| Name |
Description |
#books |
| Aerial warfare |
The use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare; including bombers, fighters, gliders, helicopters, torpedo bombers, aerial tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, air-sea rescue aircraft, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. | 1 |
| Aerodrome |
A location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither. | 12 |
| Aileron |
A hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. They are used in pairs to control the aircraft in movement around the aircraft’s longitudinal axis called 'rolling' or 'banking'. | 7 |
| Airborne forces |
Military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft or gliders and 'dropped' into battle, typically by parachute during WW2, by more recently by Helicopters. | 4 |
| Aircraft Blister |
A transparent bulge or dome on the fuselage of an airplane, usually for mounting a gun or an observation point. | 4 |
| Aircraft Propeller |
An airscrew that converts rotary motion to provide propulsive force, comprising a rotating power-driven hub with radial airfoil-section blades. The blade pitch may be fixed, manually variable, or an automatically-variable 'constant-speed' type. | 7 |
| Altimeter |
An instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level using the measurement of atmospheric pressure. | 3 |
| Anti-aircraft warfare |
All measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. | 16 |
| Astrodome |
A hemispherical transparent dome fitted in the roof of an aircraft to allow the use of a sextant during astro-navigation. Used on many RAF/Commonwealth multi-engined aircraft of WW2 who performed many of their operations at night. Also used for the sighting of defensive, remotely operated gun turrets. | 5 |
| Barrage balloon |
A large kite balloon used to defend against aircraft attack by raising up cables which pose a collision risk, making the attacker's approach more difficult. | 8 |
| Blockbuster Bomb |
A term referring to several of the largest conventional bombs used in WW2 by the RAF. The term was originally a name coined by the press and referred to a bomb which had enough explosive power to destroy an entire street. There were 4,000 lb., 8,000 lb. and 12,000 lb. variants. | 1 |
| Bomb bay |
A compartment on some military aircraft to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft’s fuselage, with 'bomb bay doors' which open at the bottom over the target or at a specified launching point. | 1 |
| Bomb Sight |
A device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately which has to estimate the path the bomb will take after it’s release. During its fall, gravity and air drag make the path of the bomb through the air roughly parabolic. | 1 |
| Bomber |
A combat aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry. | 18 |
| Cockpit |
The area, usually at the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft. | 9 |
| Diamond formation |
A formation of four or more aircraft, wherein the elements of the group adopt a diamond, or kite, shape. As few as four aircraft can establish the formation and conventionally the largest number is sixteen. | 2 |
| Dive-bomber |
A bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. This allows attacks on point targets and ships. | 11 |
| Dog Fight |
An aerial battle between fighter aircraft, conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manœuvring. | 2 |
| Elevator |
A flight control surface, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft’s pitch, and therefore the angle of attack and the lift of the wing. The elevators are usually hinged to the tailplane or horizontal stabiliser. | 4 |
| Fighter Bomber |
A fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. | 4 |
| Fighter |
A military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers. | 17 |
| Flame Float |
A small incendiary device that would float after being thrown out down the flare chute. The rear gunner would use it as a reference point of light to provide the navigator with the degree of wind drift blowing the aircraft off track. | 1 |
| Flare Path |
A alternative term used for runway lighting, a line of lights on an airfield or elsewhere to guide aircraft in taking off or coming in to land or an illuminated runway. | 3 |
| Flight suit |
A full-body garment, worn while flying aircraft generally made to keep the wearer warm and durable (including fire retardants). | 2 |
| Floatplane |
A type of seaplane, with one or more slender pontoons (known as 'floats') mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. | 1 |
| Fluorescein |
A dye available as a dark orange/red powder slightly soluble in water and alcohol. During WW2 it was used as a visible marker that could be seen from the air over long distances to facilitate air-sea rescue. | 1 |
| Flying-boats |
A fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It usually had no type of landing gear to allow operation on land. | 8 |
| Fuselage |
