Download or read book Sydney Camm written by John Sweetman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Looks at the pioneering designer, Sydney Camm and examines his legacy, which was the design of two of our most iconic fighter planes . . . Brilliant!” —Books Monthly “This Man Saved Britain” ran a headline in the News Chronicle on 18 February 1941, in a reference to the role of Sydney Camm, designer of the Hawker Hurricane, during the Battle of Britain. Similarly, the Minister of Economic Warfare, Lord Selborne, advised Winston Churchill that to Camm “England owed a great deal.” Born in 1893, the eldest of twelve children, Camm was raised in a small, terraced house. Despite lacking the advantages of a financially secure upbringing and formal technical education after leaving school at 14, Camm would go on to become one of the most important people in the story of Britain’s aviation history. Sydney Camm’s work on the Hurricane was far from the only pinnacle in his remarkable career in aircraft design and engineering—a career that stretched from the biplanes of the 1920s to the jet fighters of the Cold War. Indeed, over fifty years after his death, the revolutionary Hawker Siddeley Harrier in which Camm played such a prominent figure, following “a stellar performance in the Falkland Island crisis,” still remains in service with the American armed forces. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore, as the author reveals in this detailed biography, that Camm would be knighted in his own country, receive formal honors in France and the United States, and be inducted into the International Hall of Fame in San Diego. “John Sweetman’s new biography ably recounts the life of one of the most remarkable figures in 20th-century aviation history.” —Aviation History Magazine

Download or read book SYDNEY CAMM HURRICANE written by John W. Fozard and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1991-10-17 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tempest V vs Fw 190D 9 written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arguably two of the finest piston-engined fighters ever built, the Tempest V and Fw 190D-9 raised the bar in terms of aircraft design and operational capability during World War II. The long-nosed 'Dora 9', designed by Kurt Tank, first appeared in the skies over the Western and Eastern Fronts in the late summer of 1944. Fast, and with an exceptional rate of climb, it quickly bettered almost every fighter that the RAF, USAAF and Soviet Red Air Force could field. The Hawker Tempest V entered service in early 1944, initially proving itself a stalwart performer when it was deployed to intercept V1 flying bombs over southern England. From the autumn of 1944, the Tempest V also equipped squadrons of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, operating in support of the Allied armies advancing across north-west Europe. It became a potent ground-attack aircraft, armed with underwing rockets, but also a first-class interceptor when pitted against the Luftwaffe's advanced Fw 190D-9 and Me 262. Featuring full colour artwork, this book describes in fascinating detail combats between the Tempest Vs of No 274 Sqn and the Fw 190D-9s of I. and III./JG 26 between February and April 1945.

Download or read book Hawker s Secret Projects written by Christopher Budgen and published by Air World. This book was released on 2023-12-21 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Kingston was arguably the most successful and long-lasting manufacturer of military aircraft in Great Britain and Europe. In its various evolved manifestations – Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, British Aerospace – its output of war winning aircraft, mainly fighters, was unsurpassed. From the Hart and Hurricane through the Hunter, Harrier and Hawk, the company consistently produced aircraft that the UK fighting services wanted. But some designs, for whatever reason, failed to reach flight or were declined by the services. With their sometimes advanced aerodynamics and technology, these aircraft could have had successful service careers but instead were abandoned, their stories failing to reach mainstream consciousness. Having not received their just dues, the present book seeks to redress this omission. The reasons for failure are many and varied, often financial or political, but in each case the reasons behind the failure of the design are examined. In a wide-ranging investigation that documents the origins of Hawker Aircraft Ltd and its famous Project Office, this work, the third in Christopher Budgen’s investigation of the inner workings of Hawker Aircraft, is a fitting tribute to the many who made the company the success it was.

Download or read book A History of Aviation at Brooklands in 100 Objects written by Nigel Spooner and published by Air World. This book was released on 2024-06-30 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the dawn of the twentieth century mankind had not yet achieved powered flight. The main motive power then was provided by steam engines – heavy, dirty and inefficient. If one wanted to travel ‘over seas’ one had to travel on them. A journey from London to New York, by steam-driven train and ship, took more than 6 days. By the time the same century drew to a close in December 1999, air travel was the normal choice for long journeys. Millions of people every day flew comfortably and safely in pressurised aluminium airliners propelled by simple, clean and efficient gas turbine engines. The same journey from London to New York could be achieved at supersonic speed in less than 6 hours. For much of that century, many of the extraordinary developments that moved aviation from fragile wood and fabric biplanes to supersonic transports were achieved on 330 acres of low-lying former estate farmland in Surrey, England. The estate was called Brooklands. Those marshy acres were transformed from 1907 into the world’s first custom-built motor-racing circuit, then a rapidly developing aerodrome, and finally one of the country’s largest aircraft factories, employing tens of thousands of people. Nearly 19,000 aircraft of many different types were built at Brooklands during nine decades of peace and war. By the 1980s however it was being eclipsed by larger manufacturing sites elsewhere, with longer runways and better communications links; its owner, by then called British Aerospace, finally closed the factory in 1989. This book tells the history of those amazing developments through 100 of the key aircraft, engines, places and other objects that can still be seen, either in or near Brooklands Museum or in other locations around the country. It also highlights the stories of six designers whose inspiring creativity produced aircraft, engines and weapons ranging from Camel to Concorde, Fury to Harrier, Wellington to Viscount, Merlin to Olympus. Between them, Thomas Sopwith, Barnes Wallis, Rex Pierson, Sydney Camm, Stanley Hooker and George Edwards were responsible for much of what was designed, built and flown, not only at Brooklands but elsewhere too. The book is arranged in successive historical episodes but the many links between the objects and the designers should allow readers to follow different paths if they so wish. It is not intended as a technical reference but rather to inspire the reader to seek out the objects and discover more about them.

