Download or read book Aircraft of the United States Military Air Transport Service 1948 to 1966 written by Nicholas M. Williams and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formed at the start of the 'Cold War' era, the Military Air Transport Service sprung out of the newly-created USAF to serve the US Military around the world. From the Berlin Airlift to Vietnam, MATS crews and aircraft were found in every global 'hot spot'. This book not only provides the history of the Service, it also delivers an in-depth look at each type of aircraft MATS operated. From the C-47 to the C-133, the OA-10 to the U-2, this superb volume contains a dynamic collection of high quality, large format photographs of MATS global air power.

Download or read book Douglas C 74 Globemaster written by Nicholas Williams and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-15 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought U.S. Army Air Corps strategists to the realization that a new global transport was needed to carry large loads over great distances. The Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California, also quickly saw this need and design studies were begun immediately on an expanded version of the company's DC-4. The "C-74 Project Group" adopted a design philosophy to produce a "no frills" transport able to accommodate at least two of the Army's T-9 tanks, two 105mm Howitzers, or two angle dozers. Douglas contacted the Air Corps early in 1942 to determine their interest and a letter of intent was issued in March 1942 for procurement of the Model 415A, now designated the C-74. A contract of over $50 million was signed in June 1942 for fifty airplanes. To speed its delivery to operational units, the C-74 was designed to be released without the benefits of an experimental or prototype model, all aircraft being designated as C-74s with design features following conventional "state-of-the-art" practice. Originally, powered by Wright R-3350 engines, a decision was made in March 1943 to switch to the new, mammoth Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major. The first C-74 was rolled out in July 1945 from the Douglas Long Beach factory. At rollout, the C-74 was the largest land-based transport in the world with a wingspan of 173 feet, length of 124 feet, and gross weight of 145,000 pounds. Able to carry 125 passengers, the C-74 was called the Globemaster as its 11,100-gallons of internal fuel gave it a maximum range of over 7,000 miles, enabling it to circumnavigate the world with only two refueling stops. In its final form, the C-74 was a remarkably efficient airplane, using a semi-laminar flow airfoil for its wings with a full-span flap arrangement. The pilots were enclosed by two teardrop-shaped, double-bubble canopies that provided them with a 360-degree view. Douglas had every intention of adapting the C-74 into a civil airliner once hostilities had ended. In 1944 Pan American World Airways ordered 26 examples of the civil version, the DC-7, for a route expansion program into Latin America. However, further development of this DC-7 design increased its gross weight to 162,000 pounds and the unit cost to $1.4 million and Pan American cancelled its order in October 1945, opting for smaller transports. The first C-74, 42-65402, made its maiden flight from Long Beach in September 1945, but with the end of World War II, most of the C-74 production order was cancelled and only 14 Globemasters were built. Unfortunately, during contractor demonstration flights the second Globemaster crashed. The fourth C-74 was subsequently diverted for static tests and its components tested to destruction at Wright Field, Ohio. Beginning in September 1946, the remaining twelve C-74s were flown for the next nine years by the Army Air Forces' Air Transport Command and the U.S. Air Force's Military Air Transport Service. Once in service, the C-74 Globemaster, based first in Memphis, Tennessee, then Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida, finally at Brookley AFB, Mobile, Alabama, set many records for tonnage carried. In November 1949, a C-74 flew the Atlantic to England with a record 103 passengers aboard. One Globemaster set several records during the Berlin Airlift, averaging over 38,000 pounds of cargo and setting a new Airlift Task Force utilization record by flying 20 hours in a 24-hour period. Until one C-74 was converted to the prototype C-124A and the Globemaster II became available, the C-74 was the only Air Force transport capable of carrying outsized cargo. After the C-74's retirement from service in 1955, several were purchased surplus and began flying for a contract air carrier, Aeronaves de Panama, hauling prize cattle from Denmark to the Middle East, horses to Singapore, and ships' parts and vegetables throughout Europe. Unfortunately, after the tragic crash in 1963 of one C-74 in Marseilles, France, the airline suspended operations and its C-74s eventually were scrapped. Today, no examples of this record-setting transport exist. This monograph of the C-74 Globemaster is written by Nick Williams, an award-winning author of over two dozen articles published in the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society and publications in the U.K. Nick has written two previous books in Steve Ginter's Naval Fighters series as well as his 1999 book published in the U.K., "Aircraft of The Military Air Transport Service 1948-1966". His new book on the C-74 is the result of nearly fifty years of research, containing comments from several of the C-74's engineers as well as former Douglas and Air Force pilots.

