Sherwood recounts the story of American Air Force pilots in the Korean War and the development of a lasting fighter-pilot culture The United States Air Force fought as a truly independent service for the first time during the Korean War. Ruling the skies in many celebrated aerial battles, even against the advanced Soviet MiG-15, American fighter pilots reigned supreme. Yet they also destroyed virtually every major town and city in North Korea, demolished its entire crop irrigation system and killed close to one million civilians. The self-confidence and willingness to take risks which defined the lives of these men became a trademark of the fighter pilot culture, what author John Darrell Sherwood here refers to as the flight suit attitude. In Officers in Flight Suits, John Darrell Sherwood takes a closer look at the flight suit officer's life by drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters, novels, unit records, and personal papers as well as interviews with over fifty veterans who served in the Air Force in Korea. Tracing their lives from their training to the flight suit culture they developed, the author demonstrates how their unique lifestyle affected their performance in battle and their attitudes toward others, particularly women, in their off-duty activities.

Alex Henshaw had the luck to grow up in the '20s and '30s during the golden age of flying. The Blue Riband of flying in the British Isles between the two World Wars was the King's Cup: Henshaw set his heart on it, developing a technique of racing which extracted the very maximum from his aircraft: firs the Comper Swift and then the DH Leopard Moth. Parallel with his search for speed was an obsession with making accurate landfalls, and he developed this blind-flying taken deliberately in a flying partnership with his father on many carefully planned long-distance survery flights. His exciting apprenticeship in these two skills was crowned by the acquisition of the Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF in 1937. His amazing solo flight to Cape Town and back in February 1939 established several solo records that still stand today, almost 60 years later. This feat of navigation and airmanship must surely be one of man's greatest flights - 12,754 miles over desert, sea and jungle in a single-engined light aircraft.

The first B-29 flew over Tokyo on 1 November 1944. It was a photographic reconnaissance aircraft ironically named 'Tokyo Rose'. The Ki.44 fighters of the 47th Sentai took off to intercept it but as it turned out the Superfortress flew at such an altitude and speed that they could not reach it. The Ki-44-II-Otsu had been specifically designed for this type of interception and could reach the astonishing rate of climb of 5,000 m in four minutes; however it was not good enough. During the following ten months, a devastating bombing campaign of thousands of Superfortress destroyed 67 Japanese cities and half of Tokyo. The cultural shock and the political consequences were huge, when it was realised that the Japanese industry was not able to produce the specially heat and stress-resistant metallic alloys that were required to manufacture the turbo superchargers needed by the fighters in charge of defending the Japanese mainland. They lacked the essential chromium and molybdenum metals to harden the steel. This fact thwarted the manufacturing of numerous advanced projects of both conventional fighters and those derived from the transfer of German technology fitted with turbojets and rocket engines. They are thoroughly described in this book.

Illustrated with colourful artworks of carrier aircraft and their markings, Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War II is a detailed guide to all the aircraft deployed by the Allied navies from 1939 to 1945. Organised chronologically by type and nationality, this book includes fighters, fighter-bombers, torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, floatplanes and flying boats. All the best-known types are featured, such as the Grumman F4F Wildcat, Douglas TBD Devastator and Douglas SBD Dauntless that fought at the battle of Midway in 1942, as well as the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber that proved so effective at the Battle of Taranto in 1940 and helped sink the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. The entries are accompanied by exhaustive captions and specifications. The guide is illustrated with profile artworks, three-views, and special cutaway artworks of the more famous aircraft in service, such as the Blackburn Skua torpedo bomber, Curtiss SB2 Helldiver dive-bomber and the Vought F4U Corsair heavy fighter. Illustrated with more than 100 artworks, Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and enthusiasts of military aircraft of World War II.

The three volumes of the Encyclopaedia of International Aviation Law are intended for students, lawyers, judges, scholars, and readers of all backgrounds with an interest in aviation law and to provide the definitive corpus of relevant national and regional legislation, including global aviation treaties and legislation, to enable all readers without exception to develop the background, knowledge, and tools to understand local, regional, and international aviation law in contextual fashion.

Aviation safety is of global concern. This book is about one person's experience as a non-hypocritical safety regulator in a challenging environment. The author has found her amazing career experience interesting to share. The hazards of playing politics and being hypocritical with safety regulation are clearly reflected in this book. From the human angle, it shows the ugly face of office politics and power play and their detrimental effects on those at the receiving end. The rather slow pace of progress in the aviation regulatory entity since the author's ordeal and her subsequent forceful retirement is a lesson in why responsible authorities shouldn't be cutting their noses to spite their faces.

Boeing's 737 is indisputably the most popular and arguably the safest commercial airliner in the world. But the plane had a lethal flaw, and only after several disastrous crashes and years of painstaking investigation was the mystery of its rudder failure solved. This book tells the story of how engineers and scientists finally uncovered the defect that had been engineered into the plane.

"Curious about the specifications and particulars of a canvas-covered, seat-of-the-pants biplane of the fledgling U.S. Army Air Corps? Or a computer-laden, titanium-clad supersonic modern jet? Here are 327 instant portraits (complete with dimensions, weight, power plant, performance, armament) of the most famous as well as lesser-known American fighters, bombers, transports, flying boats, trainers, helicopters, and reconnaissance aircraft."--BOOK JACKET. "Each entry includes a photograph of the aircraft, service dates, manufacturer, records set, engineering and performance history, technical innovations, and even operational problems. Special attention is paid to the aircraft of America's "Golden Age, " 1919-1939, and the important technological developments that took place during that period."--BOOK JACKET.

Jim Reed has had a life of diverse adventure. From sending U-2's to the North Pole, retrieving missiles in the open ocean, and a flying and boating career that spanned the world, he has done just about everything that you could pack into one lifetime. "Turning Final" captures those adventures and shares it with all of us who dream of meeting exciting challenges. This story is about a real life pilot/sailor who accomplished things that most people only dream about while at the same time he and his lovely wife raised a family of four boys. His life truly spans the world.

Since the end of World War II, European airlines have revealed their own operational style. By analyzing seven European flag carriers, Dienel and Lyth provide a comparative study of the airline business, covering government policy, aircraft procurement, network growth, commercial performance and collaboration with other airlines and transport modes. This study also seeks to explain why national flag carriers have survived in an age of globalization and strategic alliances. A concluding chapter views the contrasting American air transport industry.

When the B-52 Stratofortress entered operational service with the US Air Force in 1955, work was already underway on defining its successor. The B-70 Valkyrie, a Mach 3 jet bomber, was one option. Although two XB-70A prototypes flew, the B-70 never went into production. Out of the subsequent Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft program came the B-1A bomber, which flew at high speed and low altitude to evade enemy air defenses. The B-1A was cancelled in favor of fitting the B-52 with cruise missiles. The B-1, known as the BONE, was revived in 1981 as the improved B-1B to boost American military power and be a symbol of American strength at the peak of Cold War tensions. The B-1B entered service in 1986 with several deficiencies. The resolution of most of these issues coincided with the end of the Cold War. After the Cold War, the B-1B lost its primary nuclear mission but remained relevant by transforming into a high-speed, long-range, high-payload delivery platform for conventional precision-guided munitions. The first combat use of the B-1B was in 1998 in Iraq. The BONE has proved a highly effective combat aircraft in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the former Yugoslavia. This superbly researched and illustrated book traces the BONE's long development and operational history in fascinating detail.