One-Man Airforce [Illustrated Edition]

One-Man Airforce [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Major Don Salvatore Gentile
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782894489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 59

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Book Description
Illustrated with 14 photos of the Author and the Aircraft he flew. Gentile was born in Piqua, Ohio. After a fascination with flying as a child, his father provided him with his own plane, an Aerosport Biplane. He managed to log over 300 hours flying time by July 1941, when he attempted to join the Army Air Force. The U.S. military required two years of college for its pilots, which Gentile did not have, so he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was posted to the UK in 1941. Gentile flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mark V with No. 133 Squadron, one of the famed "Eagle Squadron" during 1942. His first kills (a Ju 88 and Fw 190) were on August 1, 1942, during Operation Jubilee. In September 1942, the Eagle squadrons transferred to the USAAF, becoming the 4th Fighter Group. Gentile became a flight commander in September 1943, now flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. Having been Spitfire pilots, Gentile and the other pilots of the 4th were displeased when they transitioned to the heavy P-47. By late 1943, Group Commander Col. Don Blakeslee pushed for re-equipment with the lighter, more maneuverable P-51 Mustang. Conversion to the P-51B at the end of February 1944 allowed Gentile to build a tally of 15.5 additional aircraft destroyed between March 3 and April 8, 1944. After downing 3 planes on April 8, he was the top scoring 8th Air Force ace when he crashed his personal P-51, named "Shangri La", on April 13, 1944 while stunting over the 4th FG’s airfield at Debden for a group of assembled press reporters and movie cameras. Blakeslee immediately grounded Gentile as a result, and he was sent back to the US for a tour selling war bonds. In 1944, Gentile co-wrote with well-known war correspondent Ira Wolfert One Man Air Force, an autobiography and account of his combat missions.

One-Man Airforce [Illustrated Edition]

One-Man Airforce [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Major Don Salvatore Gentile
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782894489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 59

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Book Description
Illustrated with 14 photos of the Author and the Aircraft he flew. Gentile was born in Piqua, Ohio. After a fascination with flying as a child, his father provided him with his own plane, an Aerosport Biplane. He managed to log over 300 hours flying time by July 1941, when he attempted to join the Army Air Force. The U.S. military required two years of college for its pilots, which Gentile did not have, so he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was posted to the UK in 1941. Gentile flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mark V with No. 133 Squadron, one of the famed "Eagle Squadron" during 1942. His first kills (a Ju 88 and Fw 190) were on August 1, 1942, during Operation Jubilee. In September 1942, the Eagle squadrons transferred to the USAAF, becoming the 4th Fighter Group. Gentile became a flight commander in September 1943, now flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. Having been Spitfire pilots, Gentile and the other pilots of the 4th were displeased when they transitioned to the heavy P-47. By late 1943, Group Commander Col. Don Blakeslee pushed for re-equipment with the lighter, more maneuverable P-51 Mustang. Conversion to the P-51B at the end of February 1944 allowed Gentile to build a tally of 15.5 additional aircraft destroyed between March 3 and April 8, 1944. After downing 3 planes on April 8, he was the top scoring 8th Air Force ace when he crashed his personal P-51, named "Shangri La", on April 13, 1944 while stunting over the 4th FG’s airfield at Debden for a group of assembled press reporters and movie cameras. Blakeslee immediately grounded Gentile as a result, and he was sent back to the US for a tour selling war bonds. In 1944, Gentile co-wrote with well-known war correspondent Ira Wolfert One Man Air Force, an autobiography and account of his combat missions.

Two-Man Air Force

Two-Man Air Force PDF Author: Philip Kaplan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473819970
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
American volunteers Don Gentile (pronounced Jen-tilly) and John Godfrey flew together as leader and wingman respectively, with the USAAF 4th Fighter Group based at Debden near Cambridge in England. At the end of their missions with the 4th the two of them had accounted for over 58 enemy aircraft destroyed. Major Gentile had scored 22 air and 6 ground kills before he was returned to the USA to help raise money for the war effort. Major Godfrey was credited with 18 air and 12 ground kills before he was shot down and taken prisoner of war. This is the story of their amazing adventures and wartime partnership from their basic training in Canada and then onto England where they first flew the Supermarine Spitfire. It continues with their transfer to the USAAF 4th Fighter Group when the US entered the war and when the two were retrained to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt and eventually the superb P-51 Mustang. These two ace pilots loved life as much as flying - and as well as being hell-bent on destroying the enemy in the skies of Europe they also lived life to the full in their off-duty time in England.

