Luftwaffe Aces

Luftwaffe Aces PDF Author: Franz Kurowski
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811731775
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
World War II air war companion to Panzer Aces and Panzer Aces II In-the-cockpit accounts of aerial dogfights by some of Germany's deadliest pilots ever to take to the skies This exciting book tells the combat biographies of seven Luftwaffe aces: three day-fighter pilots, one night-fighter pilot, one close-support pilot, and two bomber pilots. This mix of well-known and less famous pilots includes Heinz Bär, who had 221 victories and was an ME 262 ace; Otto Kittel, the fourth-highest Luftwaffe ace with 267 kills; Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, a leading night-fighter ace with 121 kills; Wilhelm Batz, whose two-year combat career ended with 237 kills in the elite JG 52; Otto Weiss, a close-support pilot in the Hs 123 and Hs 129; Joachim Helbig, who flew the Ju 88 bomber over Malta; and Ludwig Havighorst, who served first with the infantry and then the Luftwaffe, where he flew fifty bombing missions over Stalingrad.

Luftwaffe Aces

Luftwaffe Aces PDF Author: Franz Kurowski
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811731775
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
World War II air war companion to Panzer Aces and Panzer Aces II In-the-cockpit accounts of aerial dogfights by some of Germany's deadliest pilots ever to take to the skies This exciting book tells the combat biographies of seven Luftwaffe aces: three day-fighter pilots, one night-fighter pilot, one close-support pilot, and two bomber pilots. This mix of well-known and less famous pilots includes Heinz Bär, who had 221 victories and was an ME 262 ace; Otto Kittel, the fourth-highest Luftwaffe ace with 267 kills; Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, a leading night-fighter ace with 121 kills; Wilhelm Batz, whose two-year combat career ended with 237 kills in the elite JG 52; Otto Weiss, a close-support pilot in the Hs 123 and Hs 129; Joachim Helbig, who flew the Ju 88 bomber over Malta; and Ludwig Havighorst, who served first with the infantry and then the Luftwaffe, where he flew fifty bombing missions over Stalingrad.

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe in World War II

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe in World War II PDF Author: Philip Kaplan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473814073
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary German fighter aces of World War II. It explains why only a small minority of pilots - those in whom the desire for combat overrode everything - accounted for so large a proportion of the victories. It surveys the skills that a successful fighter pilot must have - a natural aptitude for flying, marksmanship, keen eyesight - and the way in which fighter tactics have developed. The book examines the history of the classic fighter aircraft that were flown, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke Wulf Fw 190, and examines each type's characteristics, advantages and disadvantages in combat. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans. The pilots included are Werner Molders, Gunther Rall, Adolf Galland, Erich Hartmann and Johannes Steinhoff.

Luftwaffe Viermot Aces 1942–45

Luftwaffe Viermot Aces 1942–45 PDF Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472852931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
A full account of the German airmen who achieved ace status by destroying Allied bombers. Viermot Aces' were pilots who shot down five or more USAAF and RAF bombers during the daylight Defence of the Reich missions from May 1942 through to VE Day. This book tells the complete story of the men and the planes that challenged the great bomber offensive. Flying a number of different aircraft including the Bf 110G, Me 210 and the Me 410, they fought their desperate battles against the numerous machine guns of B-17s and Lancasters. This book also covers the 'jet aces' that flew the Me 262 jet-powered interceptors in the closing days of the war to wage a desperate last-ditch fight against the endless Allied bomber fleets.

The German Aces Speak

The German Aces Speak PDF Author: Colin D. Heaton
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610597486
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div

To Fly and Fight

To Fly and Fight PDF Author: Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1524563420
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description
Bud Anderson is a flyers flyer. The Californians enduring love of flying began in the 1920s with the planes that flew over his fathers farm. In January 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. Later after he received his wings and flew P-39s, he was chosen as one of the original flight leaders of the new 357th Fighter Group. Equipped with the new and deadly P-51 Mustang, the group shot down five enemy aircraft for each one it lost while escorting bombers to targets deep inside Germany. But the price was high. Half of its pilots were killed or imprisoned, including some of Buds closest friends. In February 1944, Bud Anderson, entered the uncertain, exhilarating, and deadly world of aerial combat. He flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in less than a year. In battles sometimes involving hundreds of airplanes, he ranked among the groups leading aces with 16 aerial victories. He flew 116 missions in his old crow without ever being hit by enemy aircraft or turning back for any reason, despite one life or death confrontation after another. His friend Chuck Yeager, who flew with Anderson in the 357th, says, In an airplane, the guy was a mongoosethe best fighter pilot I ever saw. Buds years as a test pilot were at least as risky. In one bizarre experiment, he repeatedly linked up in midair with a B-29 bomber, wingtip to wingtip. In other tests, he flew a jet fighter that was launched and retrieved from a giant B-36 bomber. As in combat, he lost many friends flying tests such as these. Bud commanded a squadron of F-86 jet fighters in postwar Korea, and a wing of F-105s on Okinawa during the mid-1960s. In 1970 at age 48, he flew combat strikes as a wing commander against communist supply lines. To Fly and Fight is about flying, plain and simple: the joys and dangers and the very special skills it demands. Touching, thoughtful, and dead honest, it is the story of a boy who grew up living his dream.

Allied Fighter Aces

Allied Fighter Aces PDF Author: Mike Spick
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781853672828
Category : Fighter pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A detailed examination of the aircraft and tactics of the top aces in every major theater of the air war.

Luftwaffe Fighter Aces

Luftwaffe Fighter Aces PDF Author: Mike Spick
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510754369
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Get in the cockpit with some of the greatest German flying aces of all time! 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 World War II. 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 one hundred pilots had recorded more than one hundred victories. However, post-war 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 they took place. Every major theatre 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 first-hand sources wherever possible to put the reader right alongside the pilot in the cockpit.

Luftwaffe Aces in the Battle of Britain

Luftwaffe Aces in the Battle of Britain PDF Author: Chris Goss
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526754223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
“An extraordinary analysis of the ‘scores’ chalked up by individual fighter pilots serving in the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. So much detail!” —Books Monthly The term “fighter ace” grew in prominence with the introduction and development of aerial combat in the First World War. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an “ace” has varied but is usually considered to be five or more. For the Luftwaffe, a number of its fighter pilots, many of whom had fought with the Legion Condor in Spain, had already gained their Experte, or ace, status in the Battle of France. However, many more would achieve that status in the hectic dogfights over southern England and the Channel during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. A number would also be either killed or captured. Some of these men, individuals such as Adolf Galland, Werner Mölders, and Helmut Wick, who between them had claimed 147 aerial victories by October 31st1940, are well-known, but most are less so. In this book, the story of each of the Luftwaffe’s 204 Messerschmitt Bf 109 “aces” from the summer of 1940 is examined, with all of the individual biographies, detailing individual fates during the war, being highly illustrated throughout. Original German records from the summer of 1940, have been examined, providing a definitive list of each pilot’s individual claims. It also covers, to a lesser extent, those forgotten fifty-three Messerschmitt Bf 110 pilots who also achieved ace status by day and also by night between 10 July and 31 October 1940. “A fascinating book indeed.” —UK Historian

The Other Battle

The Other Battle PDF Author: Peter Hinchliffe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781840373035
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Traces the parallel development of night bombing within the RAF and that of the Luftwaffe's Night Fighter Force. It encompasses the historical, strategic, tactical and technical aspects of the subject, and contains a large amount of material based on personal experience.

Beaufighter Aces of World War 2

Beaufighter Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Andrew Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472801717
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
Entering service at the end of the Battle of Britain, the pugnacious Bristol Beaufighter was deployed in numbers by Fighter Command just in time for the start of the Luftwaffe's night 'Blitz' on Britain. Flown by specialised nightfighter squadrons – several of them elite pre-war Auxiliary Air Force units – it was the first nightfighter to be equipped with an airborne radar as standard. Thus equipped, it combined the ability to 'see' the enemy at night with the devastating hitting power of four cannon and six machine guns. This book covers the exploits of the men who made ace in the Beaufighter and includes stunning original artwork together with first hand accounts of the action.