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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Air forces & warfare
The evidence in this book may not ultimately give you the "smoking gun" you are looking for on your journey, but I guarantee it will give you a box of bullets when you find it. In 1996, John Greenewald, Jr. began researching the secret inner workings of the U.S. Government at the age of fifteen. He targeted such agencies as the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, Air Force, Army, Navy, NSA, DIA, and countless others. Greenewald utilized the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to gain access to more than two million pages of documents. This archive includes information relating to UFOs, the JFK Assassination, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and top secret aircraft. He took the millions of pages, and over the course of more than two decades, has built an archive known around the world, as The Black Vault. Inside The Black Vault: The Government's UFO Secrets Revealed takes you on a journey within the secret world of unidentified aerial phenomenon that has plagued the military since at least the 1940s. Declassified records prove that the UFO topic is one of the most highly classified and most elusive subjects the U.S. Government has ever dealt with. Each chapter explores various agencies and their documents, and Greenewald breaks down the meaning of why some of the most important documents are relevant to proving a massive cover-up. Along with declassified documents, Greenewald outlines the struggle it took him to get them. No other topic has proven so difficult, in more than 8,000 FOIA requests that he has filed. He explores why that might be and meets skeptics and debunkers head on, outlining why some of their more prominent rebuttals for it all cannot be true.
Wings Across the Pacific tells the epic struggle of the generation of pilots who made the dream of crossing the Pacific, a reality. The feats of Lindbergh and others who crossed the Atlantic have been more celebrated. But the Pacific was to flying what Everest was to mountain climbing: the biggest, most implacable, most irresistible challenge on earth. To fly the Pacific meant aiming for tiny islands amid seventy million square miles of ocean, and the slightest mechanical failure - or error of judgment - could mean a watery grave. Amelia Earhart is only one of many who vanished into the Pacific without a trace.
A moving tribute to the sacrifice and bravery of the fliers of RAF Bomber Command. ****************************** The Crew, based on interviews with Ken Cook, the crew's sole surviving member, recounts the wartime exploits of the members of an Avro Lancaster crew between 1942 and the war's end. Gloucestershire-born bomb aimer Ken Cook, hard-bitten Australian pilot Jim Comans, Navigator Don Bowes, Upper Gunner George Widdis, Tail Gunner 'Jock' Bolland, Flight Engineer Ken Randle and Radio Operator Roy Woollford were seven ordinary young men living in extraordinary times, risking their lives in freedom's cause in the dark skies above Hitler's Reich. From their earliest beginnings - in places as far apart as a Cotswold village and the suburbs of Sydney - through the adventure of training in North America and the dread and danger of the forty-five bombing raids they flew with 97 Squadron, David Price describes the crew's wartime experiences with human sympathy allied to a secure technical understanding of one of the RAF's most iconic aircraft. The drama and anxiety of individual missions - to Kassel, Munich and Augsburg as well as Berlin - is evoked with thrilling immediacy; while the military events and strategic decisions that drove the RAF's area bombing campaign against Nazi Germany are interwoven deftly with the narrative of the crew's operational careers. ****************************** Reviews: 'A sensitive account of the bomber's life ... Price has given the bomber offensive a human face. This book [...] has a heart and soul' The Times. 'A fascinating and fast-paced account of the exploits of an Avro Lancaster bomber crew from 97 Squadron RAF' The Herald. 'A remarkable insight into the bravery, determination and skill of British Bomber Command crews during WWII' Waterstones.
