Researcher goes out on a wing to launch first aviation history journal
A lifelong ambition to give aviation history a dedicated scholarly platform has taken flight, with CQUniversity Adjunct Researcher Dr Mark Clayton launching the first issue of a new international journal.
Aviation Historical Studies brings together scholarship on military and civil aviation, commercial and non-commercial flight, and the social, cultural, political and economic forces that have shaped aviation.
Dr Clayton said he had recognised the need for a dedicated scholarly journal as an undergraduate in the mid-1970s, but had long assumed someone else would establish one.
“After decades of waiting, I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and do it myself,” Dr Clayton said.
With more than 40 years of professional experience in aviation history, Dr Clayton took on the roles of editor and publisher to bring the journal to life.
His career has included work as a curator at the Australian War Memorial, Director of the Australian Naval Aviation Museum, an aviation historian and aircraft valuer. He also previously served as chief executive of Recreational Aviation Australia and continues to fly vintage aircraft.
Dr Clayton completed his doctorate at CQUniversity in 2024, researching the reconversion of United States aerial forces between 1943 and 1949, with a focus on US and Australian aviation history.
He was subsequently appointed as a CQUniversity Adjunct Researcher with the principal objective to establishing the journal.
Dr Clayton said aviation history research had traditionally been published across a range of academic disciplines, making it difficult for readers and researchers to discover related work.
“Important aviation history research has appeared in journals covering everything from history and transport to literature, engineering, politics and cultural studies,” he said.
“While this cross-disciplinary approach has its benefits, Aviation Historical Studies provides a dedicated place for this research and encourages new perspectives on aviation’s place in the world.”
The journal is open access and internationally double peer-reviewed, with an editorial board comprising aviation history scholars from around the world who contribute their expertise voluntarily.
The first issue features six papers and reviews exploring aviation history from international and interdisciplinary perspectives, including aviation's role in colonialism, the development of Italy's aviation industry following World War II and the history of missionary aviation in Australia.
One of the featured papers, Dispossession by air: Aero-nationalism, settler colonialism, and First Nations, examines aviation's role in the removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities in Australia.
Dr Clayton said the research demonstrated why aviation history needed to extend beyond traditional accounts of technological progress, famous pilots and military achievements.
“Aviation has transformed how people move, connect and understand the world, but its history is also bound up with questions of power, culture and inequality,” he said.
“By looking beyond the familiar stories, we can better understand aviation’s broader impact on societies and the people whose lives have been shaped by it.”
Dr Clayton hopes the journal will attract a wider range of contributors and make aviation history research more accessible to an international audience.
The editorial board hopes to establish the journal as an annual publication, although it will initially be published on an occasional basis.
The first issue of Aviation Historical Studies is available free online, with submission guidelines for prospective contributors also available at www.aviationhistoricalstudies.org.
