Aviation

Undaunted is the second volume of Britain and the Commonwealth’s War in the Air 1939-45. It combines detailed studies into the tactics, techniques and technology that made British air power so effective, together with the personal accounts of the aircrew themselves. Undaunted includes chapters on air intelligence, photographic-reconnaissance and Special Duties operations. It then covers how the British Commonwealth Air Forces supported ground operations in the Western Desert, Italy, NW Europe, B...

Britain established the world’s first aircraft factory in 1909 after the Short brothers met up with the American Wright brothers and struck a deal. The industry expanded rapidly to rise to the challenge of World War One with such thoroughbreds as the Camel and the SE.5. The post-conflict slump proved to be difficult but classics such as the Moths, the Hart family and the Gladiator maintained Britain’s leadership. Another war loomed and iconic types such as the Hurricane, Lancaster, Mosquito, Spi...

This book examines in detail one aspect of the aircraft’s history which is not that well known, the fact that DC-3s and their military equivalents and derivatives have been in continuous service in that geographically diverse region of the world known as Latin America for more than 75 years, longer than anywhere else in the world. The DC-3 and C-47 came upon the scene at precisely the right moment in every nation. They were in use from the Rio Grande south all the way to Antarctica and from the ...

The Thomas-Morse MB-3 | America’s First Indigenous Fighter, tells the story of the first American-designed production fighter. Designed during The Great War, it first flew in February 1919, after the Armistice. Later it starred in ‘Wings’, the first movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture. Historian Jan Forsgren tells the story with authoritative text, 93 photos, 24 drawings, 14 colour profiles, and 1/48 scale drawings of the MB-3 and MB-3A.

Fokker Aircraft of WWI Volume 2 is the second volume in a 6-volume set that details all Fokker aircraft of the war. Volume 2 tells the story of the first purpose-built fighter aircraft, the Fokker E.I to E.IV, that were the aircraft that made Fokker famous. This story is told in text, specifications, more than 700 rare photos, 24 colour profiles, and 4 1/48 scale drawings of the aircraft in its 402 pages.

Paul Biber and the Seeflugzeug-Versuchs-Kommando Warnemünde 1916–1918 is the author’s story of his father, a talented precision mechanic, at Germany’s seaplane test command the last two years of the war. In addition to the author’s personal story, the book gives an in depth look into the SVK and its operations that has never been presented before. This unique story is heavily illustrated with 357 photos, many previously unpublished, 45 colour profiles, 47 drawings, and dozens of miscellaneous gr...

Aerial Foreign Legion: Volunteer Foreign Airmen in French Escadrille Service by noted historian Jon Guttman tells the fascinating story of these international airmen who volunteered to serve in the French air service in WWI via extensive text, 235 photos, and 100 color profiles totaling 218 pages. In addition to the main text there are appendices on foreign airmen in Italian service and French airmen in the Russian Imperial Military Air Fleet, and several sidebars on special topics such as a Ven...

As the course of World War II turned against the Third Reich after Stalingrad some of the most inventive and radical proposals, and designs, were put forward by armaments manufacturers, scientists and technicians, aircrew and even private individuals to the Reichsluftministerium (German Air Ministry) for consideration. Some proposals were destined never to leave the drawing board, while others not only underwent trials but were issued to operational units and used in action. In this fascinating ...

Today, as we board our flights to Adelaide, Zurich, and all points in between, we give little thought to the jet power that will take us there. But, this is only possible because just over 70 years ago a select band of British test pilots was prepared to risk all in the quest to fly further, faster and higher than ever before. Their quest was fraught with danger; disaster and death were never far away. This book captures eleven of those stories as told by the pilots themselves - their words as t...

An Island Too Far provides a contemporary perspective of the baptism of fire of one of the oldest, most resourceful and well-trained war fighting institutions in Latin America: The Argentine Navy. It offers a rare insight into the relationship between institutional culture and modern warfare, with specific reference to the Falklands/Malvinas War of 1982, and is a case study of how a very modest navy with very few naval platforms engaged in a limited war against a major naval power and neverthele...

VIS – THE LAST HOPE describes in detail the 2nd World War history of the remote Allied airfield on the tiny island of Vis in the middle of the Adriatic sea. By the beginning of 1944, the island of Vis was the only Allied free territory in the middle of Nazi occupied Europe which was defended by a combined force of Partisan, British and US troops. Vis airfield played a key role in saving the lives of more than 4000 Allied airmen whose bombers and fighters, damaged in fierce battles over occupied ...

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE was formed in 1918 to defend the skies over Britain during the First World War and made a major contribution to winning one of the largest and most devastating conflicts of the twentieth century. Yet, when the war ended, its existence as an independent air service came under threat from severe defence cuts and intense scrutiny from some quarters as to whether it was needed at all. The Second World War put paid to all the uncertainty and sealed the RAF's place in the armed ser...