The Turret Fighters

The Boulton Paul Defiant and the Blackburn Roc represent the only operational aircraft to be produced to a novel form of fighting aircraft concept, the turret fighter. The Roc was only used briefly by operational squadrons, and saw very little action, and the much longer career of the Defiant has been surrounded by many myths almost since it first fired its guns in anger. Many of the stories about how the Defiant came about, and how it performed in action, are spurious, but the aircraft undoubtedly carved its own novel niche in British aviation history. The turret fighter was rather more than just a fighter with a gun turret: it sprang from a fairly simple concept relating to the division of responsibilities in a fighting aeroplane. To put it in simple terms, the pilot should point the aircraft, and a gunner should point the guns. On the face of If, on the other hand, the guns were fitted to a movable mounting, to he aimed by a separate gunner, they could he brought to hear on the target for a tar greater period of time. A gunner would also find it easier to clear stoppages and to reload the guns.

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Spitfire Mks VI-F24

Just as the Spitfire V had been a temporary measure, the Mark IX was rushed into service ahead of the VII and VIII, which were the subject of a major structural re-design of the basic Spitfire airframe. Although all these variants were powered by the two-speed, two-stage supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin 60/70 series, the Spitfire IX was basically a Mark VC with the minimum amount of strengthening of the fuselage longerons to accept the new engine. The undercarriage was also altered slightly to maintain Centre of Gravity (C.G.). Apart from the longer nose profile, the other main recognition feature of the Mark IX was a revised system of underwing radiators, the duct under the starboard wing housing coolant and intercooler radiators, with that under the port wing accommodating another coolant radiator and the oil cooler. This splitting of the coolant radiators under each wing eased the problem of gun heating which had plagued the earlier marks of Spitfire as hot air could now be ducted from the back of each radiator to the adjacent gun bay.

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Kagero Topshots No. 11031 - MiG-19PM

The PM variant of the MiG-19 fighter aircraft (NATO reporting name "Farmer") entered service with the USSR in 1956. It was one of the last designs of a long development series of the Soviet jet fighters, conceived in the USSR as the answer to the American supersonic F-100 Super Sabre. After many tests, the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau came up with several variants of the basic design: the MiG-19, MiG-19S, SW and P. The early versions, armed with onboard guns (the MiG-19P was also equipped with a radar and synchronized gunsight) did not satisfy the Kremlin 'top brass'. The guns had a relatively short range of fire and thus were deemed out of date. At that time it was commonly believed that the days of classic aerial engagements were over and that the role of a combat aircraft was merely that of a "flying missile launcher". Guided from the ground, it was supposed to pinpoint the target using its own radar before closing in and shooting it down with a rocket missile. Some went so far as to claim that guns on a jet aircraft were useless and a thing of the past.

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Kagero Topshots No. 11026 - PZL P.11C

Poland's most famous fighter aircraft, PZL P.11c, was designed by a team led by Zygmunt Pulawski. The talented designer perished in a flying accident before the first prototype was completed (in 1931); his ideas were further developed by a fellow engineer Vsievolod Jakimiuk. The variant P.11c, which followed P.11a and P.11b (export version), was so different from its predecessors that in fact it could be viewed as a completely new design. The production run, started in 1934, reached 175 aircraft and terminated in 1936. These aircraft were in constant service with the Polish fighter arm, and so in September 1939 they were already well worn out. Furthermore, at the outbreak of WWII, the entire class to which P.11c belonged was already obsolete (although highly manoeuvrable, it couldn't compete with modern fighters, nor even bombers, in terms of speed). Nevertheless, P.11c was a mainstay of the Polish Fighter Force. There were 115 airworthy P.11c's on strength by 1st September 1939, plus further 38 in reserve or undergoing repairs. Of the latter, four were rushed into service with the frontline units. Overall, 116 aircraft of the type were lost during the war in Poland, including 97 in combat; 37 aircraft were flown out of Poland to Romania and the Soviet Union.

