Ross Sharp
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aviationhistory.bsky.social
Ross Sharp
@aviationhistory.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.8K following 630 posts
Museum curator, airshow organiser, aircraft restorer. Principal at https://aviationhistory.uk Please visit https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp (aviation & more) Also, see https://bsky.app/profile/blueskyimages.bsky.social
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aviationhistory.bsky.social
Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · Oct 12
My new website, AviationHistory.UK has just launched. Do drop by! aviationhistory.uk Many thanks to Jo for the design and the hosting!
Aviation History UK – Research, Events, Writing & Media
Discover in-depth UK aviation history. Lectures, research, publications, museum consultancy, broadcasting & aviation photography.
aviationhistory.uk
aviationhistory.bsky.social
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November 11, 2025 at 12:27 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
FMA IA 58 Pucara A-515 (ZD485) arriving, today, at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Doncaster. This aircraft was formerly at RAF Museum Midlands #aircraft #UK #Yorkshire #museum #Argentine #RAF #COIN #turboprop🛩️ www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
A rare FAI IA 58 Pucara, formerly of the Argentine Air Force, was delivered, today to the South Yorkshire Air Museum in Doncaster, UK. This captured aircraft had been flown by the Royal Air Force (as ZD485), and was on display at the RAF Museum Midlands. FMA IA 58 Pucara A-515 (ZD485) arriving, today, at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Doncaster. This aircraft was formerly at RAF Museum Midlands https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp
October 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
My new website, AviationHistory.UK has just launched. Do drop by! aviationhistory.uk Many thanks to Jo for the design and the hosting!
Aviation History UK – Research, Events, Writing & Media
Discover in-depth UK aviation history. Lectures, research, publications, museum consultancy, broadcasting & aviation photography.
aviationhistory.uk
October 12, 2025 at 10:18 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
My Alamy account has over 500 images (c.60% aviation). I do hope that you will enjoy them! www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
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October 12, 2025 at 10:13 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
This is an 'oldie'; way back in 1979! I took this shot of an OA-37 in Peoria when I was visiting the IL ANG. #ANG #Peoria #Cessna #OA37 Please visit my Alamy site for a wide selection of aviation shots and other subjects, too - www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
August 18, 2025 at 3:40 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
The Royal Air Force Force Ensign flying in a stiff breeze. This most handsome ensign, 104 years old, can be found flying wherever the RAF is. Lots more #ensigns, #flags, #memorials, #landscapes, #architecture, #aircraft & more on my Alamy #photography page - see below

www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
August 15, 2025 at 9:06 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
This De Havilland DH85 Leopard Moth was built in 1934 - and is still going strong. Made to carry a pilot plus two passengers, and powered by Gipsy Major 1C engine, it was used as a tourer and air taxi as well as by the RAF during WW2. Seen here at Duxford, she flies on! See Alt for lots more! 🛩️
With its unusual seating arrangement (pilot in front with two passengers behind), and its folding wings, the DH Leopard Moth is a rather eccentric aircraft. Never the less this example is nothing if not a survivor, and has that classic de Havilland shape. Here is a lot more detail ! https://shortfinals.org/2014/01/08/busy-wartime-service-coupled-with-a-high-profile-civilian-career-g-acmn-d-h-85-leopard-moth/ https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp
June 13, 2025 at 6:33 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
North American RA-5C Vigilante. Sometimes an aircraft is never used for its designed purpose. In this case I am very grateful. The original use of the A-5 Vigilante was as a nuclear capable USN carrier aircraft. Fortunately, the photo-reconnaissance version was also useful ! Much more at Alt ! 🛩️⚔️
This was taken after a blizzard in Upper New York State, hence the mounds of snow! The Vigilante was an elegant carrier aircraft, and this is only one of 12 survivors; see ‪https://shortfinals.org/2013/07/12/north-american-ra-5c-vigilante-the-eyes-of-the-fleet/
June 6, 2025 at 10:23 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
A photographers Starter Pack! bsky.app/profile/avia...
bsky.app
June 6, 2025 at 3:42 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
@blueskyimages.bsky.social Boeing 747-8 of Lufthansa shortly after landing at Boston Airport. The 747 may have faded from passenger carriage, but it will be in our skies for many more years as a heavy, long-distance freighter. For more photographs & other subjects see www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
The Queen of the Skies, as she is known is now in service just as a cargo carrier, but the war in Ukraine, and other world tensions, has ensured that this maid-of-all-work is still much in demand. Truly, a classic shape in our skies.