Over the last decade, the rapid pace of innovation with drone technology has led to dozens of new and innovative commercial and scientific applications, from Amazon drone deliveries to the patrolling of national parks with drones. But what is less understood is how the spread of unmanned technology will change the patterns of war and peace in the future. Will the use of drones produce a more stable world or will it lead to more conflict? Will drones gradually replace humans on the battlefield or will they empower soldiers to act more precisely, and humanely, in crisis situations? How will drones change surveillance around the world and at home? In The Drone Age, Michael J. Boyle examines how unmanned technology alters the decision-making and risk calculus of its users both on and off the battlefield. It shows that the introduction of drones changes the dynamics of wars, humanitarian crises and peacekeeping missions, empowering some actors while making others more vulnerable to surveillance and even attack. The spread of drones is also reordering geopolitical fault lines and providing new ways for states to test the nerves and strategic commitments of their rivals. Drones are also allowing terrorist groups like the Islamic State to take to the skies and to level the playing field against their enemies. Across the world, the low financial cost of drones and the reduced risks faced by pilots is making drone technology an essential tool for militaries, peacekeeping forces and even private companies. From large surveillance drones to insect-like micro-drones, unmanned technology is revolutionizing the way that states and non-state actors compete with each other and is providing game-changing benefits to those who can most rapidly adapt unmanned technology to their own purposes. An essential guide to a potentially disruptive force in modern world politics, The Drone Age shows how the mastery of drone technology will become central to the ways that governments and non-state actors seek power and influence in the coming decades.
This facsimile reprint covers the variety of flying clothing and equipment manufactured by Spalding during the 1920s and 1930s, including flying suits, leather jackets, helmets, face masks, oxygen helmets, gloves and gauntlets, womens flying suits, jackets and coats, leather coats, waders, boots, goggles, and parachutes.
Operation Chastise, the audacious RAF bombing raid that struck at the heart of industrial Germany on the 17th May 1943, brought catastrophic damage to the three dams that served the Ruhr Valley. Water and electricity supplies were disrupted in a key area of the manufacture of Germany's war munitions, and the consequences were disastrous. The German war effort was set back substantially, the Allies celebrated, and Dr. Barnes Wallis became a national hero as the designer of the famed 'bouncing bomb' that inflicted such damage. Considered from an Allied perspective, the Dambuster Raid was a triumphant success, not only of British engineering but also of pilot endeavour. View it from the German perspective however, and an entirely new story emerges. That is precisely what we have here. In this image-heavy publication, Helmuth Euler explores all facets of the operation in fascinating detail, offering a host of illuminating insights into this much-studied event of twentieth century history.
Told in anecdotal form, Vulture\s Row tells a fascinating story about an important period covering nearly one half of the entire history of U.S. naval aviation. "Vulture\s Row" is an area dubbed by naval flyers, on the island structure of an aircraft carrier where pilots who aren\t flying can overlook carrier launchings and recoveries on the deck below. \nThis new book by acclaimed author Paul Gillcrist is a series of true stories about the U.S. Navy carrier aviation from the perspective of a Navy pilot who spent thirty-three years directly involved in that exciting profession. The book begins with a series of vignettes in the period of the mid-1950s when the U.S. Navy introduced swept wing, jet-powered fighters into the aircraft carrier navy, flying from straight-deck carriers whose flight decks were made of teak wood.\nThe thread of stories follows the author\s career in chronological sequence, in various venues throughout the Navy. There are accounts from his first carrier deployment to the western Pacific, followed by events as a weapons delivery instructor at the predecessor to TOPGUN in El Centro, California. Some of his experiences as a Navy pilot are recorded in a section about Patuxent River, Maryland, the Navy\s test center. Additional episodes include an unforgettable wing-walking flight. flying Japanese Zeros in the movie TORA!TORA!TORA! and the author\s subsequent tour of duty in Pentagon conducting proficiency flights from our nation\s capital.\nThere are also accounts of combat missions over Vietnam and the author\s experiences in both wing commander jobs, flying the F-4 Phantom II and the F-14 Tomcat. The last story is about his two flights, as a fifty-two year old Admiral, in the controversial F-20 Tigershark. These vignettes combine humor, hair-raising excitement and tragedy.\nRear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot, served also as a test pilot and weapons delivery instructor, and actively flew from sixteen aircraft carriers for over twenty-seven years. The author writes with authority as a former fighter squadron commanding officer who recorded 167 combat missions over Vietnam flying the F-8 Crusader. Subsequently, he commanded a carrier air wing and finally served, the rank of Rear Admiral, as the wing commander for all pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. His pilot\s logbook includes over 6,000 hours, in seventy-one different types of aircraft from 1952 to 1981. He retired in 1985 as Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations(air Warfare). He is also the author of TOMCAT!The Grumman F-14 Story, and CRUSADER! Last of the Gunfighters(both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).