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Junkers Ju87 Stukageschwader of the Russian Front

The fearsome reputation of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber was established during the first two Blitzkrieg campaigns of World War 2, namely the attack on Poland and the invasion of the Low Countries and France. It was onlv after the successful conclusion of the latter, when the Luftwaffe crossed the Channel to take the air war into the skies of southern England, that the Stuka's inherent faults were laid bare. Lacking sufficient speed and defensive power, it was simply unable to survive in airspace defended by a determined and organised enemy. Withdrawn from operations at the height of the Battle of Britain, the bent-wing Junkers was rarely to be seen again by daylight in northwest Europe. Yet it was to enjoy a new lease of life far to the south. In the Balkans campaign, in the airborne invasion of Crete, in anti-shipping missions against naval vessels and merchant convoys in the Mediterranean and in the early stages of the desert conflict in North Africa - all areas where enemy air opposition was at first woefully inadequate - the Stuka regained something of its myth as a successful weapon of war.

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Jagdstaffel 2 'Boelcke' - Von Richthofen's Mentor

It is likely that everyone with an interest in aviation history has heard of Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen - known as the 'Red Baron', and the top-scoring fighter ace of World War 1 with 80 victories. Almost as famous is Jagdstaffel 1 1, the fighter squadron he commanded, usually abbreviated as Jasta 11. Von Richthofen would not have become as successful without the training he received while serving under the man he regarded as his mentor and the Father of German Fighter Aviation - Hptm Oswald Boelcke. Von Richthofen began his career as a fighter pilot in Boelcke's Jasta 2, and it was under Boelckes careful and demanding tutelage that he honed his skills. After Boelcke's death, the unit that he had commanded was officially re-named Jasta 'Boelcke' in his honour. The Staffel continued to serve through frustrating periods of failure and mediocrity as well as great success, and finished the conflict with a record of accomplishment and prestige second to none.

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Focke-wulf Fw 190

Ende Juli 1937 tauchte bei der deutschen Luftwaffenführung zum ersten Mal der Gedanke auf, neben der Messerschmitt Bf 109 einen zweiten Jagdeinsitzer zu entwickeln. Da Daimler-Benz mit der Fertigung des DB 600 bzw. DB 601 für die Bf 109 ausgelastet war, stand für diesen zweiten Jäger als einziges Triebwerk der BMW 139 zur Verfügung, der zwar noch in der Entwicklung war, aber 1.500 PS leisten sollte. Im Sommer 1938 erteilte das Technische Amt (GL/C 2) den Entwicklungsauftrag an Focke-Wulf, da dieses Werk als einziges noch Kapazitäten frei hatte und Dornier, Heinkel und Junkers nur für den Bau von Bombern und Marineflugzeugen vorgesehen waren. Unter der Leitung des neuen Technischen Direktors bei Focke-Wulf, Dipl.Ing. Kurt Tank wurde der Entwurf unter Federführung von Oberingenieur Mittelhuber und Oberingenieur Willy Käther ausgearbeitet. Die eigentliche Konstruktion erfolgte dann von einer Arbeitsgruppe unter Leitung von Oberingenieur Blaser. Der neue Jäger erhielt die Bezeichnung Fw 190 und, wie alle Focke-Wulf-Flugzeuge einen Vogel-Beinamen, "Würger". Blaser begann sofort mit der Arbeit, wurde aber bald, als Hitlers Angriffsabsichten bekannt wurden, vom GL/C2 unter Druck gesetzt, die Entwicklungsarbeiten zu beschleunigen.

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Fighting Gliders of World War II

This compact volume tells the heretofore little-known technical facts about the assault and transport gliders that so heroically served the fighting forces of Germany, Great Britain, Soviet Union and America during World War II. It also reveals for the first time little-known facts about the gliders other nations produced. Not before or since that cataclysmic conflict has the world used the glider in war. The appearance of this aircraft in war was destined to be but once. Technological shortcomings, production, supply and delivery problems, and less than far-sighted military leadership, combined to prevent its potential from becoming fully realised before the end of the war swept this formidable weapon from history's stage.

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Famous Airplanes of the World

Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World Famous Airplanes of the World

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F-5E&F Tiger II in Detail and Scale

This book was originally intended to cover the entire F-5 family to include its close relative, the T-38 Talon. It became obvious early on that the seventy-two page format of the Detail & Scale series was not large enough to adequately cover all versions of the F-5. Therefore, this book is limited to the F-5E and F-5F Tiger II aircraft, while the F-5A and F-5B may be treated in a later volume. Emphasis is placed on the popular American aggressor F-5s as it would take several publications of this size to cover all of the aircraft of all of the nations that now operate the F-5E and -F. However, with few exceptions, the details shown on the following pages are the same for all F-5s regardless of which nation they now serve with. Exceptions are noted whenever possible, as are differences between USAF and U.S. Navy aircraft. This book contains the most detailed look at the F-5E and F-5F ever published in a single work, and it shows the Tiger II for what it is - a most interesting and unique aircraft.

