WOFF David Coles

With a lifetime interest in both aviation and history, Warrant Officer David Coles is a 37-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force and continues to serve as a reservist with the RAAF. Trained as an aircraft avionics technician, the author has worked on Lockheed P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft and the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 (Classic) Hornet as well as being trained as an accident investigator. He also spent three years as an instructor, teaching Air Power Doctrine and history at the RAAF Air Power Development Centre.

David Coles Australian Military Aircraft author

WOFF David Coles

With a lifetime interest in both aviation and history, Warrant Officer David Coles is a 37-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force and continues to serve as a reservist with the RAAF. Trained as an aircraft avionics technician, the author has worked on Lockheed P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft and the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 (Classic) Hornet as well as being trained as an accident investigator. He also spent three years as an instructor, teaching Air Power Doctrine and history at the RAAF Air Power Development Centre.

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT

A Guide to the Aircraft that have served the Australia Military Forces since 1914

Australia began developing military aviation less than 10 years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight and just 3 years after the first Heavier-than-air military forces were created in the USA and France. With such a long history of military aviation, the three arms of the Australian military have operated a large number of aircraft types, firstly by the Army (1914), then by the Royal Australian Navy (1915) and then by the RAAF, an entity that was established in 1921 expressly for the purpose of operating in the ‘third dimension’.

This book has been written as a guide to the large and varied collection of aircraft types that have been operated by, and for, all three services. Some of these aircraft, such as the Supermarine Spitfire, will be very well known to most of the public, but throughout the more than 106 years of Australian military aviation there have been a large number of types that will not be familiar. With descriptions for over 300 aircraft types, illustrated by over 350 photos, the reader will gain an appreciation of the aircraft that have served Australia from the first flight of the Bristol Boxkite in March 1914 through to the latest projects being undertaken by the Australian Defence Forces.

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT

A Guide to the Aircraft that have served the Australia Military Forces since 1914

Australia began developing military aviation less than 10 years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight and just 3 years after the first Heavier-than-air military forces were created in the USA and France. With such a long history of military aviation, the three arms of the Australian military have operated a large number of aircraft types, firstly by the Army (1914), then by the Royal Australian Navy (1915) and then by the RAAF, an entity that was established in 1921 expressly for the purpose of operating in the ‘third dimension’.

This book has been written as a guide to the large and varied collection of aircraft types that have been operated by, and for, all three services. Some of these aircraft, such as the Supermarine Spitfire, will be very well known to most of the public, but throughout the more than 106 years of Australian military aviation there have been a large number of types that will not be familiar. With descriptions for over 300 aircraft types, illustrated by over 350 photos, the reader will gain an appreciation of the aircraft that have served Australia from the first flight of the Bristol Boxkite in March 1914 through to the latest projects being undertaken by the Australian Defence Forces.

Testimonials

If you’d like to send a review of my book, please leave a message via the Get in Touch form.

If you’d like to send a review of my book, please leave a message via the Get in Touch form.

When Dave first told me of his ambitious project to write this book, as an aviation historian myself, I quickly realised that this would be the first single reference source for the aviation history of all of Australia’s Defence Forces. In addition to that lofty goal, he also intended to include the context of that history!

Here now is the result of his incredible effort, an illustrated encyclopaedia of all of the aircraft that ever served in virtually any capacity with the ADF and a further study of the aircraft that were considered but didn’t make it into Australia’s aviation history. Well done that man!

Alan Flett

Photo Gallery

See the Aircraft that shape Australia’s Military past, present, and future

David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book Diamond DA 40NG DEM CPL
David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book bristol boxkite LH SAAM
David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book Sikorsky Black Hawk
David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book halifax mkIII

My Blog

Blog 5

Blog 5

Photo Credit – Alan Flett On the 8th of October 2021, the US Government approved the sale of an additional 13 Sikorsky MH-60R (Romeo) Seahawk multi-role helicopters for use by the Royal Australian Navy. This order, which includes a replacement aircraft to cover the...

Blog 4

Blog 4

Photo Credit – D.K. Coles After A46-311 was written off after an aborted take-off accident at Nellis Air Force Base in the USA on the 27th of January 2018 (thankfully the crew escaped without injury), the Australian Government began investigations into procuring a...

Blog 3

Blog 3

Photo Credit – Department of Defence On 16 May 22, Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Dutton announced that seven additional MQ-28A Ghost Bat UAVs would be financed, adding to the three prototypes already payed for (Two built and one under construction as of May 2022)....

Blog 2

Blog 2

Photo Credit – Department of Defence Project SEA 129 Phase 5, calling for a medium-light weight UAS for operation from naval ships announce on 2 May that the Scheibel S-100 Camcopter had won the bid. Offered by a consortium of Raytheon Australia and Scheibel Pacific,...

Blog 1

Blog 1

Photo Credit – D.K. Coles Having been selected as the winner of Project AIR 7003 in November 2019, the General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian armed UAS has been cancelled. As the news broke on the 1st of April, the first thought of many was that this was an April fool’s...

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