Download or read book The First Team written by John B Lundstrom and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hailed as one of the finest examples of aviation research, this comprehensive 1984 study presents a detailed and scrupulously accurate operational history of carrier-based air warfare. From the earliest operations in the Pacific through the decisive Battle of Midway, it offers a narrative account of how ace fighter pilots like Jimmy Thach and Butch O'Hare and their skilled VF squadron mates--called the "first team"--amassed a remarkable combat record in the face of desperate odds. Tapping both American and Japanese sources, historian John B. Lundstrom reconstructs every significant action and places these extraordinary fighters within the context of overall carrier operations. He writes from the viewpoint of the pilots themselves, after interviewing some fifty airmen from each side, to give readers intimate details of some of the most exciting aerial engagements of the war. At the same time he assesses the role the fighter squadrons played in key actions and shows how innovations in fighter tactics and gunnery techniques were a primary reason for the reversal of American fortunes. After more than twenty years in print, the book remains the definitive account and is being published in paperback for the first time to reach an even larger audience.
Download or read book Naval Air War The Rolling Thunder Campaign written by Norman Polmar and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the sixth monograph in the series The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War. It covers aircraft carrier activity during Operation Rolling Thunder in the war. Operation Rolling Thunder was one of the longest sustained aerial bombing campaigns in history. And it would be a failure. The U.S. Navy proved essential to the conduct of Rolling Thunder. Exploiting the inherent flexibility and mobility of naval forces, the Seventh Fleet operated with impunity for three years off the coast of North Vietnam. The success with which the Navy executed the later Operation Linebacker campaign against North Vietnam in 1972 revealed how much the service had learned from and exploited the Rolling Thunder experience of 1965–1968. The book includes several photographs with backgrounds of key aircraft used as part of Operation Rolliing Thunder during the Vietnam War. Other products relating to the Vietnam War can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/battles-wars/vietnam-war Other products relating to U.S. Naval History can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/armed-forces-military-branches-history/united-states-navy-usn-history Other products published by the U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/902
Download or read book Wings of Gold written by Gerald Astor and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From critically acclaimed military historian Gerald Astor comes Wings of Gold, the first account of how the airplane transformed the U.S. Navy and paved the way to victory in the Pacific in World War II. Astor tracks that fateful journey from its humble beginnings in 1910 when Eugene Ely flew the very first plane off the deck of a U.S. Navy ship to the unprecedented air combat missions that helped defeat the Japanese. Few naval aviators in World War II realized that when they earned their wings of gold they were about to become test pilots for a whole new kind of combat. In their own words, these courageous fliers describe the life-and-death air battles that defined the revolution in naval strategy that rose from the ashes of Pearl Harbor, when fighter pilots watched in horror as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft bombed their planes and airfields into smoking rubble. While following the pilots’ firsthand reports of air strikes and blazing dogfights across the islands and atolls of the Pacific, Astor explores the ways the U.S. Navy began its momentous transformation before the war. Later, the critical role of aircraft carriers in the stunning U.S. victory at Midway sounded the death knell for conventional naval warfare, yet the public, the press, the Army, and even the president’s advisors refused to recognize the new reality. In fact, only a few in the Navy understood that a new era had begun that would change the face of war forever. The young Americans who fought the deadly duels against Imperial Japanese forces high over the Pacific gave everything they had to the war effort, and many made the supreme sacrifice. Wings of Gold pays tribute to their courage, daring, and selfless dedication. Vividly told, thoroughly researched, and filled with stirring accounts of the Pacific War’s greatest air battles, Wings of Gold is an important addition to the annals of World War II aerial combat.
Download or read book U S Navy Air Combat written by Robert L. Lawson and published by Motorbooks International. This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This photohistory uses a collection of remarkable colour photos from the period, along with quotes and anecdotes from pilots and crewmembers, to relate the story of U.S. Naval aviation during World War II. Included in the collection are legendary warbirds like F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, and F4U fighters.
