Download or read book British and Empire Aces of World War 1 written by Christopher Shores and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2001-12-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outset of World War I the British had some 110 assorted aircraft, used mostly for the visual reconnaissance role. With the advent of faster and more agile single-seaters, the Allies and their adversaries raced to outdo each other in the creation of genuinely effective fighters with fixed forward-firing machine gun armament. It was not until 1917 that the British developed a truly effective interrupter gear, which paved the way for excellent single seaters such as the Sopwith Triplane Camel and the RAF S.E.5., later joined by the Bristol F.2B - the war's best two-seat fighter. This volume traces the rapid development of the fighter in World War I and the amazing exploits of the British and Empire aces who flew them.

Download or read book British and Empire Aces of World War 1 written by Christopher Shores and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outset of World War I the British had some 110 assorted aircraft, used mostly for the visual reconnaissance role. With the advent of faster and more agile single-seaters, the Allies and their adversaries raced to outdo each other in the creation of genuinely effective fighters with fixed forward-firing machine gun armament. It was not until 1917 that the British developed a truly effective interrupter gear, which paved the way for excellent single seaters such as the Sopwith Triplane Camel and the RAF S.E.5., later joined by the Bristol F.2B the war's best two-seat fighter. This volume traces the rapid development of the fighter in World War I and the amazing exploits of the British and Empire aces who flew them.

Download or read book Austro Hungarian Albatros Aces of World War 1 written by Paolo Varriale and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Austro-Hungarian industry produced a series of poor fighter types such as the Phönix D I and Hansa-Brandenburg D I during the early stages of the war, and it was not until licence-built examples of the battle-proven Albatros and D II and D III began to reach Fliegerkompagnien, or Fliks, in May 1917 that the fortunes of pilots began to look up. Unlike the German-built Albatrosen, the Oeffag aircraft were far more robust than German D IIs and D IIIs. They also displayed superior speed, climb, manoeuvrability and infinitely safer flight characteristics. The careful cross-checking of Allied sources with Austrian and German records form the basis for a detailed reconstruction of the dogfights fought by the leading aces. It will also chart the careers of the Austro-Hungarian aces that flew the D II and D III, their successes and their defeats, with additional information about their personal background and their post-war lives in the nations born from the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire.

Download or read book Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I written by Jon Guttman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2007-09-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the history of the best Allied fighter-destroyer of World War 1 and the pilots who flew it. Nicknamed "Biff" by the pilots, the Bristol F2 Fighter enjoyed extraordinary success over the Western Front in the final 18 months of the war. However, it had an inauspicious debut, as an entire flight of F2As was wiped out by von Richthofen's Jasta 11. A new improved F2B was soon delivered to the front which functioned in an entirely different manner. The crews operated the plane not as a standard two-seater, but as a single-seat with a "sting in the tail" in the form of a rear gunner with a Lewis machine gun. Numerous ace teams earned the "Biff" grudging respect from its German opponents. This book charts the development of the plane from its unpromising beginnings to the revised model operating with a new kind of tactics. Moreover, the numerous first-hand accounts and combat reports give a fascinating insight into the experiences of the pilots themselves.

Download or read book Irish Aces of the RFC and the RAF in the First World War written by Joe Gleeson and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-05-17 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First World War had an enormous impact on Ireland. Over 240,000 Irish men and women volunteered to serve with the Allied forces, suffering almost 40,000 casualties. The Irish contribution to the air war remains overlooked, not just in Ireland, but also by historians generally. Although just 6,000 Irish served with the Allied flying services at a cost of 500 casualties, their impact was out of all proportion to their numbers. The contribution of Irish aces of the RFC and RAF to the Allied cause was enormous, just over thirty of whom accounted for 400 enemy aircraft. Irishmen such as Mannock, McElroy and Hazell were among the highest-scoring pilots of the war. Some were revered by their men, others were controversial figures – reckless with their own lives and those under their command – but many of their stories remain untold. This book seeks to restore all those who were written out of Irish history, while also providing for their achievements to be considered in the overall context of the first air war. Illustrations: 24 black-and-white photographs

Download or read book Above the Trenches written by Christopher F. Shores and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a complete record of the fighter aces of the British Empire Air Forces between the years of 1915 and 1920.

