If the North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell had only participated in the Doolittle Raid, it would have cemented its place in history - but it did so much more. Whether flying dangerous low-level strafing missions across the south Pacific from New Guinea to the shores of the Japanese Home Islands or battling nature and deadly German flak over ......
On 20 August 1963, the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) One-Eleven flew for the first time. There was a lot riding on this new aircraft. For BAC, which was a result of the consolidation of the nations aircraft industry that turned 27 companies into just three major airframe builders, the new jet promised salvation. The One-Eleven was the ......
In the latter half of World War Two, the War Cabinet sanctioned the formation of a committee to consider a post-war world of air transport. The committee, headed by John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, the first man in Britain to hold a private pilots licence, had the foresight to embrace an emerging method of propulsion: gas-turbine or jet ......
Sleek, futuristic and deadly - the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was born from the crucible of the air war over Vietnam and the need for cheaper, simpler, and more maneuverable fighter aircraft with which to combat the many thousands of Soviet-bloc supplied aircraft sold around the world.
Back in the early 1970s the F-16 ......
Australia is the ideal country for adventurous road trips. All you need is a sturdy vehicle, the right gear and a dose of common sense. Sometimes the unknown and fascinating is just around the corner. There is no better way to shake off the hectic lifestyle of everyday life in suburbia than on an adventurous trip down the roads less travelled
The untold story of the 868th Bomb Squadron, the Nightstalkers, who paired cutting-edge technology with daring - launching single-aircraft night-time missions stalking the Japanese in the Pacific. In August 1943, a highly classified US Army Air Force unit, code-named the "Wright Project," departed Langley Field for Guadalcanal in the South ......
The B-17 Flying Fortress was conceived by the well-known US aviation designer and manufacturer Boeing during the 1930s, principally as a defensive weapon. Owing to the high levels of publicity it received during its service, it duly became a symbol of the Allied war effort. Indeed, the B-17 became one of the most important US aircraft of the ......
While many airliners from the Second World War have either disappeared completely or only survived as remnants in a museum, approximately 55 Constellations out of the 856 built still survive today, and two of them, both C-121s, are airworthy. A real head turner, the Connie raised the bar in both performance, economy and passenger comfort and ......
Founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, A.V. Roe and Company Limited built its first military aircraft two years later. By 1914, the company was literally flying when it designed the first of many iconic aircraft in the shape of the Avro 504, which sold in colossal numbers and was the key factor in keeping the company in the aviation industry ......
The first major history of the American glider pilots, the forgotten heroes of World War II, by New York Times bestselling author Scott McGaugh. A story of no guns, no engines and no second chances. This book distills war down to individual young men climbing into defenseless gliders made of plywood, ready to trust the ......
With their unmistakable silhouette, the Douglas DC-9 family of twin-engine passenger jets was a familiar sight on many of the worlds airfields well into the 1990s. Douglas initiated development of the DC-9 at the beginning of the 1960s and, in doing so, developed an entirely new market-the short-range jet airliner. The DC-9 became an instant ......
The desire for airliners that could fly faster and higher than all that had gone before them was ingrained into the commercial aviation world from the end of World War Two. As early as 1954, with the Comet program already floundering, talks began in Britain regarding the feasibility of a Supersonic Transport (SST), which resulted, in October ......
During the 1970s and 80s, the RAFs helicopters went from strength to strength, playing a significant role in the RAFs endeavours both at home and abroad. The Westland Whirlwind was used in the search and rescue (SAR) role before being replaced by the Westland Sea King. Highly visible in their bright yellow liveries, both these aircraft were ......
The first half of the 20th century saw the birth of the airplane and its development as an instrument of war and commerce. Within five decades, contraptions barely able to take to the air had given way to jet-powered aircraft, a rate of technological advance unparalleled in any other field. With carefully colorized images, this book chronicles ......
It is fair to say that the DC-3 was the very first true airliner, and it paved the way for the hundreds of increasingly advanced commercial aircraft that have emerged over the eighty years since Douglas design was developed. The story of the C-47 is of course well known, but the history of the civil DC-3 (which directly led to the creation of ......
Originally conceived as a carrier-born maritime attack aircraft, the Blackburn design included many original features such as Boundary Layer Control, a system which blew hot air over the flying surfaces to increase lift when landing. The rotating bomb bay was also new and enabled easier maintenance, accessibility and reduced drag. The first ......
Founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing, a wealthy timber merchant, the mighty Boeing Companys 100-year history spans decades of rich achievement and technological development. Beginning with the manufacture of seaplanes, fighters and, from the 1930s onwards, huge bombers, Boeing pioneered innovative transports gigantic airliners, missiles, ......