Air Force Combat Units of World War II

Air Force Combat Units of World War II PDF Author: Maurer Maurer
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915850
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description


Sled Driver

Sled Driver PDF Author: Brian Shul
Publisher: Lickle Pub Incorporated
ISBN: 9780929823089
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
No aircraft ever captured the curiosity & fascination of the public like the SR-71 Blackbird. Nicknamed "The Sled" by those few who flew it, the aircraft was shrouded in secrecy from its inception. Entering the U.S. Air Force inventory in 1966, the SR-71 was the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft in the world. Now for the first time, a Blackbird pilot shares his unique experience of what it was like to fly this legend of aviation history. Through the words & photographs of retired Major Brian Shul, we enter the world of the "Sled Driver." Major Shul gives us insight on all phases of flying, including the humbling experience of simulator training, the physiological stresses of wearing a space suit for long hours, & the intensity & magic of flying 80,000 feet above the Earth's surface at 2000 miles per hour. SLED DRIVER takes the reader through riveting accounts of the rigors of initial training, the gamut of emotions experienced while flying over hostile territory, & the sheer joy of displaying the jet at some of the world's largest airshows. Illustrated with rare photographs, seen here for the first time, SLED DRIVER captures the mystique & magnificence of this most unique of all aircraft.

One-Man Air Force

One-Man Air Force PDF Author: Don S Gentile
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
-'Vivid... the combat history of an American ace' NEW YORK TIMES -This new 2021 Spitfire Publishers edition includes all the images from the original 1944 edition, extra contemporary photographs, a selection of Gentile's 'Encounter Reports' and additional first-hand testimony from Gentile's fellow pilots, John Godfrey and Duane BeesonCalled a 'One-man air force' by General Eisenhower, Don Gentile set the pace for the Hun-killing tournament fought over the skies of Europe in 1944 by P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. But what is he thinking when he sees a yellow-nosed Messerschmitt barrelling in for the kill? Is he scared? How does he feel when an enemy Focke-Wulf 190 is in his sights and he starts pouring steel into its frail fuselage? This short wartime memoir, written with the aid of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ira Wolfert, has the urgency of war reportage and the honesty of a 23-year-old former high-school football hero from Piqua, Ohio. 'Answers truthfully the questions everyone would like to ask a fighter pilot' NEW YORK TIMES.ABOUT THE AUTHORDominic Salvatore 'Don' Gentile was born in 1920 in Piqua, Ohio to Italian immigrants Patsy and Josephina Gentile. Fascinated by flying from an early age his father eventually paid for flying lessons and his own Aerosport single-seater biplane. By 1941 Don had clocked up over 300 flying hours. With the war raging in Europe, Don enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and by 1942 was flying Spitfires from England with 133 Squadron, one of the famed American 'Eagle Squadrons'. The Eagle squadrons were transferred to the USAAF to form the 4th Fighter Group flying the P-47 Thunderbolt and Don and his fellow pilots were the first to fly combat missions over Germany. Re-equipment with the P-51 Mustang in February 1944 was a game-changer. The Fourth were the first to escort bombers over Berlin in March and Don quickly became an ace in the exceptional Mustang fighter, building his tally to twenty-two aerial kills and six ground kills by the end of his tour. He survived the war but was killed in a flying accident in 1951.

Air Force One

Air Force One PDF Author: Max Allan Collins
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780345419750
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Based on a screenplay written by Andrew W. Marlowe.

They Fought With What They Had: The Story of the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific, 1941-1942

They Fought With What They Had: The Story of the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific, 1941-1942 PDF Author: Walter Dumaux Edmonds
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915419
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 561

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Book Description


Air Force heroes in Vietnam

Air Force heroes in Vietnam PDF Author: Donald K. Schneider
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428993932
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 101

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Book Description


One-Man Air Force

One-Man Air Force PDF Author: Don S. Gentile
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781090435040
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile (December 6, 1920 - January 28, 1951) was a World War II USAAF pilot who surpassed Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I record of 26 downed aircraft. He later served in the post-war U.S. Air Force. In 1944, Gentile co-wrote with well-known war correspondent Ira Wolfert "One Man Air Force", an autobiography and account of his combat missions.

A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force

A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force PDF Author: Stephen Lee McFarland
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.