Luftwaffe versus USAAF 8th Air Force Vol. I – Another remarkable book in Air Battles series gives its readers exceptional chance to follow the history of relentless combat fought between Luftwaffe and USAF in the skies over Europe. The story begins with the first Flying Fortresses air raid against targets in France on August 17, 1942 and continues till the last day of April 1943. Precise air clashes descriptions complemented by pilots’ personal stories are one of the unique features of this book which also includes 109 archival photos and 8 colour profiles of described aircrafts.

The Corsair no doubt appears at the top of the list of mythical aircraft which have left their mark on aviation history. As the author is predominantly an illustrator he has given priority to the illustrations and iconography following with explanations that are deliberately concise but as thorough as possible. His aim was to tell the thirty year story of the Corsair’s extraordinary career from its baptism of fire in the Pacific to the African skies, passing through the Far-East and a less martial, but nonetheless virile, interlude in the colourful and exhilarating world of the Pylon Races. This book, substantially larger than the previous edition published in 2003, does not claim to be exhaustive and is destined as much to the enlightened amateur as to the neophyte, in whom perhaps will appear a new love for the fabulous Bent Wing Bird.

Compiled with extensive help from previously unavailable documents that have emerged from official Vietnamese archives, and also with the assistance of narratives from dozens of participants and eyewitnesses, this volume reveals that air warfare over Vietnam did not end when the US pulled out of Southeast Asia.On the contrary, in the wake of the US withdrawal, and following the ceasefire in early 1973, North Vietnam redoubled its effort to conquer the southern part of the country. The often disparaged and underestimated South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) – at the time claimed to have been the fourth largest air arm in the world – fought a series of ever larger and more mechanized air-land battles under circumstances for which it was neither equipped nor designed to operate. This volume details these bitter battles and the final collapse of South Vietnam in unprecedented detail, and always in a dramatic and fascinating fashion. The book reveals the full details of the courage of the VNAF pilots and personnel, but also the sheer terror many of them had to endure.

The Mirage 2000N program was launched in 1978 to accomplish intercept missions and medium-range air to surface nuclear attacks in order to eventually replace the Mirage IVP which was terminated in 1990. Based off of the Mirage 2000B, it is equipped with a weapons system organised around an Antilope radar system, enabling automatic navigation and field monitoring, all while maintaining its in-flight auto-defense capabilities. While the first models were only capable of carrying nuclear missiles, beginning with the 2000N-K2, the aircraft is now able to undertake conventional ground attack missions, with a large array of traditional bombs. The line of Mirage 2000N aircraft are a key element at the very heart of the French Strategic Air Command.French Language

Derived from the Breguet 690 which was built at the beginning of 1936, the Breguet 693 had its baptism by fire in May 1940: eleven aircraft of the GBA 1/54 were engaged in the region of Maastricht against the Germans. Unfortunately the ground assault tactic utilised proved to be disastrous, rendering the aircraft particularly vulnerable and ten among them, decimated by the flak, never returned. The Breguet 693, a two-seat twin-engine bomber carrying a pilot and a machine gun back-to-back, was also one of the first French aircraft to be equipped with radio communication. Like many units however, the assault groups were eventually pulled out of North Africa, and due the German occupation, this particular model saw no other future developments.French Language

Renowned for decades as the world’s foremost railroad artist, Howard Fogg’s career spanned half a century and some twelve hundred paintings. However, while his art has been welcomed for decades, few of his enthusiasts have been aware of his prior career, as a fighter pilot in the U.S. 8th Air Force during World War II. Fortunately Fogg left behind a detailed diary of his experiences, which illuminate this brief but exciting aspect of his life, as he engaged in direct combat with the Luftwaffe at the controls of a P-47 Thunderbolt.Articulate and insightful, his diary offers a frank and fascinating glimpse into the life of a fighter pilot, both in the sky and in wartime England. Written during 1943 and 1944 it offers a confidential perspective of life as a “flyboy,” during which Howard flew 76 combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal with three clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross with one cluster.Presented in its entirety, with supplementary material by Richard and Janet Fogg, and supporting illustrations from Fogg himself, including satirical cartoons and military and railroad artwork, Fogg in the Cockpit paints with a broad brush, from the smallest details of a pilot’s day-to-day existence to air combat, and the strategic and political decisions that influenced the course of the war.

Here the author describes his experiences as a Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft Assistant from 1944-1945: “It was simply a question of us fifteen to sixteen-year olds manning the anti-aircraft guns on the ground defending ourselves against the airmen in the bombers and fighters 20,000 feet above our heads.” Letters, reports, documents and above all, the author’s complete diary and photographs do so much to authenticate this time capsule. He describes how it was in those days, the final two years of World War II, both on the ground and in the air, manning the guns and systems of the 7th German Anti-Aircraft Brigade, or on operations with the bombers of the 15th US Air Fleet - including insight into the lives of the schoolboy troopers “down here” and the bomber crews “up there”. About the AuthorMSc Eng. Gerhard Oberleitner was born in Ybbs an der Donau, Austria, on April 7, 1928, the younger son of a Master Carpenter. He attended grade school in Ybbs, and the first to fourth years of high school in Vienna 19. He was supposed to attend the fifth to eighth high school years in Amstetten, but after the first trimester of the 6th grade, he was drafted as a Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft Assistant. Almost up to the end of World War II, he served with a heavy AA battery in St. Valentin.

Billy Bishop was the top Canadian flying ace in the first World War, credited officially with a record breaking 75 victories. A highly skilled pilot and an accurate shot, he was fiercely ambitious, driven by an undisguised hatred of his enemies. He played hard and fought even harder. A highly skilled pilot and a crack shot, "top gun" of the Allied air forces, by 1918 Bishop was the most highly decorated war hero in Canadian history. He also remains the most controversial. Some of Bishop's fellow pilots were repelled by his grandstanding and suspected he was deliberately inflating his number of "kills." Since then, the claim has been repeated by many others. Bishop went from being the most decorated war hero in Canadian history to a crusader for peace, writing the book Winged Peace, which supported international control of global air power. While some historians feel that authorities upgraded Bishop's claims to improve morale, author Dan McCaffery presents the true life and accomplishments of Bishop through information he gathered from interviews and archival sources.About the AuthorDan McCaffery is one of Canada's most successful military aviation history writers. He is the author of Hell Island: Canadian Pilots and the 1942 Air Battle for Malta, Air Aces, and Battlefields in the Air, amongst others.

"This is a solid, no-nonsense book, an important one that lays the Bishop controversy to rest..

This book invites you to discover the history of the aircraft, with their often spectacular liveries, of jet-equipped display teams which have today disappeared, or those still flying, be it the most famous, such as the American Blue Angels, or the Thunderbirds, the British Red Arrows, the Italian Frecce Tricolori and, of course, the Patrouille de France, or those not often seen in our skies, such as the Indian Surya Kiran or the Singapore Black Nights.

A multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force, the F-16 has been in service for an incredible 36 years, with no sign of retiring. At a time when other planes retire to museums, General Dynamics’ fighter bomber is still a formidable foe in international combat against so-called “fifth generation” planes.The first prototype flew for the first time in 1974 and the operational career of the last aircraft built will continue well into the 2040s - almost 75 years and still going strong! Meanwhile, this light fighter was optimised for daylight missions and became a formidable fighter-bomber; more than 4,400 were built and used by more than 25 countries.Two volumes will be devoted to the F-16, this first will deal with it’s development and the F-16A and B.

The book concerns the Luftwaffe activity in North Africa during the first eight months of 1942. The author presents not only the actions of famous JG 27 fighters against Hurricanes, Kittyhawks and RAF bombers, but also the less frequently described service of bomber and ground-attack units of the Luftwaffe, which had played important role in supporting the Panzerarmee Afrika offensives. Like the other publications in the series, this title includes many firsthand accounts and period photos. REVIEWS“covers pretty much all the operations of the Luftwaffe where there was air combat for this entire period. There are quite a few pilot stories and action reports that make books like this interesting to readers. A goodly selection of period photos as well as a number of fine color profiles of desert painted Bf-109Fs are included in this volume. It given an excellent look at combat and the lax times as well, making for a well rounded book that I know you will enjoy reading.” Modeling Madness.

This book offers a fresh, close-up look at the First World War as it was experienced by ordinary Canadian soldiers. Over 67,000 Canadians lost their lives in WWI and 173,000 were wounded. Their sacrifice was driven by a sense of duty to the ‘Mother Country’. This is the war as it was experienced by the tens of thousands of young Canadians. Reading their accounts offers a no-holds-barred picture of fighting, life in the trenches, the human cost in lives lost, and the physical and emotional aftermath for survivors. About the AuthorCynthia Faryon is an internationally published author and freelance writer residing in Victoria, B.C. Canadian born, she focuses her writing on Canadian content, covering topics such as travel, family issues, biography and history.

In July 1944 the Allies were stunned by the appearance of the Messerschmitt Me-262, the world’s first operational jet warplane. This new German fighter was more than 100mph faster than any other aircraft in the skies. Although always greatly outnumbered, the Me-262 gained scores of victories over Allied fighters and bombers, and by the end of the war, many of the Luftwaffe’s greatest aces had clamoured to be in their cockpits. No wonder military leaders believed that if it had been introduced earlier, this jet could have changed the outcome of the war.Sharks of the Air tells the story of Willi Messerschmitt’s life, and shows how this aeronautical genius built many revolutionary aeroplanes—not excluding the Luftwaffe’s mainstay, the Me-109—and culminating in the Me-262. It describes how his various warplanes fought in Spain, Poland, France, Britain, the U.S.S.R., and over Germany, and it provides thrilling accounts of air battles drawn from combat reports and interviews with veterans. This book also shows how Messerschmitt—like other geniuses such as Porsche, von Braun, and Speer— was affected by cut-throat Nazi politics, and describes his intense rivalries with other aircraft designers. It reveals aspects of his life never before made public, including his love affair with the beautiful Baroness Lilly Michel-Rolino, a rich aristocrat who left her husband to live with Willi. Finally, it shows how in Word War II Messerschmitt believed he was loyally supporting the Fatherland, until he realised too late that Hitler was a madman. Like many of the technical innovations of Nazi Germany in the war, production arrived too late in order to change the final outcome.

From the Battle of the Marne to the end of the Vietnam War, this “first half” of the 20th Century must undeniably be considered as the period of greatest development for aerial warfare. With the 400 profiles and illustrations contained in this book, Bruno Pautigny, the world famous illustrator, presents the technical portraits of the most famous fighters and bombers of all the great conflicts of the previous century; the First and Second World Wars, Indochina, Korea and Suez, Algeria, Vietnam, and beyond.

In 1944 George Grod, a strip cartoon, modeling and aviation enthusiast, discovered with amazement some American magazines which an MP billeted near his village lent him. What he liked best were the gleaming advertisements scattered throughout the pages.In the eighties, during an “old papers” fair, George came across some old numbers of Life Magazine and from there he started an unbridled search for original magazines dating back to between 1942 and 1945. Now presented in this single volume, we see the return of all his great themes - aviation, kits, cartoon strips, the love of art and even the cinema. The book is not just a collection of beautiful pictures all strung together or a sample from a huge collection; it is above all the testimonial of a period, the reflection of that immense war effort the American people made during the last World War, seen through the kaleidoscope of publicity and propoganda. It is also a tribute to the most glamorous of our liberators.George Grod worked alongside great film-makers like Verneuil, Minnelli, Zinnemann, Lumet and Zanuck before working on the television series les Dossiers Noirs with his friend Jean-Michel Charlier who took part later in the Grands Maïtres de la BD (Grand Masters of the Cartoon Strip) which he created for the Visiteurs de Mercredi (Wednesday’s visitors). This book is a must for anyone interested in art, history or World War II; an impressive edition to anyone’s collection.