Combat Legends - the perfect introductions for the general reader, enthusiast and modeler alike wishing to find a succinct yet detailed introduction to the design and history of the aircraft that have made history. Ju 87 Stuka was an essential weapon in Hitler's Blitzkreig, and the best-known, most feared and most successful dive-bomber ever. It played a key role in Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the Russian front. Profiles, photographs and specification details are included.

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.

At the end of the First World War, British imperial power was at an all-time low. That was until a ragtag band of visionaries, including Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence, proposed that the aeroplane, the wonder weapon of the age, could save the empire. Using the radical strategy of air control, the RAF tried to subdue vast swathes of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Wings of Empire is a compelling account of the colonial air campaigns that saw a generation of young airmen take to the skies to battle against cultures that had never seen a plane before. This is the full story of the RAF's most extraordinary conflict, told here for the first time.

If you are one of the millions of airline passengers who take to the air daily and have no idea how an aeroplane flies or how it is flown - but would like to find out - then this is the book for you. It is written by an airline pilot who knows from first-hand experience those questions that are asked most frequently. He knows that for many it is an interest born of curiosity, and in some cases, caused by fear. In this revised third edition Julien Evans explains, in straightforward everyday language, about the airframe and the engines, the flight deck and the controls, how the aeroplane is flown and the routines followed. In fact it explains everything the average passenger may wish to know. An informative guide to understanding how an aeroplane flies and how it is flown. Will be of great interest to aviation enthusiasts, frequent flyers and anyone interested in airliner operations. In straightforward language it covers the airframe, the engines, the flight deck, the controls and much, much more. Fully illustrated with colour photographs and diagrams throughout. Julien Evans, now retired, had a 36-year career of airline flying as well as an instructor and examiner.

This title tells the story of the greatest night bomber of World War II, illustrated with over 275 photographs. It takes you through the design, development, construction and history of the Lancaster, as well as its role in the major battles of the war. It includes first-hand accounts from people who lived through the war in Germany and in Britain, as well as profiles of the pilots who flew and fought over Europe. Stunning photographs of the planes themselves and of the destruction wrought on its target cities bring the devastating power of these machines to life. It features a fascinating and engaging narrative written by a leading military history expert. "The Lancaster Bomber" led the air offensive in the darkest days of World War II. This book describes how the plane was developed to fit into an entirely new role in warfare, and explains how the Lancaster could take the war to the enemy to devastating effect. Also covered is the production of the plane and the modifications made throughout its lifetime. This book shows what it was like to fly a Lancaster over the flak-filled skies of Nazi Germany, and lists where surviving planes can be seen today. This fascinating text is the ultimate reference for anybody with an interest in military history or aviation.

'The Flight of The Arctic Fox' tells the riveting story of the lives of thirty-one passengers and crew on board a BEA Vickers Viscount flying from London to Naples in October 1958. Following a mid-air collision with a jet fighter over Nettuno in Italy, everyone on board died, including the author's brother, who was a member of the crew.

The Tornado F2 had a troubled introduction to service. Unloved by its crews and procured as a political imperative, it was blighted by failures and was developed to counter a threat that disappeared. Modified rapidly before it could be sent to war, the Tornado F3 eventually matured into a capable weapons system, but despite datalinks and new air-to-air weapons, its poor reputation sealed its fate. The author, a former Tornado F3 navigator, tells the story from an insider's perspective from the early days as one of the first instructors on the Operational Conversion Unit, through its development and operational testing, to its demise. David Gledhill reflects on its capabilities and deficiencies and analyses why the aircraft was mostly underestimated by opponents. Although many books have already described the Tornado F3, the author's involvement in its development will provide a unique insight into this complex and misunderstood aircraft programme and dispel some of the myths surrounding it.

The second edition of airline ticket designs from exotic places like Naura, Nicaragua, New Caledonia, Afghanistan and Burkino-Faso is now in hardback. More new tickets from the biggest private collection of tickets in the world and follows the success of the first edition Tickets Please! Transadriatica, Alitalia, Concorde, Malev, Bursa, Brymon, El Al and Royal Nepal continue the adventure This extended 176 page hardback covers the gamut of airlines from flagship megabrands to some of the least known operators. Air Ceylon, Tunis, Air Atlas, Braniff, Spantax and Vasp will fly you to the most obscure corners of the world. The tickets all share a sharp eye for colour and design and no aviation library is complete without this book.

