Download or read book Aircraft of The Royal Australian Air Force written by Air Force History Branch and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aircraft of The Royal Australian Air Force tells the story of the RAAF’s first one hundred years by describing the acquisition, operation, and service record of the multitude of aircraft types flown by the RAAF. The 176 aircraft types include the flimsy wood and canvas aircraft typical of World War I, through the technological advances during and after World War II, to modern fifth-generation, complex aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II. Even before its formation Sir Richard Williams, the Father of the RAAF, had decided to employ an alpha-numeric numbering system to identify and account for each aircraft in service. This system started with A1, A2, A3 etc as each type of aircraft came into service. Each individual aircraft within each series was identified as A1-1, A1-2 and so on and the aircraft serial became known colloquially as the ‘A-number’. With some exceptions over the century since the A-number system started, aircraft entered RAAF service in broadly the sequence of the A-numbers, and so this book is intended to assist in charting the 100-year history of the RAAF by listing aircraft operated in A-number sequence, rather than by listing them by role (such as Fighter, Bomber, Maritime, Trainer, Transport etc) or alphabetically by name or by manufacturer. The inclusion of a comprehensive Index and the Quick Reference Guide to aircraft by role is intended to facilitate the location of the entry for any specific type of aircraft for those who may not already know its A-number. Aircraft of The Royal Australian Air Force is a must have for all those who have served in the RAAF, those with a passion for military aviation and aircraft in general, and the broader members of the public wishing to gain an appreciation of the Royal Australian Air Force in its centenary year.
Download or read book US Marine Corps and RAAF Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom written by Tony Holmes and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some 84 of the 250 Hornets committed by Central Command to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) proudly bore MARINE titling on their rear fuselages. A further 14 were marked with the distinctive kangaroo roundel of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The exploits achieved by the units that flew these jets into combat is detailed in this volume, the third of three titles published in the Combat Aircraft series on what has been dubbed by many TACAIR insiders the 'Hornet's War'. Although the bulk of this book deals with the major hostilities phase of OIF I, which ran from 20 March to 20 April 2003, the decade of pre-war OSW missions and ongoing post-war OIF II operations are also covered in significant detail from the Marine Corps perspective. Profusely illustrated with rare frontline photography and more than 30 specially commissioned colour artworks, this book also features the combat experiences of 24 pilots and Weapons Systems Officers.
Download or read book 75 Years Aloft Royal Australian Air Force Air Training Corps Australian Air Force Cadets 1941 2016 written by Matthew Glozier and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015-12-03 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book celebrates 75 years of Air Force cadet activity in Australia, 1941-2016. The organisation has had a tremendous impact upon the lives of tens-of-thousands of Australians over our 75 year history. Since 1982 it has enhanced the lives of young women as well as men. The book begins in WWII with the need to pre-train capable and committed "keen lads". Over 30,000 Australian boys were air cadets 1941-1945 with almost 13,000 going on to active service in the war. Air Force cadets survived into peacetime to become an aviation focussed youth development organisation, providing flying training in a military atmosphere with the aim of inspiring cadets to join the RAAF. There are currently over 8,000 Air Force cadets and adult staff around Australia. Aviation centred youth development in a RAAF service environment remains our central focus.
Download or read book Then Now Always written by Air Force History Branch and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-04 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Royal Australian Air Force has come a long way since its early beginnings in the Australian Flying Corps, an element of the Australian Army. From its birth as a fledgling little brother of the other two services, the RAAF has developed over the years in its elements of raising, training and sustaining an effective force, its people, its tools of the trade, its involvement in operations and peacetime activities, and how it looks to the future. Commemorating the 100 Year Anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force, Then. Now. Always covers the story of the AFC and the RAAF during time of both war and peace, with carefully researched text relating to various stages of the life of the RAAF. These historical facts have been combined with interesting personal adventures to provide a holistic view of the RAAF story, and is illustrated throughout with an extensive range of both black and white, and colour photographs.
Download or read book RAAF Black Cats written by Robert Cleworth and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The secret and dangerous operations of Australia's Pacific War Catalina crews told for the first time. In March 1945 Reg Cleworth, a navigator on PBY Catalina seaplanes flying out of Darwin, went missing in action. No details were ever given about the incident that took his life, nor the reason his plane went down. For Reg's younger brother, Robert, the news came as a fulfilling prophecy. The last time they saw each other, Reg confided in Robert, 'I don't think I'm coming back'. Forty years later Robert decided to investigate what happened to his brother. What he uncovered was an extraordinary story of a covert Australian airborne mine-laying operation in cooperation with the US Seventh Fleet to disrupt the Japanese supply routes. One of the riskier and more dangerous RAAF undertakings of the Pacific War, secrecy restrictions were imposed on everyone involved. They were never formally lifted. Had it not been for a chance meeting that allowed Robert access to previously unopened files in the US national archives, this remarkable story may never have been untold. What he unearthed revealed the sacrifice and achievements of the RAAF Catalina crews and the vital role they played in MacArthur's strategic plan for the south-west Pacific. Absorbing, compelling and powerfully told, RAAF Black Cats is an important addition to our understanding of Australia's role in the Pacific War.
