The Junkers Ju 52 (nicknamed Tante Ju - "Auntie Ju" - and "Iron Annie") was a German transport aircraft manufactured from 1932 to 1945. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. The Ju 52 first saw military service in the Spanish Civil War, as both a bomber and transport aircraft. It was used as a bomber during the Invasion of Poland in September 1939. The Luftwaffe then relied on the Ju 52 for transport roles during World War II, including paratroop drops, most notably in the Battle of Crete in May 1941. Lightly armed, and with a top speed of only 265 km/h (165 mph)- half that of a Spitfire - the Ju 52 was very vulnerable to fighter attack and an escort was always necessary in combat. Many Ju 52s were shot down by anti-aircraft guns and fighters while transporting supplies, most notably during the desperate attempt to resupply the trapped German Sixth Army during the final stages of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. This book provides a complete modelling guide with numerous profiles, line drawings and photographs. This book is written entirely in German.

Whirl Flutter of Turboprop Aircraft Structures, Second Edition explores the whirl flutter phenomenon, including theoretical, practical, analytical and experimental aspects of the matter. Sections provide a general overview regarding aeroelasticity, discussions on the physical principle and the occurrence of whirl flutter in aerospace practice, and experimental research conducted, especially from the 60s. Other chapters delve into analytical methods such as basic and advanced linear models, non-linear and CFD based methods, certification issues including regulation requirements, a description of possible certification approaches, and several examples of aircraft certification from aerospace. Finally, a database of relevant books, reports and papers is provided. This updated and expanded second edition covers new chapters including both analytical and experimental aspects of the subject matter.

One of the few aircraft to fly in three wars - WWII, Korea and Vietnam - the Douglas A-26 / B-26 Invader gained fame as a light bomber. Designed by engineer Ed Heinemann, the XA-26 prototype first flew in 1942 and flew combat missions beginning in June of 1944. Two versions were produced: a heavily-armed solid nose "B" model and a glass nose "C" model for precision high altitude bombing. More than 2400 were built, serving with distinction in both the Pacific and European Theaters. Redesignated the B-26 (not to be confused with the B-26 Marauder), Invaders saw combat in Korea and are credited with destroying over 38,000 vehicles and over 4000 locomotives and railway cars. The French flew the aircraft in Indochina, and the USAF and CIA used it during the Vietnam conflict. B-26's also flew in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. Originally printed by the USAAF, this A-26 pilot's manual is chock full of information about one of history's great planes. This affordable facsimile has been reformatted. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.

On 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot out of the sky above Ukraine. Aboard were 298 people, 38 of whom were Australians. No one survived. Subsequently it was shown that the airliner was almost certainly hit by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists aided by the Russian military. The debris from the plane's disintegration mid-air was spread over 50 square kilometres, but for weeks rescue teams and investigators were denied access. The Russians have refused to take any responsibility for the deaths. This is the story of some of the people who boarded that fatal flight and the conflict below them that was doomed to destroy their lives and the happiness of the people they left behind. The fullest account yet published, it is also the story of a continuing clamour for justice. Unsettling, compelling and revealing, Shot Down will provoke both outrage that this criminal act could have happened and deep sadness for the lives lost. 'A compelling account of one of the most appalling aviation atrocities of our time.' JIM EAMES, author of Courage in the Skies

Designed and manufactured by the men who would make Concorde, the Rolls-Royce powered Vickers VC10, and its larger variant, the Super VC10, represented the ultimate in 1960s subsonic airliners. The VC10 was Britain's answer to the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8. The VC10 was a second-generation jetliner designed in the 1960s and manufactured into the 1970s. It incorporated advanced engineering, new aerodynamics, and design features, to produce a swept, sculpted machine easily identifiable by its high T-tail design and rear-engine configuration. The VC10 could take off in a very short distance, climb more steeply and land at slower speed than its rivals the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8\. These were vital safety benefits in the early years of the jet age. At one stage, the Super VC10 was the biggest airliner made in Europe and the fastest in the world. On entry into service, both the VC10 and the longer Super VC10 carved out a niche with passengers who enjoyed the speed, silence and elegance of the airliner. Pilots, meanwhile, loved its ease of flying and extra power. Yet the VC10 project was embroiled in political and corporate machinations across many years and more than one government. BOAC got what they asked for but went on to criticise the VC10 for not being a 707 - which was a different beast entirely. Questions were asked in parliament and the whole story was enmeshed in a political and corporate affair that signified the end of British big airliner production. Yet the men who made the VC10 also went on to design and build Concorde. Many VC10 pilots became Concorde pilots. In service until the 1980s with British Airways, and until 2013 with the RAF, the VC10 became a British icon and a national hero, one only eclipsed by Concorde. It remains an enthusiast's hero.

