The true story documenting the short range history of the bomber force. Told in three parts, it demonstrates the versatility of the military pilot and observer and is a credit to the training they receive, coupled with the experience each one of them acquired.

From the lessons of the First World War, the RAF developed a fleet of modern monoplane aircraft in time for hostilities in 1939; a force that consisted of Hampdens, Whitleys, Wellingtons, Blenheims, and Battles. These aircraft and their crews were pitted against the German war machine from day one-flying into storms of flak shells and swarms of Messerschmitt fighters in their flimsy, and often poorly armed, bombers. From theatres as far apart as Norway and Syria, Java and France, the crews and their aircraft were at the front of every military operation without adequate fighter escorts and with poor equipment against stiff opposition. They were the few who bravely went on 'one way ticket' missions, that saw operational life expectancy as only a matter of hours, without hesitation or complaint.

The RAF and Commonwealth air crews were bound by regulations and discipline during WWII. Survival was by no means a certainty, with casualties becoming a part of everyday life. The evolution of non-established clubs was recognised and regarded as an important area within RAF history that boosted moral. The regulations flexed to allow membership pins and badges to be worn on RAF and Commonwealth flying uniforms. This book allows the reader to experience a number of individual stories and understand the relevance of being a: - 'Goldfish' (Lives saved by the use of personal life preservers and dinghies), 'Caterpillar' (Lives saved by parachutes) or: - 'Guinea Pig' (Lives saved by pioneering surgery conducted by Archibald McIndoe at the Queen Victoria Hospital Sussex) In many instances the accounts are recalled in great detail from the official records of medals and awards. True heroism and gallant deeds supported by original photographs create an easy to read book, revealing areas of interest not previously visited in this format.

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 scrutiny from some quarters as to whether it was needed at all. The Second World War put paid to all the uncertainty and sealed the RAF's place in the armed services. It has since played a vital role in many large-scale conflicts, as well as in peacekeeping and international aid operations. Celebrating a century of the world's oldest independent air force, The RAF at 100 showcases vivid and evocative images from the Mirrorpix archive that trace the story of the RAF from its earliest days through wartime and peacetime and into the modern age.

Don Logan's latest book "his tenth with Schiffer Publishing, and the first in a planned multi-volume set on F-4 Phantoms chronicles the service of the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 and RF-4 Phantom II in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard. The book is organized by AFRES and ANG units and illustrates the F-4's service, colors, and markings with over 700 color photographs and 100 unit patches.

'Time Flies: Reflections of a Fighter Pilot' retells the exploits of David Hamilton's thirty years of service in the Royal Air Force. He had a wide and varied career; flying Lightnings to defend UK airspace, operating from HMS Ark Royal in F-4 Phantoms, and defending the Inner German Border from RAF Wildenwrath. In the UK MoD he was a staff officer responsible for the Eurofighter project. He served in the First Gulf War, as the commander of a Tornado F3 Squadron deployed in Saudi Arabia, and worked as General Sir Peter de la Billiere's air advisor afterwards. He flew with and was supervisor of the Red Arrows. In NATO's Brussels Headquarters, he served as a Group Captain, formulating the Rules of Engagement for the Bosnian air campaign, and then became the deputy station commander at RAF Leuchars. Hamilton also led the Tornado F3 four-ship flypast over Edinburgh Castle as the Stone of Destiny returned to Scotland on 30 November 1996, before taking early retirement from the RAF to work in the defence industry on the Eurofighter project.

The famous and versatile World War II German seaplane.

The pilot-operated Bachem Ba 349 "Natter" ("Adder") was one of several unexpected new weapons Germany was seeking to perfect for a more effective defense against Allied heavy bombers. The idea of the ground-to-air missile to slow down, if not stop, attacking aircraft was one of the greatest developments to come out of World War II, and Germany led the field. David Myhra has taken 240 photographs and illustrations from his collection and presents the world's first defense interceptor missile - the manned Ba 349 "Natter."

