For quite a few years, Simon Parry and Mark Postlethwaite have been building up a huge library of original WWII aviation photos, partly as a hobby but mainly to help provide photos for the books that they publish. With over 30,000 now in the collection, they realised that they had more than enough to produce a series of photo books on individual aircraft types and sub-types. They set out to make the series as ideally suited to modellers and artists as possible, so large photos, using A4 landscape format, and minimal text except for extended captions. Effectively their aim is to produce a 21st Century version of the Profile Publications series of books from the 1960s, using the latest technology to reproduce their wartime photos to the highest standard possible. Wing Leader Ltd was set up by Red Kite founders Simon W Parry and Mark Postlethwaite to act as an online retail business for their Red Kite publishing titles. RZM Imports, Inc. is proud to offer their publications here in North America. In this book, renowned Beaufighter expert Terry Higgins and modelling legend Neil Robinson share their deep knowledge of the subject and identify the various modifications, paint schemes and upgrades that were applied to the Beau during this period. It was a very complicated task which took them over a year to complete.

After devoting the first four volumes in this series to Battle of Britain subjects, we turned our attention to another icon of British aviation, the Avro Lancaster. The problem with the Lanc was always going to be how to break it down into manageable sizes. We considered chronologically but it didn’t quite tell the story as we wanted, so in the end we went for a layout by production batches and therefore serial numbers. This has thrown up some interesting details along the way and we can guarantee that even the biggest Lancaster fans will learn some new facts from this book. Part One therefore covers serial numbers L7527 to JB748 which chronologically is roughly 1941 to the end of 1943. Part two features later serials and Part three covers the MkII and other special Lancaster types like the B1 Special and the Type 464 (Provisioning) ‘Dambuster version. ” Today, Terry’s enterprise, SkyGrid Studio,specializes in aviation-history-focused research, illustration, design, and editorial work for clients ranging from aviation-speciality publishers and scale-model manufacturers to museums and aircraft restorers. He has consulted on a number of projects with the Airfix design team over the past decade – the most personally rewarding of which was the firm’s new-tool 1/72 scale Beaufighter series. As always, we’ve optimised every photo to help the reader look deep into the shadows to see these features and have labelled them where necessary. So, with this in mind, we set out to create a definitive guide to what the various serial batches would have looked like and what mods they would have had. This book, along with the previous WPA5, form an essential guide to the wartime Main Force Avro Lancaster, using high-res wartime photos to illustrate key features of each serial batch to guide modellers and historians in the future. With previously unpublished colour images of Village Inn and Monica III, this book is a must for any Lancaster enthusiast. After five years with SAM Publications he temporarily re-joined The Aviation Workshop, in April 2010, as Book Production Editor for their range of ‘On Target’ books, before joining forces with a local printer and starting the AIRfile range of camouflage and markings books.Volume Fourteen covers 16-23 September, a period when the weather took a turn for the worse and limited operations on both sides. Despite this, there are several important and rarely covered events such as the massacre of KG77’s Ju88s on it’s first operation with the new type on 18 September. The Stirling has come in for a lot of Flak over the years, both literally and metaphorically. Hampered by a poor service ceiling and a Dastardly and Muttley style undercarriage, it has always lived in the shadow of the more illustrious Lancaster and Halifax. However, most crews that flew the Stirling were very fond of the aircraft and although its capabilities as a bomber were never as strong as its contemporaries, it blossomed into an extremely useful glider tug and Special Duties aircraft towards the end of the war. This aspect is covered in our second book on the aircraft. Again it’s our absolute pleasure to introduce a new author to the series. A professional aircraft engineer and the son of a wartime Lancaster pilot, Peter Allam is a Lancaster expert in every sense of the word, and his in-depth knowledge was really needed with this one to pull out details on these lesser known examples. Volume Eleven covers 7-8 September the tipping point of the Battle where the Luftwaffe changed tactics and started bombing London. In this volume we uncover the minutes of a secret meeting held on 7 September in which the senior officers of RAF Fighter Command discussed the best way to ‘go downhill’ as it was clear that the Luftwaffe was winning. At that very moment, on the other side of the Channel, German bomber crews were being briefed on the change of tactic that would ultimately prove to be RAF Fighter Command’s saviour.

Holding its advantage over the Me 109F during the summer, the operational debut of the FW 190A in September 1941, found the Mk V somewhat outclassed, but despite this, it remained the main RAF fighter until the summer of 1942, when the Mk IX was introduced, but low level LF Mk Vb and Vcs remained in use into 1944. Red Kite are delighted to present a major new landmark series of books on the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain Combat Archive Series forms the most comprehensive account ever of The Few’s gallant efforts. Focusing solely on RAF Fighter Command’s clashes with the Luftwaffe, the series covers every combat that took place on every day of the Battle of Britain. Using contemporary accounts such as combat reports, rarely seen squadron intelligence summaries and the newly released casualty reports, the author and his team of experts have broken down each day into its individual combats and assembled the claims, losses and first-hand accounts into a highly accessible format. These combats are illustrated with specially designed maps showing the amount of aircraft involved, the area that the engagement took place and the location of where the casualties came to earth. Each combat and casualty report is illustrated with a photo of the pilot wherever possible.The series will run to around 18 Volumes. Volume One covers 10 July to 22 July 1940 and contains: Growing up in the late 1950s/early 1960s, Neil Robinson had an interest in aeroplanes from an early age, which expressed itself by him spending most of his paper round money buying aviation magazines such as ‘Flying Review’ and ‘Aircraft Illustrated’ and Airfix and Frog kits. Hanging onto every word of W R ‘Bill’ Matthews’ ‘Model Talk’ in ‘Flying Review’ and Alan W Hall’s conversions in ‘Airfix Magazine’, he continued to have an interest in aeroplanes and model making throughout his teens and joined IPMS (UK) in 1969.

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The last volume (WPA 5) covered Mk I/III early production batches up to 1943 (L7527 to JB748), whereas this one covers Mk I/IIIs from 1943 to the end of the war (HK535 to SW279). We’ve avoided post-war Lancs and other Mks as they will appear in a future volume. Also set aside for a future volume is a more in-depth look into the interior of the Lancaster and the various equipment that was carried. A new fighter capable of matching the performance of the FW190 was needed – urgently. The planned successors to the Spitfire Mk V were the Mk VII and Mk VIII, but they would take far too long to become operational. Fortunately, Rolls-Royce had experimented with fitting a Merlin 60 engine in their test-bed Spitfire in September 1941 and the increase in performance over the Mk V was significant. The Air Ministry took the decision to marry the tried-and-tested Mk V airframe with the new Merlin to bypass the delays in perfecting a new airframe and get a better Spitfire operational as soon as possible. The Spitfire Mk IX entered service nine months later, in June 1942 and went on to become, in the eyes of many pilots, the best of the breed.