The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the RAF. Although overshadowed by the Spitfire, during the Battle of Britain the Hurricane accounted for 60% of the RAF's air victories in the battle, and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The 1930s design evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft that acted as interceptor-fighters, fighter-bombers (also called 'Hurribombers'), and ground support aircraft. Further versions known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications that enabled operation from ships. Some were converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts, known as 'Hurricats'. More than 14,583 Hurricanes were built by the end of 1944 (including at least 800 converted to Sea Hurricanes and some 1,400 built in Canada.

The book collates a variety of pamphlets and manuals on the plane that were produced throughout the war for the benefit of pilots and others associated with the aircraft.

The B-24 Liberator remains to this day the world's most produced heavy bomber and multi-engine aircraft, and the most-produced military aircraft in US history, with almost 19,000 examples leaving the assembly lines of five plants. Through a broad range of photos gathered from around the world, this book, the second of two volumes on the B-24, chronicles the design, development, and wartime use of the iconic late-production aircraft, featuring gun turrets on the nose. The story of these iconic WWII aircraft is told through carefully researched photos, many never before published, which are reproduced in remarkable clarity. Large, clear images, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, unlock the secrets of this aircraft. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

The end of the Second World War not only brought peace to a war-weary population but also delivered a plethora of surplus transport aircraft, crew and engineers, which could be easily and cheaply repurposed to 'lift' the mood of the British population. The dream of sun-drenched beaches in exotic places suddenly became a reality for thousands of pioneering tourists taking advantage of the air-travel revolution of the 1950s. From their humble beginnings flying holidaymakers to campsites in Corsica in war-surplus Dakota aircraft to today's flights across the globe in wide-bodied Airbuses, Flying To The Sun narrates the development of Britain's love-hate relationship with holiday charter airlines. Whilst many readers today will be more familiar with names like Ryanair and Easyjet than Clarksons or Dan-Air, this charming book serves as a fond reminder of those enterprising airlines and companies that ushered a new age of travel.

While large numbers of aeroplanes had been produced In America for the war effort overseas at the Western Front, it was found that that the British, French and Germans were far ahead of them when it came to flight technology, which led to a huge surplus of aeroplanes in the United States. The government's solution to recover some of the money was to sell the surplus stock off for as little as $200 dollars each. With no licence being required to fly a plane, the offer attracted many ex-fighter pilots as well as civilians, who developed a new American pastime known as barnstorming. Part entertainers, part thrill-seekers, the barnstormers made their way across the country as solo acts and in groups called 'Flying Circuses'. The American flier Ormer Locklear wowed the crowds by climbing out of his aeroplane and walk along the wing, and it wasn't long before flying circuses held less appeal for spectators if it didn't have a wing-walking act. Handstands, jumps across planes, and even the odd game of tennis were attempted by barnstormers to attract larger paying audiences. In 1936, the US Government banned wing-walking under 1,500 ft, which doomed aerial stunting, and while a few wing-walking teams operated in the 1970s, it wasn't until barnstormer Vic Norman founded his famous AeroSuperBatics wing-walking team in the early 1980s that the sight of daredevils hand-standing and flying upside down on the wing was seen in Europe. Several teams around the world subsequently formed using aeroplanes such as the Boeing Stearman or the Curtiss 'Jenny' biplanes to wow crowds as a part of regular air displays, and their appeal has continued to rise since the 2000s.

A former aircraft engineer exposes the dangerous breakdown in airline safety due to lapses in maintenance and quality control. This book chronicles maintenance-related accidents caused by individual, corporate, or governmental negligence and brings the industry's current state of affairs into sharp focus. The author, a former aviation engineer, examines how failures of the smallest of parts have brought down airliners, explaining sometimes esoteric mechanical issues for readers with no technical background. Vividly describing the terror of accidents and close calls, the author then follows the painstaking investigations to determine causes. He focuses on maintenance errors, which rank as one of the top three causes of airline accidents, and points to the factors that have led to an alarming situation-- continued reduction of licensed mechanics, the shutting down of maintenance bases in the United States, and the outsourcing of maintenance to lowballing contractors. Outsourcing has forced thousands of licensed mechanics into retirement or different careers. For those mechanics still employed in the United States, the ever-present threat to their jobs does nothing to cultivate loyalty to an employer and devotion to a task. The Federal Aviation Administration, which should be overseeing quality control, is caught in a conflicted dual role--charged with regulating safety on the one hand and assuring the fiscal stability of airlines on the other. This disturbing wakeup call for improved airline safety standards highlights the critical importance of attention to detail. Porter recommends that the numbers and job security of airline mechanics be increased and that they be vested with an authority level akin to medical professionals.