Download or read book Curtiss Kittyhawk MKI IV in RAF SAAF RAAF RNZAF RCAF NEIAF Service written by Richard Ward and published by ARCO. This book was released on 1969 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cold War Warriors written by Ian Pearson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cold War Warriors tells the little-known story of the operations by the Royal Australian Air Force’s P-3 Orions during the latter years of the Cold War. The aircraft’s largely low-profile missions, usually flown far from their base, were often shrouded by confidentiality. Now, access to declassified documents has allowed this story to be told. From the lead-up to their delivery in 1968, to the end of the Cold War in 1991; from the intrigues associated with the procurement of the aircraft and subsequent upgrades, to perilous moments experienced by the aircraft and their crews while conducting operations; and from triumphs to tragedies; Cold War Warriors documents the P-3’s service in the RAAF in the context of the unfolding domestic and international events that shaped the aircraft’s evolving missions. As well as being a story of the RAAF Orions and their growing capabilities, Cold War Warriors is also the story of the crews who flew the aircraft. Using their words, Cold War Warriors faithfully describes a number of incidents, both on the ground, and in the air, to provide a sense of the enormous breadth of service the P-3 Orion has provided to the Royal Australian Air Force, to Australia and to our allies.
Download or read book Armageddon and OKRA written by Lewis Frederickson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-12-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dispatch of an Ottoman Army by Australian-led Imperial air power in the Wadi Fara on 21 September 1918 occurred just five years after the advent of military aviation in Australia. In 1914, the fledgling Australian air service operated the flimsy Bristol Boxkite; four years later it was flying the far more advanced Bristol F2B Fighter. This leap forward represented a profound progress in technology that has typified the technical development of aviation, particularly in Australia ever since. Ironically, on 21 September 2014, 96 years after the events of the Wadi Fara, Australian squadrons were again deployed to the same part of the world where they would remain for more than three years on operations against extremist terrorism. Armageddon and OKRA contrasts these events, a century apart, in the context of the development of Australian air power. The book tracks the history where Australia has maintained a balanced air service compelling high technical, logistics and engineering standards, and effective training and command and control systems, for more than 100 years. These processes were as applicable a century ago as they are today. By examining these operational events, the author establishes the connection that access to the technology associated with air power is intrinsically linked to Australia’s enduring foreign and defence policy – more so, that military power is a means to an end, and never an end unto itself.
Download or read book Strike and Strike Again written by Ian Gordon and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-31 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 455 Squadron RAAF was the sole Australian strike squadron in RAF Coastal Command, and flew the formidable Bristol Beaufighter, armed with 20 mm cannon, bombs and rockets. A salvo of eight of these rockets could smash through a large merchant ship and send it to the bottom. As part of the devastating strike wings of Coastal Command, 455 Squadron attacked German shipping off Holland and Denmark, and in Norwegian fiords. Here some of the fiercest battles were fought, the strike squadrons diving into concentrated automatic flak, among defending Focke-Wulfs and over merciless freezing waters. The deep fiords, with precipitous rocky sides, were unforgiving; precise flying was necessary for survival. 455 Squadron, 'the Viking Boys', mastered some of the most demanding and perilous operational flying of the war. This history describes the men who flew, the ground crews who gave unstinting support, and includes full appendices of personnel, aircraft on strength and operations. 'The type of work carried out by this Squadron is akin to that of the Viking - short sharp swoops across the sea by a compact, well armed force... The spirit of the Australians is like that of the Vikings, adventurous and free.' 455 Squadron Commanding Officer, Jack Davenport
Download or read book A Mystery Unsolved the Loss of Catalina A24 49 written by Robert Neville Alford and published by . This book was released on 2015-06-28 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Towards the end of WWII, in 1944, a heavily loaded RAAF Catalina flying boat, A24-49, launched from northern Australia for a seemingly routine mission over enemy territory in the Dutch East Indies. The aircraft, with ten crew onboard, vanished without a trace. For family members of those crewmen, this remains an enduring mystery. This book has been largely written and researched by historian Bob Alford, at the instigation of the nephew of the missing Catalina pilot, Tony Morgan. The book includes a thorough background on RAAF Catalina operations during WWII.
Download or read book The Royal Australian Air Force written by Alan Stephens and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Histories of air force often focus on aeroplanes at the expense of people. This book tells that story through the experiences of the airmen and airwomen who have served Australia around the world, from Mesopotamia in 1915 to East timor in 2000.
Download or read book Flight written by and published by . This book was released on 1946 with total page 880 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Unit Badges of the Royal Australian Air Force written by Richard J. Cluley and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Film Weekly written by and published by . This book was released on 1944 with total page 690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Forgotten Few written by Doug Hurst and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2008-07-10 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An action-packed story of the men of the RAAF's No 77 fighter squadron, the only RAAF squadron to take part in the Korean War; initially with propeller driven World War II vintage mustangs which were replaced by meteor jet fighters when the Chinese, with their MiG 15s, entered the war. In June 1950, No 77 Squadron RAAF was in Japan, packed up and ready to go home. Instead, they went to Korea, flying Mustang fighters as part of a UN force aiding South Korea fight invading communists from the north. Early flights helped hold the crucial Pusan Perimeter, after which they moved north to fight both the enemy and the deep cold of the Korean winter. When Chinese MiG-15 jet fighters entered the war the squadron re-equipped with twin-jet Meteors. The MiGs were controlled by Russian fighter experts who targeted the Meteors, driving them out of 'MiG Alley'. Adopting ground attack with rockets as their main role, they still fought MiGs, ending the war with a five-all draw. It was valuable but very dangerous work and squadron pilots faced a one in four chance of death or capture for much of the war. Their deeds warranted lasting fame. Instead, they became the Forgotten Few of a largely forgotten war; those who read this book will find they deserve better than that.
Download or read book Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Bomber units written by Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Historical Section and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Aircraft and Markings of the R A A F 1939 1945 written by Geoffrey G. Pentland and published by Lansdowne Publishing. This book was released on 1970 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
