Steve Bond is a life-long aviation enthusiast and historian. He served in the Royal Air Force for 22 years as an aircraft Propulsion Technician, with tours on the Harrier, VC10, Chipmunk, Bulldog, Hawk and Tornado fleets, concluding his Service career as a member of the Eurofighter development team in the Ministry of Defence. He also put together the team that restored the Saunders-Roe SR53 aircraft now on show at the RAF Museum Cosford.

Steve then moved into the civilian aerospace industry, spending six years with TRW Aeronautical Systems as Integrated Logistic Support Manager, looking after a variety of aircraft system programmes, including the Global Express, EH101 Merlin, Saab Gripen, AV-8B and most of the Airbus product range.

He joined City University, London, as a Senior Lecturer in January 2001, and was Programme Director for the BEng/MEng Air Transport Engineering and MSc Air Safety Management degree programmes. He also ran an extensive research programme into aircraft system safety. Now retired, Steve’s main aviation interests centre on historical research, especially on the Second World War; he is the author of a number of aviation books and magazine articles. He is a Chartered Engineer and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.