The invention of the jet engine had a profound effect on the world. Commercial jet aircraft revolutionised travel, opening up every corner of the planet. Few know that the jet engine was invented by an Englishman in 1929. The invention was a masterstroke of genius by 21-year-old Frank Whittle, replacing the piston engine's thousands of reciprocating parts with one part: a single smoothly revolving turbine. Although the world's first jet airliner was the British de Havilland Comet, Britain then gave away the technology - not only to the United States but to the Soviet Union as well. The Jet Set, the air hostess and the package holiday all followed. The dream of cheap, exotic travel had been realised. Yet, just like the impact of the internet, there were downsides to the world-reaching power of this phenomenon. Jet tells the story of this brilliant new technology, how it shrank the world and how it changed life forever.

Man's attempts to harness the use of electricity for his dream to fly go back to well before the 19th century. Until the 1990's, due to battery weight and low energy, electricity could only remain a faithful accessory to piston aircraft, but with the arrival of lightweight construction materials, solar power, improved engines and the LiPo battery, the skies recently opened up to a whole fleet of electric aircraft around the world - from thumbnail insect-styled drones (UAVs) to stratospheric airships. About aviation's third revolution (following heavier-than-air and turbojet), this book also outlines the diversity of future trends for electric aircraft in the 21st century.

It's hard to imagine a history of British engineering without Rolls-Royce: there would be no Silver Ghost, no Merlin for the Spitfire, no Alcock and Brown. Rolls-Royce is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. But what of the man who designed them? The youngest of five children, Frederick Henry Royce was born into almost Dickensian circumstances: the family business failed by the time he was 4, his father died in a Greenwich poorhouse when he was 9, and he only managed two fragmented years of formal schooling. But he made all of it count. In Sir Henry Royce: Establishing Rolls-Royce, from Motor Cars to Aero Engines, acclaimed aeronautical historian Peter Reese explores the life of an almost forgotten genius, from his humble beginnings to his greatest achievements. Impeccably researched and featuring almost 100 illustrations, this is the remarkable story of British success on a global stage.

Broken Wings is a fascinating history of Alaska aviation, encompassing numerous civil aircraft disasters over a period of seventy years. Derived from official accident reports, newspaper accounts, magazine articles and years of research, the author draws the reader into the true stories of aviation tragedy that have occurred in the Last Frontier.

Rumours of buried Spitfires from the Second World War have spread around the world for seventy-five years. In April 2012, the press reported that the UK had negotiated an agreement with Myanmar for the recovery of twenty crated Spitfires, reportedly buried after WW2. Astonishingly the agreement came about through the single-minded determination of a farmer, David Cundall. Armed with a high-tech survey showing mysterious shapes under the surface of Yangon International Airport, David's expedition is equipped with JCB excavators. But instead of Spitfires, the team unearths a tale of fake history. The Buried Spitfires of Burma explores what happened next as David Cundall's dream unravelled over the course of a historical 'whodunnit' that spans seven decades and three continents. It follows one of the most bizarre stories since the sensational Hitler Diaries hoax.

This is the sixth volume in the series which deals with the losses sustained by the RAF Bomber Command during the 2nd World War. It has already found favour with historians, and those friends and relatives affected by the loss.'

The NASM's 60,000 objects comprise the world's largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft. The content is culled from the museum's two public display facilities, one on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and the second at the museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Among the 100 artifacts profiled are the original 1903 Wright Flyer; Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis; Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1; John Glenn's Friendship 7 spacecraft; the Apollo 11 command module; Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird; the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay; the Dash 80 prototype for the 707; the sole-surviving Boeing 307 Stratoliner; and space shuttle Discovery.