Arranged by type, German Fighter Aircraft of World War II offers a highly illustrated guide to the most important fighters used by the Luftwaffe during the conflict. It features such classics as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Bf 110, the Heinkel He 100D-1 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 187 and Fw 190, as well as curiosities such as the Arado Ar 68F-1, Henschel Hs 123 and Heinkel He 51B biplanes. Late war innovations, such as the jet and rocket powered Me 262, Me 163 and Heinkel He 162, are also included. Most types are represented in numerous variants and with examples drawn from different theatres of the war. The book includes all the major fighters that served in the invasion of Poland, the defeat of France, the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, the war in the Mediterranean, the fighting on the Eastern Front and the Defence of the Reich. Each featured profile includes authentic markings and colour schemes, while every separate model is accompanied by detailed specifications. Packed with 110 full-colour artworks, German Fighter Aircraft of World War II is a key reference guide for military modellers and World War II enthusiasts.
West Point graduates played a central role in developing U.S. military air and space power from the earliest days of mechanized flight through the establishment of the U.S. Air Force in 1947, and continuing through the Persian Gulf War. These graduates served at a time when the world's greatest wave of technological advancement occurred: in aviation, nuclear weapons, rocketry, ICBMs, computers, satellite systems in inner space and man in outer space. This history traces the advancement of weapons and space technology that became the hallmark of the U.S. Air Force, and the pivotal role that West Point graduates played in integrating them into a wide variety of Air Force systems and programs. Many became aircraft commanders, test pilots, astronauts and, later in their careers, general officers who helped shape and implement technologies still in use today.
This book chronicles the story of the A-10, including program history, aircraft paint schemes, all units operating the aircraft and their markings, and selected nose art and ladder door art. Over 100 colorful official and unofficial patches of the units and combat operations involving the A-10 are included. The book also includes a description of the aircraft, its systems, and weapons.
Over 200 images, including three-view drawings, photos of the He 162 in wartime service with JG 1, and the later surrender of at least thirty-one flight ready He 162s to British ground forces at Lech. Subsequent test flights of He 162s in post-war England, USSR, South Wales, Australia, and the United States are also covered. No other publication has this large a quantity of images of the He 162 in a single volume.
This book captures the story of "Witchcraft," a B-24 Liberator, based in Rackheath, England, toward the end of World War II, that had a unique record in the 8th Army Air Force of flying 130 credited missions without aborting.This is a sequel to author Perry Watts' 2006 book (also published by Schiffer) on the 467th Heavy Bombardment Group, which sets this Liberator in context. In this book, Watts starts with Witchcraft's creation in the then-largest factory in the world in Michigan, then chronicles its transit like many Liberators to the UK via Brazil and Africa. The narrative provides detailed stories of Witchcraft's often hazardous missions with its Group over occupied Europe and during the battle for Germany 1944-5. This is a special testimony to why and how the B-24 played a key role in the World War II liberation of occupied Europe.
The conflict in the skies above the combat zones of World War II bred a new legion of heroes. Boys became men in weeks, and many became commanders and leaders before the age of 25. These young pilots were flying for their lives on every dangerous sortie and in every type of aircraft. Over 100 of these young men are included in this compact reference to the history and record of Allied and enemy aces of World War II.
The Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 included the USAAFs Lockheed P-38 equipped 14th Fighter Group. Flying long-range, high-altitude escort missions as well as low level ground support sorties, the 14th engaged in three months of grinding attrition. Another squadron arrived from the U.S. along with new P-38s and the revitalized 14th returned to the Mediterranean air war in May 1943 where they flew combat for another two years battling the German, Hungarian, Rumanian, and even the Russian air forces.
