FLEET AIR ARM FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT SINCE 1946

At the end of World War II the strength of the Fleet Air Arm had reached around eleven thousand first- and second-line line aircraft, including reserves. These numbers soon began to shrink as American Lend-Lease aircraft were scrapped or returned and the service adjusted to lesser peacetime demands, the piston-engined carrier and training aircraft giving way to their jet-powered successors in the process. Over the ensuing decades the number of squadrons gradually declined, only a relative handful surviving. With the change to helicopters for many functions and the demise of the fleet carriers, the only fixed-wing aircraft now still in naval service are a relatively small number of Sea Harrier jump-jets, and even these are operated jointly with the RAF's Harriers. In the period covered by this book, fixed-wing naval aircraft saw considerable service between 1950 and 1953 during the Korean War, and were in action briefly during the Suez Campaign in late 1956. By the time of the Falklands War in 1982 the only practical fixed-wing capacity was the few Sea Harrier squadrons, which acquitted themselves well. This book gives detailed individual histories of all FAA aircraft flown from the beginning of 1946 until the present day, the earlier entries following on from those in the authors' previous book "Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939-1945". In all, over 8,500 aircraft are covered, including those British-built aircraft which served in the post-war years with the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy carrying British serials. In most cases precise movement dates are given between units as well as details of both minor and major accidents including the names of the aircrew involved. An index of names has nearly seven thousand entries. One can safely say that no major air arm has ever had its aircraft detailed in such depth and over such a lengthy period as has been achieved in this unique book, which reflects the efforts of nearly half a century of dedicated research into British post-war naval aviation history by the principal author.