Meet the workers (or scroll down/click here) for our FAQs
Between them, the founders of The Aviation Historian – Nick Stroud and Mick Oakey – amassed 39 years’ experience on renowned historic-aviation monthly magazine Aeroplane before its sale to new owners in 2010.
Backed up by ten years' earlier joint experience elsewhere in aviation publishing, museums and learning (not to mention lifelong enthusiasm), they constitute an authoritative team with an enviable track-record of presenting high-quality in-depth aeronautical history.
Nick Stroud – Editor
Born while his father was putting together the first issue of Aircraft Illustrated as one of its founding Editors, Nick was brought into the world with the sound of aero-engines in his ears. Indeed, he regards a perforated eardrum – sustained as an infant, thanks to the noisy debut of the Royal Navy’s F-4K Phantom at Farnborough in 1968 – as a badge of honour. Having served an apprenticeship as chief camera-bag-holder and ever-present sidekick to his aviation-obsessed father, who had worked in the industry since 1948, Nick was immersed in all things aviation throughout his childhood and was taught the difference between a Hawker Osprey and a Hawker Hartbees like other children were taught their times tables.
Trying his hand at theatre and music in his teens, Nick returned to his first love when, in 1996, he was recruited to work on Aerospace Publishing's innovative, and still highly-regarded, aviation journals World Air Power Journal and Wings of Fame, the latter crystallising his desire to concentrate on aviation history. Serving as Picture Manager for Aerospace until 2000, Nick was delighted to realize a lifelong ambition to work for another highly-regarded title, Aeroplane, joining as a picture researcher and editorial assistant that year. The pieces fell into place and Nick stayed with the award-winning magazine until 2010, having reached the position of Deputy Editor.
Mick Oakey – Managing Editor
The son of an RAF wing commander pilot and a former American Overseas Airways stewardess, Mick has been passionate about aviation since early childhood in the 1960s.
In 1979 he became a Ministry of Defence Student Engineer at RAE Farnborough and Bedford, and embarked on an aero-engineering degree course at Imperial College, London; but his predilection for the history and romance of aeronautics led him in 1981 to change direction and become a junior curator at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon. Two years later he joined Aeroplane, and in 1998 he succeeded Richard T. Riding as Editor, a post he held until he retired in 2010, after 28 years on the magazine.
He is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society's Historical Group Committee, and in 2011 he received the Air League's prestigious Scott-Farnie Medal from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh for "most meritorious work in the field of air education" in recognition of his work on Aeroplane. On the odd occasions when he is not absorbed in aviation history, he is absorbed in Egyptology; he is a member of the Egypt Exploration Society and a founder member and committee member of Sussex Egyptology Society, a registered educational charity.
Amanda Stroud – Production Manager
Married to Nick, Amanda worked for BBC TV before moving on to event management. She subsequently joined IPC Media and became Production Editor on Aeroplane, remaining there until 2010.
Her strong background in magazine publishing and events organisation qualified her to co-ordinate all the media and public accreditation for HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.
Lynn Oakey – Finance Manager
Married to Mick, Lynn has had a career in financial services, working originally for Barclays Bank before moving into the sphere of life assurance.
She helped to set up the accounting procedures for Woolwich Life Assurance upon its inception, and more recently worked as a data analyst.
Webmaster
David Siddall of David Siddall Multimedia designed and built this website for us, having worked with Mick Oakey for many years, creating websites for Aeroplane magazine, Sussex Egyptology Society and Bloomsbury Summer School.
Sadly David died in January 2022, but he will not be forgotten. Our recent website redesign, website updates and maintenance are now in the capable hands of our Internet Service provider Paul Dodd of Dodd & Associates, a long-established friend and colleague of David's.
Who's Who on the TAH Editorial Board
Our Editorial Board consists of twelve people, all of them prominent in the aviation history world for one reason or another, who act as occasional specialist advisors to the Editor and Managing Editor. They are, in alphabetical order:
Gregory Alegi
A military historian and journalist, Gregory teaches US history and politics at LUISS University and Strategic Studies at UNINT University, both in Rome; he previously taught Aerospace History at the Italian Air Force Academy.
In 2016 his Storia dell'Aeronautica Militare: la nascita won the prize for best Italian aerospace book. He has flown, mostly as self-loading cargo, in more than 110 types, from Blériot to Concorde and TF-104G.