Download or read book Reconnaissance and Bomber Aces of World War 1 written by Jon Guttman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Often overshadowed by the fighters that either protected or threatened them, two-seater reconnaissance aircraft performed the oldest and most strategically vital aerial task of World War 1 a task that required them to return with the intelligence they gathered at all costs. Bomber sorties were equally important and dangerous, and the very nature of both types of mission required going in harm's way. A remarkable number of British, French and German two-seater teams managed to attain or exceed the five victories needed to achieve the acedom popularly associated with their single-seat nemeses, and in this book, with rich illustrations and first-hand accounts of the veterans themselves, they receive their long-overdue recognition. Many high-scoring single-seat fighter aces also began their careers in two-seaters, particularly in the early stages of the conflict, and their exploits as either pilots or observers are detailed here too.

Download or read book Air Aces of the Austro Hungarian Empire 1914 1918 written by Martin D. O'Connor and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Pusher Aces of World War 1 written by Jon Guttman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2009-07-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The quest for an effective fighter airplane to achieve air superiority during World War 1 resulted in a series of pusher fighter planes, designed with the engine at the rear and the machine gun at the front. These ungainly, heavy looking fighters did surprisingly well and they were able to hold their own against their German counterparts - including the Fokker Eindeckers with their synchronized machine guns - until 1917. By then, however, the drag-producing design rendered the pusher fighter unable to match the performance of tractor-engined machines. This is the story of the unusual pusher and its many aces, including Lanoe Hawker VC, who formed and led Britain's first fighter squadron before dying in a ten-minute duel with Manfred von Richtofen, American 'cowboy' ace Frederick Libby, third-ranking French ace Charles Nungesser and the aggressive Belgian ace Fernand Jacquet. Packed with colorful artwork of a variety of pusher designs, paint schemes, and camouflage from many different nationalities, this book guides you through the twists and turns of this bizarre yet surprisingly successful fighter during World War 1.

Download or read book Aces High written by Bill Yenne and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-02-03 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Capturing the hearts of a beleaguered nation, the fighter pilots of World War II engaged in a kind of battle that became the stuff of legend. They cut through the sky in their P-38s to go one-on-one against the enemy—and those who survived the deadly showdowns with enough courage and skill earned the right to be called aces. But two men in particular rose to become something more. They became icons of aerial combat, in a heroic rivalry that inspired a weary nation to fight on. Richard “Dick” Bong was the bashful, pink-faced farm boy from the Midwest. Thomas “Tommy” McGuire was the wise-cracking, fast-talking kid from New Jersey. What they shared was an unparalleled gallantry under fire which won them both the Medal of Honor—and remains the subject of hushed and reverent conversation wherever aerial warfare is admired. What they had between them was a closely watched rivalry to see who would emerge as the top-scoring American ace of the war. What they left behind is a legacy of pride we will never forget, and a record of aerial victories that has yet to be surpassed anywhere in the world.

Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Horses Don t Fly written by Frederick Libby and published by Arcade Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " From breaking wild horses in Colorado to fighting the Red Baron's squadrons in the skies over France, here in his own words is the true story of a forgotten American hero: the cowboy who became our first ace and the first pilot to fly the American colors over enemy lines.Growing up on a ranch in Sterling, Colorado, Frederick Libby mastered the cowboy arts of roping, punching cattle, and taming horses. Once he even roped an antelope. As a young man he exercised his skills in the mountains and on the ranges of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Colorado prairie. When World War I broke out, he found himself in Calgary, Alberta, and joined the Canadian army. In France, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an "observer," the gunner in a two-person biplane. Libby shot down an enemy plane on his first day in battle over the Somme, which was also the first day he flew in a plane or fired a machine gun. He went on to become a pilot. He fought against the legendary German aces Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen. He became the first American to down five enemy planes and won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in action. When the United States entered the war, he became the first person to fly the American colors over German lines. Libby achieved the rank of captain before he transferred back to the United States at the behest of another aviation legend, then-colonel Billy Mitchell. Written in 1961 and never before published, Horses Don't Fly is a rare piece of Americana. Libby's memoir of his cowboy days in the last years of the Old West will remind readers of Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy-but it's the real thing. His description of World War I combines a rattling good account of the air war over France with captivating and sometimes poignant depictions of wartime London, the sorrow for friends lost in combat, and the courage and camaraderie of the Royal Flying Corps. Told in a modest, self-deprecating, and often humorous voice in a pure American vernacular, Horses Don't Fly is, as Winston Groom notes in his introduction, "not only an important piece of previously unpublished history [but] a gripping and uplifting story to read."