Download or read book On Yankee Station written by John B. Nichols and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining vivid personal narrative with historical and operational analyses, this book takes a candid look at U.S. naval airpower in the Vietnam War. Coauthors John Nichols, a fighter pilot in the war, and Barrett Tillman, an award-winning aviation historian, make full use of their extensive knowledge of the subject to detail the ways in which airpower was employed in the years prior to the fall of Saigon. Confronting the conventional belief that airpower failed in Vietnam, they show that when applied correctly, airpower was effective, but because it was often misunderstood and misapplied, the end results were catastrophic. Their book offers a compelling view of what it was like to fly from Yankee Station between 1964 and 1973 and important lessons for future conflicts. At the same time, it adds important facts to the permanent war record. Following an analysis of the state of carrier aviation in 1964 and a definition of the rules of engagement, it describes the tactics used in strike warfare, the airborne and surface threats, electronic countermeasures, and search and rescue. It also examines the influence of political decisions on the conduct of the war and the changing nature of the Communist opposition. Appendixes provide useful statistical data on carrier deployments, combat sorties, and aircraft losses.
Download or read book Topgun written by Dan Pedersen and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER "If you loved the movie, you will love the real story in the book." -- Fox & Friends On the 50th anniversary of the creation of the "Topgun" Navy Fighter School, its founder shares the remarkable inside story of how he and eight other risk-takers revolutionized the art of aerial combat. When American fighter jets were being downed at an unprecedented rate during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy turned to a young lieutenant commander, Dan Pedersen, to figure out a way to reverse their dark fortune. On a shoestring budget and with little support, Pedersen picked eight of the finest pilots to help train a new generation to bend jets like the F-4 Phantom to their will and learn how to dogfight all over again. What resulted was nothing short of a revolution -- one that took young American pilots from the crucible of combat training in the California desert to the blistering skies of Vietnam, in the process raising America's Navy combat kill ratio from two enemy planes downed for every American plane lost to more than 22 to 1. Topgun emerged not only as an icon of America's military dominance immortalized by Hollywood but as a vital institution that would shape the nation's military strategy for generations to come. Pedersen takes readers on a colorful and thrilling ride -- from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace-through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" -- the best of the best -- and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimony to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
Download or read book US Navy F 4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965 70 written by Brad Elward and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For every American fighter pilot involved in the Vietnam War, the ultimate goal was to 'kill a MiG'. In eight years of conflict 43 Vietnamese Peoples Air Force aircraft were claimed by US Navy and US Marine Corps Phantom II crews, and one single ace crew produced. Navy Phantom IIs scored the first kills of the Vietnam War, in April 1965, as well as scoring the last in January 1973. This volume charts the successes of the navy fighter crews as they encountered 'MiGs, Missiles and AAA' over the jungles of North Vietnam.
Download or read book US Navy F 4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1969 73 written by Peter E. Davies and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-05-22 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Detailed study of one of the US' most famous post-war aircraft, the F-4 Phantom, which saw service in three branches of the US military during the Vietnam War.
Download or read book The History of US Naval Air Power written by Robert L. Lawson and published by Crescent. This book was released on 1985 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Using Your Navy Wings written by United States. Navy Department. Bureau of Aeronautics and published by . This book was released on 1943 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book One Hundred Years of U S Navy Air Power written by Douglas V Smith and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2010-10-15 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published to coincide with the centennial celebration of U.S. Navy Aviation, this book chronicles Navy aviation from its earliest days, before the Navy’s first aircraft carrier joined the fleet, through the modern jet era marked by the introduction of the F-18 Hornet. It tells how naval aviation got its start, profiles its pioneers, and explains the early bureaucracy that fostered and sometimes inhibited its growth. The book then turns to the refinement of carrier aviation doctrine and tactics and the rapid development of aircraft and carriers, highlighting the transition from propeller-driven aircraft to swept wing jets in the period after WW II. Land-based Navy aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft and rigid airships, and balloons are also considered in this sweeping tribute.
