From its introduction in the mid-1960s, when the first aircraft were delivered, through the various humanitarian missions, the Falkland Islands conflict and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, right up to the introduction of the J version, the Lockheed C-130 Hercules continues to give outstanding service with the RAF and with an expected retirement date of 2030, this would total a service career lasting for a staggering sixty-four years of continuous operations. Designed with an internal hold the same size and dimensions as the American railroad boxcar, the Lockheed C-130 Hercules could carry a wide variety of cargo over distances of up to 2,950 miles. It offered a great improvement over the eclectic mix of its predecessors, the Blackburn Beverley, Handley Page Hastings and Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, all of which continued to provide support, albeit in a secondary role, within RAF Transport Command once the Hercules was introduced to service. This gave an advanced leap in transport capabilities that the RAF had never had at its disposal until the Hercules joined the active inventory. This book tells the full story of one of the most important aircraft in RAF service over the last fifty years. A workhorse that is also astonishingly adaptable for a range of specialised operations, the Hercules is capable of carrying troops as well as vehicles, moving men from one location to another in peacetime training or inserting special forces teams on clandestine operations in time of war.

In May 1961, President Kennedy announced that the United States would attempt to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth before the end of that decade. Yet NASA did not have a specific plan for how to accomplish that goal. Over the next fourteen months, NASA vigorously debated several options. At first the consensus was to send one big rocket with several astronauts to the moon, land and explore, and then take off and return the astronauts to earth in the same vehicle. Another idea involved launching several smaller Saturn V rockets into the earth orbit, where a lander would be assembled and fueled before sending the crew to the moon. But it was a small group of engineers led by John C. Houbolt who came up with the plan that propelled human beings to the moon and back-not only safely, but faster, cheaper, and more reliably. Houbolt and his colleagues called it "lunar orbit rendezvous," or "LOR." At first the LOR idea was ignored, then it was criticized, and then finally dismissed by many senior NASA officials. Nevertheless, the group, under Houbolt's leadership, continued to press the LOR idea, arguing that it was the only way to get men to the moon and back by President Kennedy's deadline. Houbolt persisted, risking his career in the face of overwhelming opposition. This is the story of how John Houbolt convinced NASA to adopt the plan that made history.

On 16 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster aircraft from the RAF's 617 Squadron set off to attack the great dams in the industrial heart of Germany. Flying at a height of 60ft, they dropped a series of bombs which bounced across the water and destroyed two of their targets, thereby creating a legend. The one-off operation combined an audacious method of attack, technically brilliant flying and visually spectacular results. But while the story of Operation Chastise is well known, most of the 133 'Dambusters' who took part in the Dams Raid have until now been just names on a list. They came from all parts of the UK and the Commonwealth and beyond, and each of them was someone's son or brother, someone's husband or father. This is the first book to present their individual stories and celebrate their skill, heroism and, for many, sacrifice.