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Books > Professional & Technical > Transport technology > Aerospace & aviation technology > Aviation skills / piloting
'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines meets Le Mans.
Hugely entertaining. And deadly serious' Rowland White, Author of
Vulcan 607 It was the greatest international competition of its day
- a thrilling, globe-trotting, high speed air racing series that
married cutting-edge technology with astonishing skill, bravery and
danger. Duelling at 400 mph just a few feet from sea surface left
pilots little margin for error. For over a decade, as aircraft of
Great Britain, the United States, France and Italy fought for the
prize, the Schneider Trophy represented the pinnacle of aviation
development. A succession of world records fell to machines that
combined super-charged brute power with streamlined good looks.
With the RAF's Supermarine S6B, legendary aircraft designer R.J
Mitchell, honed the genius that produced the Spitfire, while
Rolls-Royce advanced the state-of-the-art with a powerful V-12
engine that paved the way for its war-winning masterpiece, the
Merlin.
Find out how a pilot was instructed in flying a Battle of Britain
fighter, using the original Pilot's Notes for the Supermarine
Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, as well as Air Ministry flying notes
on captured Messerschmitt Bf 109s. See how each compares, view
their cockpits and learn how they fly. All three aircraft handled
superbly, and the Pilot's Notes help give an idea of what it was
like to fl y in a real Second World War fighter aircraft. The
aircraft were designed and first flew within months of each other,
and all served throughout the war. More than 300 pilots on the
Eastern Front shot down over 100 Soviet aircraft, each using
Messerschmitt Bf 109s, while British aces in the Spitfire and
Hurricane included Douglas Bader, Roland Beaumont, Neville Duke and
Richard Hillary.
Though less iconic than the nimble Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane
was a vital stalwart in the British war effort. The Hurricane was a
more stable gun platform than the Spitfire, more rugged, and was
used in more challenging theatres of war. An amazing array of
leaflets, books and manuals were issued by the Air Ministry during
the Second World War to aid pilots flying the Hawker Hurricane
fighter. Here, for the first time, they are collated into a single
book. An introduction is supplied by expert aviation historian
Dilip Sarkar. Sections include Pilots' Notes, aircraft recognition
and combat reports.
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