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.

Developments of America's first heavy lift space rocket Saturn I, the Saturn IB and Saturn V propelled America's space program during the Apollo and Skylab eras. First launched in 1966, Saturn IB replaced the Saturn I's S-IV second stage with the more powerful S-IVB. It could carry a partially fueled Apollo Command / Service Module or fully fueled Lunar Module into low Earth orbit, allowing critical testing of these systems to be conducted long before the Saturn V was ready. It also flew one orbital mission without a payload, with the extra fuel used to demonstrate that the S-IVB's J-2 engine could be restarted in zero gravity - a critical operation for translunar injection. The Saturn IB produced thrust equivalent to 1.6 million pounds force, and could carry 46,000 pounds of payload to low Earth orbit. Saturn IB flew nine times, including three Skylab missions and for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Saturn V was simply the heaviest, tallest, and most powerful rocket ever built, and capable of carrying the heaviest payload. First launched in 1967, the rocket consisted of three stages, with the S-IVB serving as its third stage. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, Saturn V had a mass of 3000 metric tons and five F-1 engines capable of producing thrust thrust of 7.6 million pounds-force. It could take payloads up to 100,000 pounds beyond Earth orbit or 262,000 pounds into low Earth orbit. It flew thirteen times, including eight times to the moon and (in a two-stage version) on the Skylab I mission. Originally prepared by the Missile and Space Systems Division of NASA contractor Douglas Aircraft, this book was created to acquaint payload planners with the capabilities of the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets. It shows methods by which Saturn vehicles can accommodate payloads of various weights and volumes for different missions, and methods by which they might be modified to allow even greater performance. It's a wonderful reference for the museum docent, researcher, or anyone who ever wondered how these mighty rockets were designed and built.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.