Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Aces

Author: Kari Stenman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782003436
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
The MS.406 was an important aircraft not only because it was built in larger numbers than any other French fighter of the period, but also because it was the first modern fighter in the Armée de l'Air inventory. Although comparable to the British Hurricane and early models of the German Bf 109, it was outclassed when flown against the more powerful, and faster, Bf 109E. With little or no protection (no armour or self-sealing tanks), the MS.406 sustained heavy losses during the Battle of France. Too lightly armed, and fitted with unreliable weaponry, the French fighter struggled to down German bombers. It therefore comes as no surprise that only a dozen French pilots became fully fledged aces on the type during this period, despite the aircraft being present in significant numbers. However a score of pilots, who bagged their very first kills at the controls of the MS.406, fought on after the fall of France, flying Dewoitine D.520s, Spitfires and even Soviet Yak-3s to attain ace status against both Allied and Axis opponents.

Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Aces

Author: Kari Stenman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782003428
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 96

Morane Saulnier MS. 406

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788365958969
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
This book includes compilations of the 4-view colour profile, scale plans and photo details of the single variant of the Morane Saulnier MS.406. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also photos of the details in B&W and colour.

Fokker D.XXI Aces of World War 2

Author: Kari Stenman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780960646
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 149

Book Description
The Dutch D.XXIs saw less than a week of action following the German invasion of the west on 10 May 1940, with many of the country's 28 fighters being destroyed on the ground. However, those that survived the initial onslaught inflicted losses on the Luftwaffe. By then, however, the D.XXI had found everlasting fame in Finland during the Winter War of 1939-40. Proving itself a real thorn in the side of the Soviets, the fighter, operating in primitive conditions and against vastly superior numbers, Finnish D.XXIs racked up an incredible score against the Red Air Force. The D.XXI also has the distinction of producing the first 'ace in a single mission' in World War 2, when then 1Lt Jorma Sarvanto shot down six Ilyushin DB-3 bombers on 6 January 1940. After spending a year providing home defence and flying coastal patrols during the early stages of the Continuation War in 1941, all surviving Finnish Fokker D.XXIs were relegated to the reconnaissance role, which they performed through to the end of hostilities in September 1944.

Morane Saulnier Ms.406

Author: Bartlomiej Belcarz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788365958327
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
The Morane Saulnier MS.406 was a French fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Morane Saulnier starting in 1938. It was France's most numerous fighter during WW2. This profusely illustrated photo album includes over 150 previously unseen pictures, many from private sources in Germany.

Enemy at the Gates

Author: Justo Miranda
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 373

Book Description
When the Nazis started to threaten the world with their efficient machine of propaganda, the main concern of European governments was the overwhelming reaction of panic that the expected bombing of the Luftwaffe might cause within the civil population. During the Munich Agreement in 1938, the democracies were defended by old biplanes and a bunch of modern fighters: 50 Hurricanes, 20 Morane-405 and 5 Fokker D.XXI. France and Great Britain took up the production of USA airplanes and cancelled exports to small countries, which were forced to design and build their own PANIC FIGHTERS with the intelligence and skill that desperation provides. When nothing seemed able to contain the German advance, France, Great Britain and the USSR developed several programs of emergency fighters, as did Australia, to face the Japanese expansion. At the time the course of events switched, it was the Axis powers that had to create their own PANIC FIGHTERS, some of them suicidal. The present book includes several last resource designs of fighters that are practically unknown and that were developed in times of tribulation by Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Netherland, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

French Aircraft 1939-1942: Dewoitine to Potez

Author: André Jouineau
Publisher:
ISBN: 9782915239492
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Thanks to this second volume, every single one of France's combat aircraft (fighters, bombers and recce aircraft) in the early years of W.W.II is now offered to the international audience, including the lesser known types. Each type is featured with an historical text, period photographs and color profiles.

Halifax Squadrons of World War 2

Author: Jon Lake
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781855328921
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The second of Britain's four-engined bombers to enter frontline service during World War II (1939-1945), Handley Page's Halifax has forever lived in the shadow of Avro's superb Lancaster. However, it was a Halifax which became the first RAF 'heavy' to drop bombs on Germany when No 35 Sqn raided Hamburg on the night of 12/13 March 1941. Between 1941-45, the Halifax completed some 75,532 sorties [compared with the Lancaster's 156,000] with Bomber Command alone, not to mention its sterling work as both a glider tug and paratroop carrier with the Airborne Forces, maritime patrol mount with Coastal Command and covert intruder with the SOE.

The Rise and Fall of the French Air Force

Author: Greg Baughen
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428

Book Description
On 10 May 1940, the French possessed one of the largest air forces in the world. On paper, it was nearly as strong as the RAF. Six weeks later, France had been defeated. For a struggling French Army desperately looking for air support, the skies seemed empty of friendly planes. In the decades that followed, the debate raged. Were there unused stockpiles of planes? Were French aircraft really so inferior? Baughen examines the myths that surround the French defeat. He explains how at the end of the First World War, the French had possessed the most effective air force in the world, only for the lessons learned to be forgotten. Instead, air policy was guided by radical theories that predicted air power alone would decide future wars. Baughen traces some of the problems back to the very earliest days of French aviation. He describes the mistakes and bad luck that dogged the French efforts to modernise their air force in the twenties and thirties. He examines how decisions made just months before the German attack further weakened the air force. Yet defeat was not inevitable. If better use had been made of the planes that were available, the result might have been different.

Polish Fighter Colours, 1939-1947

Author: Bartłomiej Belcarz
Publisher: MMP
ISBN: 9788363678623
Category : Fighter planes
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This book describes in detail the camouflage and markings of the day fighters used by the Polish Air Force in 1939-47. Aircraft of Polish, French, British, American, Soviet and German origin are shown. Written by a well-known quartet of distinguished Polish aviation historians: Kopański, Belcarz, Gretzyngier and Matusiak. Many historical photos and color profiles.