{"title":"Christopher Budgen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"hawker-s-secret-cold-war-airfield-book-christopher-budgen-9781526771759","title":"Hawker's Secret Cold War Airfield","description":"In 1948, Hawker Aircraft, faced with new jet projects that could not use their existing airfield at Langley, began the process of searching for alternative accommodation for their flight-testing requirements. It would, however, take three hard years before Dunsfold Aerodrome would be made available by a reluctant Air Ministry and the company was able to launch its first jet aircraft design - the Sea Hawk - into series production for the Royal Navy, closely followed by the superlative Hunter. Hawker Aircraft would go on to produce nearly 2,000 Hunters before other projects came to the fore.  As Hunter production continued in the late 1950s, the company looked to its successor - the Mach 2 capable air superiority fighter designated P.1121, though this would stall before flight in the wake of serious national financial short-falls. With the loss of its premier project, the company came upon a radical new engine proposal and schemed an aircraft around it capable of vertical take-off and landing. While many decried the proposal, claiming it would never amount to anything, the Harrier would go on to prove the nay-sayers wrong as it came into its own during the Falklands War.  Following the Harrier, Hawker Siddeley stepped into the competitive trainer aircraft market with the Hawk for the RAF. After completion of the RAF requirement, Hawk was sold into air arms across the world, including the US Navy, an incredible achievement for a UK design. British Aerospace then brought forth the Harrier GR.5, the UK version of the US AV-8B, a completely upgraded and improved Harrier.  One might expect that this prolific output was the result of some massive industrial plant in the Midlands rather than an isolated aerodrome tucked in the rural hinterland of south Surrey. Surrounded for most of its existence by secrecy, due to the nature of its work, Dunsfold has largely escaped the notice of the general public. This work shines a light on the remarkable work carried out there.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49517569081617,"sku":"GOR012688600","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49735202177297,"sku":"NGR9781526771759","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53500852535569,"sku":"GOR014949193","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1526771756.jpg?v=1750760769"},{"product_id":"cranleigh-a-history-book-christopher-budgen-9781860775031","title":"Cranleigh: A History","description":"Cranleigh has claimed for some time to be the ‘largest village’ in England. As long ago as the 1920s, travel writers were dismissing it as a village aping the ways of a town. The tensions between those who saw expansion as a good thing and those concerned at the loss of what Cranleigh village meant to the people who already lived here have been evident for at least a century. Yet, in the 18th century, Cranleigh was a village in decline. While life in its agricultural hinterland continued in its own unchanging way, there was no ‘squire’, no local worthy to lead the social life of the community. As a survey of the village noted in 1724, the chief homes had become merely farmhouses, including Knowle; the Onslows, who owned most of the land in Cranleigh, had long since retired to the great house and park of Clandon.  It was not until the mid- 19th century that the moral temper of the village changed, with the arrival of the formidable Rev. J.H. Sapte riding the wave of Victorian rectitude that lasted until the First World War. The reasons why Cranleigh survived to grow into the ‘largest village in England’, while larger settlements nearby did not, are contained in its history. History can attempt to explain, too, why such a burgeoning settlement should thrive away from the main thoroughfares of Surrey. Much has already been written about the village but its past still remains relatively obscure, although continuing research has led to recent and revealing new discoveries.  We think of ‘Cranleigh’ as a place of Saxon origin, for example, and therefore over a thousand years old, but there is emerging evidence of settlement here during the Iron Age, a thousand years earlier still, and of man’s presence thousands of years before that. This readable and extremely informative account offers the reader the latest thinking on the history of Cranleigh and brings together many previously unpublished photographs of the village and its people.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49540179951889,"sku":"GOR005893839","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1860775039.jpg?v=1750931199"},{"product_id":"west-surrey-architecture-book-christopher-budgen-9780954213107","title":"West Surrey Architecture","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49569486307601,"sku":"GOR001615234","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0954213106.jpg?v=1750916754"},{"product_id":"hawker-s-secret-projects-book-christopher-budgen-9781399047906","title":"Hawker's Secret Projects","description":"Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Kingston was arguably the most successful and long-lasting manufacturer of military aircraft in Great Britain and Europe. In its various evolved manifestations - Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, British Aerospace - its output of war winning aircraft, mainly fighters, was unsurpassed. From the Hart and Hurricane through the Hunter, Harrier and Hawk, the company consistently produced aircraft that the UK fighting services wanted. But some designs, for whatever reason, failed to reach flight or were declined by the services.With their sometimes advanced aerodynamics and technology, these aircraft could have had successful service careers but instead were abandoned, their stories failing to reach mainstream consciousness. Having not received their just dues, the present book seeks to redress this omission. The reasons for failure are many and varied, often financial or political, but in each case the reasons behind the failure of the design are examined.In a wide-ranging investigation that documents the origins of Hawker Aircraft Ltd and its famous Project Office, this work, the third in Christopher Budgen's investigation of the inner workings of Hawker Aircraft, is a fitting tribute to the many who made the company the success it was.