Download or read book American Military Transport Aircraft Since 1925 written by E.R. Johnson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Without the support of airlift, the modern American military machine would be brought to a standstill. Since World War II--beginning with the Cold War and continuing up to the present day--the U.S. armed forces have come increasingly to rely upon airlift for mobility. The power to rapidly move and thereafter support a military operation--anywhere in the world, at any time--has become a foundational element of American defense policy. This work provides the reader with a comprehensive historical survey--including technical specifications, drawings, and photographs--of each type of fixed-wing aircraft used by U.S. military forces over a nearly 90-year period to carry out the airlift mission.

Download or read book A Concise History of the U S Air Force written by Stephen Lee McFarland and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 1997 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.

Download or read book United States Air Force and Its Antecedents written by James T. Controvich and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This bibliography lists published and printed unit histories for the United States Air Force and Its Antecedents, including Air Divisions, Wings, Groups, Squadrons, Aviation Engineers, and the Women's Army Corps.

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 A History of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet written by Theodore Joseph Crackel and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) from its inception to 1991. In suggesting such a reserve airlift fleet in 1947, Admiral E. S. Land, President of the Air Transport Association, drew on the organization's experience with mobilization planning in the mid- to late-1930s and on the airlines' experience in the early months of World War II. "As I see it," he said, "we would have to face it along the same general lines as we did then, omitting as many of the mistakes as possible, of course. At the beginning of the last war, the air transport system had a detailed war plan. Given the necessary information from the military services as to their needs, we can develop this one." The Civil Reserve Air Fleet concept was formally approved on December 15, 1951-by a memorandum of understanding between the Departments of Commerce and Defense. It began to take shape in 1952, when it was allocated some 300 four-engine, airline aircraft for use in case of war or a national emergency. Planning for the use of these assets began almost immediately and interim arrangements were in place by mid-1953. Still, it was not until 1958 that a formal wartime organization was agreed to, and not until 1959 that the first major carrier signed the standby contract that obligated it to provide crews and aircraft in case of a major war or national emergency. Two factors clearly shape the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. The first, the nation's military strategies, dictated the airlift resources CRAF was asked to supply. As it happened, evolving strategies entailed an ever growing requirement for CRAF airlift. By the late 1950s, U.S. military strategy promised the ability to respond across the spectrum of aggression, and then, two decades later, it committed the nation to an increasingly rapid deployment of forces to NATO. The second factor was economic, the economics of the air transportation marketplace. Despite the efforts of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) and, its successor, the Military Airlift Command (MAC) to influence the make-up of airline fleets-in particular attempts to encourage the airlines to increase their cargo capability-it was the circumstances of the commercial marketplace that drove the decisions. When the air freight business failed to grow as expected, and when the lower-lobe capacity of the airlines' widebody jets proved capable of handling what air freight there was, the scheduled airlines began to divest themselves of their freighter aircraft. MAC's efforts to halt or even to slow this process proved ineffectual. It was not until the development of the air express parcel business, that the industry began once again to add cargo aircraft. Again, it was the economic forces that intervened, not MAC. This is the story of the evolution of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet-from its roots in the pre-World War II planning of the ATA and the Army Air Corps Staff, through its creation in 1951 and its evolution over the years, to a seemingly troubled existence in 1987.

Download or read book United States Naval Aviation 1910 1995 written by Roy A. Grossnick and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 826 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was donated as a part of the David H. Hugel Collection, a collection of the Special Collections & Archives, University of Baltimore.

Download or read book Airlift Doctrine written by Charles Miller and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: n this extremely comprehensive overview of airlift and air mobility, Colonel Miller shows how the worldwide orientation of American foreign policy, the numerous threats to free-world interests, and the speed and complexity of modern warfare have combined with political and resource constraints to produce today's airlift doctrine and force structure. Airlift is the movement of goods and people to where they are needed, when they are needed there. Since the 1920s there has been an evolving awareness and articulation of how to best organize, train, and equip airlift forces for that mission. The worldwide orientation of American foreign policy, the numerous threats to free world interests, and the speed and complexity of modern warfare have combined with political and resource constraints to produce today's airlift doctrine and force structure. Colonel Miller's study traces these many interrelationships to discover what critical airlift decisions were made, why they were made, and what they may mean in the future. Airlift is the backbone of deterrence. A properly structured and equipped airlift force is critical to the successful execution of the national military strategy. How we think about airlift and how we translate those thoughts into a meaningful expression of how to develop, deploy, and employ airlift forces is vital to the national defense. Colonel Miller's study is a definitive step in that important process.

