Aviation Artist Richard J. Caruana commemorates the Centanary of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Air Force) with a theme that he has been his speciality since his very earliest published works, over 50 years ago: the Regia Aeronautica. The Italian campaigns against Great Britain and Russia are probably the least chronacled of all of the Regia Aeronautica’s history of World War II.   This may be partly due to the difficulties encountered on both fronts, for which the Italian Air Force was badly equipped. Most of the fighter element was close to obsolescence: FIAT CR.42 biplanes that were pitted against Hurricanes and Spitfires, and FIAT G.50s and Macchi C.200s monoplanes whose pilots did not even have the basic ‘luxury’ of enclosed cockpits. Extreme cold weather, especially on the Eastern front, was a second enemy that pilots and service ground crews had to face.   What these campaigns lacked in results was more than compensated by the caleidoscope of finishes of all aircraft operating in both campaigns. This study in camouflage and markings of these Regia Aeronautica aircraft provides an endless source of inspiration for modellers seeking that ‘something special’ to add to their collection.

During World War II, the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) projected American military might across distances and with destructive force unimaginable just a decade previously. The B-17s and B-24s of the US Eighth Air Force turned much of Germany’s infrastructure to twisted steel and burnt rubble between 1943 and 1945. B-29 Superfortresses unleashed conventional raids on Japan of even greater area destruction than that created by the atomic bomb attacks (also delivered by USAAF crews). Beyond heavy strategic bombing, US bombers performed a multitude of other tactical roles, including hunting Axis submarines, bombing enemy shipping, low-level runs against precision targets, and providing heavy air support to advancing infantry and armour. While the US bombers dealt out violence, they were also prey to a terrifying spectrum of antiaircraft threats, and by the end of the war 88,119 US airmen had died in service.   Bomber crews were a world unto themselves, composed of pilots, co-pilots, engineers, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and bombardiers. And each aircraft type had its own unique characteristics and capabilities, from twin-engine B-25 Mitchells designed for strafing and skip-bombing to the four-engine workhorses of the strategic bombing campaign: the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, and B-29 Superfortress.   Fighting from the Heavens presents an invaluable collection of material from US wartime manuals, including doctrinal, training, technical, aircraft-specific, and position-specific publications. Through these manuals, the reader gains an insider’s insight into the demands of US bomber warfare, including long-distance navigation, gun-turret operation, formation flying, bomber start-up procedures, and bomb aiming.

The renowned Soviet attack aircraft Il-2 and its various models within the Polish Air Force have been extensively documented with unmatched detail. This publication comprises numerous unpublished photographs obtained from private collections, along with a series of specially commissioned color profiles that illustrate and describe the color schemes and markings used. The book is composed of 96 pages and contains a total of 52 color profiles.

Black Tulip is the dramatic story of history's top fighter ace, Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann. It's also the story of how his service under Hitler was simplified and elevated to Western mythology during the Cold War.   Over 1,404 wartime missions, Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst.   Just when Hartmann’s second career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life – devoid of the harder questions about allegiance and service under Hitler – has gone unchallenged for almost a generation.   Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we’re used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we’ve inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.

Scale plans in 1/32, 1/48, 1/72 scale of the Polish PZL P.24 A/C aircraft12 pages of A3 size scale plans of PZL P.24 A/C versions.