Download or read book Hawker s Early Jets written by Christopher Budgen and published by Air World. This book was released on 2022-02-10 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the British manufacturer’s efforts to get its Hunter aircraft into service following World War II. On September 2 1947, Hawker Aircraft Ltd figuratively and literally took to the air with their first jet design, the P.1040. Conceived in the latter days of the Second World War, and developed in the straitened times of post-war austerity, the aircraft allowed Hawker to explore the new technology before moving on to more ambitious programs. Rejected by the Royal Air Force, subsequent development of the aircraft allowed the Royal Navy to find in it a useful role at sea. As this project slowly wound its way through the government bureaucracy against a background of national insolvency, Hawker continued their research into more potent forms of jet travel with their first swept wing aircraft, the P.1052, their first rocket powered example, the P.1072, and, finally, the sleek, all swept P.1081. These essentially research aircraft gave the company the experience and expertise it required to produce a powerful, transonic fighter with which to equip the RAF for the defense of the UK and other friendly nations at a time when the Cold War threatened to engulf the world in a truly global nuclear conflict. That aircraft, the P.1067 Hunter first flew in 1951 and was, at the time, the fastest fighter in the world as evinced by gaining the World Airspeed Record in 1953 prior to entry into RAF service; at a stroke revolutionizing the potential of the UK’s air arm. Such was the haste with which this occurred that many teething problems remained to be resolved, as detailed here, but eventually the aircraft would become the day fighter of choice for many of the world’s air forces and remain in service for decades to come.

Download or read book They Gave me a Seafire written by Commander R 'Mike' Crosley DSC RN and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-08-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic in every sense of the word, the re-issuing of this book is sure to provoke an enthusiastic response. First published in 1986 by Airlife, its publishing history has seen a great number of glowing reviews generated, coming from both historians and participants in the proceedings that the author so eloquently relays.??The book charts Crosley's service career in the Fleet Air Arm during the entire period of the Second World War. Part of his service saw him in action aboard HMS Eagle, flying Sea Hurricanes on the Harpoon and Pedestal Malta convoys of June and August 1942. It was during this time that he shot down his first enemy aircraft and survived the dramatic sinking of HMS Eagle. From there he graduated on to Seafires, (the Naval equivalent of the Spitfire), and flew this type in Combat Air Patrols over Norway and ramrod strikes from Operation Torch (the invasion of French North Africa in November 1942), through to D-Day in June 1944 in the European Theatre of Operations, and then in the Pacific abroad HMS Implacable as part of the British Pacific Fleet in 1945 until the end of the Pacific War, by which time he had command of his own combined squadron, 801 and 880.??The narrative is well written in a frank and often scathingly critical way of Fleet Air Arm operations during the Second World War and beyond. The book looks set to bring the endeavours of Crosley to a whole new generation of enthusiasts, and it should appeal across the board to fans of aviation, naval history and families and friends of Armed Forces, past and present.

Download or read book Hurricane written by Leo McKinstry and published by John Murray. This book was released on 2010-06-24 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1940 the fate of Europe hung in the balance. Victory in the forthcoming air battle would mean national survival; defeat would establish German tyranny. The Luftwaffe greatly outnumbered the RAF, but during the Battle of Britain it was the RAF that emerged triumphant, thanks to two key fighter planes, the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Hurricane made up over half of Fighter Command's front-line strength, and its revolutionary design transformed the RAF's capabilities. Leo McKinstry tells the story of the remarkable plane from its designers to the first-hand testimonies of those brave pilots who flew it; he takes in the full military and political background but always keeps the human stories to the fore - to restore the Hawker Hurricane to its rightful place in history.

Download or read book Typhoon Attack written by Norman Franks and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2010-04-12 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lively tales of aerial combat in the legendary Typhoon fighter History of the plane and the men who flew it in World War II Based on interviews with the pilots themselves The Typhoon fighter played a pivotal role in the Allies' success in the air and on the ground in World War II, from the Normandy beachhead to the Battle of the Bulge and the final battle for Germany. Norman Franks describes what it was really like to fly at low level and attack trains and tanks or to roll over at 12,000 feet and then roar down into an inferno of German flak.