Download or read book Master of the Air written by Robert A. Slayton and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2010-03-18 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the western Allies moved to consolidate their areas of control in occupied Germany, the USSR responded by cutting off land access to West Berlin, holding over two million residents of that city hostage in an aggressive act of brinkmanship. General William Henry Tunner was given a task that seemed doomed to failure--to supply a major city by air with everything it needed to survive from food to a winter's supply of coal--and made it a brilliant success, astonishing the world in a major public relations defeat for the Soviets, and demonstrating the unexpected capacity of air fleets in a postwar world.

Download or read book Naval Aviation News written by and published by . This book was released on 2000-03 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Air Space Power Journal sum 03 written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The U S Air Force in Space 1945 to the Twenty First Century Proceedings written by Air Force Historical Foundation. Symposium and published by Department of the Air Force. This book was released on 1998-09-02 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains papers presented at the Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, held at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on September 21-22, 1995. Topics addressed are: Pt. 1, The Formative Years, 1945-1961; Pt. 2, Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Pt. 3, Military Space Today and Tomorrow. Includes notes, abbreviations & acronyms, an index, and photographs.

Download or read book American Attack Aircraft Since 1926 written by E.R. Johnson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2008-10-07 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a concise historical survey of the various types of aircraft used by the United States Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, and Air Force, and the Navy and Marine Corps to accomplish air attack missions since 1926. The text covers four types of fixed-wing aircraft: designated attack aircraft; light, medium, and tactical bombers; fighter-bombers; and adapted attack aircraft. Reports on individual aircraft types include the aircraft's original military requirements, production history, and operational record, usually accompanied by photographs, illustrations, and technical specifications. Four appendices detail aircraft designations and nomenclature used throughout the military, the organizational structure of various military air units, aircraft designs that never made it into official service, and the evolution of attack aircraft weapons and tactics.

Download or read book To Save a City written by Roger G. Miller and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-21 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following World War II, the Soviet Union drew an Iron Curtain across Europe, crowning its efforts with a blockade of West Berlin in a desperate effort to prevent the creation of an independent, democratic West Germany. The United States and Great Britain, aided by France, responded with a daring air logistical operation that in fifteen months delivered almost three million tons of coal, food, and other necessities to the people of Berlin. Now, drawing on rare U.S. Air Force files, recently declassified documents from the National Archives, records released since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the memories of airlift veterans themselves, Roger G. Miller provides an original study of the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift was an enterprise of epic proportions that demonstrated the power of air logistics as a political instrument. What began as a hastily organized operation by a small number of warweary cargo airplanes evolved into an intricate bridge of aircraft that flowed in and out of Berlin through narrow air corridors. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, a stream of airplanes delivered everything from food and medicine to coal and candy in defiance of breakdowns, inclement weather, and Soviet hostility. And beyond the airlift itself, a complex system of transportation, maintenance, and supply stretching around the world sustained operations. Historians, veterans, and general readers will welcome this history of the first Western victory of the Cold War. Maps, diagrams, and more than forty photographs illustrate the mechanical inner workings and the human faces that made that triumph possible.

Download or read book Above the Pacific written by William Joseph Horvat and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A History of Army Aviation 1950 1962 written by Richard P. Weinert and published by www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S. Army aviation expanded dramatically in both size and breadth of activities after its inception in 1942, but much of its post-World War II history, particularly after the establishment of the Air Force as an independent service by the national Security Act of 1947, has been relatively neglected. Despite a certain amount of jockeying for position by both services, particularly in the early years after their separation, the Army was able to carve out a clear transport and operational combat role for its own air arm. "A History of Army Aviation - 1950-1962" examines the development of the Army's air wing, especially for air support of ground troops, both in terms of organization and in relation to the ongoing friction with the Air Force. After describing the rapid expansion of purely Army air power after 1950 and the accompanying expansion of aviation training, the book delves into the reorganization of aviation activities within a Directorate of Army Aviation. It also provides a valuable account of the successful development of aircraft armament, perhaps the most significant advance of this period. In particular, intensive experimentation at the Army Aviation School led to several practical weapons systems and helped to prove that weapons could be fired from rotary aircraft. This arming of the helicopter was to have a profound effect on both Army organization and combat doctrine, culminating in official approval of the armed helicopter by the Department of the Army in 1960. "A History of Army Aviation - 1950-1962" also explores the development of new aircraft between 1955 and 1962, including the UH-1 medical evacuation, transport, and gunship helicopter and the HC-1 cargo copter. In addition, the book discusses the Berlin Crisis of 1961 as an impetus for immediate and unexpected expansion of army aviation, quickly followed by the beginnings of intervention in Vietnam by the end of 1962.