Download or read book The Me 262 Stormbird written by Colin Heaton and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2012-05-15 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Me 262 was the first of its kind, the first jet-powered aircraft. Although conceived before the war, with the initial plans being drawn in April 1939, the Stormbird was beset with technological (particularly the revolutionary engines) and political difficulties, resulting in it not entering combat until August 1944, with claims of nineteen downed Allied aircraft. The performance of the Me 262 so far exceeded that of Allied aircraft that on 1 Sepember 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz remarked that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied daylight bombing offensive. The story of how the Stormbird came to be is fascinating history, and it comes to life in the hands of noted historian Colin Heaton. Told largely in the words of the German aces who flew it, The Me 262 Stormbird provides the complete history of this remarkable airplane from the drawing boards to combat in the skies over the Third Reich. Features two forewords, one by Jorg Czypionka, Me 262 night fighter pilot, and another by historian and author Barrett Tillman.
Download or read book Fighting Hitler s Jets written by Robert F. Dorr and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting Hitler's Jets brings together in a single, character-driven narrative two groups of men at war: on one side, American fighter pilots and others who battled the secret “wonder weapons” with which Adolf Hitler hoped to turn the tide; on the other, the German scientists, engineers, and pilots who created and used these machines of war on the cutting edge of technology. Written by Robert F. Dorr, renowned author of Zenith Press titles Hell Hawks!, Mission to Berlin, and Mission to Tokyo, the story begins with a display of high-tech secret weapons arranged for Hitler at a time when Germany still had prospects of winning the war. It concludes with Berlin in rubble and the Allies seeking German technology in order to jumpstart their own jet-powered aviation programs. Along the way, Dorr expertly describes the battles in the sky over the Third Reich that made it possible for the Allies to mount the D-Day invasion and advance toward Berlin. Finally, the book addresses both facts and speculation about German weaponry and leaders, including conspiracy theorists’ view that Hitler escaped in a secret aircraft at the war’s end. Where history and controversy collide with riveting narrative, Fighting Hitler’s Jets furthers a repertoire that comprises some of the United States’ most exceptional military writing.
Download or read book Messerschmitt Me 262 written by Dan O'Connell and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an essential work of reference on the history of the world's first operational jet fighter, the Me 262. First flown as a pure jet on 18th July 1942, on 25th July 1944 an Me 262 became the first jet aircraft used in combat when it attacked a British photo-reconnaissance Mosquito flying over Munich. Some 1,500 Me 262s were built but less than 20% of these actually flew in combat. Most remained on the ground awaiting bomber conversion, or were unable to fly because of lack of fuel, spare parts or trained pilots. This is the first time that a detailed summary of every known and identified Me 262 has been compiled. Some 1200 of the 1500 aircraft constructed have been identified. The book lists sequentially each aircraft by Werknummer (Works Number) from prototypes and test aircraft through to all variants of operational machines, together with known pilots, assigned units and recorded flights. Where known the fate of each individual aircraft is given and where possible, a photo of each aircraft will accompany its entry in the Werknummer log.
Download or read book Me 262 vs P 51 Mustang written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-12-26 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arguably two of the finest fighters built during the course of World War II, the Me 262 and P-51 Mustang heralded new dawns in aircraft performance. Making its operational debut in the summer of 1944, and powered by the Jumo 004 jet engine, the Me 262 outclassed Allied planes in terms of speed and firepower ratio, offering a formidable punch with four 30 mm MK 108 nose-mounted cannons. However, in the P-51, fitted with the Rolls-Royce (Packard) Merlin engine and drop tanks, the USAAF finally had a fighter that had the 'legs' to escort its heavy bombers deep into Reich airspace and back. If flown to its strengths, the P-51 was more than capable of taking on the feared Me 262 on an equal footing, despite the differences in power and top speed. Indeed, the Mustang proved to be the Luftwaffe fighter arm's nemesis. When the P-51D sortied over Germany from the summer of 1944 onwards, it shredded through the ill-trained and depleted Gruppen of the Luftwaffe's defence wings. This book examines the two fighters in detail, exploring their history and development and containing accurate descriptions of the combats between the P-51 Mustang and the Me 262 in what were some of the most bitter and large-scale aerial actions fought over Europe in 1944–45.
