About the Magazine

Welcome to Classic Aircraft — the magazine for the aviation aficionado.

If your interest is in the greatest years of aviation and the glory days of charismatic aircraft, then Classic Aircraft is the magazine for you.

From the most famous airliners to the most exciting military jets of all time, our coverage is second to none. Classic Aircraft places its focus on the jet and propeller-driven types of the post-war years, covering the developments in military aviation and fascinating operations during the Cold War period, and the huge changes that swept through the airline world as mass air travel became a reality.

But there's much more to the history in Classic Aircraft than that. We cover the heroes of World War Two, the inter-war period, World War One and the pioneer aviators; we also report on the vibrant aircraft preservation scene. Whatever the subject, stunning imagery accompanies informed, in-depth, intelligent articles from authors passionate about aviation, including ‘behind the scenes’ first-hand accounts and revealing 'from the cockpit' stories. Aviation writing gets no better.

Every issue is also packed with the latest event reports, opinionated columns and product reviews, while special free supplements throughout the year are not to be missed.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MAGAZINE - Denis J. Calvert

One of Classic Aircraft's longer-serving contributors, Denis became one of the two founding fathers of Inter-Air Press and started writing for the magazine in 1972. The fact of having been born at Farnborough just eight days after Chuck Yeager went supersonic in the Bell X-1 may, or, of course, may not, have had an effect on his lifelong interest in British military aviation. Now resident in East Anglia, Denis also contributes to the magazine's monthly book reviews.

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BOOK OF THE MONTH - English Electric Lightning

To say he got it wrong is to put it mildly. Defence Minister Duncan Sandys announced in the House on 4 April 1957 that the development of manned fighter aircraft for the RAF was to cease forthwith in favour of surface-to-air missiles. At a stroke, a generation of promising British supersonic fighter projects was axed. Only English Electric's P1 (it had yet to be christened Lightning) survived, probably because a development batch of 20 aircraft was already on order. In retrospect, Sandys' decision seems short-sighted and even crass yet, at the time, few commentators were prepared to stand up and tell him that he was talking out of his afterburner.

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