A comprehensive, highly detailed, and highly illustrated history of Soviet-built fighters used during the Second World War including detailed descriptions of both operational and experimental fighters. It has photographs and colour profiles of all fighter aircraft. Drawings from period flight and technical manuals are also included.
This book examines lesser known, frequently secret British projects for Flying wings, deltas and tailless aircraft undertaken for research or military purposes during the last century and also covers aircraft that were actually built and in some cases entered service. It also includes the superb looking Barnes Wallace supersonic swing-wing bomber.
American Guided Bombs, Missiles and Drones 1917-1948
'Off Target' relates in detail the then "Secret" research, development, and combat employment of these early guided bombs, missiles, and drones from 1917 to 1948. Using formerly Secret/Confidential manuals, reports, microfilm print outs, and photos, author Wolf, gives the air war historian and enthusiast an in depth look at this unknown topic.
From the London Bomber to the Flying Wing Jet Fighter
Known for the London bomber of WW1, Gotha also built successful seaplanes. During WW2, Gotha built cargo gliders and the Messerschmitt Bf 110 under licence, gearing up in 1945 to build flying wing jet fighters, even designing its more radical successor. After the war Gotha returned to producing gliders and production finally came to an end in ......
Boulton Paul has been one of the great innovators of British aviation. They built more Camels than Sopwiths, the first all-steel airframe, the largest aircraft ever built in Britain, the first with a power-operated gun turret, the famous Defiant, the first single-engine turboprop, and are now world leaders in power control units and fly-by-wire.
Research, Experimentation and Modification 1939-1945
This book presents a little-known aspect of America's World War II aircraft development in emphasizing unique aircraft or modifications for research in support of aviation development, advancing technology, or meeting combat needs. It describes important areas of aviation maturation in wartime with emphasis on advanced technology.
Gloster produced the Gladiator biplane and during WWII built more than 6,000 Hurricanes & Typhoons. Gloster Meteor was the first Allied jet of the War and in 1952 the delta-winged Javelin was developed as an all-weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet. Gloster merged into Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963, and the name Gloster disappeared.
The innovative Fi 156 was the progenitor of today's STOL aircraft. Operated in large by the German Luftwaffe, it also saw service with more than 20 other air arms. Post-war, the Fi 156 continued in production in Czechoslovakia and France. Many were used in French Indochina. Today, the Fi 156 is a highly valued vintage aircraft.
Much of the fascination which Soviet aircraft and its associated aerospace industry holds for the analyst, enthusiast or ordinary member of the public, stems from the thick fog of secrecy that enveloped the industry throughout the Cold War until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990/91. Until then details which in case of Western designs ......