Download or read book Heinkel He 177 Greif written by J. Richard Smith and published by Classic Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The He177 was a formidable warplane with the potential to have been a lethal weapon for the Nazis. Unfortunately, it was ill-fated and suffered from serious problems such as an inherently poor engine design and 'knee-jerk' role diversification by the commanders in charge. Furthermore, the aircraft's development and testing was crucially damaged by the turbulent political environment of the day. Nazi leadership agonised over the aircraft's delay and deployment, and so the aircraft which enticed thousands with its daring potential, sadly failed to reach these standards.Nevertheless, the He177 was a remarkable warplane which adopted several different roles at various stages of its development. It was considered an excellent dive-bomber and strategic bomber, with the capabilities of an anti-shipping aircraft and transport and tank-destroyer.With a carefully selected collection of photographs and drawings which supplement the informative narrative, the authors have succeeded in producing a masterpiece which will be essential reading for all military and social historians of this period, as well as modellers keen to recreate this exceptional warplane.
Download or read book He 177 Greif written by Tim Dinan and published by Leandoer and Eckholm. This book was released on 2010-02-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rare examination of the Luftwaffe's greatest bomber. The Heinkel He 177 iGriefi (Griffin) was Germany's only purpose-built heavy long-range bomber that made it into series production during World War II. Aircrews nicknamed it the "Luftwaffenfeuerzeug" ("Luftwaffe's lighteri) or the "Flaming Coffin" due to the engines' tendency to catch fire on early versions of the aircraft. Yet when the teething problems were fixed, and it became a serious contender in the war, the German situation was rapidly deteriorating.Had it not been for the mess the Third Reich administration was in, the blunders the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) made, or the catastrophic fuel situation Germany faced late in the war, this advanced aircraft could have had a much bigger effect on the war than it was ever able to. Dinan tells the story of the design, development, production and operational use of one of World War II's most mysterious aircraft."
Download or read book Heinkel He 177 Units of World War 2 written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many ways, the Heinkel He 177 'Greif' (Griffon) was Nazi Germany's 'lost' strategic bomber. With some fundamental creases ironed out, and built in large numbers, the He 177 would have offered the Luftwaffe the means with which to carry out long-range, mass bombing attacks against targets of a strategic nature. Although competing interests and personalities served to prevent this from happening, from mid-1943 the aircraft nevertheless saw service over England, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and in Russia. The He 177 flew to the end of the war, with some machines undertaking extremely hazardous low-level missions against Soviet armour in Poland in late 1944-45. This fascinating book, filled with detailed artwork and contemporary photographs, tells the story of this aircraft, including the political infighting at the top of the Luftwaffe's hierarchy that stymied its development, its radical technical design and its state-of-the-art weaponry.
Download or read book Historical Turning Points in the German Air Force War Effort written by Richard Suchenwirth and published by M A/A H Publishing. This book was released on 1959 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wings of the Luftwaffe written by Eric Brown and published by Crowood Press (UK). This book was released on 1993 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of World War II, Eric Brown had the extraordinary experience of testing no fewer than 55 captured individual German aircraft types. These ranged from such exotic creations as the prone-pilot Berlin B9 and Horten IV, the push-and-pull Dornier DO335 and the remarkable little Heinkel He 162 Volksjager, to the highly innovative combat types that were entering the inventory of the Luftwaffe shortly before the demise of Germany's Third Reich. Brown also interrogated many of the leading German wartime aviation personalities, such as Willy Messerschmitt, Ernst Heinkel, Kurt Tank and Hanna Reitsch. From this background knowledge of German aviation he has selected those he considers the most important, and presents detailed descriptions of their background and characteristics.
Download or read book Vickers Wellington Units of Bomber Command written by Michael Napier and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-23 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Vickers Wellington was one of very few aircraft types to have been in production and frontline service throughout World War II, and more than 10,000 Wellingtons were built in the period. They took part in the first RAF bombing mission of the conflict when, on 4 September 1939, 14 examples from Nos 9 and 149 Sqns undertook a daring daylight attack on the Kiel Canal. However, after suffering high losses on follow-up raids, Wellingtons were withdrawn from daytime missions and began to operate at night from May 1940. They subsequently took part in raids against the Italian port city of Genoa in July 1940, and against Berlin the following month, followed by key missions in the 'Battle of the Barges' in September and October, as the RAF targeted the Germany's invasion fleet being assembled in French Channel ports. When RAF's strike force expanded the next year following the introduction of the improved Wellington II, the 21 squadrons equipped with the Vickers aircraft, which included Polish-, Canadian- and Australian-manned units, formed the backbone of the Bomber Command night bombing force. Over the next two years Wellingtons participated in all the major operations by Bomber Command, including the daylight raid against German battleships in Brest harbour in July 1942 and the first three 'Thousand Bomber' raids in the summer of 1942. This illustrated study explores the design, development, and deployment of the Vickers-Wellington type, charting its role in World War II from its earliest missions to its use in training after its withdrawal from frontline bomber missions in 1943. The text is supported by stunning full-colour artwork.