The Boulton Paul Balliol was the last British aircraft powered by the iconic Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and the last piston-powered advanced trainer in both the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. Yet it began life as the world's first turbo-trainer, conceived in the last days of the Second World War, and became the first aircraft with a single prop-jet, beating the rival Avro Athena into the air by two weeks. However, policy changed and it was with the trusty Merlin that the Balliol ultimately went into production. Boulton Paul Aircraft hoped for huge orders-opening a second production line at Blackburn Aircraft in anticipation-but the RAF decided to switch to all-jet training; even though a dozen were sold to the Royal Ceylon Air Force, total Balliol production only ever amounted to just over 200 examples. Consigned to another footnote in aviation history, this was the last aircraft Boulton Paul-already world-leaders in the manufacture of power controls- would ever build. The Boulton Paul Balliol: The Last Merlin-Powered Aircraft is a detailed account of the journey of this aeroplane and its creators, and the shifting sands within the highly competitive post-war aeronautics industry. This is a beautifully illustrated insight into how a small, pioneering British manufacturer dealt with the fluctuating demands of its era, enhanced by the author's own story as a Boulton Paul enthusiast and restorer.

The Pilots Information File (PIF) was the standard reference for any general information required of USAAF pilots and flight engineers. The PIF covered items of a general nature that a combat flyer must know in order to fight an air war and survive.

The book follows exactly the tried and tested format of the earlier "RAF Bomber Command Losses" series both in content and the way the book is organized and presented.
Each entry is set out in the same way with a sequence of entries for a single day. Losses are recorded by unit and then within each unit by the serial number of the aircraft involved. The entries are accompanied by commentaries, which are provided at appropriate points. The number of losses recorded in this volume will be somewhere in the region of 1,700. These will include aircraft from the RAF, the South African Air Force, the free French Air Force, and the U.S. Army Air Force, during the periods when these air arms were operating under direct RAF control.
This book is the first of two projected volumes covering the Bomber Commands losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean during the war. A further volume covering 1943-1945 is projected to follow this one.The distinction relating to the units included in these volumes is particularly important in relation to the USAAF, as its period under RAF was brief. This series will sell well to aviation historians, especially those interested in Bomber Command.

British Aircraft Manufacturers since 1909 traces one hundred years of the British aviation industry, its history, origins, mergers and takeovers. It details the evolution of the British aviation industry and is an epitaph to household famous names such as Armstrong-Whitworth, de Havilland, Chadwick, Claude-Graham White, Sopwith, A. V. Roe, Mitchell, Hawker, Handley Page, Petter and Fairey to name but a few. Of more recent times, the likes of Sidney Camm, Hooker and Hooper, all of whom, made VTOL more than just a dream, are also covered in astonishing and exhausting detail. Of the major firms, most at some time or other have been absorbed, merged or reorganised to form a single conglomerate, BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce are chronicled from the outset to the mighty companies they are today. Only PBN-Britten Norman - who on several occasions escaped extinction due to financial difficulties - and Westland, now part of AgustaWestland, and Short Bros of Northern Ireland remain independent, although even the latter, are part of Canadian, Bombardier Co. British Aircraft Manufacturers since 1909 tells the complete and enthralling story of how Britain ruled the world in terms of manufacturing and aircraft design from nimble but fragile biplanes and majestic airliners that united the world to the advanced bombers and fighters of today.

The 25 Most Influential Aircraft of All Time conveys the fascinating progression of flying technology from flimsy wood-and-fabric biplanes to thunderous supersonic wonders. Aviation's most historically relevant and arguably most influential aircraft - planes like the elliptical-winged Spitfire, the blisteringly-fast X-15, and the ubiquitous Learjet - are dramatically showcased in individual chapters. Factors like performance, price, operational efficiency, and perceptions in popular culture are examined. People are just as important as hardware in the discussion of the world's greatest aircraft. The larger-than-life characters who designed and built these aeronautical marvels - men like the reclusive Howard Hughes and the demanding Clarence "Kelly" Johnson - are an indispensable part of the story. So, too, are the fearless pilots like Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager who gave life to the shining examples of a new and dynamic industry. The authors have flown or flown in many of the featured aircraft and they knew many of the luminous personalities involved, enabling them to share unique perspectives. The preface is written by William Lloyd Stearman, a former staff member of the National Security Council and the son of famed industry engineer Lloyd Stearman. The introduction is written by Norman R. Augustine, the retired Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The foreword is written by Burt Rutan, the renowned aircraft designer and founder of Scaled Composites. Each aircraft is magnificently illustrated in color, mostly with paintings by leading aviation artists.

Handley Page began manufacturing aeroplanes in a small factory in Barking, Essex in 1909. Handley Page Limited was founded by Frederick Handley Page (later Sir Frederick) as the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. Sir Frederick declined to allow his company to be merged into the two large 'forced marriages' of aircraft manufacturing companies in the 1960s. It failed to survive alone, and went into voluntary liquidation and ceased to exist in 1970. During the First World War Handley Page produced a series of heavy bombers for the Royal Navy to bomb the German Zeppelin yards, with the ultimate intent of bombing Berlin in revenge for the Zeppelin attacks on London. Handley Page had been asked by the Admiralty to produce a "bloody paralyser of an aeroplane". These aircraft included the O/100 of 1915, the O/400 of 1918 and the four-engined V/1500 with the range to reach Berlin. The V/1500 only just reached operational service as the war ended in 1918. The real success of the Company came during the Second World War with the magnificent and robust Halifax bomber. In all, more than 6,000 of them were produced, or more than 40 per cent of Britain's total heavy-bomber power. In the bombing operations alone, approximately 76,000 sorties were flown and nearly a quarter of a million tons of bombs were dropped on to enemy targets. Bomber Command had no less than seventy-six Halifax squadrons in action at the time of its peak strength.

