A Lifetime of Aviation, 1916 - 1986 (Limited edition No. 903/ 3.000 copies)

This magnificent book can be seen as an exhibition of 70 years of British aviation ( both military and civil ) through many paintings from various artists. This book is No. 903 of a limited edition of 3.000 copies.

This book is No. 903 of a limited edition of 3.000 copies.
During the 70 years' existence of the S.B.A.C., the British aerospace industry has developed hundreds of different types of civil and military aircraft, of which many have evolved into large numbers of variants, especially in wartime. The principle has been to illustrate each aircraft, in the chronological order of its development, with some facet of its operational activity. Virtually all the paintings, even those of aircraft of earlier years, stem from the post - Second World War period - indicative only of the fact that very few aircraft were made the subjects of original art in the early years, even though they may have been photographed - and often with high quality - many times. It was left to artists coming later to turn their talents to depicting on canvas or paper the often elegant shapes of those earlier years.

Michael Donne O.B.E. is an author specialised in aviation, who has published a couple of books about the very subject, such as Flying into the Future : Pioneers of the Skies : Shorts ( 1987 ), Above us the skies ( 1990 ) and A Pictorial History of Shorts ( 1993 ).