants at Rostock, marshalling yards at Cologne, and a Buzz-bomb assembly plant at Fallersleben. Some of these buildings are in a reasonable condition, although they are derelict and overgrown.
    WW2_bomber_base07-05-10-2000.jpg
  • Up on the top deck of a US Navy aircraft carrier, parked F/A-18C Hornets and S-3 Vikings on the USS Harry S Truman during its deployment patrol of the no-fly zone at an unknown location in the Persian Gulf. Stacked together in tight formation to fit them all together during a daytime break in operations, the man bends into his task during the hottest time of day. The Truman is the largest and newest of the US Navy's fleet of new generation carriers, a 97,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,137, 650 are women. The Iraqi no-fly zones (NFZs) were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the
    carrier_deck01-08-05-2000.jpg
  • A young skateboarder leaps into the air beneath the huge memorial to the German Communist leader Ernst Thalmann, the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944. The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth scouting-styled organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany. Its motto was" "Für Frieden und Sozialismus seid bereit - Immer bereit" ("For peace and socialism be ready - always ready") but the Pioneers were disbanded in 1989 after early protests here in Leipzig at the same time as the Berlin Wall and the Socialist state's fall.
    DDR_travel05-06_1990.jpg
  • A carer from an elderly peoples' residential home bends down to speak to an old lady who has been taken out for her daily walk in the fresh-air. The lady however cannot walk but seems to be enjoying her daily constitutional from the comfort of her wheelchair that the nursing specialist kindly pushes along a promenade in Frinton-on-Sea in Essex. With her hankie tucked in her sleeve she also seems to be slightly confused as if she might be suffering from a dementia or possibly just old and tired from the hardships after Britain at war. By 2050 the percentage of people worldwide over 65 years will have doubled.
    retirement_home06-12-1992.jpg
  • The rare Victoria Cross is worn on the chest of the celebrated Nepali war veteran Bhanu Bhagta Gurung (also written Bhanubhakta), an ex-soldier of the British Gurkha regiment who in the second world war, earned his medals from repeated bravery against Japanese positions in Burma. He sits here on the terrace of his home, above the misty valley of Gorkha, Central Nepal. He is one of the last survivors of the remarkably brave men  who helped defeat the enemy in the jungles of south-east Asia. Gurung is the name of his Nepalese tribe (like the Sherpas who also come from the high Himalayan Kingdom). His company commander described him as "a smiling, hard-swearing and indomitable soldier who in a battalion of brave men was one of the bravest". Born September 1921 - died March 1 2008.
    medals_gurkha01-16-1997.jpg
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