...way to compare Hendon is internationally. Was there anything comparable to Hendon overseas? Yes, and Hendon seems to have been the direct inspiration. David Omissi notes that Italo Balbo, the senior Italian fascist, aviator and no mean impresario of aerial propaganda himself, attended Hendon in 1927 and 1932, declared that 'the RAF Display was the finest thing in aviation'.5 After he became Air Minister in 1929, he laid on two Giornata dell'ala, '...
...a German one, but this is now the Locarno era [...] Airminded · Comparing Hendon [...] RAF Displays held at Hendon between 1920 and 1937 were unique, in that no other air force attempted to project a vision of itself, its [...] Airminded · Ending Hendon — V: 1932-1934 [...] by this event. Personally we were much more excited when our aircraft swooped down upon hordes of many-coloured "Wot Knotts," scattering them in all directions, and then blowi...
...re theatrical than usual, and well staged'.9 The erection represented Port Hendon, complete with lighthouse and a ship in dock. The broadcast came from the control room of the Fighter Command, and one heard the reports coming in of a Blueland raid flying inland very fast and evidently making for Port Hendon. The A.O.C. ordered up No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron to meet it, and we saw the Gladiators (Mercury engines) leap into the sky and make off for the...
...desert fortress. However, scenarios of this kind were a small minority of Hendon’s set-pieces: most depicted warfare against other industrialised states. Hendon should rather be seen as an attempt to persuade spectators that future wars could be won through the use of airpower rather than large armies or expensive navies. There are three things I wanted to do with this article, which to some extent are independent of each other. The first is to p...
...quotation marks included.4 A short article in the Register explained that Hendon was to be a new residential subdivision, 'appropriately styled Hendon, after the famous English flying centre'.5 So that's where the name Hendon came from: a land developer's attempt to capitalise on the flying craze by emphasising the proximity of aeroplanes taking off and landing and hinting that a free air display could be seen every day (weather permitting). This...
...tainer.length > 0) { navbar = new Tarski.Navbar(container); } }); ‹ Ending Hendon -- III: 1926-1928 [...] Airminded · Comparing Hendon [...] Italian fascist, aviator and no mean impresario of aerial propaganda himself, attended Hendon in 1927 and 1932, declared that 'the RAF Display was the finest thing in aviation'.5 After he became Air [...] Hendon in stereo – Airminded […] to the occasion. The label at the top reads 'Hendon - July '28', which s...
...on of Big Bertha's little sister, the ammunition dump, the farm and Uncle Tom Cobly and all'.5 The clearly European setting is also intriguing; perhaps increasing instability in Germany made another nearby war seem more likely. Or maybe it was just Europe's turn for a Hendon set-piece again. Flight, 18 July 1929, 682. [↩] Ibid. 'Hendon-by-the-Sea' is from ibid., 683. [↩] Ibid., 682. The photographs are from ibid., 683. [↩] Ibid., 682. [↩] Ibid. [↩...
...bear more quickly than can even tanks and battlecruisers. (Indeed, another Hendon standby at this stage was the bombing and destruction of a tank.) Certainly, as Major F. A. de V. Robertson noted, 'The public probably never stopped to inquire how nine "Virginias" and three "Aldershots" [based in Britain] arrived off the coast of Africa, or wherever it was'.8 But that's precisely why the Hendon spectaculars made such powerful propaganda for the RAF...
...er the day (it was on the last day of June) or the year (the 1927 and 1929 Hendons were both held in July). Or perhaps it wasn't at Hendon at all, but at one of the regional displays where RAF squadrons sometimes reprised their Hendon performances? It might not have been labelled until some years after the event. There's no real way to tell. The photos themselves show reasonably well-dressed spectators standing in amongst their motor cars, watchin...
...937 [...] it was thought, was 'unimpressive, either by comparison with the finales of previous years or with several items the same afternoon'. 6 It would be interesting to know why there was no [...] Airminded · Comparing Hendon [...] fascist, aviator and no mean impresario of aerial propaganda himself, attended Hendon in 1927 and 1932, declared that 'the RAF Display was the finest thing in aviation'.5 After he became Air Minister in [...]...