Dr David Baker
Between 1965 and 1990 David worked with NASA on the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle projects. He has written articles and special publications for Aeroplane magazine, but is perhaps best known as an author of more than 80 books on spaceflight technology – including Haynes's NASA Space Shuttle Owners' Workshop Manual.
Ian Bott
A full-time graphic artist producing complex infographics for the UK newspaper industry, Ian also does freelance work, having produced artwork for Aeroplane's regular Aircrew series since its inception. He has received awards from the The Society of Newspaper Design, and his work for Aeroplane has formed an exhibition at the RAF Museum.
Robert Forsyth
The owner of Chevron Publishing, Robert worked in the shipping industry until 1995, when he changed tack and applied his passion for aviation and military history to the business of book publishing. To date he has published or produced some 200 aviation or military titles. He is also author of several books dealing with the Luftwaffe during World War Two.
Juanita Franzi
While training as an industrial designer, Juanita pursued her aviation interests through involvement in projects such as the restoration of the AWM Airco D.H.9. She eventually changed professions, becoming a specialist aero-historical and technical illustrator. Her work has appeared in more than 45 books and various publications, including Aeroplane. She is based in New South Wales, Australia.
Chris Gibson
Working in the oil exploration industry since 1985 following his degree in Geology and Mineralogy, Chris has long been interested in aviation and in 1978 joined the Royal Observer Corps. When the ROC stood down in 1991 he began researching aviation history, and has written magazine articles and several books on unbuilt projects, particularly guided weapons and airborne early warning.
Dr Richard P. Hallion
Formerly Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight at the Pentagon, Dick Hallion has also been Curator of Science and Technology at the National Air and Space Museum, and the Official Historian of the USAF. Since his retirement from US Government service he has stayed active as a historian and lecturer.
Philip Jarrett
A leading authority on early aviation, Phil has been a freelance editor and consultant since 1990. Previously he was Assistant Editor of the RAeS's Aerospace, Assistant Editor of Aeroplane and Production Editor of Flight International. He has written many papers and articles, and his books include biographies of British aviation pioneers Percy Pilcher and F.K. McClean.
Colin A. Owers
Recently retired from his career as a local government engineer/town planner in New South Wales, Australia, Colin has since 1971 been writing articles and books on World War One aircraft, especially from a technical standpoint. He has assisted aircraft restorers, replica-builders and model kit manufacturers, and has been a volunteer with the RAF Museum and the Australian War Memorial.
David H. Stringer
Having enjoyed a 32-year career in the airline industry, David is now indulging his passion for researching and writing airline history. The author of the book America's Local Service Airlines, he has contributed articles to several American publications including an award-winning series for the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS). David also serves as the History Editor for AIRWAYS Magazine.
Julian Temple
Julian is an archivist in the BAE Systems Heritage Department at Farnborough. For many years he was General Manager – Museum Operations at Brooklands Museum in Surrey. He was formerly the museum's Curator of Aviation, and has written magazine articles, especially on the subject of Miles Aircraft, and the book Wings over Woodley. He is also a Morris Minor enthusiast, renowned for bringing an aviation flavour to "Moggie" gatherings with his Dan-Air pickup and Court Line van.
Capt Dacre Watson
Retiring after 40 years flying for BEA, BA and SIA, Dacre now indulges in his real interest, airline history. Author of Red Sea Caravan and numerous articles, he is on the Historical Group Committee of the RAeS, where he is also a Fellow. He also works closely with the Aviation Historical Society in Chile (his birthplace) and contributes to the Captain's Log of the World Airline Historical Society.
... and Who Was Who:
Harry Fraser-Mitchell (1929 – 2014)
Spending most of his career in the British aviation industry – apart from national service in the RAF – Harry rose to become Chief Aerodynamicist for Handley Page Ltd, and Head of Aerodynamics (Hawk) at BAe. After retirement he became a part-time lecturer at Kingston University in Surrey, and was a respected author of historical articles and papers.
FAQs
Q – Why can I no longer order TAH issues or subscriptions for delivery to the EU from your website?
A – Changes to EU VAT and distance-selling rules, introduced in July 2021, made it impracticable for us to continue selling TAH to customers in the EU countries via our website. In order to provide our EU customers with an alternative, we have arranged for two booksellers within the EU to stock current and back-issues. Contact them direct:
- Christian Schmidt Fachbuchhandlung in Munich, Germany (website www.christian-schmidt.com)
- Weir Park Books in Dublin, Ireland (e-mail weirparkbooks@gmail.com or see their FaceBook page (www.facebook.com/weirparkbooks)
Deliveries to non-EU countries within Europe are unaffected and can be ordered via our website in the normal way.
