Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun

Author: Jan Forsgren
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 9788361421672
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun (German for "typhoon") was a German single-engine sports, touring and communications aircraft developed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works). The experience gained by Messerschmitt in developing this aircraft led to the most important German fighter of World War II, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. By the outbreak of World War II, the Bf 108 was in widespread service with the Luftwaffe as a communications and ferry aircraft. Both pre- and postwar, the Bf 108 was a popular and widely used civil light aircraft. Profusely illustrated with photos, including a comprehensive walk-around section showing all aspects of the airframe, and diagrams from official manuals. Includes 1/72nd and 1/48th scale plans of all variants, and color profiles showing many of the colorful schemes applied to the bf 108 by its many users.

Sharks of the Air

Author: James Neal Harvey
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612000231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 413

Book Description
“[A] perfect blend of sympathetic career biography and gripping military history . . . a definite winner for all World War II military history buffs” (Library Journal). In July 1944, the Allies were stunned by the appearance of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the world’s first operational jet warplane. More than one hundred mph faster than any other aircraft in the skies, the Me 262 gained scores of victories over Allied fighters and bombers, and by the end of the war, many of the Luftwaffe’s greatest aces had clamored to be in their cockpits. Sharks of the Air tells the story of Willy Messerschmitt’s life and shows how this aeronautical genius built many revolutionary airplanes—not excluding the Luftwaffe’s mainstay, the Me 109—and culminating in the Me 262. It describes how his various warplanes fought in Spain, Poland, France, Britain, the USSR, and Germany, and it provides thrilling accounts of air battles drawn from combat reports and interviews with veterans. And finally, this biography gives “insight into the life of a man who played a role in the Nazi war machine, but is not defined by it” (Scale Aviation Modeller International). Aspects of Messerschmitt’s life never before made public are revealed, including his love affair with the beautiful Baroness Lilly Michel-Rolino, a rich aristocrat who left her husband to live with Willy. Author James Harvey “uses his 40 years of flying experience and experience of aviation to tell the fascinating story of Messerschmitt and how, given the right conditions, Messerschmitt and other German aircraft designers could have changed the course of WWII” (Military Scale).

Croatian Aces of World War 2

Author: Boris Ciglic
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472800842
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
Initially flying Italian-supplied Fiat G.50s, the Croat forces suffered heavy losses during 1942 whilst flying alongside JG 52 in the southern sector of the Russian front. Despite this, a significant number of kills fell to future aces such as Cvitan Galic and Mato Dubovak during this time, and when the units re-equipped with Bf 109G-10s in 1943, battle-seasoned Croat pilots started to rack up impressive scores. This book reveals how, by 1944, Croat air groups were defending Yugoslavia from British and American air raids, and in the final months of the war a handful of surviving pilots fought on until final defeat in May 1945.

BuNos! Disposition of World War II USN, USMC and USCG Aircraft Listed by Bureau Number

Author: Douglas E. Campbell
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 110542071X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 626

Book Description
A snapshot in time. After thousands of hours of research and data entry over a 35-year period, the information on the disposition of some 25,000 US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard aircraft needs to be published. These aircraft mainly represent those built and lost during World War II - between 7 December 1941 and 15 August 1945 - but this book also contains aircraft built before WWII that were lost during WWII or disposed of after WWII (lost during the Korean War, lost on training exercises, sold to private investors, currently located in museums and even some still proudly sitting as "gate guards" across the US, etc.).

Fighter!

Author: Jim Laurier
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 0760349525
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Book Description
Hear the daring tales of the pilots who flew the top World War II fighter planes, as well as their perspective on the design and weaponry.

German Aircraft Industry and Production, 1933-1945

Author: Ferenc A. Vajda
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9781853108648
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Book Description
Beskriver den tyske flyindustri i perioden 1933-45, herunder de særlige forhold under 2. verdenskrig.

Rays of the Rising Sun

Author: John Berger
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1907677569
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Book Description
The first of a three-volume series examining the history of Chinese “puppet” soldiers fighting for the Japanese before and during World War II. When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941. it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time, it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to co-operate with them. These so-called “puppet” governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their control. In turn, the “puppet” governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own 'independent' armed forces. These “puppet” armies were in large number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers. The Chinese “puppet” soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly formed state of Manchukuo, 1932–45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the “secret war” waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tells the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a fourteen-year period.

Kites, Birds & Stuff - Aircraft of GERMANY - I to M

Author: P. D. Stemp
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1291292691
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
The aviation history of German aircraft from the very early days to the present. Details of around five hundred and twenty four aircraft. From the 1st. World War types and the 2nd. World War aircraft. Fighters, bombers, reconnaissance, trainers, civil types. Landplanes, seaplanes, airships, rockets, bombs - lots of stuff. An archive of information.Thye series of books comes in four volumes. In this volume some of the larger companies include: - Junkers - Klemm - LFG Roland - Lippisch - LVG - Messerschmitt plus many others. There are around 524 pictures & 195 plan diagrams. Details on some one thousand and fourteen individual aircraft - Enjoy.

Rcaf War Prize Flights, German and Japanese Warbird Survivors

Author: Harold A. Skaarup
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595840051
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Book Description
This handbook concerns the collection of Air Technical Intelligence, and the test flying of war prizes carried out by two RCAF bomber pilots who were posted to the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Foreign Aircraft Flight, Farnborough, in the United Kingdom in May 1945. Their primary task was to visit former Luftwaffe airfields, and to find and fly back any aircraft they deemed worthy of evaluation. The list of aircraft found here does not include every German combat aircraft of the Second World War, as it focuses on those warbirds captured and flown by members of the RCAF, or sent to Canada as war prizes. Very few of these rare aircraft exist today, and therefore, information on known locations where German, Japanese and Italian warbird survivors may be found is included. As a member of the Canadian Aviation Preservation Association and the Canadian Aviation Artists Association, the author strongly supports the preservation of Canada's aviation heritage. The primary intent of this handbook is to provide information for aviation artists and enthusiasts looking for that unusual "never before painted" military aviation subject, and to support the efforts of those engaged in the search for those missing warbirds for which no examples currently exist.

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe - Vol 1 - Jet Fighters 1939 -1945

Author: Dan Sharp
Publisher: Tempest
ISBN: 1911658808
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
Germany’s air ministry was quick to grasp the potential of the jet engine as early as 1938 and by 1939 several German aircraft manufacturers were already working on fighter designs that would utilize this new form of propulsion. Rocket engines too were seen as the way of the future and companies were commissioned to design fighters around them. As the Second World War began, the urgent need to bring these advanced new types into production saw a host of innovative aircraft designs being produced which would eventually result in Messerschmitt’s Me 262 jet fighter and the Me 163 rocket-propelled interceptor. And as the war progressed, efforts were increasingly made to find better ways of utilizing jet, rocket and latterly ramjet engines in fighter aircraft. Aviation companies from across Germany set their finest minds to the task and produced some of the most radical aircraft designs the world had ever seen. They proposed rotating wing ramjet fighters, arrowhead-shaped rammers, rocket-firing bat-winged gun platforms, sleek speed machines, tailless flying wings, tiny mini fighters and a host of others ranging from deadly looking advanced fighters to downright dangerous vertical launch interceptors. Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1: Jet Fighters 1939-1945 by Dan Sharp, based on original research using German wartime documents, offers the most complete and authoritative account yet of these fascinating designs through previously unseen photographs, illustrations and period documentation from archives around the world.