This revised and expanded second edition covers USN and USMC squadrons that operated the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber as the PB4Y-1 in the Pacific from early 1943 through September 1944 in the Central Pacific. Combat air crews consisted of eleven young men typically ages 18 to 26 led by a patrol plane commander in his early to mid-twenties. They flew alone on single-plane patrols often lasting ten or more hours. Alone on patrol there were no witnesses when an aircraft failed to return to base; they simply vanished, leaving little if any clues about their fate. Other aircrews sent to look for the missing would occasionally spot a deflated life raft floating or dye marker spreading across the waterevidence marking where a four-engine bomber and its crew had gone down.

This first volume of Solomons Air War chronicles aerial warfare in the opening phase of the war in the Solomons Islands theatre, being the critical period of August-September 1942. After occupying the Solomon Islands capital of Tulagi with ease in May 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy commenced building an airfield on the adjacent island of Guadalcanal. The indispensable airfield was over 600 miles distant from their main base of Rabaul and promised to extend the reach of their aircraft into the Allied occupied island chains of Fiji, the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Much was at stake and the airfield would be held at all costs. Then, in early August 1942 a bold American invasion of both Tulagi and Guadalcanal caught the IJN completely off guard. Nevertheless, Japanese air power responded swiftly and in some cases desperately. So began the knife-edge struggle for Guadalcanal. An ever-increasing variety and number of IJN units was poured into the struggle, met initially with USN carrier-based Wildcats backed up by SBD Dauntless dive-bombers and the new TBF torpedo bomber. These were soon joined by USAAF fighters operating from the newly operational Henderson Field. From late August, Japanese carriers entered the fight, adding more complexity to the intense and frenzied air battles. For the first time belligerents are closely matched and the rationale of the IJN’s sometimes erratic response is explained. The full extent of both Japanese and US involvement is outlined to a level of detail never before presented.

Designed as the benchmark against which competitors in the 1912 Military Aeroplane Competition were judged, the B.E.2 outperformed them all and was put into production becoming the most numerous single type in Royal Flying Corps service. The B.E.2c, a later variant, was designed to be inherently stable and was nicknamed the 'Quirk' by its pilots. Intended mainly for reconnaissance, it was hopelessly outclassed by the Fokker Eindecker fighter and its defenceless crews quickly became known as 'Fokker Fodder'. The Eindecker, piloted by top scoring German aces such as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, made short work of the B.E.2c in the aerial bloodbath coined as the 'Fokker scourge'. Its vulnerability to fighter attack became plain back home and to the enemy who nicknamed the B.E.2c as kaltes fleisch or cold meat. British ace Albert Ball said that it was a 'bloody terrible aeroplane'. B.E.2c crews were butchered in increasing numbers. The B.E.2c slogged on throughout the war, and its poor performance against German fighters, and the failure to improve or replace it, caused great controversy in Britain. One MP attacked the B.E.2c and the Royal Aircraft Factory in the House of Commons stating that RFC pilots were being 'murdered than killed. ' This resulted in a judicial enquiry that cleared the factory and partly instrumental in bringing about the creation of the Royal Air Force.

How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War. An amazing array of leaflets, books and manuals were issued by the War Office during the Second World War to aid pilots in flying the Supermarine Spitfire, here for the first time they are collated into a single book. An introduction is supplied by expert aviation historian Dilip Sarkar. Other sections include aircraft recognition, how to act as an RAF officer, bailing out etc.returncharacterreturncharacter returncharacterreturncharacter REVIEWS returncharacterreturncharacter "The year this book is published, 2010, is the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain...recaps key aspects of it and the planning and execution of the air war in general as they relate to the Spitfire..."Speedreaders, 10/21/2010

For the first time, the history of one of the most significant and longest-lasting Luftwaffe combat units is presented. Operating against Tito and his partisans in Yugoslavia, Nachtschlachtgruppe 7, and its predecessor units Stoerkampfstaffel Kroatien and Sudost, fought an extraordinary war--one that was different from any other Nachtschlachtgruppe in existence on either the eastern or western fronts. The history of Nachtschlachtgruppe 7 is unbreakably cross-linked with its "sister" unit Nahaufklarungsstaffel Kroatien, who eventually became its 2.Staffel in Autumn 1943. Despite their obsolete equipment--flying the Hs 126, Do 17 and He 46--they fought courageously against Tito's forces until the end of the war.

