Keywords
airmindedness, aviation, aerial pageant, Hendon, interwar
Abstract
The Hendon RAF Aerial Pageants were held in Britain in the Hendon Aerodrome from 1920 to 1937. Initially established to promote airmindedness in the British public and legitimize the Royal Air Force so that it could remain an independent service, aerial theatre was utilized extensively to transform flight into a spectacle. As the interwar years progressed, the pageant developed complex “set pieces” that showcased elaborate simulations of military maneuvers such as strategic bombing against industrial and imperial targets, eliciting a mixture of awe and fear in the face of aviation’s destructive potential. By the mid-1930s, the focus had shifted to justify rearmament to prepare the public for the possibility of total war. Drawing on aviation publications that detailed the annual displays and creating an interpretive framework based on past studies of aerial theatre, this paper argues that the Hendon Aerial Pageant showcased the changing priorities of the British Government and its aviation branches as the threat of war loomed overhead.
Creative Commons License
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Recommended Citation
Zhou, Amy (2026) "Pageantry in the Skies: Changes to the Hendon RAF Aerial Pageant throughout the Interwar Years in the United Kingdom," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 7 (2), 257-282. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol7/iss2/8