In August 1943, a highly classified US Army Air Force unit, code-named the 'Wright Project', departed Langley Field for Guadalcanal in the South Pacific to join the fight against the Empire of Japan. Operating independently, under sealed orders drafted at the highest levels of Army Air Force, the Wright Project was unique, both in terms of the war-fighting capabilities provided by classified systems the ten B-24 Liberators of this small group of airmen brought to the war, and in the success these 'crash-built' technologies allowed. The Wright airmen would fly only at night, usually as lone hunters of enemy ships. In so doing they would pave the way for the United States to enter and dominate a new dimension of war in the air for generations to come.   This is their story, from humble beginnings at MIT’s Radiation Lab and hunting U-boats off America’s eastern shore, through to the campaigns of the war in the Pacific in their two-year march toward Tokyo. The Wright Project would prove itself to be a combat leader many times over and an outstanding technology innovator, evolving to become the 868th Bomb Squadron. Along the way the unit would be embraced by unique personalities and the dynamic leadership, from Army Air Force General Hap Arnold through combat commanders who flew the missions.   In this account, the reader will meet radar warfare pioneers and squadron leaders who were never satisfied that they had pushed the men, the aircraft, and the technologies to the full limit of their possibilities. Comprehensive and highly personal, this story can now be revealed for the very first time, based on official sources, and interviews with the young men who flew into the night.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Allied landing at Dieppe, France, on 19 August 1942, one of the most controversial battles of the Second World War, which also involved extensive air operations to provide direct support for the amphibious assault and to defend the troops and the fleet against the Luftwaffe.   This book is a tribute to the 1st Polish Wing, Fighter Command’s most successful wing during the operation. The wing provided 10% of the Spitfire squadrons engaged in the battle, suffered 3.5% of losses and was credited by Fighter Command with 17% of all enemy aircraft destroyed. Nos. 303 and 317 Polish Squadrons were the top-scoring units that day. Notably, they achieved this while still flying the Spitfire V variant, while some Fighter Command squadrons already had the much improved Mk IX.   Several hundred of carefully selected and extensively captioned images depict Spitfires of the five Polish squadrons, as well as the men who maintained and flew them in support of the Dieppe landings.

In late 1939, the Air Ministry were looking to replace the Blenheim as a medium bomber. Bristol Aircraft Company (BAC) initially came up with a bomber development of the Beaufighter, the Type 161. Due to specification changes and redesigns, the end result was the Type 163 Buckingham, a twin engined, twin tailed medium bomber. At the time of the Buckinghams conception inquiries were made about a torpedo bomber version. A redesign of the Buckingham brought about the Type 164 Brigand. The torpedo requirement was eventually dropped and the aircraft re-configures as a bomber. With no suitable trainers to train the Buckingham and Brigand pilots BAC came up with the Buckmaster, which was basically a Buckingham with a new nose section containing dual controls.By the time the Buckingham and Brigand entered service their roles had been superseded with newer and better aircraft. Most Buckinghams went straight into storage to await their fate, but some were converted in high speed courier aircraft with four seats. But it was too little too late. The Mosquito could do a better job at almost half the cost. The Brigand with its long range was earmarked for the Far East and the battle against Japan, but the war ended before they could be sent over. It was the Malaya Emergency that saved the Brigand. Carrying out a role for which it was never designed, that of a dive bomber, two Squadrons carried out over 3,500 against the Communist Terrorist.Had it not been for the constant delays and construction changes the aircraft may have lived up to their expectations. As it was they were plagued by mechanical and hydraulic issues as well as structural defects. After a number of catastrophic airframe failures the Brigands were retired from operational service in early 1953.

This book is the latest in a new reference series for aircraft modelers called "Spotlight On" and is a showcase for the superb aviation artwork created for the publisher by the remarkable Polish aviation artist Tomasz Kaca. The book contains 20 color plates showing 20 famous P-51 Mustang fighters depicted in the air. Aircraft of the famous fighter aces are shown based on the latest research.

The development of the famous Italian WWII fighters of the Reggiane factory, with radial engines, is described and illustrated. It served with the Regia Aeronautica and other forces, including the Hungarian and Swedish air arms. This book describes the design, development, and operations of this elegant and effective fighter. This book contains: scale plans, photos and drawings from Technical Manuals, superb color illustrations of camouflage and markings, and rare b&w archive photographs. Color photos of the preserved aircraft illustrate all aspects of the airframe.This is essential reading for aviation enthusiasts & scale aeromodelers.

This new photo album is number 30 in the MMPBooks/Stratus "Camera On" series and is the first to cover in such photographic detail the usage of the Henschel Hs 126 aircraft.This book contains 140+ photographs mostly taken by the average German soldier and is an invaluable reference for military historians and modellers alike. A4 size, 80 pages.