Drones and Journalism explores the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, by the global media for researching and newsgathering purposes. Phil Chamberlain examines the technological development and capabilities of contemporary drone hardware and the future of drone journalism. He also considers the complex place of the media's drone use in relation to international laws, as well as the ethical challenges and issues raised by the practice. Chapters cover topics including the use of drones in investigative reporting, in reporting of humanitarian crises, and the use of this new technology in more mainstream media, like film and TV. The book also presents exclusive interviews with drone experts and practitioners and draws on a wide range of disciplines to put the practice into a historical, political and social context. Professionals and students of Journalism and Media Studies will find this an important critical contribution to these fields, as Phil Chamberlain astutely charts the rise of the reliance on drones by the media worldwide.

When Billy Hobbs and his fellow Hellcat aviators from Air Group 88 lifted off from the venerable Navy carrier USS Yorktown early on the morning of August 15, 1945, they had no idea they were about to carry out the final air mission of World War II. Two hours later, Yorktown received word from Admiral Nimitz that the war had ended and that all offensive operations should cease. As they were turning back, twenty Japanese planes suddenly dove from the sky above them and began a ferocious attack. Four American pilots never returned--men who had lifted off from the carrier in wartime but were shot down during peacetime. Drawing on participant letters, diaries, and interviews, newspaper and radio accounts, and previously untapped archival records, historian and prolific author of acclaimed Pacific theater books, including Tin Can Titans and Hell from the Heavens, John Wukovits tells the story of Air Group 88's pilots and crew through their eyes. Dogfight over Tokyo is written in the same riveting, edge-of-your-seat style that has made Wukovits's previous books so successful. This is a stirring, one-of-a-kind tale of naval encounters and the last dogfight of the war--a story that is both inspirational and tragic.

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. Appointed to chair the group, which included politicians, engineers, businessmen and aircraft builders, was John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara). This was an inspired choice, as Brabazon was the first man in Britain to hold a Private Pilot's Licence. He had advocated and promoted aviation in Britain from the earliest days. The Brabazon Committee also had the foresight to embrace an emerging method of propulsion: gas-turbine or jet engine technology. They, rightly, placed piston-engines - which were quite advanced at the time - at the forefront but made a case for the gas-turbine. This enabled Geoffrey de Havilland and Ronald Bishop to begin building a pure-jet airliner to be powered by engines designed by Frank Halford. A very brave move from de Havilland and one that gave Britain the lead over the rest of the world. The de Havilland DH 106 Comet aircraft made history as the first jet airliner to fly and also as the first to off er a scheduled jet passenger service. Even though more than sixty years have elapsed since that first flight, the story of the Comet continues to excite and inspire.

In the early morning of 20 April 1942, forty-seven Spitfire Vs of 601 and 603 Squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force launched from the deck of the American aircraft carrier the USS Wasp, which had sailed to a position north of Algiers. The planes were bound for Malta. At the time, the island was under heavy siege by Axis forces. Salvatore Walcott's Spitfire never made it; he crash-landed in North Africa, part of Vichy France, and was interned. After attempting to escape, Walcott was liberated at the end of 1942. He returned to the UK and joined the US Army Air Corps and continued to serve as a pilot until the end of the war and afterwards with the USAF during the Berlin airlift. These are the bare bones of the story. But was that landing in Africa 'an inexplicable defection', as it has been described? Here is the evidence, alongside an exploration of American and British attitudes to men like Walcott who served under foreign flags. Walcott's story has been discussed for many years, but here is the truth. Did the Spitfire's undercarriage fail to retract, as Walcott claimed, or did he lose his nerve? Does the fact that Walcott later gained a reputation as a risk-taker indicate a 'Lord Jim' narrative, whereby he tried to make up for a moment of cowardice? Walcott's ultimately tragic tale is set against the larger narrative of Irish/American and British/Vichy France relations, of the Mediterranean theatre, aircraft design, and the US entry into the war.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'An inspirational read celebrating the incredible young people who gave so much for this iconic British aircraft'. John Nichol, bestselling author of Spitfire: A Very British Love Story Despite the many films and television programmes over the decades since the end of the Second World War that portrays our allied heroes as grown-up men and women, the Battle of Britain was in the main actually fought and won by teenagers. The average age of an RAF fighter pilot was just twenty years old. Many of the men and women who designed and built their planes were even younger. Based on the hit BBC World Service podcast Spitfire: The People's Story, we use contemporary diaries and memoirs, many of them previously unpublished, to tell the story of the Spitfire through the voices of the teenagers who risked everything to design, build and fly her. This isn't a story of stiff-upper lips, stoical moustaches and aerial heroics; it's a story of love and loss, a story of young people tested to the very limits of their endurance. Young people who won a battle that turned a war.