Organised chronologically by type, German Bomber Aircraft of World War II offers a highly-illustrated guide to the main types of aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The book offers a comprehensive survey of German aircraft, from the Junkers Ju 87A Stuka dive-bomber and Dornier Do 17Z-2 that participated in the invasion of Poland, to the more sophisticated Arado Ar 234B-2, Heinkel He 177 and Junkers Ju 88S-1 of the final months of the war. All the major and many minor types are featured, including dive-bombers, two-seater bombers, ground attack aircraft, night bombers, strategic bombers and maritime bombers. This includes both well-known models, such as classic Heinkel He 111 and Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, to the lesser-known Blohm und Voss Bv 141A ground attack aircraft and Heinkel He 111H-2 designed to launch V-1 flying bombs. Each featured profile includes authentic markings and colour schemes, while every separate model is accompanied by exhaustive specifications. Packed with 110 full-colour artworks with detailed specifications, German Bomber Aircraft of World War II is a key reference guide for military modellers and World War II enthusiasts.

During World War II, hundreds of military training installations were built throughout the United States to prepare servicemen for the rigors of overseas combat. One such installation was Camp Cooke in California, which since 1957 has become an internationally recognized missile and rocket base renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base.    This book examines the history of the camp, starting with its construction. Established some 150 miles north of Los Angeles, Cooke was designed for armored divisions, but by the end of the war hundreds of other specialized organizations trained there. It supported many USO clubs and attracted some of Hollywood's leading entertainers as well as many from radio and stage.    With the outbreak of the Korean War, Cooke supported Army National Guard and reserve units. Its large hospital cared for war evacuees and Army medical cases from other parts of the globe. When it became an Air Force base, America's first spy satellite program was conducted from there. The intelligence data collected from these missions exploded the myth of a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War, America's first ICBM missile equipped with a nuclear warhead was based at Vandenberg.

Under the leadership of a dedicated pilot, the B-26 Marauder was a formidable weapon in the campaign to defeat Hitler's armies, and, in the words of his first copilot, 'Lou was the best there was. He created a spirit among the crew that made us really want to fly the mission and be disappointed if we had to abort'. This memoir begins with Captain Rehr's arrival in pre-invasion England in May 1944 and ends with the completion of Major Rehr's aircraft disarmament duties in postwar Germany in July 1945. Rehr, a squadron commander with the 323rd Bombardment Group, earned 12 air medals, five battle stars, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star. He describes his experiences, including five night-bombing missions he volunteered to fly in 1944 and accounts of attacks by Me-262 jets in late April of 1945. The narrative also recollects two summers in 1936 and 1938, when, as a teenager touring Germany, he observed the influence of Nazism. This memoir is the result of forty years of research on the combat history of the B-26, contributions from comrades, an extensive collection of rare photographs, artifacts including newspaper articles and letters, and all military records and documents relating to Rehr's part in World War II. One appendix describes where readers can find images and restorations of the B-26. A second gives brief follow-ups on the men described in the narrative, often with their remembrances of the events outlined. This entry refers to the Large Print edition. For the standard edition please see ISBN 978-0-7864-1664-6.

Most people think the US Army only flies helicopters, but it has quietly flown a multitude of fixed-wing aircraft for decades. One of the Army's best aircraft providers is Beech Aircraft of Wichita, Kansas. Beginning about the time of the Korean War and up to present day, the Army has utilized twin-engined Beech aircraft for an abundance of missions and duties. All of these Beech aircraft have been purchased off-the-shelf, instead of developing new aircraft for a specific mission, as they are much more economical to purchase and operate. Beeches have been used for almost every mission imaginable, from utilitarian, to VIP, to bombers, to photo-reconnaissance and surveillance to training. Some of the Beeches look really "spooky" due to their massive antenna arrays on the "reconnaissance" versions. This book will give you all of the "unclassified" details, data, information, and photos of these unique aircraft operated by the US Army.