This book contains 8, A3 size scale plans in 1/48 and 1/72 scale of the British WW2 torpedo aircraft Fairey Barracuda.

In February 1942, a reconnaissance party of United States Army Air Forces officers arrived in England. Firmly wedded to the doctrine of daylight precision bombing, they believed they could help turn the tide of the war in Europe. In the months that followed, they formed the Eighth Air Force - an organization that grew at an astonishing rate. To accommodate it, almost seventy airfields were hastily built across the eastern counties of England.   At the heart of the Eighth Air Force were its bombardment groups, each equipped with scores of heavily armed, four-engine bombers. These Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators were soon punching through the enemy's defences to bomb targets vital to its war effort. They were crewed by thousands of young American airmen, most of whom were volunteers.   This book tells the story of just one "Bomb Group" - the 381st, which crossed the Atlantic in May 1943. Arriving at RAF Ridgewell on the Essex-Suffolk border, its airmen quickly found themselves thrown into the hazardous and attritional air battle raging in the skies over Europe. Bomb Group follows the 381st's path from its formation in the Texan desert, to its 297th and final bombing mission deep into the heart of Hitler's Third Reich. It is the remarkable story of one group and the part it played in the strategic bombing campaign of "The Mighty Eighth."

This book was written to redress this imbalance and tell the true story behind the development and operational deployment of the world’s first high-speed strategic reconnaissance aircraft, which began 6,000 miles further east and four years prior to the momentous events in Europe, under the guidance of the Imperial Japanese Army and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co Ltd. Faced with similar preconceptions, technical arguments, and a very rigid operational doctrine, the Mitsubishi Babs was developed during a brief golden aeronautical period (between the mid 1930s and early 1940s), when the Japanese aircraft industry flourished under constant military aircraft competitions and production orders. Free from prying eyes and shrouded within a self-imposed veil of secrecy, the Japanese developed numerous designs that were equal to and in some cases ahead of contemporary Western manufacturers.This book is the most comprehensive on the “Babs” yet published in English, with numerous photographs of the aircraft in service, several of which have never been published before, walkaround photographs of the preserved aircraft, illustrations from contemporary manuals, and color artwork.

Wayne K. Blickenstaff, known as 'Blick', was a stalwart of the 350th Fighter Squadron of the 353rd Fighter Group based at Goxhill, Metfield and Raydon, England as part of the Eighth Air Force prosecuting the strategic air campaign against Germany. As an original cadre member, he rose steadily through the ranks from a Second Lieutenant Element Leader to Flight Leader, Squadron Operations Officer, Squadron Leader and finally to a Lieutenant Colonel and Group Operations Officer. Flying the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang, he completed two tours of operations between 1943 and 1945 encompassing 133 missions and claims of 10 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air. His double 'ace' status included a Me262 jet fighter and the destruction of five aircraft in one mission, giving him rare 'ace in a day' status.   Ace in a Day is Blick's honest and gritty personal memoir of his air war in Europe. His vivid writing places you in the cockpit as he and his comrades battle the enemy in the skies or attack ground targets across Europe. His account conveys a true sense of just how dangerous flying World War II fighters, in all weather conditions, really was. It was not just the enemy that could kill you. A moment's inattention, overconfidence or simple mistake could be deadly. As a keen observer of character, Blick's pen portraits of those around him, including many of those who sadly did not survive the war, offer a poignant and deeply moving tribute to those with whom he served.   Anyone wanting an understanding of the dynamics of a working fighter squadron at war and the dilemmas faced by those in command should read this book. Supported by an impressive array of original documentation, photographs, and detailed appendices, including Blick's never-before published wartime journal, Ace in a Day provides a unique and valuable insight into the harsh realities of the air war in Europe from one of the 'Mighty Eighth's' top fighter pilots.

This book compiles the 4-view color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of the single variant of the NAA P-51B-10-NA. Scale plans are in 1/72 scale, plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. It also includes photos of the details in B&W and color.