AID Data Books and Rigging Manuals have become collector’s items, as have the associated photographs. To present the R.E.8 frontal view in flying position, the tail was mounted on a trestle which, in this photograph, has been deleted rather inexpertly from the negative.

Aircraft controls were inspected at this stage of construction, before the fuselage was covered. Seen here is an R.E.8 at the Standard Motor Company’s Coventry works, December 22, 1917.

S.E.5as under construction at Wolseley Motors show the state of airframe and engine complexity by 1918. The youngsters working on the aircraft are indicative of the dilution of labour.

A specialist branch of the AID dealt with dopes and finishes. Late in the First World War the overall doping scheme was indicated by letters on the rudder, in this case “CD” for Cellon Scheme D.

A complaint to the AID in 1917 stated that engine bearers of the Sopwith Pup were weak, as they broke when the aircraft tilted up on its nose - a fairly frequent occurrence. The official reply was that this was fortuitous, as it prevented greater damage to the engine!