Q – Why is TAH smaller in size than most other aviation magazines?
A – We were inspired by other niche magazines we admired, such as American music bi-monthly waxpoetics, by the satisfying feel of more mainstream titles of similar format such as National Geographic, and by the memory of the magazines of our youth in the 1970s and '80s such as Aero Modeller and Aircraft Illustrated. There is something very satisfying about this size of magazine – 245mm x 170mm – as a small object of desire. Also we wanted to create something that was clearly different from the usual aviation-history and aviation-enthusiasts' magazines, which are mostly A4 or very similar. We chose the perfect-bound rather than saddle-stitched (stapled) binding partly because of the combination of fairly high page-count and thicker-than-normal paper, and partly because it enables us to put issue details on the spine. This means that if you store the magazine on your bookshelves it nestles comfortably alongside your Putnam books etc, and you can immediately see which issue is which.
Q – What cards can I use to pay securely on-line?
A – The debit/credit cards that we accept are shown on the relevant Subscribe, Renew and Shop pages. Once you click on the “Checkout” button from the shopping basket, you will be redirected to the website of your payment choice, where your payment will be securely processed – our website does not capture any card payment details.
Q – Why do you only have a mobile telephone contact number?
A – We are a small team and we all work from home, with no office staff to answer telephones for us. As we're often out and about, the best way to contact us is via e-mail or post; but if we're here we will pick up the call, and if we're not you can leave a voicemail message for us.
Q – Do I get a discount if I order more than one single current/back issue?
A – Unfortunately not. We try and keep our prices as low as possible and since each price quoted includes postage and packaging, there aren't any savings that we can pass on.
Q – Can I buy a subscription as a gift?
A – Yes, of course you can – a subscription to The Aviation Historian makes a lasting and welcome gift for any enthusiast of the subject. When you order online just send us an e-mail with details of the recipient's name and address, plus any special request e.g. delivery as close as possible to a birthday date etc.
Q – If I subscribe, how long will I have to wait for my first issue?
A – We aim to supply your first subscription issue within 10 days of receiving your payment – and usually it will be quicker than this. If you have taken the option of commencing your subscription with the next available new issue (rather than the current issue), we aim to send the issue out within 7 days of the publication date.
Q – Whom do I contact if I want to submit something for possible publication?
A – Please contact the Editor, Nick Stroud, if you have any material you wish to be considered for publication. Nick's contact details are in the footer panel on all our website pages.
Q – Whom do I contact if I have a problem with my subscription?
A – We hope that there won't be any problems, but if something does go wrong then please contact the Managing Editor, Mick Oakey. Mick's contact details are in the footer panel on all our website pages.
Q – What if I move house in the middle of my subscription?
A – Please notify us of any change of address as soon as possible so we can ensure that you don't miss out on your issues of The Aviation Historian. Please contact the Managing Editor, Mick Oakey. Mick's contact details are in the footer panel on all our website pages.
Q – Can I cancel my subscription part-way through?
A – Unfortunately no. However, we want you to be completely happy with the magazine so if you have any problems please contact the Managing Editor, Mick Oakey, in the first instance so we can try to help. Mick's contact details are in the footer panel on all our website pages.
Q – Do you publish readers' letters?
A – Yes, we love to hear from readers, and a selection of letters will be published. Please send letters (in e-mail form if at all possible, as we don’t have a typing pool to input them into our computer system!) to the Managing Editor, Mick Oakey. Mick's contact details are in the footer panel on all our website pages. We try our best to respond to all correspondence, but we cannot always guarantee a reply.
Q – Is the magazine available as an e-book for Kindles and other devices?
A – Yes, digital editions are available via our digital partners Pocketmags.com – see our Single issues and Subscribe pages for a link.
Q – Can I buy prints of the pictures used in the magazine?
A – The images we use in the magazine are highly desirable and we appreciate that some people would like to have a printed copy of their own. Depending on the copyright and ownership of the images in question, we are happy to sell high-quality prints. Please contact the Managing Editor, Mick Oakey, with details of the image(s) you are interested in, and we will check availability and price. Mick's contact details are in the footer on all our website pages.