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 Last Days of the Luftwaffe written by Manfred Griehl and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2009-04-17 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawn from newly-available historical archives, this German air force history is “packed with many fascinating revelations.” (IPMS/USA) The end of the Second World War in Europe was an epoch of complete social, cultural and technological upheaval. In the realm of military and aviation history this period was revolutionary. The eclipse of the piston-engine, and the introduction of electronic detection equipment, rockets and airborne weapons in previously unknown quantities changed the face of the air war and paved the way for post-war developments in aviation technology. Many details of this crucial phase of the war remained hidden for many years in top-secret files, but in this fascinating new history Manfred Griehl makes use of recently declassified sources, alongside his own vast collection of photographs, to provide a fresh look at the story of the Luftwaffe. Among the many aspects he covers are the new models of Bf 109 and Fw 190; the Me 262 jet plane; the establishment of He 162 squadrons; Stukas and Fw 190 fighter-bomber operations on the Eastern Front; Me 262 Blitzbombers in the West, the recruitment of 1928-born Hitler Youth into the two hundred glider schools; the increasing importance of remote-controlled air-to-air rockets; and the development of heavy bombs, remote-controlled bombs, atom bombs and Germany’s chemical and bacteriological arsenal. Brimming with intriguing discoveries, such as the existence of the real-life Luftwaffe kamikaze squadron, this meticulously researched and fully illustrated book will be of interest to historians and enthusiasts alike.
Download or read book German Jets Versus the U S Army Air Force written by William N. Hess and published by Specialty Press (MN). This book was released on 1996 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses a critical period in WW II air combat through interviews with German and American pilots and analysis of reports.
Download or read book The German Aces Speak written by Colin D. Heaton and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div
Download or read book JG 7 written by Manfred Boehme and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 1992 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formed in August 1944, Jagdgeschwader 7 was equipped with the revolutionary Me 262 jet fighter, which was faster than any aircraft in existence at the time. This unit experienced all of the highs and lows associated with the introduction of such a radically new design. Thus the history of JG 7 is also the story of the Me 262, and inspired design which broke new ground in many areas of technology, and for which there was simply not enough time for thorough development. The pilots of JG 7 frequently had to make do with improvisation and faced a numerically far superior enemy in an aircraft which was technically immature. Manfred Boehme has collected many documentary sources including first hand accounts, technical records and photo archives - many of the 150 photos are published here for the first time.
Download or read book He 162 Volksj ger Units written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-17 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the Third Reich on the brink of defeat Hitler's instructions to his designers were clear. He wanted a Volksjäger – a People's Fighter that was quick to produce and used minimal quantities of strategic materials. Heinkel rose to the challenge with the He 162, a fighter constructed of wood and metal that was designed, built and flown in the staggeringly short time of ten weeks. Professional pilots were in short supply, and so the Luftwaffe was ordered to man the He 162 with hastily trained members of the Hitler Youth – a flawed plan that fortunately never came to fruition. Detailed aircraft profiles and never before seen photographs perfectly complement the analysis of the revolutionary Heinkel He 162 as author Robert Forsyth traces its entire history, from the early design and production through to its limited combat experience.
Download or read book Strategy For Defeat The Luftwaffe 1933 1945 Illustrated Edition written by Williamson Murray and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 883 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. This book is a comprehensive analysis of an air force, the Luftwaffe, in World War II. It follows the Germans from their prewar preparations to their final defeat. There are many disturbing parallels with our current situation. I urge every student of military science to read it carefully. The lessons of the nature of warfare and the application of airpower can provide the guidance to develop our fighting forces and employment concepts to meet the significant challenges we are certain to face in the future.
Download or read book Luftwaffe Ground Attack Units 1937 1945 Schlachtflieger written by John Richard Smith and published by Midland Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the development of ground-attack tactics and aircraft from the years prior to World War II to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945.
Download or read book The Price of Victory written by Lev Lopukhovsky and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-06-30 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A stark picture of war between the Germans and the Soviets, including some very interesting illustration . . . fascinating, if chilling, reading.”—Firetrench The Red Army’s casualties during the Second World War and the casualties sustained by the German army they fought are a key element in any assessment of the conflict on the Eastern Front. Since the war ended over seventy years ago, the statistics have been a source of bitter controversy, of claim and counterclaim, as each generation of historians has struggled to uncover the truth. This contentious issue is the subject of this absorbing book. The figures reveal much about the way the war was fought, and they demonstrate the enormous human price the Soviet Union paid for its victory. That is why the statistics have been so strongly contested. Distortion and falsification by official historians have obscured the facts because the issue has been so heavily politicized. Using recently declassified information from the Russian archives, the authors focus in forensic detail on the way the figures were recorded and compiled and seek to explain why, so many years after the war, the full truth about the subject is still far from our reach.
