BEA was formed in 1946 and took over most UK domestic and European routes under the British government's nationalisation policy. It began operations with a fleet of outdated and hopelessly uneconomic passenger aircraft that were derivatives of wartime types such as the DC-3, Avro Viking and Rapide. By the end of 1955 the airline had re-equipped with more modern types such as the jet-prop Viscount and moved into a profit for the first time. From 1960 onwards the airline introduced larger jets such as the Comet, Trident and BAC 1-11. BEA merged with the British Overseas Airways Corporation in 1974 to form British Airways. This book looks at BEA's predecessors, its formation and early operation from Croydon and Northolt and the move to the newly-opened London Heathrow. The evolving structure is explained with chapters covering engineering bases, terminals, European and domestic services, cargo services and helicopter operations. The aircraft flown are all described in detail and the book includes anecdotes from former crew and ground-staff, a full fleet list and is highly illustrated throughout.

George Edwards' name is synonymous with the Vickers Viscount, the world's first turboprop airliner; the controversial TSR2 project and the legendary Anglo-French Concorde. During the Second World War, it was Edwards who made the Dam Busters' bouncing bombs bounce.

In December 1970 the British government decided not to provide launch aid for the BACThree-Eleven, a 245-seat wide-body twinjet airliner. This occurred shortly after the government had also withdrawn from the European Airbus. This book argues that the Three-Eleven's cancellation was the turning point for the subsequent decline and marginalisation of Britain's civil aircraft industry. Using compelling evidence, Graziano Freschi reflects on the effects the decision has had to this day, provides a detailed history of the aircraft and sets the relevant events into an historical context, whilst suggesting that the lessons learned might benefit future industrial policy decisions in High Tech manufacturing. Book jacket.

British industry at the start of the New Elizabethan Age was a world leader. The first - British - jet airliner was taking to the skies, the first nuclear power station was under construction at Calder Hall and British firms were pioneering the computer. Our shipyards reigned almost supreme, and from Britain's factories came cars, lorries, buses, heavy machinery, aircraft and locomotives, exported all over the world. Sixty years on, many of these industries and millions of jobs have disappeared, while competitors have flourished. Much of what remains is under foreign ownership. Britain has lost many export markets, and essential goods have to be imported. How did all this happen? Britain's loss of competitiveness has traditionally been blamed on outdated working practices, failure to invest and modernise, poor management, bloody-minded unions, the loss of Empire and the ability of post-war Germany and Japan to rebuild from scratch. All this is true, but the picture is far more complex. The role of Whitehall and successive governments, Britain's relationship with Europe, corporate greed, misjudgement and even suicide, and sheer bad luck all play a part. In Surrender, Nicholas Comfort revisits the past six decades and identifies some of the factors behind the greatest mass extinction since the dinosaurs.

The gripping story of the biggest trade war in aviation history. In October 2007, the colossal Airbus A380, the largest commercial jet in history, will take to the skies. This gigantic double-decker is the first real competitor to Boeing's iconic 747 Jumbo Jet. Meanwhile, Boeing has thrown its weight behind the smaller 787 Deamliner, an aircraft whose emphasis is on fuel economy and reduced emissions. The future of commercial air travel is in the balance, and the outcome is difficult to predict.

The British Aircraft Corporation was formed from The Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric, Vickers-Armstrong and Hunting in 1960. In its short, seventeen-year, life, the British Aircraft Corporation built some of the most important aircraft and missiles of the 1960s, 1970s and beyond: its best-known products included the Jaguar and Tornado warplanes, Rapier missile and One-Eleven airliner. It was also responsible for the stillborn TSR2 strike aircraft, the 1965 cancellation of which remains controversial to this day. Most famously, the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner came from the BAC stable. BAC was subsumed into British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) in 1977, but many of its products remain in service to this day. This book tells their complete story.