An aircraft’s main body section holding the crew, passengers, and cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine. | 9 |
| Geodetic Airframe |
A type of construction for the airframes of aircraft developed by British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis in the 1930s. It makes use of a space frame formed from a spirally crossing basket-weave of load-bearing members. | 2 |
| Glider Tug Cable Angle Indicator |
An instrument known colloquially as the 'Angle of Dangle' used by glider tugs to show when the tug is in the correct position behind it. The correct position is either slightly above the tug, high-tow, or slightly below it, low-tow, to avoid being in the slipstream which is dangerous. | 1 |
| Glider Tug |
An aeroplane that manoeuvres other gliders by towing them. The tow-plane takes the glider to the height and location requested by the pilot where the glider pilot releases the tow. | 1 |
| Hangar |
A closed building structure used for protection from the weather, direct sunlight, maintenance, repair, manufacture, assembly and storage of aircraft, aircraft carriers and ships. | 7 |
| Hurricane Boost Control |
A control on the engine which allows the engine to provide an emergency boost of speed for a small amount of time (minutes). | 2 |
| Military airbase |
An aerodrome used by a military force for the operation of military aircraft. | 7 |
| Military Glider |
A type of glider used during WW2 by the military for carrying troops and heavy equipment to a combat zone. They were engineless aircraft towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes. | 6 |
| Monoplane |
A fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multi-plane. It has the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing configuration. | 3 |
| Nacelle |
A housing, separate from the fuselage, that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft and is typically aerodynamically shaped. | 2 |
| Parachute |
A device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. They are used with a variety of loads, including people, food, equipment, and bombs. | 11 |
| Radar |
An object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain and was secretly developed by several nations in the period before and during WW2. | 3 |
| Radio Beacon |
A device which marks a fixed location and allows direction finding equipment to find a relative bearing and the direction to the beacon. It broadcasts a radio signal which is picked up by radio direction finding systems. | 1 |
| Radio Transmitter |
An acronym denoting the radio transmitter used for communication in the air forces. | 2 |
| Reconnaissance Aircraft |
A manned or unmanned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance. | 7 |
| Spoiler |
A device which intentionally reduces the lift component of an airfoil in a controlled way. Most often, they are plates on the top surface of a wing that can be extended upward into the airflow to spoil the streamline flow. Spoilers were used by most gliders until the 1960s to control their rate of descent. | 1 |
| Squadron Weavers |
A specific section of a squadron that flies at the rear of the squadron in order to keep a look out for any enemy fighters that may be advancing on the squadron from the rear. | 4 |
| Supply Dropping Point |
A location identified by military air forces to define where to drop supplies by parachute in support of military forces on the ground. | 1 |
| Sutton Harness |
The first quick release device used in single-seat fighters which allowed a pilot to pull on a single leather thong to release all the harness straps and free themselves. | 2 |
| Tail Fin |
A vertical stabiliser of an aircraft or missile typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body. It is intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip and provide direction stability. On aircraft, they generally point upwards and are known as the vertical tail. | 1 |
| Tail Plane |
A small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other aircraft such as helicopters. The function of the tailplane is to provide stability and control. | 1 |
| Tail Wheel |
A small wheel or skid to support the tail which is part of an aircrafts undercarriage landing gear. The term taildragger is also used. | 3 |
| Torpedo Bomber |
A military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes, remaining an important aircraft type until they were rendered obsolete by anti-ship missiles. | 1 |
| Undercarriage |
The section of an aircraft used for either takeoff or landing. It supports the craft when it is not flying, allowing it to take off, land, and taxi without damage. Wheels are typically used but skids, skis, floats or a combination of these and other elements can be deployed. | 9 |
| V Formation |
A symmetric V-shaped flight formation for military aircraft in many air forces. It improves the fuel efficiency of aircraft and is used on military flight missions. | 5 |
| Wing Float |
The buoyancy and balancing device which are designed into the wings of flying boats in addition to the buoyancy provided by the hull. | 2 |