Download or read book Albatros Aces of World War 1 Part 2 written by Greg VanWyngarden and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2007-06-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly every German ace who flew before the summer of 1918 scored victories in Albatros fighters, whose introduction coincided with the development of the famous and highly successful Jagdstaffeln, the first true German fighter formations, which became a critical German air tactic and helped to wrest back air superiority from the Allies. After wreaking havoc in the skies over Arras the Albatros was eventually outclassed by succeeding generations of Allied aircraft, but still remained the most numerous and ubiquitous of all German fighters in World War I, with Albatros biplanes contributing almost two-thirds of the German fighters at the front during the Spring Offensive of 1918. This book, with its 32 color profiles, charts the unique markings and design of one of the most menacingly beautiful fighters of the war. Featuring famous and unsung aces, a multitude of first-hand accounts and original photographs, this book offers a fresh view into the experiences of the German pilots who endured a very different kind of war from the troops on the ground. While the soldiers confronted the dangers of No-Man's Land and faceless slaughter, the pilots endured deadly games of cat and mouse in the skies above the trenches.

Download or read book Above the Trenches written by Christopher F. Shores and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gennemgang af jagerpilot-esser og enheder i Det britiske Empire's flystyrker i perioden 1915-20

Download or read book The First World War written by Michael Howard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-25 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the time the First World War ended in 1918, eight million people had died in what had been perhaps the most apocalyptic episode the world had known. This Very Short Introduction provides a concise and insightful history of the 'Great War', focusing on why it happened, how it was fought, and why it had the consequences it did. It examines the state of Europe in 1914 and the outbreak of war; the onset of attrition and crisis; the role of the US; the collapse of Russia; and the weakening and eventual surrender of the Central Powers. Looking at the historical controversies surrounding the causes and conduct of war, Michael Howard also describes how peace was ultimately made, and the potent legacy of resentment left to Germany. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book Austro Hungarian Albatros Aces of World War 1 written by Paolo Varriale and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2012-12-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Austro-Hungarian industry produced a series of poor fighter types such as the Phönix D I and Hansa-Brandenburg D I during the early stages of the war, and it was not until licence-built examples of the battle-proven Albatros and D II and D III began to reach Fliegerkompagnien, or Fliks, in May 1917 that the fortunes of pilots began to look up. Unlike the German-built Albatrosen, which initially suffered wing failures in flight, the Oeffag aircraft were far more robust than German D IIs and D IIIs. They also displayed superior speed, climb, manoeuvrability and infinitely safer flight characteristics. Such attributes were used to the full by all the leading Austro-Hungarian aces, including Brumowski, Arigi, Kiss and Linke-Crawford, who fought Italian pilots in Hanriots and SPADs, as well as British pilots in Camels and Bristol Fighters. The exploits of Austro-Hungarian aces were initially brought to the attention of English-speaking readers in the 1980s through the pioneering work of Martin O'Connor. An additional 30 years of additional research has allowed Paolo Varriale to integrate and update his work, rectifying some inaccuracies and adding new details and a large number of unpublished photographs. The careful crosschecking of Allied sources with Austrian and German records form the basis for a detailed reconstruction of the dogfights fought by the leading aces. This painstaking research allows many myths to be exposed and errors to be corrected. The book will cover the use of Albatros fighters on the Italian and Eastern Fronts, from the fighters' initial arrival in mid 1917 through to the last days of war. It will also chart the careers of the Austro-Hungarian aces that flew the D II and D III, their successes and their defeats, with additional information about their personal background and their post-war lives in the nations born from the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire. Some 49 pilots achieved acedom during World War 1, and the bulk of these pilots made their claims flying the 586 Oeffag-built Albatrosen.

Download or read book Fighter Aces of the RAF in the Battle of Britain written by Philip Kaplan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary RAF fighter aces during the Battle of Britain. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans.