Download or read book The History of the De Havilland Vampire written by David Watkins and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2014-05-10 with total page 728 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive book on an iconic aircraft Illustrated throughout with a varied and interesting selection of images, many previously unpublished An early jet aircraft that collected many notable firsts including the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic and the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier Comprehensive appendices covering serial allocations, production, export details and preserved airframes The de Havilland Vampire was the second of the RAF's first-generation, post-Second World War jet fighters to enter service. It began life as an interceptor but was soon re-tasked in the day fighter/ground attack roles with the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany from 1948 to 1954 and with the RAF's Middle and Far East Air Forces. Throughout its forty-six-year career, it collected many notable firsts: it was the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic; the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier; and the first jet trainer on which student pilots qualified for their 'Wings'. In addition to playing a full part in the RAF's order of battle during the 1940s and 1950s, the Vampire also served with the Fleet Air Arm and became an export success story for the British aircraft industry with hundreds sold to air forces worldwide. For a brief period during the 1950s, the Vampire formed the backbone of the RAF's night-fighter force and between 1952 and 1967, the Vampire trainer was responsible for a steady flow of trained pilots for the RAF, Royal Navy and foreign air forces. This comprehensive history covers the Vampire's development and operational service. It has been written with the full co-operation of the manufacturer, MoD, RAF and other world air forces, mixing narrative and technical detail with vivid personal accounts from those involved with the aircraft. Comprehensive appendices include technical specifications, production details, serials and export details. It is also lavishly illustrated and includes more than one story of encounters with UFOs by RAF Vampire pilots. **This electronic edition includes 315 photographs**

Download or read book History of the de Havilland Vampire written by David Watkins and published by . This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive history of the Vampire's development and operational service, covering many of its notable firsts, particularly as the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic and the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier. Lavishly illustrated with comprehensive technical appendices.

Download or read book De Havilland Vampire written by David Watkins and published by Alan Sutton Publishing. This book was released on 1996 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated history of the RAF's first generation post Second World War jet fighter.

Download or read book The Shepherd written by Frederick Forsyth and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christmas Eve, 1957: An RAF pilot needs a miracle to make it home as his fighter jet begins to fail, in a story by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author. It is Christmas Eve, 1957, and there are cozier places to be than the cockpit of a de Havilland Vampire fighter plane. But for the Royal Air Force pilot who has just taken off from West Germany, this single-seat jet is the only way to make it back to England for Christmas morning. His flight plan is simple; the fuel tank is full. In sixty-six minutes, he will be back in Blighty. But then the plane begins to fail. First the compass goes haywire, then the radio dies. Lost and alone above the English coast, the pilot is searching for a landing strip when the fog closes in, signaling certain death. He has given up hope when a second shadow appears—a Mosquito fighter-bomber of World War II vintage. The plane is a “shepherd,” guiding the Vampire to a safe landing, and its appearance is a gift from fate, a miracle out of time—but for one lonely pilot, the mystery has just begun. A classic bestseller, beloved by aviation fans (including actor John Travolta, who calls it “one of my favorites because it personalizes the two planes”) and general readers alike, The Shepherd is a gripping, heartwarming tale for a cold winter’s night.

Download or read book Jet Fighters Coloring Book written by John Batchelor and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1998-06-15 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forty-four accurately rendered illustrations with captions capture the exciting details of a low-flying U.S. F-117 Stealth fighter, an aircraft carrier-based F-18, a Tornado GR-1, a Russian-built MiG-15, and other historic planes.

Download or read book The Millionaires Squadron written by Tom Moulson and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagined by an aristocrat in White's Club, London in 1925, a part-time squadron of wealthy young men with their own private aircraft was incorporated into a newly-established combat-ready Auxiliary Air Force, first as bombers, then fighters. The pre-war years combined serious training with frivolity and mischief, but the outbreak of war in 1939 changed that. Despite their social rank the pilots were thrust into the heart of the action, with mortality proving to be the great social leveler. From privileged pre-war lifestyles to front line deployment the lives of those who survived underwent radical change. Through the battles of Britain, Malta, the African desert and Italy the squadron's composition was transformed, and by war's end only a minority were British and none were millionaires. Britain had changed too, and the re-formed squadron filled with a combination of veterans and young middle-class ex-service pilots. The pilots flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain, and Spitfires thereafter until the arrival of jets in the '50s; DH Vampires and Gloster Meteors. The one aircraft they could not master was the little-loved mid-engine P-39 Bell Airacobra in 1941. Disbandment in 1957 of the by-then 'Royal' Auxiliary Air Force was fiercely resisted, but inevitable.Originally published in 1964 to great acclaim, this second edition features a wealth of brand new content in the form of newly uncovered documentation and photo illustrations. It is set to bring the story of this eccentric and dynamic squadron to a whole new audience of aviation and military enthusiasts.As seen in the Western Morning News and Epping Forest Guardian.

Download or read book Malloch s Spitfire written by Nick Meikle and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2014-04-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of one of history’s greatest fighter aircraft from WWII to its remarkable restoration in 1980 Rhodesia: “an aviation classic-in-waiting” (Airscape). In 1977, the Rhodesian Air Force retrieved a World War II–era Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 22. But while the RAF was embroiled in the Bush War, the dream of restoring the aircraft was frustrated by international sanctions. That’s when legendary pilot John “Jack” McVicar Malloch took control of the project. Not only had Jack flown Spitfires during World War II, he was also uniquely positioned to circumvent sanctions through his airfreight company, Air Trans Africa. With ingenuity, passion, and a team of trusted engineers, Jack realized the dream of putting Spitfire PK350 back in the air on March 29, 1980. In Malloch’s Spitfire, author Nick Meikle tells the full story of this remarkable restoration and reveals some fascinating insights about the aircraft. The reader is taken on a journey through the Spitfire’s life, beginning with her first test flight in 1945. The project’s lead engineer and many of the surviving pilots who flew her also share their memories. For two years, PK350 delighted those fortunate enough to see her fly. Then, on what was planned to be her last flight, Malloch’s Spitfire never returned to base.

