Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945

Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945 PDF Author: Jon Guttman
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
ISBN: 9781594162008
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
An International History of the Development, Competition, and Deployment of High-Speed, Maneuverable, Fighter Aircraft During the Era of the World Wars Of all military aircraft, fighter planes hold a mystique all their own. Perhaps it is because fighters can afford the least compromise: when the goal is to seize and maintain control of the air, the confrontation is direct. During World War I, the concept of air superiority took hold and in the ensuing decades the development of fighter aircraft became an ongoing back-and-forth battle, with adversaries trying to gain an upper hand through innovations in aerodynamics, powerplants, and armament. Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945: Innovation in Air Warfare Before the Jet Age by prominent aviation expert Jon Guttman explores the first combats for a variety of fighters of World War I, the conflicts of the so-called "interwar years," and World War II--a thirty-year period that saw the birth of the fighter concept and its maturity on the threshold of the Jet Age. Most of the aircraft described are fairly well known to aviation historians and a few names, such as Sopwith Camel, Fokker Triplane, Messerschmitt Me-109, Mitsubishi Zero, North American Mustang, and Supermarine Spitfire, are familiar even to the most nonaviation- minded persons. Not so well-known are the circumstances of their combat debuts, in which some, such as the Zero, made their mark almost from the outset, but in which others, like the British Bristol F.2A, showed rather less promise than they would ultimately realize. While a certain amount of space must be devoted to the technical development of these famous fighters, these studies of first combats serve as a reminder that it is the human factor, with all its special quirks, that inevitably came into play when these deadly flying machines first fired their guns. Profusely illustrated, Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts is an authoritative history of one of the most enduring subjects in military aviation.

Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945

Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945 PDF Author: Jon Guttman
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
ISBN: 9781594162008
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
An International History of the Development, Competition, and Deployment of High-Speed, Maneuverable, Fighter Aircraft During the Era of the World Wars Of all military aircraft, fighter planes hold a mystique all their own. Perhaps it is because fighters can afford the least compromise: when the goal is to seize and maintain control of the air, the confrontation is direct. During World War I, the concept of air superiority took hold and in the ensuing decades the development of fighter aircraft became an ongoing back-and-forth battle, with adversaries trying to gain an upper hand through innovations in aerodynamics, powerplants, and armament. Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts, 1915-1945: Innovation in Air Warfare Before the Jet Age by prominent aviation expert Jon Guttman explores the first combats for a variety of fighters of World War I, the conflicts of the so-called "interwar years," and World War II--a thirty-year period that saw the birth of the fighter concept and its maturity on the threshold of the Jet Age. Most of the aircraft described are fairly well known to aviation historians and a few names, such as Sopwith Camel, Fokker Triplane, Messerschmitt Me-109, Mitsubishi Zero, North American Mustang, and Supermarine Spitfire, are familiar even to the most nonaviation- minded persons. Not so well-known are the circumstances of their combat debuts, in which some, such as the Zero, made their mark almost from the outset, but in which others, like the British Bristol F.2A, showed rather less promise than they would ultimately realize. While a certain amount of space must be devoted to the technical development of these famous fighters, these studies of first combats serve as a reminder that it is the human factor, with all its special quirks, that inevitably came into play when these deadly flying machines first fired their guns. Profusely illustrated, Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts is an authoritative history of one of the most enduring subjects in military aviation.