An illustrated exploration of the dramatic aerial combats between the US Navys long-range bomber and Japanese flying boats in the Pacific War. Edward Young explores these rarely written about combats, examining the aggressive and strategic tactics deployed by both US Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force and analyzing the ......
With first-hand insight into the into the key role of the US Air Forces fighter-bomber from the Vietnam War through to Operation Desert Storm during the First Gulf War, this book is an unmissable account of some of the most dangerous and demanding missions in the two ......
Over the last two decades, the Aeronautique Navale, French Naval Aviation, has grown into a powerful and battle-hardened force equipped with a large inventory of Rafale Marine naval strike fighters, E-2C Hawkeye early-warning aircraft, Falcon 50, Gardian and Atlantique 2 maritime surveillance/maritime patrol aircraft, Dauphin, Panther, Alouette ......
Whether you are just entering the hobby or re-acquainting yourself with it, this book provides simple step-by-step advice on how to get started on a build regardless of whether it is a ship, tank, aircraft or spaceship along with guidance on tools and equipment. The wealth of handy tips on basic modelling techniques includes eliminating seams, ......
Even in aviation circles, the name Lloyd Aereo Boliviano is not a name that quickly comes to mind, but its story is one which deserves to be told. Its aircraft were not seen as regularly as those of other South American airlines, perhaps because its routes were mainly domestic, with an international network only to some of the larger South ......
All decades of aviation have important developments and changes. In the 2000s, the European Airbus consortium finally overtook Boeing as the major producer of airliners, with a full range from the smallest, the A318, to the largest of all passenger aircraft, the A380. It saw the early jets either disappear or get converted to haul freight. The ......
One of two Lockheed reconnaissance "black" jets that emerged during the 1950s and 1960s, the SR-71 was operated by the USAF and NASA. Produced in tremendous secrecy, and initially flown from areas away from public gaze, the SR-71 is renowned for its high speed and distinctive design. The Lockheed Blackbird family the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 were ......
This fully illustrated book looks at the German Luftwaffes famous bomber, the Ju 88, in all its variants. Chapters on bombers, heavy fighters, night fighters and reconnaissance sub-types are included, along with a look at foreign operators. The Junkers Ju 88 was one of the most important tactical bombers of the World War Two era. Its beginnings ......
Great Britain was once filled with a plethora of aircraft manufacturers. The seeds of many of them were sown as the demand for aircraft gained pace following the outbreak of World War One. However, not all survived after the war, and while Supermarine managed to keep going by the skin of its teeth, it certainly did not settle into a profitable ......
Will resonate with readers of the The Forgotten 500 and Code Talker. The exploits, trials, disappointments, and victories of members of the American 57th Bomb Wing in WW II, including one young bombardier who would go on to write legendary WW II novel, Catch-22.
"He had decided to ......
During the late 1940s and into the 1950s, a number of British jet fighter and bomber aircraft were fitted with new, different or additional engines, both jet and rocket, to enable them to serve as test beds for those specific powerplants. These aircraft types included fighters such as the de Havilland Vampire, Gloster Meteor and Javelin, and ......
This fascinating story begins with post-World War Two sales of surplus Mustangs to various foreign governments and a few civilian customers. More than a decade later, in 1957 and 1958, the US Air Force auctioned off its remaining inventory of P-51s. These Mustangs became high-speed executive transports in the days before the introduction of the ......
The Douglas DC-8, which began life in the 1950s as the Douglas Model 1881, became available to airliners about a year after the first Boeing 707s. However, from the outset, Douglas regarded this time lag as an advantage. In particular, it determined that safety and performance standards should be maintained without loss of flying qualities and, ......
During the first half of the 1970s, two new fighter aircraft entered operational service in the United States: The Navys Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the Air Forces McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. These two aircraft were part of the backbone of the tactical air power of the United States; their introduction was accompanied by comprehensive reforms in ......
Using rare first-hand accounts from Me 262 pilots, Robert Forsyth examines what it was like to fly the worlds most advanced interceptor in the deadly skies over Germany in 1944-45. Right from its operational debut in the summer of 1944, the Me 262 outclassed anything the Allies had in terms of speed and firepower ratio, ......
The Norman Friedman Illustrated Design History series of U.S. warships books has been an industry standard for three decades and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. To mark and celebrate this achievement, the Naval Institute Press is proud to make these books available once more. Digitally remastered for enhanced photo resolution and ......
This untold story of early jet development, surviving the collapse of the Reich, and starting over in America is recounted by Reiner Decher, whos father Siegfried was an engineer on the team that designed the engine for the Me 262. Germany built the first operational jet aircraft during World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 262. Siegfried Decher ......
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