Category: raf london

Westland Gazelle

The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a French five-seat helicopter, commonly used for light transport, scouting and light attack duties. It was designed by Sud Aviation, later Aérospatiale, and manufactured in France and the United Kingdom through a joint production agreement with Westland Aircraft. 

XW855 Westland WA.341 Gazelle HCC.4 is on display at RAF London.

In the UK, the Gazelle saw service with the Royal Navy, the RAF, and is still in service with the Army Air Corps.

It was announced in January 2022 that the rest of the British Army’s Gazelles will be phased out by March 2024 to be replaced by Airbus Helicopters H135.

Bristol Belvedere

The Bristol Type 192 Belvedere is a British twin-engine, tandem rotor military helicopter built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was designed for a variety of transport roles including troop transport, supply dropping and casualty evacuation. 

This Bristol Belvedere was in display at RAF London.

It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1961 to 1969. The Belvedere was Britain’s only tandem rotor helicopter to enter production, and one of the few not built by Boeing or Piasecki.

The RAF Belvederes were involved in combat in Aden Emergency and Borneo.

The helicopters were retired in 1969.

Supermarine Stranraer

This Supermarine Stranraer was on display at RAF London.

The Supermarine Stranraer was a flying boat designed and built by the British Supermarine Aviation Works company at Woolston, Southampton. It was developed during the 1930s for the RAF.

First flown on 24 July 1934, the Stranraer entered frontline service with the RAF during 1937; most examples of the type were in service by the outbreak of World War II.

Bristol Beaufort

The Bristol Beaufort is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber.

Bristol Beaufort

The Bristol Beaufort was the only monoplane produced for the Royal Air Force that was designed from the start to satisfy the dual role of general reconnaissance and torpedo bomber.

The prototype flew for the first time on 15 October 1938 and Beauforts entered service with No.22 Squadron in November 1939, remaining Coastal Command’s standard torpedo bomber until 1943. Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Total Beaufort production was 1380, including 700 built in Australia.

Bristol Beaufort

While operating in Coastal Command, Beauforts saw action over the North Sea, the English Channel and the Atlantic. In 1942 all Beaufort squadrons were deployed to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean to meet a changing enemy threat. Malta-based aircraft were particularly successful in attacks on Axis shipping at a critical time in the war in North Africa.

Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel’s Afrikakorps in North Africa.

The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.

The Bristol Beaufort at RAF London is a Beaufort Mk.VIII A9-559 – a composite of several RAAF aircraft.

Bristol Beaufighter

The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The prototype flew on 17 July 1939 and the first production Beaufighters were delivered to RAF Fighter Command squadrons in the April 1940. 

It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties.

The Beaufighter strike fighter, with its formidable fire power, operated with distinction in North West Europe before gaining a considerable reputation in the Mediterranean and Far East. Operated by both the British and Australian air forces in the Far East it quickly became known to the Japanese as the ‘Whispering Death’.

Later the Beaufighter was introduced into Coastal Command as a strike fighter. Its original formidable gun armament was retained but rockets and torpedoes were added giving it even greater firepower.

A total of 5562 Beaufighters were produced and the last one was delivered in September 1945. Fifty-two operational Royal Air Force squadrons had been equipped with the type.

After its withdrawal from front-line service many Beaufighters were converted to target tug duties and in fact the last flight of the type in Royal Air Force service was made by a TT10 on 17 May 1960.

Sopwith Snipe

The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of the conflict, in late 1918.

The Snipe was not a fast aircraft by the standards of its time, but its excellent climb and manoeuvrability made it a good match for contemporary German fighters.

It was selected as the standard postwar single-seat RAF fighter and the last examples were not retired until 1926.

Gloster Gladiator

The Gloster Gladiator is a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s.

N5628 – Gladiator II forward fuselage is on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum in London.

It is displayed in an unrestored condition.

Bristol Bulldog MkIIA

The Bristol Bulldog is a British Royal Air Force single-seat biplane fighter designed during the 1920s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. 

More than 400 Bulldogs were were built at Bristols’ Filton factory for the RAF and overseas customers, and it was one of the most famous aircraft used by the RAF during the inter-war period.

G-ABBB – Bulldog IIA on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum London in London. This aircraft was the civilian demonstrator and is painted as K2227. It was severely damaged in a crash in 1964 at the Farnborough Airshow and repaired in the late 1990s.