Download or read book To Fly and Fight written by Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bud Anderson is a flyers flyer. The Californians enduring love of flying began in the 1920s with the planes that flew over his fathers farm. In January 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. Later after he received his wings and flew P-39s, he was chosen as one of the original flight leaders of the new 357th Fighter Group. Equipped with the new and deadly P-51 Mustang, the group shot down five enemy aircraft for each one it lost while escorting bombers to targets deep inside Germany. But the price was high. Half of its pilots were killed or imprisoned, including some of Buds closest friends. In February 1944, Bud Anderson, entered the uncertain, exhilarating, and deadly world of aerial combat. He flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in less than a year. In battles sometimes involving hundreds of airplanes, he ranked among the groups leading aces with 16 aerial victories. He flew 116 missions in his old crow without ever being hit by enemy aircraft or turning back for any reason, despite one life or death confrontation after another. His friend Chuck Yeager, who flew with Anderson in the 357th, says, In an airplane, the guy was a mongoosethe best fighter pilot I ever saw. Buds years as a test pilot were at least as risky. In one bizarre experiment, he repeatedly linked up in midair with a B-29 bomber, wingtip to wingtip. In other tests, he flew a jet fighter that was launched and retrieved from a giant B-36 bomber. As in combat, he lost many friends flying tests such as these. Bud commanded a squadron of F-86 jet fighters in postwar Korea, and a wing of F-105s on Okinawa during the mid-1960s. In 1970 at age 48, he flew combat strikes as a wing commander against communist supply lines. To Fly and Fight is about flying, plain and simple: the joys and dangers and the very special skills it demands. Touching, thoughtful, and dead honest, it is the story of a boy who grew up living his dream.
Download or read book Me 262 written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-01-19 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using rare first-hand accounts from Me 262 pilots, Robert Forsyth examines what it was like to fly the world's most advanced interceptor in the deadly skies over Germany in 1944–45. Right from its operational debut in the summer of 1944, the Me 262 outclassed anything the Allies had in terms of speed and firepower ratio, offering a formidable punch with four 30 mm Mk 108 nose-mounted cannon, and a Jumo 004 jet engine. The problem the Luftwaffe faced, however, was one of numbers. Towards the end of the war, availability of machines and trained pilots was scarce, and it is only thanks to the exploits of a handful of veteran Jagdwaffe aces such as Adolf Galland, Walter Krupinski and Johannes Steinhoff, that the aircraft made a significant impact on the air war and was the source of considerable concern to the Allies. Filled with specially commissioned artwork including action-packed ribbon diagrams, battlescenes, armament views and maps, Robert Forsyth offers the definitive technical and historical guide to the state-of-the-art Me 262, using rare photographs and pilots' first-hand accounts.
Download or read book Luftwaffe Schlachtgruppen written by John Weal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-08-20 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most important, and yet least publicised, components of the front-line Luftwaffe was the Schlacht, or ground attack, arm. This book details the Schlacht units who were in the thick of the fighting from the first day of the war until the last. They played a vital part in the heady successes of the early Blitzkrieg campaigns and went on to perform an equally essential role in the dark hours of last ditch defence and ultimate defeat. In between, they fought in all defensive battles: on the eastern front at Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin; in the west, by night, over Normandy, the Ardennes and the Rhine.
Download or read book The Last of the Few written by Hans Busch and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the career of the author from his early life in Germany, through his service in the Hitler Youth, on into a pilot's life in the Luftwaffe, culminating in his flying the fabled Messerschmitt 262 in combat - an unforgettable experience for any pilot. Mr. Busch then recounts his career in immigrating to the USA, and his many adventures in becoming a capable and worthy U.S. citizen. His experience with the Me262 continues large in his life. He is called on to lecture America's youth as well as service groups about Germany's feat in creating the world's first combat jet aircraft. He never loses sight of Professor Messerschmitt's greatest creation, and his privilege of flying it into action.