June 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
One foxy aircraft! The DH83, a 1930s class, was capable of carrying up to four passengers (plus pilot), or 3 pax up to 350 miles at 96mph! mating a new fuselage with mainly Tiger Moth components, this was a hit; post-war Canadian DH83C's often had a sliding canopy. Now rare, see Alt for lots more!
This beautiful DH83 Fox Moth biplane is seen at an event held on the former RAF Hullavington airfield. https://shortfinals.org/2011/02/22/the-height-of-economy-the-dh-fox-moth/ By the way, see my Alamy feed for hundreds of other images (aircraft + landscapes, architecture and much more!) https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp
May 31, 2025 at 3:05 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
The Avro York is a close cousin to the famous Avro Lancaster. A few were built during WW2 including one for Winston Churchill, but it played a significant role in the Berlin Airlift. Only a handful have survived including this one at the RAF Museum, Midlands. See Alt ! www.alamy.com/profile/ross...
The York could be described as an emergency airliner. Britain had focussed on building bombers, fighters, flyingboats and reconnaissance aircraft during WW2, leaving transport aircraft to the USA for the most part. The result was a large technology gap, which the UK struggled to fill. Just a handful of Avro Yorks are left including this on in the National Cold War Museum, at the RAF Museum, Midlands. By the way, please take a look at my photographs (on many subjects) on Alamy, please see https://www.alamy.com/profile/rosssharp https://shortfinals.org/2013/06/29/avro-york-the-emergency-airliner/
May 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Oh, and I have added another batch of photographs to my Alamy profile....enjoy! 🛩️ www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...
May 18, 2025 at 8:11 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
The People's Mosquito are holding a Vintage Tea Party at the International Bomber Command Centre, Lincoln on Sat. 21st June. Ticket details below. WW2 Mosquito pilot Flt Lt Colin Bell, BEM, DFC (Colin is now 104) will be with us! Please support the TPM project if you can.
May 7, 2025 at 12:37 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
When Tony Le Vier, a Lockheed test pilot, and some friends at Lockheed designed built a series of three Formula 1 racers, they were always going to be fast and manoeuvrable. The performance of 'Cosmic Wind' was amazing on just 9 0hp. Sold in the UK, she crashed but was rebuilt. See Alt for more ! 🛩️📍
This tiny racer has had a long and checkered history. Finish in a green colour scheme with cream accents, it lloks fast, even when parked in a hangar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. You would hardly believe that the aircraft was completely rebuilt following a crash in which it smashed through a hedge and was declared a write-off. Much more in the linked article ! https://shortfinals.org/2013/08/21/a-magnificent-racer-le-vier-cosmic-wind-g-arul-iwm-duxford/
April 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Agusta Westland (now Leonardo S.p.A.) Wildcat HMA.1 at RIAT. The Wildcat was developed from the Super Lynx, and has had a major structural redesign, along with new weapon systems such as the Sea Venom anti-ship missile. An important rotorcraft for both the Royal Navy and the British Army.🛩️⚔️🚁
Westland were a major British helicopter manufacturer. They are now Italian-owned, and their designs are marketed by Leonardo S.p.A. This Wildcat HMA.1 of the Royal Navy is shown, under bright sunshine, on the static line at the Royal International Air Tattoo in the camouflage scheme of the Royal Navy. Note the advanced tip design of the rotor blades. The new Sea Venom missile is not carried; it is expected to achieve 'initial operating capability' in 2026.