X PLANES OF THE THIRD REICH SERIES An Illustrated Series on Germany's Experimental Aircraft of World War II Over 200 images, including three-view drawings, comprise this one of a kind photo album on the He 162. Included are photos of the He 162 in wartime service with JG 1, and the later surrender of at least thirty-one flight ready He 162s to British ground forces at Lech on 8 May 1945. Subsequent test flights of He 162s in post-war England, USSR, South Wales, Australia, and the United States are also covered. No other aviation publication has ever assembled this large a quantity of images of the He 162 in a single volume.
While America sought to remain neutral in the early years of World War II, some Americans did not. This book is the first to provide the operational records and combat reports of the three American "Eagle" Royal Air Force squadrons-units comprised of volunteer American pilots who served with British prior to the U.S. entering the war. The records tell the story of the more than 200 pilots who, against federal law, flew with the British in their fight against Nazi Germany. While some Americans served individually in RAF units, these three squadrons-the 71st, 121st and 133rd-were the only ones organized exclusively for Americans. They were the first of dozens of American fighter squadrons that would soar over Europe.
This pictorial book is a history of the F-117 Night Hawk Stealth Fighter containing over 400 color photographs. It is a Roll Call of the F-117 with individual history and photos of each F-117. In addition the book includes a short program history; operating locations and air force bases, production sites associated with the F-117; F-117 Units, F-117 aircraft, and Information and photos of the A-7 and T-38 aircraft used to support the F-117 program. Though the photos cover the full history of the F-117 program, many of the photos were taken in the last two years at bases including Holloman AFB, Nellis AFB, and Edwards AFB.
What was successively titled the 4th Bomb Wing, 3rd Bomb Division and finally 3rd Air Division entered combat with the VIII Bomber Command in May 1943. Under the charismatic leadership of Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Force's crews in their B-17s forged the concept of 'shuttle' missions with a run to North Africa on 17 August 1943, followed during the summer of 1944 with several similar missions to and from Russia. Although comprising the third and final element of the 'Mighty Eighth's' heavy bomber force to be established in England,, the Division's combat record was to prove in all respects the equal of its contemporaries during its two years of active operations.
This new study of the sea-going Phantoms includes contributions from over a hundred aircrew and maintainers who were involved in the Phantom's success from the earliest service development flying to its twilight years in the Reserve units. There are personal accounts of MiG battles from more than a dozen MiG killers, first-hand descriptions of the F-4's introduction into combat with the Marines as a CAS and reconnaissance aircraft, memories of 'Bear' intercepts on Mediterranean cruises, narratives covering the aircraft's service into the 1980s, and much more. These voices are blended with a detailed technical and developmental description of the aircraft, supported by comprehensive appendices and over 450 photos in color and black and white.
The Russian Military Air Fleet in World War I two volume set is a prodigious scholarly endeavor, offering for the first time in the English language a close up view of Air Fleet operations and personnel. Vol.1 is a chronology of the development of aeronautics and aviation in Russia beginning in the earliest days and the eventual emergence of the Air Fleet, which is carried through to its dissolution by the Bolsheviks and the beginning of the Red Air Fleet in March 1918. There are also chapters on manufacturers, airmen badges, aviation uniforms, flight helmets, markings, flags and pennants, organizational charts, maps of the Russian and Romanian Fronts, and bibliography.
This instant Sunday Times bestseller tells the story of two fighter pilots whose remarkable encounter during the Second World War became the stuff of legend. Five days before Christmas 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a twenty-one-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. Suddenly a German Messerschmitt fighter pulled up on the bomber's tail - the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber with the squeeze of a trigger. This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day - the American - 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown and the German - 2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler. A Higher Call follows both Charlie and Franz's harrowing missions and gives a dramatic account of the moment when they would stare across the frozen skies at one another. What happened between them, the American 8th Air Force would later classify as 'top secret'. It was an act that Franz could never mention or else face a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would seek out one another and reunite.
