Royal Air Force Archives

"Aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb" in Western Sahara: a perfectly preserved plane found 70 years after it went down

May 10, 2012 Richard Clements

Polish oil company worker Jakub Perka was exploring a remote region of the Western Sahara desert in Egypt when he stumbled across a plane, later identified as a UK’s Royal Air Force P-40 Warhawk, almost […]

There's a place in London where RAF Typhoons will buzz your car during the Olympics

May 4, 2012 David Cenciotti

If you plan to visit London during the Olympic Games and you are an aviation geek, I suggest you to pay a visit to one of the best (temporary) spotting places ever. Judging by the […]

Ready for a 9/11-type of attack: RAF Typhoons based in London will shoot down suspect aircraft to protect Olympics (if required)

May 3, 2012 David Cenciotti

Four RAF Typhoon fighter jets have landed at RAF Northolt airbase, in west London, on May 2, 2012, ahead of a nine-day military exercise aimed to test security for London Olympic Games. The arrival of […]

You won't believe it: UK considered bringing back one aircraft carrier and the Harrier for Libya

May 2, 2012 David Cenciotti

Can you remember the famous possible, reportedly imminent, UK’s U-turn on the F-35 version that we already discussed here? It looks like another resounding decision could have been reversed during last year’s Libya operations, when […]

OTD in 1982, one of the RAF’s greatest missions of all time: a long range surprise attack to the Falklands

April 30, 2012 Richard Clements

Operation Black Buck. At 22.30LT, on Apr. 30, 1982, the first engine of some 13 Hadley Page Victor K2 Tanker aircraft spooled into life and announced the start of one of the RAF’s greatest missions […]