By producing the A300 - the first twin-jet, wide-body airliner in the world - the European Airbus consortium succeeded in joining the league of leading aircraft makers. The path was both rocky and exciting. Filled with detailed text, including historical, technological, and flight information, as well as colorful photos, this volume provides a ......
The Boeing 737 is undoubtedly one of the best known of all passenger aircraft and has been built in greater numbers than any other commercial aircraft in the world. There are few airline passengers of the last decade who have not yet flown on one of these aircraft. More than 10,000 examples have been built in all its variants - an unbelievably ......
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 three-engine jet is one of the most distinctive wide-bodied aircraft and since the early 1970s has been operated by many airlines on medium- and long-distance routes throughout the world. Successfully flying passenger service for over 40 years, the DC-10 currently still flies for FedEx in an airfreight delivery role. ......
Messerschmitt Me 210 - German heavy fighter. Work on the design began in late 1930s with a goal of creating a versatile aircraft, equally capable as a fighter, dive bomber or a reconnaissance platform. The machine was an all-metal, low-wing monoplane, featuring twin vertical stabilizers. Full-scale production of the Me 210 was launched in 1941. ......
The F-14 Tomcat is more than just a naval plane. It goes beyond the merely formal, it has marked an era in the same way that previously did aircraft like the F-4 Phantom II, the different models of the mythical Mirage, the F-86 Sabre, the P-51 Mustang, the Spitfire, etc. The uniqueness of its mission and having a single user (in addition to ......
The DC-10 was a three-engine wide-body jetliner created by McDonnell Douglas, born from a lineage that included the most popular and important propliners of all time, including the DC-3 Dakota and the DC-8 jet (Douglas answer to the Boeing 707). It entered service in 1971 and was supposed to be a smash hit, but a series of accidents that were a ......
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is the undisputed king of fighter aircraft, scoring around 105 kills for zero losses in air-to-air combat.
Originally designed as a pure air superiority machine to replace the multi-role F-4 Phantom II, the Eagle has since morphed into one of the most technologically advanced fighter-bombers in ......
Lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched, aviation specialist Ingo Bauernfeinds new Boeing 747 history celebrates more than half a century of an enduring aviation icon that has changed commercial aviation since its maiden flight in 1969. With personal accounts written by former pilots and crew members, it covers the aircrafts early ......
Few aircraft encompass as many contradictions as the Fairey Swordfish - the legendary Stringbag naval torpedo bomber was approaching antiquation at the start of the war yet struck mortal blows against some of the most powerful battleships in the Axis fleets. Naval Aviation historian Matthew Willis explores how modern technology such as radar ......
The dream of flight is as old as civilization itself. Examples from ancient Chinese and Greek literature and from Native and South American legend tell of flying warriors, priests and prisoners. Later, in the fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci drew more than 100 sketches related to human flight, designing a parachute, a hang glider and a ......
From one of the leading voices in aviation non-fiction, and the bestselling author of VULCAN 607, the untold story of the Falklands War and the iconic 809 Squadron. Perfect for fans of SPITFIRE. Utterly brilliant- a fantastically exciting book... This really does read like the best kind of thriller. His best book yet James ......
The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 to defend the skies over Britain during the First World War and made a major contribution to winning one of the largest and most devastating conflicts of the twentieth century. Yet, when the war ended, its existence as an independent air service came under threat from severe defence cuts and intense ......
Clarence Kelly Johnsons design for the Lockheed Constellation, known affectionately as the Connie, produced one of the worlds most iconic airliners. Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine, pressurised airliner, since 1937. In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the instigation of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a ......
In 1963, Eugen Sanger, became head of the Eurospace organisation which promoted the AeroSpace Transporter. In response to a Eurospace call, aircraft makers in France, Germany and UK designed recoverable, winged spacecraft. From 1964 to 1970 the French government led studies to evaluate the feasibility of the concept.
Those studies, under ......