March 26, 2025 at 3:13 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
@aviationreview.bsky.social The Auster AOP.9 was the last version of the RAF/British Army Air Corps fixed wing 'Air Observation Post'. In service by 1955 it was replaced by helicopters like the Saunders-Roe Skeeter from 1958. This AOP.9 is in private hands, as is the only unsuccessful AOP.11 🛩️⚔️
This angular Auster AOP.9 is seen here on a grass airfirld at the end of a line of earlier Austers (the name means 'soft southern breeze', in Latin). It is in the standard British Army Air Corps camouflage and markings of the time, and served in many parts of the world spotting fall of shot for artillery, and undertaking other observation and liaison tasks. The term Air Observation Post is an archaic one, and refers to the time when earlier aircraft were flown by Royal Artillery pilots and serviced by RAF personnel (earlier marks of Auster were flown in WW2 actions such as Operation Overlord and Operation Varsity)
March 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
The Belvedere was designed, and piston-engined prototypes built by the Bristol company. The initial prototypes were a failure. A forced political decision by the UK Government, meant the design was transferred to Westland's. Seen here in Manchester, it is now with the Helicopter Museum See Alt ! 🛩️⚔️🚁
This was intended to be the RAF standard heavy-lift helicopter, but the Belvedere had a difficult 'birth' and never really lived up to its potential. This example is shown on display at the magnificent, if somewhat cramped, setting of the former Market Hall at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. However, this Victorian edifice had serious maintenance issues. That, along with a distinct change of emphasis to the Museum's collecting policy, meant that the Belvedere was handed back to it's owner - the RAF Museum. However, that entity made an excellent decision, to send XG454 to the Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, the very town where the helicopter was built in 1960. Click on the link below for a very comprehensive article ! https://shortfinals.org/2014/02/04/this-rotorcraft-fell-between-two-stools-or-two-rotors-the-westland-bristol-belvedere-hc-1/
March 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Beech Starship 2000 - too much too soon? The FAA certainly seemed to think so! 40,000 hrs of stress testing & forced FAA modifications meant the weight grew past 12,500lbs & meant 'type certification' rather than a generic 'twin rating'. This Mexican example is in the Beechcraft Museum. See ALT ! 🛩️📍
The Beech Starship was ahead of its time, and the FAA seem to think Beech were off THEIR head ! This futuristic Starship (yes, this is pre-Musk!) look like something out of a sci-fi movie and the FAA treated it as such. One was subjected to 40,000 hours of stress testing, equating to TWICE its projected life-cycle ! The clean white airframe has purple accent lines, and is registered in Mexico. https://shortfinals.org/2013/09/01/beech-starship-2000a-too-much-too-soon-versus-hidebound-bureaucracy/
March 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Curtiss-Wright Travel Air 12Q/W. When Curtiss-Wright bought the remains of Travel Air they kept producing aircraft under that brand name. This fine 1929 example of the Model 12 Q/W, powered by a Warner Scarab 145 engine is believed to be one of the oldest aircraft on the British Register. See Alt !🛩️
The names Clyde Cessna, Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech are all legends, and it would be logical to assume that a company headed by these three would be a massive success. Wrong - the Great Depression wiped out Travel Air and it was up to Curtiss-Wright to pick up the pieces and continue that brand name. The Travel Air 12Q/W is certainly a handsome biplane, with a dark blue fuselage and bright yellow wings, and I was lucky to see this one at Cotswold Airport. https://wordpress.com/post/shortfinals.org/3932
March 10, 2025 at 4:27 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
The Handley Page Hastings T.5. Derived from its famous wartime bomber cousin, the Halifax, this one is at the Newark Air Museum. Conceived as WW2 was winding down as a long-range transport aircraft, the Hastings actually ended up in action, dropping paratroops during the Suez Campaign (see Alt) 🛩️⚔️📍
