Ben Dunnell is a highly experienced aviation writer, editor and airshow commentator, based in the UK. A graduate of the University of Sheffield and a former political researcher, Ben’s deep-rooted interest in — and passion for — aircraft and aviation history has been lifelong.
Ben has been engaged professionally in aviation journalism for nearly two decades. He is currently editor of the highly respected monthly aviation history and preservation title Aeroplane. Before that he was on the editorial team of Aircraft Illustrated and its successor Classic Aircraft, and deputy editor of modern military magazine Combat Aircraft Journal. As a freelance writer he has written for Pilot, FlyPast and others. Interviews and archival research are among Ben’s specialities. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Royal International Air Tattoo, Ben authored the book Air Tattoo 50, detailing the event’s history between 1971 and 2021.
Well-known on the air display scene, Ben has in recent years commentated at many major events. He is the lead commentator for the Royal International Air Tattoo, the IWM Duxford airshows, the Jersey International Air Display and the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby. Further UK venues at which Ben can be heard on the microphone include the RAF Cosford Air Show, the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden and the Abingdon Air and Country Show, while among previous commitments have been the Royal Navy International Air Day at RNAS Yeovilton, the East Fortune Airshow, the Biggin Hill Festival of Flight and the RAF Waddington International Air Show. He has provided English-language commentary at several overseas displays, in Germany — specifically the Tannkosh fly-in and airshow, at the time Europe’s largest aviation event in terms of numbers of aircraft — and Norway, not least at two successive NATO Tiger Meet airshows.
During 2020 and 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in cancellation of the ‘real’ Royal International Air Tattoo, Ben presented — alongside his regular Air Tattoo co-commentator Gp Capt Mark Manwaring — the two Virtual Air Tattoos, broadcasting live from RAF Fairford for several hours on each day. Combining virtual flying displays, highlights from past years, studio interviews and much more, the Virtual Air Tattoos were watched online by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, to great acclaim.
With additional experience commentating live for Red Bull TV at the AirPower show at Zeltweg, Austria, on the English-language live stream of NATO Days at Ostrava in the Czech Republic and for BBC Radio on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee flypast over Windsor Castle, as a DVD voiceover artist and as a guest narrator for individual display items, Ben is one of the UK’s leading aviation broadcasters. He is a member of the British Air Display Association committee, and has spoken at both the BADA/Military Aviation Authority pre-season symposium and the European Airshow Council‘s annual convention. Ben speaks German and has a working knowledge of French, and has both commentated and been interviewed live in German at aviation events.
One of Ben’s particular interests is in working alongside airshow organisers and flying display directors to develop and co-ordinate themed displays and set-pieces with bespoke commentary. When appropriate, use is made of suitable music, archive recordings and ‘big-screen’ footage.
In 2019, Ben was honoured to receive the Honourable Company of Air Pilots‘ Award for Aviation Journalism, this “for an outstanding contribution to the promotion or public awareness of aviation in general or of any important aspect of aviation activity.”
Ben is available for commentary and air display consultancy — please feel free to contact him via this website. Examples of past work and, if desired, references can be provided upon request.
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Ben Dunnell 