The Apache helicopter is a revolutionary development in the history of war, designed to hunt, take out and destroy its targets, to inflict damage on its enemy and potentially destroy up to 256 targets in less than 5 minutes. Highly maneuverable and heavily armed, the combat-proven Apache helicopter is today the primary attack helicopter for many countries including United States, Royal Netherlands, United Kingdom and Greece, it is feared by many armed forces across the globe and also terror groups in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Flying the Apache into battlefield is extremely dangerous, but with all its weapons, armor and sensor equipment, it is a formidable opponent to almost everything else on the battlefield. It is a deadly combination of strength, agility and fire power, it is the Apache. In this book Darren Willmin explores the immense flying capabilities and the weaponry systems of the Apache from the British, Royal Netherlands and Greeks Army. Amazing illustrations from Darren Willmin's superb photographs capture the fundamentals of the Apache both from the ground and in the air from the British Army Air Corps training ground and at European Airshows. This unique collection will appeal to everyone with an interest in this truly amazing helicopter.

The famed B-29 Superfortress is presented in this all new collection of World War II and Korean War era photographs. Many of the 850+ photographs appear here for the first time and are identified as to unit and location. John Campbell is also the author of Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and Talisman: A Collection of Nose Art (available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

This book gives descriptions and a photographic account of the ground radar systems of the Luftwaffe used during WWII.

This volume examines the connection between culture and defence by providing an inside look at Brazil's aerospace strategies. Brazil is becoming increasingly important geopolitically, and several studies have sought to further understanding of this new position in the international arena. This volume aims to provide a better understanding of the Brazilian nation, its security dilemmas, and how the country seeks to develop its defence training process and improve its professional military education. Organised into two parts, the chapters offer academic dialogues on several aspects of this topic, including public politics and the law, joint operations, human factors and the government interchanges with industry. The first section analyses Brazilian defence policy and strategy, discussing different aspects of aerospace power and Brazilian security perspectives. Chapters discuss the relationship between Brazil and the United States, which blend aspects of the generation of knowledge, science, technology and innovation, and point to economic issues and the Defence Industrial Base. Specific implications of the Brazilian air space, compared with Europe and the United States, also are exposed. In addition, a vision of cyberspace implications for the national power, a present-day question for the entire planet, is also presented. Thereafter, the second section looks at specific aspects of professional military education and explains the Brazilian approach to strengthening its aerospace power. This includes military education and performance, interdisciplinary studies, working jointly, multivariate analysis and cases. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, defence studies, gender issues, crises management and decision making, Latin American politics and International Relations in general.

One of the true land-marks of flight, this book covers its limited yet devastating use during WWII.

Making use of primary Curtiss documents, as well as the combined resources of the world's leading historians of the subject, the authors have skillfully resolved myths and woven a comprehensive study of the often very confusing story of these classic airplanes. Making use of previously unpublished documents and photographs, this massive, life-long work will stand as a legacy to the memory of those wonderful shapes, the men and women who built them, flew them and took them to war, and the lasting contributions they have made, collectively, to aviation history and the defense of democracy.

The international bestselling author returns with an exploration of one of the grandest obsessions of the twentieth century

'The Bomber Mafia is a case study in how dreams go awry. When some shiny new idea drops from the heavens, it does not land softly in our laps. It lands hard, on the ground, and shatters.'

In the years before the Second World War, in a sleepy air force base in central Alabama, a small group of renegade pilots put forth a radical idea. What if we made bombing so accurate that wars could be fought entirely from the air? What if we could make the brutal clashes between armies on the ground a thing of the past?

This book tells the story of what happened when that dream was put to the test. The Bomber Mafia follows the stories of a reclusive Dutch genius and his homemade computer, Winston Churchill's forbidding best friend, a team of pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard, a brilliant pilot who sang vaudeville tunes to his crew, and the bomber commander, Curtis Emerson LeMay, who would order the bloodiest attack of the Second World War.

In this tale of innovation and obsession, Gladwell asks: what happens when technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war? And what is the price of progress?