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49778527207697,"sku":"NGR9781399047906","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50420129333521,"sku":"GOR013943688","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50518464495889,"sku":"GOR013982804","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1399047906.jpg?v=1750890547"},{"product_id":"hawker-s-secret-cold-war-airfield-book-christopher-budgen-9781526798008","title":"Hawker's Secret Cold War Airfield","description":"In 1948, Hawker Aircraft, faced with new jet projects that could not use their existing airfield at Langley, began the process of searching for alternative accommodation for their flight-testing requirements. It would, however, take three hard years before Dunsfold Aerodrome would be made available by a reluctant Air Ministry and the company was able to launch its first jet aircraft design -the Sea Hawk -into series production for the Royal Navy, closely followed by the superlative Hunter. Hawker Aircraft would go on to produce nearly 2,000 Hunters before other projects came to the fore.  As Hunter production continued in the late 1950s, the company looked to its successor -the Mach 2 capable air superiority fighter designated P.1121, though this would stall before flight in the wake of serious national financial short-falls. With the loss of its premier project, the company came upon a radical new engine proposal and schemed an aircraft around it capable of vertical take-off and landing. While many decried the proposal, claiming it would never amount to anything, the Harrier would go on to prove the nay-sayers wrong as it came into its own during the Falklands War.  Following the Harrier, Hawker Siddeley stepped into the competitive trainer aircraft market with the Hawk for the RAF. After completion of the RAF requirement, Hawk was sold into air arms across the world, including the US Navy, an incredible achievement for a UK design. British Aerospace then brought forth the Harrier GR.5, the UK version of the US AV-8B, a completely upgraded and improved Harrier.  One might expect that this prolific output was the result of some massive industrial plant in the Midlands rather than an isolated aerodrome tucked in the rural hinterland of south Surrey. Surrounded for most of its existence by secrecy, due to the nature of its work, Dunsfold has largely escaped the notice of the general public. This work shines a light on the remarkable work carried out there.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51201574928657,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51201577287953,"sku":"NGR9781526798008","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/152679800X.jpg?v=1750958854"},{"product_id":"hawkers-naval-fighters-book-christopher-budgen-9781036102326","title":"Hawker’s Naval Fighters","description":"Hawker's enduring legacy shapes naval air power from early Sopwith roots to the Sea Harrier's pivotal Falklands-era impact. In 1912, TOM Sopwith transitioned from running a flying school to manufacturing aircraft, leveraging his nautical interests to create designs purchased by Britain's Royal Navy. The onset of the First World War solidified the Sopwith Aviation Company's reputation with aircraft like the Sopwith Camel widely used onboard the ships of the day. After the war, cancellations of government orders forced Sopwith Aviation into liquidation, However, a new company, the HG Hawker Engineering Company, was quickly formed, having been named after Sopwith's test pilot, Harry Hawker. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Hawker produced designs that continued to be purchased by the Royal Navy, being used on the early aircraft carriers as well as the larger vessels of the fleet. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the RN's Fleet Air Arm found itself woefully unprepared for battle, having mainly biplanes and slow monoplanes with which to face the modern German fighters and bombers. As a temporary solution, Hawker adapted the Hurricane into the Sea Hurricane. Hawker later developed advanced piston-engine fighters like the Fury and its naval counterpart, the Sea Fury, which saw action during the Korean War and Suez Crisis in 1956. The Sea Fury was succeeded by Hawker's first jet, the Sea Hawk, marking the Fleet Air Arm's transition into the jet age. The Sea Hawk also served the Indian Navy during its conflicts with Pakistan. Hawker's successful Hunter, although primarily for the RAF, was used by the Royal Navy for land-based operations. Meanwhile, Hawker's next design, the ground breaking Harrier, was ordered as the Sea Harrier; it saw action during the Falklands War, and, in due course, in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and in Iraq. From its earliest days then, the Hawker Aircraft Company has supplied winning designs to the Royal Navy and to many navies overseas, a feat that few other companies could match.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52863727567121,"sku":"NGR9781036102326","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781036102326.jpg?v=1765236877"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-christopher-budgen.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}