Contending Fighters of WWII

About the Book

This book is principally about the fighter aircraft of WWII and what they were like to fly. Ron Collis joined the RAF in 1940 when he was 19. He first trained as a flying instructor but became a Spitfire pilot in 1943.

After a most interesting year during which he was awarded the DFC and mention in Despatches, he joined the Central Fighter Establishment where he served in the Fighter Leaders' School, the Enemy Aircraft Flight and the Meteor Flight. This gave him the opportunity to fly an unusually wide range of advanced fighters.

His experiences with all of these fighters make a fascinating story.

About the Author

Ron Collis joined the RAF in 1940 at the age of 19. He left in 1947 as a Squadron Leader having been awarded the D.F.C. and Mentioned in Despatches as a fighter pilot. He graduated from Oxford University and later served in the Royal Navy as a meteorologist.

In 1956 he started a career in applied research, first at Decca Radar in London and then at Stanford Research Institute (later SRI International) in California, where he became Director of the Atmospheric Physics Laboratory.