The highly classified work of the A&AEE (Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment) at Boscombe Down included the intense, ever-expanding business of testing aircraft and their varied armaments in WWII. Over 1,500 British, American, and German aircraft of the RAF, Fleet Air Arm, Army--and the Luftwaffe--were tested at Boscombe Down.

Aircraft as diverse as the Aerovan, Barracuda, Pitcairn PA39, and Nomad were put though their paces together with, amongst others the Skymaster, Vengeance, Lightning, Hudson, and Welkin plus the more well-known Wellington, Mosquito, Halifax, Ju88, Fw190, and Spitfire. Using 500 photographs, The Secret Years explores unusual variants of standard service aircraft types, machines which remained purely experimental, and the trials with their guns, bombs, rockets, and equipment. Performance tables, details of production, and rogue aircraft tests together with more than 90 color profiles ensure The Secret Years forms a comprehensive reference source for the historian and modeler alike.