Aeroplane Archive
The Key.Aero team have delved for treasure in the archive of Aeroplane Magazine dating back to 1911. Aviation history brought to life by the editors of the period.
HFB 320: The bizarre bizjet with backward wings
The Hansa Jet had an unusual design with forward-swept wings, which gave a number of benefits including a more spacious cabin due to the wing spar being further back. The April 8, 1965 issue of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’ covered the bizjet’s first visit to the UK
S-64 Skycrane Flying Lounge Trials
In its May 31, 1967 issue ‘Aeroplane’ detailed trials of a novel intermodal concept for how to travel to an airport with a lounge being attached to a helicopter
Fokker F-28 roll-out
After the success of the Friendship the Fellowship had a hard act to follow. In the April 19, 1967 issue ‘Aeroplane’ detailed the plans for certifying the aircraft
Viscounts for sale
The Vickers Viscount was the world's first turboprop airliner which first flew on July 16, 1948 and achieved significant success. Here are a selection of artistic adverts that appeared in 'The Aeroplane'
Early days of the ’125 bizjet
In addition to de Havilland, the 125 would go on to be built by Hawker Siddeley, British Aerospace, Raytheon and Hawker Beechcraft in a number of different variants with around 1,700 examples produced. This article, which appeared in the March 21, 1963 issue of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’ provides a glimpse into the certification of the Bristol Siddeley Viper 20 engine. The aircraft featured in this article, G-ARYC, survives as an exhibit at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire
Pan Am’s groundbreaking Boeing 707 freighter services
Pan Am was a pioneering airline in many ways with this article on its Boeing 707 -321Cs, from the June 27, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’, an example of how it was at the vanguard of exploring new opportunities
BOAC’s first DC-7C
On October 31, 1956 the initial Douglas DC-7C for BOAC touched down in the UK and ‘The Aeroplane’ was there to cast an eye over this new addition to the fleet
First sighting of a Russian Classic
The Ilyushin Il-62, which NATO assigned the reporting name of ‘Classic’, has had a lengthy career and some examples are still flying. ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’ in its October 4, 1962 issue published the first photos of the jetliner to be publicly seen in the West
First-ever jet combi scheduled service
Detailed insights into the TCA DC-8F Combi scheduled service from Montreal to London via Prestwick, which was covered in the March 7, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’
Flashback to 1963 – HS748 Sales Demo Tours
A report on two intense sales tours Hawker Siddeley sent its 748 Series 2 demonstrator, as described in the August 15, 1963 edition of ‘The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News’