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British Aircraft Armament Vol.1

From mid-1915 British two-seat aircraft were increasingly fitted with defensive Lewis guns These weapons were first supported on pin and socket mountings fitted to the rim of the cockpit which, although a reasonably steady means of support, were by no means ideal. The main drawback was that the field of fire was restricted to the front aspect, in a F.E.2b or to one side in a B.E. If an attack developed on the opposite beam the gun had to be manhandled to another socket. What was needed was a gun mounting from which the gun could be brought to bear on a hostile aircraft approaching from any direction. Main official and unofficial mountings were devised to overcome the problem. Several attempts were made to fit a metal ring round the observer's cockpit which could support a gun bracket running round the upper surface.

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Blackburn Aircraft since 1909

The success of a Cirrus-engined Bluebird in the 1931 King's Cup race led to such close liaison between Blackburns and the Cirrus Hermes Engineering Co Ltd that in February 1934 their works was transferred from Croydon to Brough and Robert Blackburn became chairman. This move, coupled with the manufacture of large numbers of Shark torpedo aircraft as Blackburn's share of the country's rearmament programme, created a demand for additional factory space which was met by enlarging existing premises at Brough and by re-opening and extending the old Olympia works in Leeds. In anticipation of even larger contracts then under negotiation, Blackburns next decided to consolidate all its interests into one company and formed Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. Registered on 2 April 1936 with a share capital of £630,000, it took over the assets of The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co Ltd and the North Sea Aerial and General Transport Co Ltd, Robert Blackburn continuing as chairman and managing director, with Maj F. A. Bumpus as chief engineer, Maj J. D. Rennie as chief seaplane designer and Capt N. W. G. Blackburn, H. C. Bevan, R. R. Rhodes, Sqn Ldr J. L. N. Bennett-Baggs and E. Hudson as directors.

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LaGG & Lavochkin Aces of World War 2

Fighter pilots have always had strong opinions about the aircraft that they flew in combat. Arguments and disputes develop between pilots of the same air force over the respective merits of their mounts. particularly when there were two main rival types in service. Aerial conflict established the relative merits of the Spitfire versus the Bf 109, and the Mustang versus the Fw 190. But which was better, the Fw 190 or the Bf 109, the P-51 or the P-47, the lineage of Supermarine fighters or the 'House of Hawker'? Each type had its champions, and the debates continue amongst the historians. Partisanship also occurred amongst the Russians over the relative merits of the fighters from Yakovlev and Lavochkin, which were natural rivals due to their domination of the Red Air Force in World War 2. The initial models of the Yak-1 and LaGG-3 entered service within months of each other, used the same Klimov M-105P inline engine and shared a superficial resemblance. Yakovlev continued to use improved versions of the Klimov powerplant throughout the aircraft's evolution, but Lavochkin switched to the Shevtsov M-82 radial engine in 1942.

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'Down to Earth' Strafing Aces of the 8th Air Force

Maj Gen William E Kepner firmly believed in taking the offensive, but it was to be several months after he took over VIII Fighter Command in August 1943 that he was able co put his principles into practice because of a shortage of aircraft. It was when Maj Gen James Doolittle assumed control of the Eighth Air Force in January 1944 that the command's mission changed significantly. Where it had previously been instructed to exclusively protect the bombers, VIII Fighter Command's fighters were now instructed to simply destroy the Luftwaffe at every opportunity. Allied leaders meeting in Cairo in November 1943 had decided that the invasion of Europe should be scheduled for 1944. This meant establishing air superiority, but this could not be accomplished by ordering the fighters to remain with the bombers for the duration of their long escort missions. By the end of January 1944, therefore, the Eighth Air Force had abandoned 'close support' of the bombers in favour of ultimate pursuit', which allowed the fighters to follow the enemy until he was destroyed in the air or on the ground.