The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft

The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft PDF Author: Jon Guttman
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
ISBN: 9781594160837
Category : Fighter planes
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
From Scouts to Balloon-busters, the Emergence of Air-to-Air Combat in World War I When World War I began in August 1914, the airplane had already proven its worth as an intelligence gathering "eye-in-the-sky." These scouting aircraft soon became indispensable to armies on both sides, and the attempt to drive enemy planes away began in earnest. Local air superiority was incorporated into battlefield strategy, and the use of aircraft to conduct offensive operations would change warfare as dramatically as the first firearms 300 years before. By the end of 1915, the basic formula of the armed scout settled on a single-seater with a machine gun synchronized to fire through its propeller blades. This heavily armed aircraft became the first true fighter plane whose primary function was to destroy enemy aircraft, whether scouts, balloons, bombers, or other fighters. A new glamorized "knight of the air" was born: the ace, a fighter pilot who brought down five or more opponents. From 1916 on, as the combatants relied on airplanes more, flying tactics and strategy--including mass formations--were developed for what would become a deadly struggle for complete air superiority. By 1918, the final year of the war, air battles could be as sprawling as those on the ground. In The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft, historian Jon Guttman tells the engrossing story of how one of the most amazing inventions became a integral component of warfare. Balancing technical description, personalities, and battle accounts, the author demonstrates that by the end of World War I most of the fundamentals for modern aerial combat had been established.

Fighting Firsts

Fighting Firsts PDF Author: Jon Guttman
Publisher: Burns & Oates
ISBN: 9781854094438
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
"It is a rare and happy event when a great idea for a book occurs to the man best suited to write it....The concept of examining the first time each of scores of new fighters entered combat is so good....Guttman lays it out exactly right....Fighting Firsts is a really fine book, a model of its kind, and one that can be read straight through..."--"Aviation History."

Superfortress

Superfortress PDF Author: Curtis E. LeMay
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description


Other Men's Lives

Other Men's Lives PDF Author: William J. Reddan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594162831
Category : World War, 1914-1918
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
An Attack by an American Infantry Company During World War I and Its Aftermath "Who can explain the feelings or thoughts of a soldier during the last few minutes before a battle? He fixes his bayonet, sees that his rifle is working properly, loads it, turns the safety lock, doing a dozen things, automatically from force of training. Just a faint trace of nervousness. . . . A few of us were think­ing of a wife and children hoping if it was our turn to 'Go West, ' that the folks back home would not feel too badly."--from Other Men's Lives Receiving orders in March 1917 to report for active service in the European war, Capt. William J. Reddan and his New Jersey National Guard unit joined the 29th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. Following training for "Over There," which included maneuvering under live machine gun and grenade fire and constant bayonet drills, Reddan assumed command of Company B, 114th Infantry--two hundred officers and men. Arriving in France in June 1918, Reddan and his company entered the frontline trenches along the Alsace front in August. Fighting side by side with the French, the 114th conducted patrols in "no man's land," repulsed attacks, and endured artillery and chemical barrages. Toward the end of September, the regiment was moved by truck to a new sector: the Argonne Forest. Here, Reddan and his company would be part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the largest in the history of the U.S. Army. This final Allied assault would last until the Armistice, November 11, 1918, and claim the most American lives of the war. On October 12, Reddan and the rest of the 114th Infantry were ordered to take a German position that was supposed to offer little resistance; instead, Reddan watched in horror as his company was destroyed: of his two hundred officers and men, only thirteen survived the ordeal. Wounded by both shrapnel and gas, Reddan was evacuated to a field hospital and did not return to his unit until after peace was declared. Written in 1936, Other Men's Lives: Experiences of a Doughboy, 1917-1919 recounts the complete story of Reddan's company in the World War, including the true story of what happened in that tragic October battle as well as the political aftermath that sought to exonerate the upper command who had bungled the operation.

World War 1 in Outline

World War 1 in Outline PDF Author: B. H. Liddell Hart
Publisher: Westholme Pub Llc
ISBN: 9781594161612
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
A concise history of the war, divided into five parts representing each year of the war. Discusses the war on land, at sea and in the air while incorporating the political events of the time.

The Campaign of the Marne, 1914 (Classic Reprint)

The Campaign of the Marne, 1914 (Classic Reprint) PDF Author: Sewell Tyng
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780331190151
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 430

Get Book Here

Book Description
Excerpt from The Campaign of the Marne, 1914 In the following narrative, an attempt has been made to adhere, so far as possible, to matters of military interest and to avoid the fields of political and economic history, despite their necessarily close relationship. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

With the Help of God and a Few Marines

With the Help of God and a Few Marines PDF Author: A. Wright Catlin
Publisher: Alpha Edition
ISBN: 9789354013508
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.

