Author: Richard H. CampbellPublisher: McFarland
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
Table of contents
Author: David DoyleB-29 Superfortress
Author: Graham M. SimonsPublisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783376198
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
“A well written history of a history-changing aircraft,” the bomber that carried the two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII (Aeromilitaria). The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined heavy bomber flown primarily by the United States in World War Two and the Korean War. The name “Superfortress” was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B–17 Flying Fortress. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, trainers and tankers including the variant, B-50 Superfortress. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War Two. A very advanced bomber for its time, it included features such as pressurized cabins, an electronic fire-control system and remote-controlled machine-gun turrets. Though it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. It was the primary aircraft in the American firebombing campaign against Japan in the final months of World War Two. Unlike many other World War Two-era bombers, the B-29 remained in service long after the war ended, with a few even being employed as flying television transmitters. The type was finally retired in the early 1960s, with 3,960 aircraft in all built. Without doubt there is a clear, strong requirement to “put the record straight” using primary source documentation to record the undoubted achievements alongside and in context with the shortcomings to the type’s design and operation that have otherwise received scant attention. The book covers all variants and is profusely illustrated.
Author: Richard H. CampbellSuperfortress
Author: Curtis E. LeMayPublisher:
ISBN: 9781594160394
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The Complete Story of the Design, Development, and Deployment of an Iconic Aircraft Among the most sophisticated aircraft flown during World War II, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was designed to replace the B-17 as the primary long-range bomber of the U.S. Army Air Forces. With its distinctive glazed nose and long, thin wings that provided both speed at high altitude and stability at takeoff and landing, the Superfortress was the first operational bomber with a pressurized crew cabin and featured advanced radar and avionics. Armed with remote-controlled machine gun turrets and a 20,000 pound bomb load, it was the first USAAF bomber capable of mastering the vast distances of the Pacific Theater of World War II. The prototype flew in September 1942 but a series of post-production modifications delayed the bomber's first mission until April 1944. Superfortresses began attacking Japan in daylight with conventional ordnance from high altitude, but their mission was redirected in March 1945, with massive low-level formations dropping incendiary bombs! at night on Japanese cities. The ensuing firestorms, followed by the complete destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs dropped from two specially modified "silverplate" B-29s, forced Japan to cease fighting. Written by the man who led the B-29 into combat, Superfortress: The Boeing B-29 and American Airpower in World War II is an important document of one of the most turbulent times in world history. General Curtis LeMay recalls the early debate about whether or not the United States needed a long-range bomber, how the B-29 was created and produced despite the enormous logistical difficulties of the design, and the decision to conduct fire-bombings against Japan and ultimately drop the atomic bomb. Highly praised when it was first published, this new edition is complete with photographs, a new introduction, and statistical tables.
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Author: Ben SkipperPublisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399040677
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 99
Book Description
The B-29 Superfortress was the definitive expression in piston-powered offensive air power. It was designed for an air force that was slowly realizing it needed larger and heavy aircraft to support its operations, especially in the Pacific. Riding on the waves made by the equally ground breaking B-17, the B-29 was a bigger, more capable and more complex platform which incorporated myriad lessons learned from the European air war. It was soon decided to utilize the B-29’s exceptional range of 3,250 miles in the Pacific Theater, where its payload would go on to wreak havoc among the forces of Imperial Japan. As well as military targets, the B-29s of the specially formed 20th Air Force would strike hard against the Japanese home islands, initially from bases in India and China, before following on behind MacArthur’s push towards Japan. It was from the island of Tinian that B-29s would drop atomic bomb over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The B-29 was a genuine behemoth of the skies, and its flight endurance would see its ten-man crew provided with rest bunks, remotely operated defensive guns and a tunnel linking the front and rear of the aircraft. It was also tough, capable of using the most basic landing strips, providing they were long enough. As a new aircraft it presented both new and converting pilots with a challenge, notwithstanding the B-29’s high-wing loading. From flying the large aircraft to operating its many systems, the B-29 was as complex as it was large, and each member of the ten-man crew had to know their role and perform it flawlessly to ensure operational efficiency. In the post-war era the B-29 was retained by the USAAF and, from 1948, the USAF as the primary strategic bomber. Indeed, the B-29’s fighting days were far from over and it would go on to see action over the skies of Korea. It would also supplement the Royal Air Force’s bomber capacity while Bomber Command awaited the arrival of the Canberra and its next generation of jet-powered V-bombers. The B-29 has more than earned its place in the halls of aviation fame. It was an aircraft ahead of its time that helped usher in a new age of military aviation and provided a tangible bridge between new and old ways.
