Hypersonic aircraft are those capable of reaching at least Mach 6 - six times the speed of sound, or about 4,000mph. With the US Air Force recently introducing a Mach 6 strike aircraft, preparations are now underway to launch a new, ultra-stealthy bomber. This book covers the many and varied designs created since the 1950s that have sought to ......

On 1 April 1918, the Royal Air Force came into being and on 1 April 2018, the RAF celebrates its first 100 years. The aim of this book is to offer an alternative insight into what has really impacted on the RAF in its first century. Many people will recall Hurricanes and Spitfires standing firm against the invading Luftwaffe but how many will ......

If ever there was a real pilots aeroplane it was the Hunter; an outstanding multi-purpose aircraft which excelled in the roles of interceptor fighter, ground attack, reconnaissance, research vehicle and two-seater trainer, not forgetting its dramatic formation aerobatic performances. The Hunter is one of the worlds greatest aircraft. For three ......

On the night of 16th May, 1943, a squadron of Lancasters took off from RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, to attack the Ruhr Dams that provided German war industry with so much of its power and water. Two dams were destroyed and a third damaged. But No.617 Squadron paid a fearsomely heavy price. This book explores the Dambusters Raid of 1943.

A detailed yet eminently readable photographic history of the development of the TSR-2, with photographs drawn from the BAE Systems Heritage archive at Warton. It will concentrate on the aircraft development rather than the political background to the story. The author has researched original sources from the BAe archives at Warton Heritage ......

It is no surprise that the Air Ministry chose an author of H.E. Bates talents to portray the battle over the night skies of Britain whilst the war against Germany was still to reach its conclusion. For his rich prose excites and inspires as much as it informs. Bates opens his stirring story by analysing the comparative efforts of the RAF and ......

As a young band of brothers flies over German-occupied France, they come under heavy fire. Their B-17 is shot down and the airmen--stumbling through fields and villages--scatter across Europe. Some struggled to flee for safety. Others were captured immediately and imprisoned. Now, for the first time, their incredible story of grit, survival, ......

Mick Powis describes the novel threat posed to the British war effort by the raids of German airships, or Zeppelins, and the struggle to develop effective defences against them. Despite their size and relatively slow speed, the Zeppelins were hard to locate and destroy at first. They could fly higher than existing fighters and the early raids ......

Probably best-known for its starring role in the Hollywood blockbuster Top Gun, the US Navys Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, variable geometry, two-seat, carrier-based, air superiority fighter.The Tomcat was developed for the US Navys Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program following the collapse of the F-111B project. This workshop ......

The aerial attacks against Great Britain by airships and aircraft in the Great War were a new development in the history of British warfare. Previously, it had been the British armies that had crossed the seas to do the fighting in foreign lands, but now, for the first time, the enemy was spreading death and destruction on the homeland at will. ......