This fascinating story begins with post-World War Two sales of surplus Mustangs to various foreign governments and a few civilian customers. More than a decade later, in 1957 and 1958, the US Air Force auctioned off its remaining inventory of P-51s. These Mustangs became high-speed executive transports in the days before the introduction of the ......

During the first half of the 1970s, two new fighter aircraft entered operational service in the United States: The Navys Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the Air Forces McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. These two aircraft were part of the backbone of the tactical air power of the United States; their introduction was accompanied by comprehensive reforms in ......

This book is a concise, visual history of this iconic RAF WWII bomber by noted aviation historian Ron Mackay. Introduced in 1941, the Short Stirling was the Royal Air Forces first four-engine heavy bomber of the Second World War. However, early on, the Stirlings performance was compromised by several issues: a reduced wingspan, which resulted ......

The Norman Friedman Illustrated Design History series of U.S. warships books has been an industry standard for three decades and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. To mark and celebrate this achievement, the Naval Institute Press is proud to make these books available once more. Digitally remastered for enhanced photo resolution and ......

Volume 1 of our two-volume visual history of the North American B-25 Mitchell. The North American B-25 Mitchell is WWIIs most heralded and versatile medium bomber. Volume 1 (of two) gives the reader a concise illustrated look at the A through D models and follows the bombers genesis from the formation of the North American Company and its early ......

The Great Air Race reclaims one of the most important moments in the history of American aviation: the transcontinental air race of October 1919 that saw scores of pilots compete for the fastest roundtrip time between New York and San Francisco in frail, open-cockpit biplanes. Riveting the nation, the aviators-most of them veterans of ......

For Dutton Calibers American War Heroes series, the riveting true story ofUnited States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager. Bold, brash, and brimming with courage, Chuck Yeager burst onto the scene as a national hero in 1947, when he became the first to fly an airplane faster than the speed of sound. Yet ......

The only English-language book in print on this active-duty Russian supersonic bomber. In the late 1960s, the patriarch of Soviet aircraft design, Andrey Tupolev, offered the Soviet air force a supersonic bomber to replace the 1950s-vintage Tu-22 Blinder with a less capable - but cheaper - alternative to the Sukhoi design bureaus proposed T-4 ......

The End of Victory recounts the costs of failure in nuclear war through the work of the most secret deliberative body of the National Security Council, the Net Evaluation Subcommittee (NESC). From 1953 onward, US leaders wanted to know as precisely as possible what would happen if they failed in a ......

From the terror and exhilaration of First World War dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to that most brutally exciting of machines: the warplane.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly illustrated collection of the very best articles from Hush-Kit - ......

Loved by most associated personnel and enthusiasts alike, the C-141 Starlifter, quite simply, looked right and was right. During the second half of the 1960s, it quickly became a commonplace visitor worldwide, and it was in service for more than forty years before the final examples were retired in favour of more capable airlifters. Such was ......

When the RAF was formed in 1918, Great Britain boasted the largest air force in the world, but it was not to last. As soon as the armistice was declared, a rapid disarmament began. After a period of austerity, the surplus military aircraft formed the basis for civil aviation as we know it today. More people learned to fly, and pioneering ......

As the climate changes it is even more vital to protect the worlds forests. They provide both the lungs of the world and the natural resources for many industries. This book looks at both the past and the current selection of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and support aircraft tasked with protecting our natural environment from fire. Covering ......

From their modest origins with BE.2c and Vickers Victoria biplanes delivering food and ammunition in the Mesopotamian deserts to the massive Globemasters delivering hardware in the same theatre a century later, transport aircraft have played a key role in Britains wars. It was the Cold War that saw transport aircraft become necessary ......

The Second World War was a time of tremendous technological progress in aviation with innovations such as jet engines and swept wings being brought in as engineers on all sides desperately sought every possible performance advantage. In Germany, the quest for better aircraft resulted in some astonishing designs - everything from bombers with ......

Packed with never-before-seen photos and plans and meticulous new digital artwork, this is the first history of the USAAFs futuristic World War II prototype interceptor, the XP-67 "Moonbat". The series of X-planes that sprang from the US Armys Request for Data R40C, focused on high-altitude, high-speed, long-range bomber ......

When it appeared over the Western Front in the summer of 1944, the Arado Ar 234 was truly state-of-the-art in terms of aeronautical and technical development. As the worlds first operational jet reconnaissance aircraft, it undertook high-speed, high-altitude observation missions over the Allied beachheads in Normandy. In September 1944 and as ......

Space Race 2.0 is the only authoritative photographic history of the efforts of private companies-often alongside NASA-to accelerate humankinds exploration and understanding of the final frontier.

The private space sector is growing tremendously. The industrys consensus leader, SpaceX, ......

The Soviet Unions first successful atomic bomb detonation in August 1949 was a wakeup call for US Navy planners. The possibility of a single Soviet aircraft wiping out an entire convoy of merchant ships with a nuclear weapon had suddenly become very real. With military budgets having shrunk prior to the Korean War, it was simply not possible to ......

This textbook is for anyone interested in pursuing and obtaining a Remote Pilot Certificate, which is required in order to operate drones for commercial use. With a friendly and readable style, the authors cover all of the details involved in becoming a competent, responsible, and safe remote pilot, opening up tremendous opportunities for ......

September 1940: In the midst of the Second World War, the Luftwaffe unleashed a series of devastating raids on Southampton, all but destroying its spitfire factories. But production didnt stop. Instead, manufacturing of this iconic fighter moved underground, to secret locations staffed by women, children and non-combatant men. With little ......

An aviation legend designed in the mid-1940s, the Canberra entered service in 1951 with RAF Bomber Command. It served in the conventional, interdictor and nuclear bomber role with the RAF, in the UK, Germany, the Middle East and Far East. Its performance and adaptability made it ideal as a reconnaissance aircraft, and the final version, the ......

At the very edge of the atmosphere, invisible against the deep indigo sky, lurks a spy plane so sophisticated that it replaced the SR-71 Blackbird some 30 years ago. Its flat black shark-like skin deflects and absorbs all but the most advanced radars, leaving it to roam undetected while silently gathering detailed intelligence. Considered a ......

The first half of the 20th century saw the birth of the airplane and its development as an instrument of war and commerce. Within five decades, contraptions barely able to take to the air had given way to jet-powered aircraft flying near the "sound barrier," a rate of technological advance unparalleled in any other field. It was the period when ......

The Ka-50 (NATO reporting name: Hokum A) helicopter made its maiden flight 40 years ago on 17 June 1982. After undergoing extensive tests and tweaks, the helicopter was ready for full-scale production almost 10 years later. However, by then Russia had entered an economic crisis, and the money had run out. Only in 2011, almost another 20 years ......