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Legendary Spitfire Mk1-2 1939-41

This evocative line-up shot of Spitfires from the initial production batch was taken by the legendary Charles E Brown during the first No 19 Sqn Spitfire Press Day, held at Duxford on 4 May 1939. The aircraft are seen being readied by their groundcrews for the squadron 'Battle Formation' flypast, which signalled the end of the day's activities at the Cambridgeshire fighter station. All 11 Spitfires are fitted with the original two-bladed wooden propellers, narrow aerial masts, unprotected windscreens and ring-and-bead gun sights. The second and fifth aircraft in the line also still boast the initial, flat-topped, canopy, while most of the others have the later bulged-top type. Note also that the closest aircraft is the only Spitfire to lack an individual letter code. The first Spitfire write-off. On 16 August 1938 Pit Off Gordon Sinclair of No 19 Sqn touched down at Duxford at the end of his first flight in the Spitfire, only to have the port wheel break away and the aircraft flip on to its back. He emerged from the incident without injury to himself or to his reputation, for the cause of the accident was traced to faulty metal in the axle stub. Sinclair scored six kills with No 19 Sqn over Dunkirk in May/June 1940, and became one of the first Spitfire aces. During the Battle of Britain he flew Hurricanes with No 310 'Czech' Sqn. increasing his score to 10 destroyed and 1 damaged.

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Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstorer Aces Of World War 2

For the third rime in less than ten minutes a British heavy bomber filled his sights. Carefully, at little more than wave-top height, the young leutnant eased his twin-engined Bf 110 up into position directly astern of the labouring Wellington. There was no sign of life horn the rear turret. We moved in even closer, before opening fire. Flames erupted from both wings of the stricken bomber as the punctured tanks spewed fuel. With an almost imperceptible dip of its nose, the Wellington wallowed into the sea and, to use the leutnant's own words in later describing the action, 'immediately sank like a stone'. He circled the oil slick that marked the bomber's last resting place on the sea bed some 25 km off Borkum, westernmost of the German East Irisian Islands, in a vain search for survivors. A light sea-mist was already beginning to gather as the dark-green Bt 110 set course for the mainland. Within 15 minutes the tighter was roaring in low over the hangars of Jever airfield, its wings rocking to indicate an unprecedented success - three RAF bombers downed in a single sortie - to the cheering crowds below. The date was 18 December 1939, and Luftwaffe fighters had just inflicted a major defeat upon the enemy. In a series of short, sharp clashes spread over 30 minutes across some 150 km of the North Sea (since dubbed the 'Battle of the German Bight'), the defenders claimed the destruction of no fewer than 38 of the attacking bombers. Although actual RAF losses were to prove far fewer, they were nonetheless severe enough to finally convince Bomber Command of the folly of unescorted daylight attacks on German targets.

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P-47 Thunderbolt Aces of the 9th and 15th Air Forces

The 405th FG, based at nearby Christchurch, in Hampshire, 'loaned' one of its Thunderbolts to the Aircraft & Armaments Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down during the spring of 1944 to allow the P 47 to trial British, rather than American, ordnance. Hero, the aircraft in question (P-47D-6 42-74599 from the 509th FS) is seen carrying the short, round-finned British bombs on its wing and belly racks. There were several Thunderbolts at the A&AEE at that time, and it is believed that these tests were part of a programme anticipating RAF use of the P-47 in the Far East later in the war. Note the fairly common application of the flight letter to the trim tab of this aircraft. Aircraft and pilots of the 358th FG attended this same publicity function in May, and if any of the visiting dignitaries had questions on the function of the triple 'stove pipe' M-10 rocket tubes slung under the wings of this P-47D, Lt Milford C Peterson of the 367th FS was on hand to answer them. The aircraft, coded IA-V and named Lady Luck, was actually the personal mount of Capt Robert Schuster of the 366th FS. Partially visible on the aircraft's cowling is an early version of the squadron badge, with a female figure in place of the later, officially adopted, eagle and lightning flash on a circular field of stars.