The Handley Page Hastings has a great deal of commonality with its more famous, wartime bomber brother, the Halifax. Indeed one Hastings donated its wing and engines to enable a non-flying Handley Page Halifax to be reconstructed! Conceived as WW2 was winding down as a long-range transport aircraft, the Hastings actually ended up in action, dropping paratroops during the Suez Campaign. The last variant was the T.5, a specialist sub-type. Just eight were converted to T'5s to train RAF navigators for the new 'V Force'. You can see a T.5 here, sitting on the grass of the New Air Museum in the bright sunshine. Indeed my old friend Wing Commander Bill Ramsey (who was later to command the famous RAF Red Arrows) spent his first tour as a pilot flying one of these Hastings! https://shortfinals.org/2011/06/11/handley-page-hastings-coal-cod-and-the-cold-war/ https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/Ross.Sharp
March 4, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Ross Sharp
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Col. Oleksandr Oksanchenko, Ukrainian Air Force, flying 'Bort 58', a Sukhoi Su-27P1M. Col. Oksanchenko was K.I.A. , 10th October, 2022 Slava Ukraini
Col. Oksanchenko was an accomplished display pilot. He is seen here at the Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford. (See https://rosssharp.pictorem.com)
February 21, 2025 at 6:39 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/Sh1Cq7y
March 2, 2025 at 9:32 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
Support your local aviation museum, or aircraft restoration! I am a member of several aero clubs/aviation museums & enjoy them very much! The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum holds a memento from No 59 Sqn, RAF in the form of a truncated propeller from a Hawker Hector's Dagger engine (see Alt)🛩️⚔️📍
This shows a brass plaque affixed to the starboard side of a truncated propeller hub memorialising No 59 Sqn, RAF. It lists the following types :- R.E.9 (1917-1919), Bristol Fighter (1919), Hector (1937-1939), Blenheim (1939), Hudson (1941), Liberator (1942), Fortress (1942), Liberator (1943), York (1947), and Canberra (1956). As you can see 59 Sqn had a very long and varied history from the late WW1 reconnaissance type , the R.E.8 to the first of the RAF's jet bombers the Canberra. The Hector was an Army Co-operation type which had a very short pre-WW2 career, bing replaced in many Squadrons by the Westland Lysander. Although the Napier Dagger engine could produce 805 hp, it had 24 cylinders and was both complex and prone to faults. The prop was a two-blade, fixed pitch one of the Watts type, made by the Airscrew Company where H C Watts was Technical Director. No 59 Squadron had an unusual emblem - a broken wheel ! It features in the centre of this truncated propeller, along with a list of locations where the Squadron had been based and a separate list of aircraft types flown. There is also a small brass plate listing the technical details of the propeller, and indicating that it was for use with a Napier Dagger engine. This would indicate that it came from one of 59 Squadron's Hawker Hectors. It is unusual to find such a detailed piece from an RAF Squadron in a regional museum.
March 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
aviationhistory.bsky.social
A WW1 gem, the Sopwith Tabloid ! This started as a sports plane; one won the 1914 Schneider Trophy Race on floats & went on to serve from start to finish in WW1. This flying reproduction, sadly, crashed. Owned by the RAF Museum it is now at Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome, Essex. MORE at Alt !🛩️⚔️📍
T.O.M. Sopwith was a notable early English flyer, and his company was to play a huge role inn WW1. This tiny little biplane is a reproduction made from original drawing and flew successfully (although on a modern aero engine in the 1970s. Unfortunately, it suffered sever damage caused by a landing accident, and was rebuilt as a static exhibit. It is shown here in the old Watch Office in the Graham-White Factory on the RAF Museum's estate in Hendon. The Museum purchased this aircraft, and fitted it with an original Gnome engine which they had in store. It has now been loaned to the Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome in Essex. See the link for a LONG article from my blog ! https://shortfinals.org/2014/01/01/the-sopwith-tabloid-zeppelin-killer/ https://rosssharp.pictorem.com
March 1, 2025 at 7:58 PM