Download or read book In the Claws of the Tomcat written by Tom Cooper and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Equipped with well-balanced air wings, huge aircraft carriers have formed the backbone of the United States Navy's doctrine and strategy since the Second World War. Packing an enormous punch, their purpose is to exercise control over enormous portions of airspace - in the offence or defence.From the mid-1970s until the mid-2000s, the spear tip of the USN air wings was the famous Grumman F-14 Tomcat - widely considered one of the finest air superiority systems in the world. Originally designed as a fast, manoeuvrable and well-armed fighter, the Tomcat entered service as the ultimate long-range fleet defender and became the biggest, most complex and most expensive naval aircraft of its time. Including a unique and exceptional combination of flight characteristics, detection systems and weapons, it earned itself the status of a legend by the mid-1980s.The F-14 Tomcats of the US Navy achieved their first aerial victories during freedom of navigation exercises off Libya in 1981. However, the period during which they saw most combat followed several years later, during Operations Earnest Will and then Desert Storm, from 1987 until 1991.To date, very little has been published about the operations in question. Indeed, the widespread belief is that USN F-14s saw next to no air combat against Iran, and even less so during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. As so often, the reality is entirely different: Tomcats engaged dozens of opponents, often on the verge of the engagement envelope of their powerful AWG-9 radars and AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles, and sometimes at such close ranges that their pilots selected 'guns'. Weather- and communications-related problems, but also the incredible discipline of their crews prevented them from scoring up to a dozen aerial victories: however, it is perfectly possible that they scored at least one, perhaps more previously entirely unknown aerial victories - and also lost one of their own to an enemy fighter.Richly illustrated by over 100 photographs and authentic colour profiles, 'Tomcats of the Storm' is an exclusive source of reference about some of least-well known air combats fought by US Navy's fighter crews in recent history.
Download or read book F 18 Navy Air Combat Fighter written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Topgun Days written by Dave Baranek and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the navy's and Marine Corps's best fighter pilots how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies. Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots: Top Gun. Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The book ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight.
Download or read book Flying High written by S. Melvin Rines and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2021-12-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is at war—Pearl Harbor and WWII. A desire to serve, a chance to fly—he joins the navy’s V-5 program, the finest flight training ever devised. Come fly with him in open-cockpit biplanes, low-wing trainers, dive bombers, and fighters as he wins the gold wings of a naval aviator, an officer’s stripes, and the designation of carrier-based fighter pilot. Recalled for the Korean War—this time to fly newly developed jets. Soar with him on his first flight, to heights he’d not reached and speeds he’d never seen. Recalled for the Korean War—take a front-row seat on a massive U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in combat and experience the riveting, heart-stopping life of a jet fighter pilot racking up fifty-five missions over Korea. Catapult launches, shootings and being shot at, and landing on a rolling, bobbing flight deck are vividly depicted—along with spectacular crashes and agonizing fatalities, while cavorting with stars in Hollywood and Palm Springs. Recalled for the Korean War – this time to fly newly developed jets. Soar with him on his first flight, to heights he’d not reached and speeds he’d never seen. Recalled for the Korean War -take a front-row seat on a massive U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in combat, and experience the riveting, heart-stopping life of a jet fighter pilot racking up fifty- five missions over Korea. Catapult launches, shootings and being shot at and landing on a rolling, bobbing flight deck are vividly depicted – along with spectacular crashes and agonizing fatalities. While cavorting with stars in Hollywood and Palm Springs.
Download or read book Naval Aviation News written by and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book U S Navy Fighter Squadrons in World War II written by Barrett Tillman and published by Specialty Press (MN). This book was released on 1997 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: US Navy Fighter Squadrons In World War IITillmanSubtitled: Chronologies, Deployments, Combat Records. This first-ever chronology of VF squadrons describes their history, deployments, battle highlights, commanders, aces, losses and aircraft. Appendices supply information on shoot down claims, biographies of 12 famous aces, a list of 371 naval fighter aces, aces in a day, top scoring squadrons, and more. Hdbd., 7 1/4x 1 1/2, 16 pgs., 65 bandw ill.