Download or read book Heinkel He 177 Units of World War 2 written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many ways, the Heinkel He 177 'Greif' (Griffon) was Nazi Germany's 'lost' strategic bomber. With some fundamental creases ironed out, and built in large numbers, the He 177 would have offered the Luftwaffe the means with which to carry out long-range, mass bombing attacks against targets of a strategic nature. Although competing interests and personalities served to prevent this from happening, from mid-1943 the aircraft nevertheless saw service over England, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and in Russia. The He 177 flew to the end of the war, with some machines undertaking extremely hazardous low-level missions against Soviet armour in Poland in late 1944-45. This fascinating book, filled with detailed artwork and contemporary photographs, tells the story of this aircraft, including the political infighting at the top of the Luftwaffe's hierarchy that stymied its development, its radical technical design and its state-of-the-art weaponry.
Download or read book Junkers Ju88 written by William A. Medcalf and published by Crecy Publishing. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first in a two-part comprehensive study of the development and operational history of the Junkers Ju 88, exploring the many variants of this famous and long-serving Luftwaffe multirole aircraft. The text is supported by several hundred rare photographs, manufacturer’s handbook data, scale line drawings, and specially commissioned color artwork. The work will represent the most comprehensive study of the Ju 88 in many years. The first volume gives a detailed examination of its construction program and development from its beginnings in the mid-1930s through all the variants produced during the war. Amongst its many roles, it was known widely as a feared night fighter, representing the pinnacle of German aeronautical design technology. It also served in numbers with the air forces of Finland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and France. Its appeal as a combat aircraft—especially to modelers—was due to its widely dispersed service and as such, its variants, including the Ju 188 and Ju 288 are also covered.
Download or read book Heinkel He 177 written by Mantelli - Brown - Kittel - Graf and published by Edizioni R.E.I.. This book was released on 2015-07-05 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Heinkel He 177 "Greif" (Griffin in German) was a heavy bomber force in the Luftwaffe during World War II. The Greif was the only heavy bomber built in appreciable quantities from Germany. The motors mounted in pairs were difficult to cool, and this reduced the reliability of the machine for a long time. The real solution was found in the He 277, with 4 separate engine nacelles, as well as in the He 274, for stratospheric bombing; as often happened, however, it was too late for the outcome of the war. Designed to meet a requirement of 1936, known as Bomber A, the aircraft was originally intended to be a purely strategic bomber with the task of supporting a bombing campaign in the long run against the Soviet industry in the Urals. The Greif had four engines mounted in pairs in tandem so as to appear outside a twin-engine; this arrangement that the Heinkel and its designer had created, had its explanation in the grounds to oppose lower air resistance than traditional 4 engines installed on the leading edge of the wing. The problem, which materialized immediately was overheating of the engines as the plane was flying. This is because the arrangement in tandem did not favor a good cooling of the engine mounted behind than in front despite the installation of radiators on the leading edge.
Download or read book Luftwaffe Mistel Composite Bomber Units written by Robert Forsyth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-20 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The striking appearance of Luftwaffe's Mistel Composite attack aircraft might seem ridiculous to modern eyes, but employed correctly, these original 'fire and forget' weapons were devastatingly effective, as Allied sources testify. This book draws on a wealth of first-hand reports and revealing contemporary photographs to tell the full, strange story of the Mistel units. They were the product of a remarkable mix of desperation and innovation, and were actually grounded in a pre-war, non-military practise – the mounting of one aircraft atop another was initially conceived to extend the ranges of passenger and mail-carrying aircraft. But as early as 1942, German planners saw the potential for use as a guided missile, and by the end of the war, the sight of a Ju-88 lashed to a BF 109 or FW 190 fighter bearing down on an Allied target was not as rare as one might expect. This is a comprehensive account of the Mistel units, from their design and development, through the first deployments at D-Day, to the last, desperate missions against key bridges on the Oder and the Neisse in the final weeks of the war.
Download or read book SPAD VII vs Albatros D III written by Jon Guttman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2011-04-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When originally conceived, the French SPAD VII and German Albatros D II represented steps away from an emphasis on maneuver in aerial combat in favor of speed and durability - factors that came into play in hit-and-run tactics. At the end of 1916, however, Albatros tried to have the best of both worlds by incorporating the sesquiplane wing of the nimble Nieuport 17 into its D III. The result combined the better downward view and maneuverability of the Nieuport with the power and twin machine guns of the Albatros D II, but at a high price - a disturbing tendency for the single-spar lower wing to fail in a dive. While Albatros (and the Austrian Oeffag firm, which built the fighter under license) sought to alleviate that weakness with various reinforcing measures, the Germans developed tactics to maximize the D III's strengths and minimize its shortcomings. At the same time, the French worked to improve the SPAD VII with more power and a more reliable cooling system before moving on to the twin-gunned SPAD XIII. While all that was going on, the Albatros D III became a mainstay of the German and Austro-Hungarian air services in frequent encounters with SPAD VIIs flown by French, Belgian, British, Italian and American airmen.