The Fairey Firefly two-seater strike-fighter emerged from troubled beginnings to become one of the most widely used and effective aircraft of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It first saw service in 1944 during the attacks on the battleship Tirpitz as it lurked in the Norwegian fjords, then served in the Far East as the Fleet Air Arm tussled with the kamikaze threat. It went on to form an important part of several embryonic naval air arms in the early years of the Cold War and performed a vital combat role in Korea in the early 1950s. In this book, naval aviation historian Matthew Willis tells the story of this important aircraft using more than 160 photographs, many of them rare or unpublished, accompanied by a detailed commentary covering every aspect of the Firefly's varied career from fighter, to sub-hunter, to pilot-less target drone, in air forces all over the world.

An illuminating profile of the San Francisco Bay Area, and its regional and global influence, as seen from the focal point of San Francisco International Airport (SFO). A People's History of SFO uses the history of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to tell a multifaceted story of development, encounter, and power in the surrounding region from the eighteenth century to the present. In lively, engaging stories, Eric Porter reveals SFO's unique role in the San Francisco Bay Area's growth as a globally connected hub of commerce, technology innovation, and political, economic, and social influence. Starting with the very land SFO was built on, A People's History of SFO sees the airport as a microcosm of the forces at work in the Bay Area-from its colonial history and early role in trade, mining, and agriculture to the economic growth, social sanctuary, and environmental transformations of the twentieth century. In ways both material and symbolic, small human acts have overlapped with evolving systems of power to create this bustling metropolis. A People's History of SFO ends by addressing the climate crisis, as sea levels rise and threaten SFO itself on the edge of San Francisco Bay.

Born into a family of aviators, Merrill Wien was destined to become a pilot. His father, Noel Wien, was one of the first pilots to fly in Alaska and his life was full of firsts, including making the first round-trip flight between Asia and North America in 1929. His mother played a big role in the founding and development of Wien Alaska Airlines, the second-oldest scheduled airline in the United States and territories. One of the most versatile and experienced pilots of his time, Merrill has flown just about every aircraft imaginable from DC-3s to Lockheed 1011s to historic military planes like the cargo C-46 and B-29 bomber to the Hiller UH-12E chopper. Although fundamentally modest by nature, family and friends encouraged Merrill to share his remarkable stories given his accomplishments and experiences with so many famous people and events. His tone is engagingly informal as he recounts crossing paths with such luminaries as Joe Crosson, Howard Hughes, Lowell Thomas Sr. and Lowell Thomas Jr., Sam White, Don Sheldon, Brad Washburn, Wally Schirra, and Bill Anders. He re-creates for readers his firsthand experiences flying top-secret missions for the Air Force, viewing the devastation of the Good Friday Earthquake in Anchorage, and the challenges of starting his own helicopter company, to name just a few. His fascinating narrative is complemented by photographs from his personal archives. Includes a list of all the different aircraft Wien has been endorsed to fly at the back of the book.

The four years between 1914 and 1918 saw an incredible growth in air power. Beginning with the flimsy early aircraft, seemingly held together just by string and fabric, the author paints a picture of a bygone era when nobody knew quite what could be achieved, or how aircraft could be used. From the early years of the First World War, when men took to the air without guns or parachutes, to the final stage of the conflict when huge, streamlined aeroplane fleets dominated the skies, this is a story of courage and dedication, of sudden death and public adulation for men whose life expectancy was measured in days rather than months. This book is an account of how the development of aerial warfare took place. Drawing on much original material such as diaries and combat reports, it charts the growth of air power during the war years. Original photographs and artwork add to the atmosphere of the time. The air aces, the castor oil and the sudden rattle of machine guns, the Dawn Patrol, Zeppelin raids, dogfights and acts of supreme valour are all here. In wonderful detail, this is the story of how brave young airmen took their lives in their hands and pushed the boundaries of courage and knowledge to the limits.

Soon after entering the war in April 1917 American propaganda promised that she would `Darken the skies over Europe' by sending over `the Greatest Aerial Armada ever seen'. Encouraged by the French Government America promised to build no less than 22,000 aeroplanes within a year and to field, and to maintain, a force of 4,000 machines, all of the latest type, over the Western Front during 1918, not only to provide adequate air support for her own troops, but because she saw this as a way to use her industrial strength to bypass the squalor of the war in the trenches, and so bring an end to the stalemate of attrition into which the war had descended. However, by the time of the Armistice more than 18 months later just a few hundred American built aeroplanes had reached the war fronts and several investigations into the causes of the failure of the project were already in progress.