The purpose of this publication is to provide readers with most complete history of combined aircraft designs created by Vladimir Vakhmistrov. The designer himself referred to his projects as `Zveno Aircraft' (where the Russian word `Zveno' stands for `Chain link' or `Flight' combat unit), adding the names of aircraft which were included in each configuration. Vakhmistrov was among the world's pioneers in devising and implementing the attachment of small fighters under heavy bombers. The larger...
When Orville and Wilbur Wright soared over Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina's outer banks and solved the problem of aerial navigation, they wrote the last chapter in a long story. For decades prior, a small community of engineers, scientists, and dreamers-men named Chanute and Langley and Herring-had tried to make the ascent in every conceivable craft, from kites and gliders to an assortment of powered flying models. These imaginative people and their wonderful contraptions are brought to life...
100 Years of Air Power and Aviation (Centennial of Flight)
by Robin Higham
In ""100 Years of Air Power and Aviation"", Robin Higham presents a critical history of British, American, Soviet, German, Italian, French, Japanese and Israeli aviation. He moves from theory to concrete example and back again, in the process discussing the social, economic and political components of air power; the major wars and police actions in which aircraft have been employed; the composition of air forces; and the creation of aviation industries from the Wright brothers and the early push...
Eagles Over Husky (Wolverhampton Military Studies)
by Alexander Fitzgerald-Black
In the summer of 1943, the United Nations began Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily. The Eagles over HUSKY - the airmen of the Allied air forces - played a crucial role in the assault. The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica provided a significant part of the Axis force meant to defend the island and throw the Allies back into the sea. The Allied air forces foiled this effort and inflicted losses on a German Air Force badly needed on other fronts. Raids on mainland Italian railway transport crip...
Fighting Brigadier: the Life of Brigadier James Hill Dso Mc
by Peter Harclerode
In the 1930s James Hill was forced to leave the Army because he was under 26 when he married. Recalled to the colours he won his MC with the BEF in 1940. He was one of the first to volunteer for airborne forces and became second-in-command of 1 PARA. He was in the thick of the expansion of Airborne forces in 1941-42 and took command of 1 PARA in North Africa, winning his first DSO. He converted 10th Bn The Essex Regiment to 9 PARA and later in 1943 took command of 3 Parachute Brigade, playin...
Who was the first person to dine in space? How long was the Wright brothers's first successful flight? What famous aircraft was named after a grape-flavored soft drink? What toy based on an animated film accompanied astronauts on a shuttle mission in 2000? These questions and many more are answered in The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia. In addition to the canon of space and aviation information, the pages are illustrated with more than 125 objects from the Smithsonian National Air and Sp...
On 14 June, 1919 John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown took off from Newfoundland in their open-cockpit Vickers Vimy converted bomber to attempt a non-stop crossing of the Atlantic. Some 16 hours later they landed at Derrygimla in Connemara, Ireland, to become national heroes. Navigating blind for most of the way, they had flown almost 1,900 miles, the longest distance ever flown by man. In researching one of the most significant flights in history, Brendan Lynch has drawn on the written records...
The Story of Travel Air Makers of Biplanes and Monoplanes
by Travel Air Manufacturing Co
The Boeing 707 family - that includes the forerunner Model 367-80, the KC-135 series of military transports and the slightly smaller Model 720 - was the pioneer of the sweptback wing, incorporating podded engines borrowed from the B-47 military bomber. It was the aircraft that many regard as the design that really ushered in the Jet-Age. This new book from the established aviation historian Graham Simons examines the entire course of the Boeing 707 s history, charting an impressive design evolu...
Explores the physical aspects of aviation and space flight through an appreciation of desighn evolution, powers of scale, materials, tools of the trade and imagery that captures not only moments in history, but also the realization of theories and ideas.
An adventure-filled romp through one of aviation's most notable, dangerous and entertaining pursuits: airshows! In the early days of aviation, all flights were airshows. Spectators gathered whenever a new flying machine attempted to leave the ground-the trick was to get them to pay. Takeoffs and landings did not sell tickets but people lined up, money in hand, to watch a "dip of death," in which an aviator would dive from as high as he or she dared and pull up at the last second. Risk always sel...
The trade paperback of Ryanair, published in June 2004, has already sold nearly 20,000 copies and is in its sixth printing - testament to the fascination this maverick company has for both the business community and the general reader (and budget air traveller). In Ireland it has been a number-one bestseller (indeed, is still in the chart); here it is selling in significant quantities from airports and bookshops around the country. It remains the only book about the airline and its buccaneering...