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Charles E. MacKay at Turnhouse, 1971

Charles E. MacKay

Aviation Historian & Author · Glasgow, Scotland

Charles E. MacKay is one of Scotland's foremost aviation historians. From a first article in Airfix Magazine in 1982 to 20 published titles today, he has spent over 40 years researching the nation's aviation heritage. His work spans two World Wars, the Cold War era, and Scotland's industrial contribution to aircraft manufacturing.

His books have been praised by historians, museum curators, and aviation enthusiasts worldwide for their meticulous research, primary source material, and readable narrative style.

20+
Books published
40+
Years research
Worldwide
Readership
Areas of Expertise

Research Specialisations

Scottish Aviation

Comprehensive histories of Scotland's airfields, aircraft factories, and the people who built and flew from them.

Military Aviation

Detailed accounts of RAF, Fleet Air Arm, and Allied operations from Scottish bases during both World Wars.

Industrial History

The story of Glasgow and Scotland's aircraft manufacturing industry, from Rolls-Royce to Beardmore.

Living biography

Questions Charles is being asked

This page is a living biography. Charles has 60+ years of stories that have not made it into print. Angus is putting these questions to him, and the answers will land here as they come back. If you are a reader, a family member, or a fellow aviation buff and have a question Charles should answer, drop a line via the contact page.

Origins & childhood

  1. Where and when in Glasgow were you born? Tell me about the neighbourhood and the family home.
  2. What did your parents do, and what kind of childhood did they give you?
  3. Brothers and sisters: names, ages, what each of them did.
  4. Earliest memory you can place exactly in time.

School & early years

  1. Which primary and secondary schools, and what were the best and worst things about each?
  2. Subjects you loved, subjects you hated, and the teacher who shaped you most.
  3. When did aviation first catch your eye? A specific moment, an air show, a model, a relative who flew?
  4. What did you do straight after school: work, college, national service, other?

Working life before publishing

  1. The jobs you held in your 20s. What did each one teach you?
  2. Did you ever fly yourself, or hold a licence? Hours? Aircraft?
  3. People you worked with who left a mark, good or bad, and why.

The first article (1982, Airfix Magazine)

  1. What was that first Airfix Magazine article about: which aircraft, what angle?
  2. How did you submit it? Cold pitch, contact, commission?
  3. What was the editor's reaction? Did they pay you?
  4. Scots Magazine after that: same approach, or different?

Robert Gibson & Sons Glasgow Limited (1985 onwards)

Robert Gibson & Sons Glasgow Limited (Companies House SC005175, incorporated 12 September 1902, dissolved 23 August 2022). Gibson holdings are catalogued by the UK National Archives (F270555).

  1. How did Gibson find you, or did you find them?
  2. The 211 St Vincent Street office: what was it like? Who else worked there?
  3. The first book you wrote for them: title, year, what it was about, how long it took.
  4. The editor at Gibson who championed you most. What did you learn from them?
  5. The Hodder Headline acquisition in 2002: how did that change things, and when did you eventually move on?

The books, method, and craft

  1. Of the 20 titles, which was hardest to write, and which are you proudest of?
  2. Walk me through your research process: archives you used, libraries, personal collections.
  3. Pilots, designers, or veterans you interviewed personally. Names worth keeping.
  4. What is a book you wish you had written but never got to?
  5. What is a topic you still want to write before you stop?

Family

  1. How did you and Mum meet, and where?
  2. Wedding day: date, place, anything memorable.
  3. What kind of dad were you trying to be? What do you think you got right, what would you do differently?
  4. The places you took us as kids that mattered to you.

Glasgow & Scotland

  1. Your favourite places in Glasgow: pubs, parks, libraries, viewpoints. Why each one.
  2. What has changed most about the city since you were young?

Beliefs, advice, regrets

  1. Best piece of advice you were ever given, and who gave it to you.
  2. Best advice you would give a young aviation enthusiast starting out today.
  3. Anything you regret not doing or not asking, while there was still time?

Legacy

  1. The archive: photos, manuscripts, correspondence, letters from readers. What is in it, where is it, what should never be thrown out.
  2. Anyone outside the family, friend, mentor, character, who should be remembered after you have gone.
  3. The one story you tell most often that you want preserved exactly as you tell it.
  4. What do you most want your grandchildren to know about you, in your own words?

Sources & Verification

The biographical and corporate facts on this page can be checked against the following authoritative public records.