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P-47 Thunderbolt Aces of the Eighth Air Force

When the first P-47Cs came to Britain, not only had there been little attention paid to the role they might play over Europe (apart from the vague phrase 'bomber escort'), nobody had devised a system of identity markings for them, m the event the excellent RAF system of two letters to identify the squadron and one to denote the individual aircraft was chosen. In the meantime, the traditional USAAF method of identifying aircraft by numbers rather than letters had to suffice. This P-47C-5 (41-6209) was photographed whilst being shown to the press in the spring of 1943, the white recognition bands on the nose, fin and tailplanes that became synonymous with ETO operations having already been applied. It also has the then-current USAAF star insignia with a yellow surround, and a temporary three number fuselage code. Early Thunderbolts were assigned to the 4th FG, which was the only operational group in England at that time. Once the groups had finished painting their early P-47Cs with full three-letter codes, each aircraft was allocated to a pilot - who. judging by the nose art visible on these Thunderbolts, clearly lost no time in personalising their aircraft. This formation shot was one of a number taken for publicity purposes depicting Thunderbolts of the 62nd FS/56th FG. Flying P-47C-5 LM-0 (41-6347) is Capt Eugene 'Gene* O'Neill, who had joined the then 62nd Pursuit Squadron within the 56th Pursuit Group in December 1941. During his tour of duty in the ETO - which lasted until 20 February 1944. and saw him tally 200 combat hours - O'Neill claimed 4.5 kills (he has often been erroneously credited with five). All bar one of these victories was claimed in the aircraft featured in this photograph.

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Colors and Markings of F-4C Phantom II

In 1973, the final chapters in the Vietnam war were concluded, and the American military returned to a peacetime status. Lessons learned during that conflict had caused numerous and noticeable changes to existing aircraft, most importantly the addition of sophisticated ECM gear and its associated antennas. New aircraft, just entering operational service, and those still on the drawing boards, were likewise affected by the lessons learned in combat over Southeast Asia. But the war generated another change where combat aircraft were concerned, and although not as dramatic and sophisticated as the hardware changes, it was probably even more noticeable to the eye. This was the change from more colorful paint schemes and markings to the camouflage patterns with smaller and far less colorful markings. These camouflage patterns remain the most common schemes carried by aircraft over ten years after the end of the Vietnam War.

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EA-6B Prowler in Detail and Scale

Adapted from the airframe of Grumman's highly successful A-6 Intruder, the EA-6B Prowler first saw combat during the closing months of the war in Vietnam. Since then, the Prowler has flown vital missions to protect Navy carrier-based aircraft every time they have gone into combat against enemy ground forces. During Operation Desert Storm, Navy and Marine Prowlers not only jammed Iraqi radars and communications to protect coalition aircraft, they also fired AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles to destroy hostile radar sites. In spite of the fact that these missions arc among the most dangerous assigned to any aircraft, no EA-6B has over been lost in combat. The Prowler has now been in service for more than twenty years, and current plans call for it to remain operational well into the twenty first century. Over the years, constant upgrades have been made to the aircraft in order to keep it current with the ever changing threat. Although no changes have been made to the EA-6B designation, the Prowler has been improved dramatically since it originally entered service in 1971. Acronyms, including EXCAP, ICAP 1, and ICAP-2. have all been used to identity the ongoing improvements made to the aircraft. Subvanants of ICAP-2 Prowlers are known as Block 82, Block 86. and Block 89 aircraft. This new publication in the Detail & Scale Scries explains these improvements, and more importantly, it illustrates the physical changes associated with each through the use of drawings and detailed photographs.

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Polish Aces of World War 2

Among the Battle of Britain aces who had seen combat over Poland in September 1939, Fig Off Tadeusz Nowierski was an outsider, for he had flown PZL.23 Karas reconnaissance bombers during the campaign. It was not until he joined No 609 Sqn that he had a chance to fly a fighter in combat, although his lack of previous experience in this type of aircraft seemed not to hinder him too much -Nowierski emerged from the Battle of Britain as a fully fledged ace, being credited with five German aircraft destroyed, and having been awarded a DFC! The latter was presented to Nowierski by AVM Sir Quintin Brand. OC No 10 Group, on 10 June 1941. by which time the Polish ace was flying Hurricanes with No 316 Sqn. Pit Offs Urbanowicz, Witorzenc and Ostoja-Ostaszewski are seen at the PAF Depot at Blackpool awaiting their respective postings to RAF squadrons in mid-1940. During the Battle of Britain they would score a combined total of more than 20 confirmed kills. Note that in the early summer of 1940. Poles wore the standard RAF uniform adorned with shoulder flashes bearing the word 'POLAND' and a PAF eagle on the left breast pocket. Later, the traditional Polish gapa (pilot's wings) would replace its RAF equivalent. whilst the eagle would move from the tunic to the cap - as had previously been the case in Poland.

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