Air War Europa

Air War Europa PDF Author: Eric Hammel
Publisher: Daniel Hammel
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 892

Get Book Here

Book Description
AIR WAR EUROPA Chronology Eric Hammel THE GREAT AERIAL CRUSADE OF WORLD WAR II: There was never a military campaign like it, and there never will be another. Here is an opportunity to follow the great crusade as it unfolded in the air over the Nazi empire in North Africa and Europe. This exhaustive chronology sheds a fascinating light on the course of America’s air war against Germany and her allies. * The Air War Europa Chronology is a day-by-day accounting of all the major combat missions undertaken by United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy aviation units in the European, Mediterranean, and North African theaters of operations in World War II. * A special introductory narrative explains the crucial evolution of fighter tactics over western Europe—and how it led to the inexorable defeat of Hitler’s vaunted Luftwaffe. * All U.S. Army Air Forces theater fighter aces are covered— including unit affiliation, date and time ace status was attained, and date and time of highest victory tally (over ten). * Information pertaining to the arrival, activation, transfer, departure, and decommissioning of air commands, combat units, and special units. Comings and goings of the commanders of major aviation units are also covered. * Provides a rich contextual framework pertaining to related ground campaigns; international and high-command conferences and decisions influencing air strategies and campaigns; and breakthroughs in the development of special techniques and equipment, such as the evolution of the role of escorts and the strategically crucial introduction of fighter auxiliary fuel tanks. * Bibliography, guide to abbreviations, maps, and two indexes. Eric Hammel is the author of forty military history books, including Pacifica Military History’s Air War Pacific Chronology; Fire In the Streets; Six Days in June; Aces Against Japan, and Guadalcanal: Starvation Island.

To the Wide Missouri

To the Wide Missouri PDF Author: Louis A. Garavaglia
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594163302
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Fascinating History of the Rapid Expansion of Roads, Canals, and Railways in the First Decades of the United States While the great overland migration routes to America's far west are well known and documented--the California, Oregon, Mormon, and Santa Fe Trails, the Central Overland and Pony Express--less attention has been given to how Americans in the first decades of the republic traveled across the western frontiers of the original colonies. Following the revolution, Americans began to seek their fortunes to the west in greater numbers. Land grants to veterans inspired others to move, including tradesmen, merchants, and tavern owners. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the country doubled in size, and the rate of migration became extraordinary, with wider and more durable roads built, ferries installed at river crossings, canals cut to move goods, regular stage routes established, and ultimately the first railroad tracks laid down. Entire regions that supported few communities in the 1790s exploded in population, and as a result seven new states were admitted to the Union in the decade following the War of 1812. John Bradbury, who traveled through the United States between 1809 and 1811, wrote that "In passing through the upper parts of Virginia, I observed a great number of farms that had been abandoned, on many of which good houses had been erected, and fine apple and peach orchards had been planted. On enquiring the reason, I was always informed that the owners had gone to the western country." In Maryland, a newspaper reporter wrote, "The time is close at hand when the region west of the Allegheny mountains will sway the destinies of the nation." By 1839, the National Road extended more than 700 miles from Washington, DC, to central Illinois, New York's Erie Canal operated from Albany to Buffalo, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad carried passengers briskly west, ultimately to the Ohio River. To the Wide Missouri: Traveling in America During the First Decades of Westward Expansion by Louis Garavaglia covers the routes and methods that emigrants used to reach the west in the forty-year period following the Louisiana Purchase. Using contemporary maps and the graphic descriptions found in diaries, journals, letters, and newspaper accounts, the author details not only the land and water routes that led settlers to the western country, but also illustrates the hardship, perseverance, humor, and romance that colored their journey.