Author: Raymond F. ToliverPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Lists American fighter pilot aces who flew during the U.S. engagements in aerial warfare from World War I to Vietnam.
Richard Bong
Author: Pete BarnesPublisher: Wisconsin Historical Society
ISBN: 0870204343
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 130
Book Description
Wisconsin-born Richard Bong was the highest-rated flying ace in World War II, famous for having shot down 40 Japanese planes during a 3 year career as a fighter pilot. The recipient of a Silver Star and a Congressional Medal of Honor, Bong was killed after the war in a flying accident just months after marrying the love of his life, Marge Vattendahl. Badger Biographies is a series intended to integrate reading and Wisconsin history for 4th through 8th grade students or for ELL/ESL high school students.
Luftwaffe Fighter Ace
Author: Norbert HannigPublisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 1908117974
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
A World War II memoir by the renowned German fighter pilot—from his Hitler Youth glider training to combat missions against the Soviet Air Force. Herr Norbert Hanning’s wartime career makes for fascinating and highly informative reading on an aspect of the 1939-45 air war not often covered in the English language; primarily that of the campaign against the Soviet Union. He was one of the midwar-generation Luftwaffe fighter pilots and began operations with JG 54 on the eastern (Leningrad) front in early 1943; initially flying Messerschmitt Bf 109s before transitioning to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. He became a Staffel CO and was credited with 42 victories, also serving with JV 44 (whose CO was Adolf Galland); he then returned to Germany towards the closing stages of the war to convert to Me 262 jet fighters. Many and varied were his experiences in action against the rejuvenated Soviet Air Force in the east, and the powerful western Allies over the homeland during the final chaotic months of hostilities, which culminated in his captivity. John Weal’s skillful translation ensures that the fluid and descriptive style of the author is preserved. Thankfully, also, Norbert was a keen photographer who shot a profusion of images, all previously unpublished, many of which appear in this important book.
Oswald Boelcke
Author: R.G. HeadPublisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 191069066X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
This biography of the pioneering WWI flying ace who mentored the Red Baron is “fascinating . . . [it] captures combat aviation at its inception” (MiG Sweep: The Magazine of Aviation Warriors). With a total of forty victories, Oswald Boelcke was Germany’s first ace in World War I—and a century later he remains a towering figure in the history of air warfare, renowned for his character, inspirational leadership, organizational genius, development of air-to-air tactics, and impact on aerial doctrine. Paving the way for modern air forces across the world with his pioneering strategies, Boelcke had a dramatic effect on his contemporaries. The famed Red Baron’s mentor, instructor, squadron commander, and friend, he exerted a tremendous influence upon the German air force. He was one of the first pilots to be awarded the famous Pour le Mérite, commonly recognized as the “Blue Max.” All of this was achieved after overcoming medical obstacles in childhood and later life with willpower and determination. Boelcke even gained the admiration of his enemies: After his tragic death in a midair collision, Britain’s Royal Flying Corps dropped a wreath on his funeral, and several of his captured foes sent another wreath from their German prison camp. His name and legacy live on, as seen in the Luftwaffe’s designation of the Tactical Air Force Wing 31 “Boelcke.” This definitive biography reveals his importance as a fighter pilot who set the standard in military aviation.
Gladiator Ace
Author: Brian CullPublisher: Haynes Publishing UK
ISBN: 9781844256570
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Brian Cull’s careful research provides a rare and unique insight into a forgotten RAF fighter ace: Squadron Leader Bill ‘Cherry’ Vale DFC, AFC (1914–81). Vale was one of the RAF’s top ten fighter aces of the Second World War, but surprisingly there is no published biography about him. He fought the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica in the Western Desert and Greece in 1940, flying antiquated Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, then in Crete flying Hawker Hurricanes against the Germans, and latterly in Egypt against Vichy French forces in Syria. Vale’s final score was 30 kills plus three shared.
Author: William R. DunnLuftwaffe Fighter Aces
Author: Mike SpickPublisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1783375787
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
In this exciting book Mike Spick shows how the Luftwaffe's leading fighter pilots were able to outscore their allied counterparts so effectively and completely during the Second World War. When the records of the Jagdflieger pilots became available after the war, they were initially greeted with incredulity _ the highest claim was for 352 kills, and more than 100 pilots had recorded more than 100 victories. However postwar research proved that these claims had in fact been made in good faith and confirmation had only been given after rigorous checking. To discover the secret of this success, aviation history expert Mike Spick examines the exploits of these aces and sets out the context in which it took place. Every major theater is covered in detail including the conditions peculiar to each: climate, relative numerical and qualitative strengths, the presence or absence of radar and other measures, and the relative merits of the planes being flown. He focuses on the methods and tactics used by individual aces and uses firsthand sources wherever possible to put the reader right alongside the pilot in the cockpit.
Pushing the Envelope
Author: Marion CarlPublisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612515487
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
First published in 1994, this stirring autobiography of a fighter and test pilot takes readers full throttle through Carl's imposing list of "firsts." Beginning with his World War II career, he gained such commendations as first Marine Corps ace, among the first Marines ever to fly a helicopter, and first Marine to land aboard an aircraft carrier. His combat duty included the momentous battles at Midway and Guadalcanal. Not one to rest on his laurels, however, he participated in photoreconnaissance operations over Red China in 1955 and flew missions in Vietnam. In peacetime he gamed fame for "pushing the envelope" as a test pilot, adding the world's altitude and peace records to his wartime feats and becoming the first U.S. military aviator to wear a full pressure suit. Such achievements also led to Carl's being the first living Marine admitted to the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor, as well as the first Marine to be named to the Navy Carrier Aviation Test Pilots Hall of Honor. This very readable memoir is as forthright and compelling as the man it chronicles.
Herman Goring Fighter Ace
Author: Peter KilduffPublisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 9781906502669
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Over the last 70 years, in countless books and essays, Hermann Goring has been defined by his crimes and excess during the Third Reich and the Second World War. But his activities as a young career military officer in World War I have invariably been glossed over – until now. 'Hermann Goring – Fighter Ace' is the first in-depth look at Goring’s role as a military flyer and air combat leader from 1914 through the end of The Great War, and how those experiences shaped the personality that came to the world’s attention in 1939
Fighter Aces
Author: John SadlerPublisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612004830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161
Book Description
A readable and entertaining introduction to aerial combat in the series that “would be excellent for someone with an early interest in military history” (Army Rumour Service). Just over a decade after the first successful powered flight, fearless pioneers were flying over the battlefields of France in flimsy biplanes. Though the infantry in their muddy trenches might see aerial combat as glorious and chivalric, the reality was very different and undeniably deadly: new Royal Flying Corps subalterns in 1917 had a life expectancy of eleven days. In 1915 the term “ace” was coined to denote a pilot adept at downing enemy aircraft, and top aces like the Red Baron, René Fonck, and Billy Bishop became household names. The idea of the ace continued after the 1918 Armistice, but as the size of air forces increased, the prominence of the ace diminished. But still, the pilots who swirled and danced in Hurricanes and Spitfires over southern England in 1940 were, and remain, feted as “the Few” who stood between Britain and invasion. Flying aircraft advanced beyond the wildest dreams of Great War pilots, the “top” fighter aces of World War II would accrue hundreds of kills, though their life expectancy was still measured in weeks, not years. World War II cemented the vital role of air power, and postwar innovation gave fighter pilots jet-powered fighters, enabling them to pursue duels over huge areas above modern battlefields. This entertaining introduction explores the history and cult of the fighter ace from the first pilots through late twentieth-century conflicts, which leads to discussion of whether the era of the fighter ace is at an end.