Covered in this unique volume are: Inflight Simulation Aircraft;VISTA/NF-16D; Variable Stability B-26; NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator; Gulfstream Shuttle Training Aircraft; ASTRA Hawk; University of Tennessee Navions; P-2 Variable Stability Aircraft; S-76 Shadow; NT-33A; Tu-154M; VFW-617 ATTAS; Calspan Learjets; Jetstar GPAS. Testbed Aircraft; A-5A Vigilante SST; A6-A CCW; B-47 Fly-by-Wire; A-7 DIGITAC; B-52 CCV/LAMS; Carrier Testbeds XC-8AACLS; Convair-990 LSRA; C-130 RAMTIP; Falcon ATLAS; F-4 Fly-by-Wire; F-5D Skylancer Testbed; F-8 Supercritical Wing; F-8 Digital Fly-by-Wire; F-15 AECS; F-15 ASAT; F-15 IFFC/ABICS/ICAAS; F-15 HIDEC; F-15 STOL/MTD. ACTIVE; F-15 Streak Eagle; F-16 AFTI; F-16 CCV, FLOTRAK; F/A-18 EPAD; F/A-18 HARV; F/A-18 SRA; JF-100 Variable Stability Testbed; F-102 Low L/D; F-104 Low L/D; F-104 Aerospace Trainer; F-100/106 Turbulance Testing; F-111 AFTI/TACT Testbed; Air Force Transport Testbeds; Ice Testing Aircraft; KC-135 Winglet; NASA/Langley Commercial Testbeds; L-100 High Technology Testbed; PA-30 Twin Commanche Testbed; Sabreliner Supercritical Wing; SR-71 Testbed; Boeing 737 TCV; Boeing 720 CID; X-21 LFC; YF-23 Loads; Miscellaneous Testbeds. Prototype Aircraft; YA-7F(A-7 Plus); F-16XL; F-16/79/101; P-51 Mustang-Based Enforcer; Gunships; F-15E Strike Eagle Demonstrator; F-18; A-37.
If ever a man has earned his place in the annals of military history, that man is Francis "Gabby" Gabreski. His exploits as a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea are legendary; his rise from humble beginnings to success in military and business careers is inspiring. This is the full story of Gabby Gabreski, told in his own words. Gabreski's life is a classic American success story. Born to Polish immigrant parents in 1919, he nearly washed out of Notre Dame and then flight school. He was down to his last chance, and he made the most of it. A witness to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Gabby had his own first taste of air combat flying with a Polish RAF squadron. Shortly thereafter he joined the 56th Fighter Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force, and in seventeen months he shot down twenty-eight German planes, the highest total of any 8th Air Force pilot in Europe. He became a hero whose name was splashed across newspaper headlines from coast to coast. And then, on the very day he was to fly home to his fiancee and a hero's welcome, he took one last combat mission, crashed and, after a daring attempt to avoid capture, finished the war in a POW camp. Gabreski returned to combat in 1951, flying F-86 Sabrejets over Korea. He scored 6.5 more victories there, making him one of the few pilots ever to achieve ace status in two wars and in both propeller and jet aircraft. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1967 and spent the next twenty years working in the aviation industry, sustained, as always, by his devout religious faith and his deep love for his family. Now, drawing on his private documents and photographs, Gabby, along with writer Carl Molesworth, tells his thrilling eyewitness story with a candor and a vivid style that should earn this brave pilot a whole new generation of admirers.
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 the C-47) is often overlooked, having been overshadowed by the exploits of its military counterpart. This is perhaps understandable, but it would be wrong to underestimate the importance of the DC-3. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the DC-3's story is that the aircraft is still very much in business today, almost eighty years since the first examples took to the skies. Even though the aircraft has long since made way for larger, faster and more capable airliners, the DC-3 is still a sturdy, versatile, inexpensive and reliable aircraft. Although the numbers of active aircraft inevitably dwindle with time, it would be impossible to predict when the very last examples will finally be withdrawn from commercial use. The mighty DC-3 will seemingly fly forever.
The first ballistic missle in its use during WWII. |
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