Download or read book Venom De Havilland Venom and Sea Venom written by David Watkins and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2009-10-02 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While it is true to say that the Venom carried out more operational ground attack sorties than any other RAF aircraft since the Second World War, its history has hitherto been sadly neglected or misreported. With the co-operation and assistance of many former Service and civilian pilots, the record can finally be set straight in what is the definitive history of this ground-attack, all weather and naval strike fighter. David Watkins discusses the problems of the trials and development programme and takes a detailed look at the aircraft's operational service with the air arms of Australia, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Iraq and Venezuela. Of particular interest is new information relating to the Sea Venom's career with the Fleet Air Arm and the catastrophic wing failures and engine fires that plagued the early Second Tactical Air Force Venoms. It also contains a comprehensive account of Venom sorties during the Suez campaign, the 'Firedog' operations in Malaya and the protracted anti-terrorist offensive in Aden and Oman. These accounts throw new light on the conflicts and have been compiled from interviews, private papers and personal accounts. Accompanying the text is a wealth of photographs, line drawings and maps, a number of which are from private collections and are previously unpublished.

Download or read book Seaplane Floats and Hulls written by H. Herrmann and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A View of the De Havilland DH 100 Vampire written by John Hopton and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The History of Air Intercept Radar the British Nightfighter 1935 1959 written by Ian White and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2007-05-30 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This detailed history of Air Intercept radar traces the development of this vital military technology with the Royal Air Force during WWII. In the years after World War I, the United Kingdom was desperate to develop some form of protection from an enemy air strike. As early as 1923, the British Army had devised “sound mirrors” that could detect aircraft up to twelve miles away. This technical history traces the development of military radar technology from this early, experimental phase to the creation of the first air-to-air radar systems and their uses in battle. Historian Ian White sets this fascinating narrative within the larger political, military, economic and technological context of the era. Through World War II, Air Intercept radar was a vital asset in protecting RAF bomber forces as well as the country itself. But developing the technology required the tireless work of physicists and engineers in the Air Ministry Research Establishment, particularly members of the Establishment’s Airborne Group working under Dr. Edward Bowen. Their Airborne Interception radars, such as the AI Mk. IV, were used in Blenheim night-fighters during the winter Blitz and by Mosquito during the Baedeker Raids. This in-depth history covers the introduction of centimetric technology at the Telecommunications Research Establishment, the creation of centimetric AI, and their installation in the Beaufighter and later marks of the Mosquito. It describes the creation of the Radiation Laboratory at MIT and concludes with a section on further developments during the Cold War.

Download or read book WINGS WARRIORS written by Donald Davenport Engen and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1997-08-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author tells the story of his rise in the Navy from cadet to vice admiral.

Download or read book Wings on My Sleeve written by Eric Brown and published by Orion. This book was released on 2008-09-18 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The autobiography of one of the greatest pilots in history. In 1939 Eric Brown was on a University of Edinburgh exchange course in Germany, and the first he knew of the war was when the Gestapo came to arrest him. They released him, not realising he was a pilot in the RAF volunteer reserve: and the rest is history. Eric Brown joined the Fleet Air Arm and went on to be the greatest test pilot in history, flying more different aircraft types than anyone else. During his lifetime he made a record-breaking 2,407 aircraft carrier landings and survived eleven plane crashes. One of Britain's few German-speaking airmen, he went to Germany in 1945 to test the Nazi jets, interviewing (among others) Hermann Goering and Hanna Reitsch. He flew the suicidally dangerous Me 163 rocket plane, and tested the first British jets. WINGS ON MY SLEEVE is 'Winkle' Brown's incredible story.

Download or read book High Hulls written by Charles R. G. Bain and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2018-11-27 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For a time, the flying boat was seen as the way of the future. These aircraft, so strange and foreign to the modern mind, once criss-crossed the world and fulfilled essential military roles. In his latest book for Fonthill, Charles Bain looks at the golden age of the flying boat, when these sometimes strange and often beautiful vessels spanned the globe. These vessels-a combination of ship and airplane-found themselves working as patrol aircraft, passenger aircraft, transports, and even as combat aircraft. This volume contains their stories, from memorable aircraft such as the Short Sunderland and Boeing 314 Clipper, to the craft that roamed the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, to forgotten giants from Saunders-Roe and even strange jet fighters that once landed like ducks. It even includes the flying boat that has not let time get in the way of doing its job-the Martin Mars. Each of these aircraft has a story worthy of the telling, and often a memorable role to play in the history of aviation. `High Hulls' delves deeply into a long-vanished part of aviation's golden age.

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 640 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 World War II Fighting Jets written by Jeffrey L. Ethell and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book De Havilland Vampire F1 T55 in RAF FAA RAAF RNZAF SAAF RCAF Foreign Service written by Richard Ward and published by Reading, Eng. : Osprey Pub.. This book was released on 1973 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beskriver det engelske jagerfly De Havilland Vampire i dets forskellige varianter og omtaler de lande, der har benyttet flyet.