Fleet Air Arm Boys

Since the end of World War 2 the primary role of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm has been airborne power projection; the ability rapidly to respond to any trouble spot across the globe and to protect the interests of the United Kingdom and its partner nations. The principal tools in that response were the strike aircraft which took the offensive to the aggressor. Although from 2010 to 2020 fixed-wing carrier aviation was not part of the Fleet Air Arm, with the advent of the navy’s two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, that capability has been restored.

This renewed focus has not only seen the return of flying high performance aircraft from a carrier, but also the regeneration of the necessary skills, and courage, needed to cope with the extremes of weather and the nature of air operations in a very high-risk environment. However the lessons of the past have not been forgotten, and so many of those previous experiences are related within these pages – true stories of the last 76 years from aircrew, maintainers, aircraft handlers and many other supporting staff both men and women.

Following on from the success of volume one, this second volume covers every fixed-wing aircraft type flown from carriers in the strike, anti-submarine warfare and the vital airborne early warning roles; from Scimitars to Sea Hawks, Buccaneers to Skyraiders and many more, plus an extensive fleet of land-based aircraft.

As with the first volume, involvement in operations such as Suez, the Beira Patrol, the Falklands, Belize, Bosnia and elsewhere is included. Despite the intensity and all-to-frequent tragedy of operations, the esprit de corps, and the ability to find the necessary release through laughter, shine through. Here are the words of the men and women themselves, profusely illustrated in black and white and colour.

Steve Bond is a life-long aviation enthusiast and historian, who has also been fortunate enough to spend most of his working life in the industry.  He served in the Royal Air Force for 22 years as an aircraft Propulsion Technician, with tours on the Harrier, VC10, Chipmunk, Bulldog, Hawk and Tornado fleets, concluding his Service career as a member of the Eurofighter development team in the Ministry of Defence.   He also put together the team that restored the Saunders-Roe SR53 aircraft now on show at the RAF Museum Cosford.

Steve then moved into the civilian aerospace industry, spending six years with TRW Aeronautical Systems as Integrated Logistic Support Manager, looking after a variety of aircraft system programmes, including the Global Express, EH101 Merlin, Saab Gripen, AV-8B and most of the Airbus product range.

He joined City University as a Senior Lecturer in January 2001, and was Programme Director for the BEng/MEng Air Transport Engineering and MSc Air Safety Management degree programmes, the latter being developed by him.  He also ran an extensive research programme into aircraft system safety.

Now a freelance lecturer in both current aviation safety management and historical subjects, Steve’s main aviation interests centre on military aviation from the Second World War onwards; he is the author of many aviation books and magazine articles.  He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

In 2021, Dr Bond was elected as a Freeman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots – despite not being a pilot. He has qualified as “a person who, in the opinion of Court, has rendered outstanding service to the profession…”