Download or read book Japanese Secret Projects written by Edwin M. Dyer and published by Crecy Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Surprisingly, secret Japanese planes of World War II remain an area that has been largely ignored due to scarcity of information. They do, however, have a large base of interest as unlike the majority of secret Luftwaffe programs that were resigned to the drawing board, the vast number of aircraft featured within this book actually flew or were in development. The book begins with an overview of the IJN and IJA through the early years to 1945, and their secret technical exchanges with the Luftwaffe throughout the war. It is divided into two sections dedicated to the two armed forces, with a total of 34 aircraft examined, each with its history, performance, and combat records laid out in an easy to read fashion. The book provides photographs, technical drawings, and stunning color renditions of the aircraft in combat. Notable emphasis is placed upon the supersonic kamikaze aircraft, the Amerika bomber, and the ways in which the Japanese improved on German technology, particularly the Me 262 and Komet. Secret Japanese armaments are also covered in detail, with information uncovered on guided missiles, rockets, and cannons. A gripping read for aviation and military enthusiasts around the world!
Download or read book Japan 1941 written by Eri Hotta and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific. When Japan launched hostilities against the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. Drawing on material little known to Western readers, and barely explored in depth in Japan itself, Hotta poses an essential question: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens so unnecessarily in harm’s way? Introducing us to the doubters, schemers, and would-be patriots who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a Japan rarely glimpsed—eager to avoid war but fraught with tensions with the West, blinded by reckless militarism couched in traditional notions of pride and honor, tempted by the gambler’s dream of scoring the biggest win against impossible odds and nearly escaping disaster before it finally proved inevitable. In an intimate account of the increasingly heated debates and doomed diplomatic overtures preceding Pearl Harbor, Hotta reveals just how divided Japan’s leaders were, right up to (and, in fact, beyond) their eleventh-hour decision to attack. We see a ruling cadre rich in regional ambition and hubris: many of the same leaders seeking to avoid war with the United States continued to adamantly advocate Asian expansionism, hoping to advance, or at least maintain, the occupation of China that began in 1931, unable to end the second Sino-Japanese War and unwilling to acknowledge Washington’s hardening disapproval of their continental incursions. Even as Japanese diplomats continued to negotiate with the Roosevelt administration, Matsuoka Yosuke, the egomaniacal foreign minister who relished paying court to both Stalin and Hitler, and his facile supporters cemented Japan’s place in the fascist alliance with Germany and Italy—unaware (or unconcerned) that in so doing they destroyed the nation’s bona fides with the West. We see a dysfunctional political system in which military leaders reported to both the civilian government and the emperor, creating a structure that facilitated intrigues and stoked a jingoistic rivalry between Japan’s army and navy. Roles are recast and blame reexamined as Hotta analyzes the actions and motivations of the hawks and skeptics among Japan’s elite. Emperor Hirohito and General Hideki Tojo are newly appraised as we discover how the two men fumbled for a way to avoid war before finally acceding to it. Hotta peels back seventy years of historical mythologizing—both Japanese and Western—to expose all-too-human Japanese leaders torn by doubt in the months preceding the attack, more concerned with saving face than saving lives, finally drawn into war as much by incompetence and lack of political will as by bellicosity. An essential book for any student of the Second World War, this compelling reassessment will forever change the way we remember those days of infamy.
Download or read book Visions of Victory written by Gerhard L. Weinberg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-04-11 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visions of Victory, first published in 2005, explores the views of eight leaders of the major powers of World War II - Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Chiang Kai-shek, Stalin, Churchill, de Gaulle, and Roosevelt. He compares their visions of the future in the event of victory. While the leaders primarily focused on fighting and winning the war, their decisions were often shaped by their aspirations for the future. What emerges is a startling picture of postwar worlds. After exterminating the Jews, Hitler intended for all Slavs to die so Germans could inhabit Eastern Europe. Mussolini and Hitler wanted extensive colonies in Africa. Churchill hoped for the re-emergence of British and French empires. De Gaulle wanted to annex the northwest corner of Italy. Stalin wanted to control Eastern Europe. Roosevelt's vision included establishing the United Nations. Weinberg's comparison of the individual portraits of the war-time leaders is a highly original and compelling study of history that might have been.
Download or read book Dornier Do 217 317 417 written by Manfred Griehl and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1992-09-17 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Second World Wars written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 775 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "breathtakingly magisterial" account of World War II by America's preeminent military historian (Wall Street Journal) World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, bestselling author Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory. An authoritative new history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.
Download or read book German Combat Planes written by Ray Wagner and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
