''Aircraft Illustrated '' was a British monthly

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

covering military and civil aviation topics with an emphasis on photographic features. It was first published in 1968, renamed ''Aircraft'' in 2009 (later, ''Classic Aircraft'') and ceased publication in 2012.

History and profile

The magazine was founded in 1968 by

Ian Allan Publishing Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in transport books. It was founded by Ian Allan. In 1942, Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at Waterloo ...

. It included current civil and military aviation news, feature articles accompanied by large-scale (often colour) photography and other content aimed at the aviation enthusiast. Between 1995 and 1997 the title was extended to ''Aircraft Illustrated and Air Display International''. In March 2008 Ben Dunnell became the editor of the magazine. From the August 2009 issue it was renamed simply ''Aircraft'', and it became more focused on

warbird A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 100 ...

s and historic aviation. In February 2012, it was renamed again as ''Classic Aircraft'', shortly before the title was sold to

Key Publishing Key Publishing is a magazine publishing company specialising in aviation titles, based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. History ''Airliner World'' was launched in 1999. In 2005 it launched ''Airports of the World'', and in the same year it ...

. After the December 2012 issue, ''Classic Aircraft'' was merged into ''

Aviation News ''Aviation News'' is a British aviation magazine covering current military and civil aviation topics. It was first published in 1972 and is currently a monthly publication of Key Publishing Ltd. In July 1983 (Volume 12 Number 1) it changed to an ...

''.

''Aircraft Illustrated Extra'' and ''Airextra''

From 1969, a small-format

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

companion magazine, ''Aircraft Illustrated Extra'' was published. Each issue has a single theme (usually military). In 1973 it was renamed ''Airextra'' and increased in size to A4. It ceased publication in 1986.

References

{{Reflist Aviation magazines Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1968 Magazines disestablished in 2012 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Transport magazines published in the United Kingdom