BAC aircraft books - history, types and construction

BAC One-Eleven - The Whole Story

In August 1963 the BAC One-Eleven, took to the skies for the first time. With an order book for sixty aircraft, more than half were from the United States, which was an unprecedented situation for a British civil aircraft. The first project for the newly formed British Aircraft Corporation, the One-Eleven was wholly designed and built by BAC, and remained in production throughout the entire seventeen-year history of the organisation, performing strongly even when profits were at a low.

After flying commercially in Europe for the last time in March 2002, here the One-Eleven is celebrated in style fifty years after its maiden flight. In this revised edition, Stephen Skinner combines original research with fascinating black-and-white and colour images, as well as detailed appendices, to consider what transpired in those five decades and the place the One-Eleven holds in British aviation history.

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BAC One-Eleven

At the time of the One-Eleven's first flight, BAC seemed to have stolen a march on its American rivals. It was comfortably ahead of the similarly configured DC-9, and the Boeing 737 was barely a gleam in Boeing's eye at the time.
So why was it that Douglas went on to sell over 1,000 DC-9s (to say nothing of the developed MD-80 and Boeing 717) while BAC shifted only 244 One-Elevens? The answer to that question is just one part of the fascinating tale of the One-Eleven.

Also told in these pages is the full story of its concept and design against the troubled background of the industry's consolidation and of its entry into service. So sturdy was the One-Eleven's construction that its service life continued into the 21st century. At least two examples remain airworthy and leading active lives.
The One-Eleven was undoubtedly a great British achievement, yet anybody studying the aircraft's history is left with the feeling that it represents an opportunity lost; this book explores why.

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TSR2 - Britain's Lost Cold War Strike Aircraft

This is a welcome revised and enhanced second edition of this comprehensive, accurate and honest account of the fascinating TSR2 story, tracing the project's development from its origins in the 1950's.
Aimed at aviation historians and those interested in the history of military technology, the book examines the TSR2 project in detail, eliminating the many myths and misconceptions that have surrounded the aircraft for decades.

Although much has been written about the TSR2's history, a great deal of misinformation has been published on this subject which this book dismisses presenting the reader with a complete and realistic overview of the entire project.
This book deals with the facts and not the emotion, speculation and fantasy which has plagued the subject for so long. It presents a detailed, factual and very readable account of the development and subsequent demise of TSR2 project.

For this new edition an additional chapter concerning the F-111K, extracts from the TSR2 Crew Manual and other declassified technical TSR2 documentation, has been provided by Tony Buttler, the author of the respected Crecy British Secret Projects series who has researched this era of British military aviation for many years.

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TSR2 - Britain's Lost Bomber

More than forty years after its cancellation, the BAC TSR2 is still a controversial aircraft. Years ahead of its time, it was abruptly cancelled by a new government when flight testing had ony just begun. Built to a demanding RAF requirement , the BAC TSR2 was a revolutionary low-level strike aircraft able to deliver a tactical nuclear weapon at supersonic speed and low altitude to evade enemy radar.
This fascinating book describes in detail the aircraft, its history and the events of its cancellation. Many hitherto unseen photographs and diagrams support the detailed text, which benefits from extensive research in the BAC archives and access to newly rediscovered material.

Topics covered: Background to the requirement, and competing designs - Development and production - The flight-testing programme - The full story of the cancellation and its aftermath - Unbuilt variants - Detailed specifications.

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TSR2 : Britain's lost Cold War strike jet (Osprey)

The TSR2 is one of the greatest 'what-if' aircraft of the Cold War, whose cancellation still generates anger and controversy among aviation fans. It was a magnificent, cutting-edge aircraft, one of the most striking of the Cold War, but fell victim to cost overruns, overambitious requirements, and politics.
Its scrapping marked the point when Britain's aerospace industry could no longer build world-class aircraft independently. After the demise of TSR2 the RAF's future jets would be modified US aircraft like the Phantom and pan-European collaborations like Tornado and Typhoon.

In this book the eminent air power analyst and ex-Vulcan bomber pilot Andrew Brookes takes a fresh, hard-headed look at the TSR2 project, telling the story of its development, short career and cancellation, and evaluating how it would have performed in Cold War strike roles as well as in the recent wars in the Middle East.

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