Atomic Bomb Island
Author: Don A. FarrellPublisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811769313
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465
Book Description
Atomic Bomb Island tells the story of an elite, top-secret team of sailors, airmen, scientists, technicians, and engineers who came to Tinian in the Marianas in the middle of 1945 to prepare the island for delivery of the atomic bombs then being developed in New Mexico, to finalize the designs of the bombs themselves, and to launch the missions that would unleash hell on Japan. Almost exactly a year before the atomic bombs were dropped, strategically important Tinian was captured by Marines—because it was only 1,500 miles from Japan and its terrain afforded ideal runways from which the new B-29 bombers could pound Japan. In the months that followed, the U.S. turned virtually all of Tinian into a giant airbase, with streets named after those of Manhattan Island—a Marianas city where the bombs could be assembled, the heavily laden B-29s could be launched, and the Manhattan Project scientists could do their last work. Don Farrell has done this story incredible justice for the 75th anniversary. The book is a thoroughly researched, beautifully illustrated mosaic of the final phase of the Manhattan Project, from the Battle of Tinian and the USS Indianapolis to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Bombers
Author: Philip KaplanPublisher:
ISBN: 9780760720578
Category : Bombardiers
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
The crews of the Lancasters, Halifaxes, Mosquitoes, the Fortresses, Liberators and Marauders - and, for that matter, the Heinkel 111s, the Junkers 88s, the Mitsubishis and the Savoia-Marchettis - had some of the most thankless and most dangerous jobs of all those who fought in the Second World War. For the most part, they performed them with courage, skill and determination. Few had chosen their role, many disliked it, but most believed it was necessary for the cause they fought for. The majority were young, in their teens or early twenties - often too young to vote for their government, but never too young to die for their country. This book is an account, largely in their own words, of what these men (and their successors who flew in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf and elsewhere) experienced: flying five to six miles above the earth, deep into enemy territory, and then returning to a short interlude of comparative normality at 'home' before contemplating the next briefing, the next mission. Unlike many other combatants, they had little control over their own fate - there are no foxholes in which to take cover in the sky, 99 of the projectiles fired at their aircraft might burst in harmless puffs of smoke, the hundredth might tear a wing off or riddle their body with shrapnel. The fighters that preyed upon them could soar and jink like hawks while they had to fly straight and level, holding formation by day, alone and vulnerable by night. -- Amazon.com.
Author: John SteinbeckBombers
Author: Don NardoPublisher:
ISBN: 9781599353784
Category : Bombers
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Ever since primitive airplanes started dropping bombs during World War I, the United States has been a leader in bomber technology. Later, during World War II, American industry turned out thousands of bombers of various types. One of that conflict's true workhorses was the B-29. It took part in dramatic bombing raids that helped to bring Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to their knees. And it was a U.S. B-29 called the Enola Gay that unleashed the first atomic bomb on Japan, ending the war in the Pacific. In the decades that followed, American bombers became increasing sophisticated. Today the country has some that fly at supersonic speeds. Others are invisible to the enemy radar. In a world that remains dangerous and uncertain, these amazing and lethal flying weapons stand ready. They can and will go anywhere and do whatever is necessary to defend American liberty and interests.