Download or read book Hurricane Manual 1940 written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat, using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War.

Download or read book Pegasus the Heart of the Harrier written by Andrew Dow and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2009-08-20 with total page 831 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume chronicles the making of the Harrier Jump Jet—the innovative Cold War fighter aircraft designed to operate from virtually anywhere. In 1957, the British engine manufacturer Bristol Siddeley turned aircraft design on its head with the creation of the Pegasus engine. Until then, aircraft designs would seek out suitable engines. Now the Pegasus was an engine in search of a suitable aircraft. The result was the famous Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first military airplane capable of vertical takeoff and landings. To this day, Harrier Jump Jets are still in front-line service with air forces around the world including the Royal Air Force and US Marine Corps. In this volume, former Bristol Siddeley executive Andrew Dow offers an in-depth look at the Pegasus engine's original design concept, production and flight testing. Dow then covers the developments and improvements that have been made over the years. He also includes experiences of operational combat flying, both from land and sea. Written in straightforward prose that avoids technical jargon, Pegasus, The Heart of the Harrier is copiously illustrated with many previously unseen photographs and diagrams.

Download or read book A Z of Windsor Eton written by Yvonne Moxley and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating exploration of Windsor and Eton highlighting their history, people and places across the centuries.

Download or read book Pastoral Australia written by Michael Pearson and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2010-04-27 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastoral Australia tells the story of the expansion of Australia's pastoral industry, how it drove European settlement and involved Aboriginal people in the new settler society. The rural life that once saw Australia 'ride on the sheep's back' is no longer what defines us, yet it is largely our history as a pastoral nation that has endured in heritage places and which is embedded in our self-image as Australians. The challenges of sustaining a pastoral industry in Australia make a compelling story of their own. Developing livestock breeds able to prosper in the Australian environment was an ongoing challenge, as was getting wool and meat to market. Many stock routes, wool stores, abattoirs, wharf facilities, railways, roads, and river and ocean transport systems that were developed to link the pastoral interior with the urban and market infrastructure still survive. Windmills, fences, homesteads, shearing sheds, bores, stock yards, travelling stock routes, bush roads and railheads all changed the look of the country. These features of our landscape form an important part of our heritage. They are symbols of a pastoral Australia, and of the foundations of our national identity, which will endure long into the future.

Download or read book The Airplane written by Louise Spilsbury and published by Capstone Classroom. This book was released on 2010-09 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the evolution of the airplane, its design, and how planes affect today's world.

Download or read book Not Much of an Engineer written by Sir Stanley Hooker and published by Crowood. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stanley Hooker joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1949 and tugged a rather reluctant company into the jet age, determined to give real competition to Rolls-Royce. So successful was he that in 1966 Rolls-Royce decided the best thing to do was to spend ?63.6 million and buy its rival. By this time there was scarcely a single modern British aero-engine for which Hooker had not been responsible.

Download or read book Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation written by Richard Edwards and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-10-24 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation tells the dramatic story of a world leading aviation industry, from the sweat and grease of the workshop, to the board rooms and government nationalisations that ultimately fashioned its destiny.The heroes are Britains most innovative aviation pioneers and their aircraft, the men and women who persevered to be the first into the air, to fly the fastest, the highest and the furthest. This broad and highly accessible books ranges from the first man to fly across the English Channel from England to France to the development of the Spitfire and from the disastrous R101 airship to the development of the jet engine and ultimately the worlds first supersonic airliner.Each chapter looks at a different aviation pioneer and the flying machines that they designed, their engineering landmarks, their triumphs in the air and on occasion their disasters too. The book explores the great air races that were won and lost, the government contracts and political short-sightedness that cut short the development of leading aircraft designs and many of the dramatic air raids and sea battles from the First World War to the Falklands and the Middle East.Many of the industrys most prominent names are profiled, including Ernest Willows, the Short brothers, Geoffrey de Havilland, Vincent Richmond, George White, Thomas Sopwith, Harry Hawker, RJ Mitchell, Herbert Smith, Charles Rolls, Henry Royce, Reginald Pierson, Alliott Verdon-Roe, Frederick Handley Page, Robert Watson-Watt, Robert Blackburn and Frank Whittle.Behind the personal stories are the histories of the aircraft companies that these pioneers created, from those that went bankrupt to those that lasted the test of time and have become indivisible from British aviation folklore, such names as Sopwith, Handley Page, Avro, Supermarine, Blackburn, Bristol, Fairey and Rolls-Royce. The book covers the mergers and acquisitions that led to the creation of two major aircraft manufacturers, Hawker Siddeley Group and the British Aircraft Corporation, and how barely two decades later, before the century was out, they were nationalised to form British Aerospace.

Download or read book Air University Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1982-09 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: