Naval Aircraft Books - History, Types and Construction

Fighters Over the Fleet : Naval Air Defence from Biplanes to the Cold War

This is an account of the evolution of naval fighters for fleet air defence and the parallel evolution of the ships operating and controlling them, concentrating on the three main exponents of carrier warfare, the Royal Navy, the US Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

It describes the earliest efforts from the 1920s but it was not until radar allowed the direction of fighters that organised air defence became possible. Thus major naval-air battles of the Second World War - like Midway, the 'Pedestal' convoy, the Philippine Sea and Okinawa - are portrayed as tests of the new technology. This was ultimately found wanting by the Kamikaze campaigns, which led to postwar moves towards computer control and new kinds of fighters.

After 1945 the novel threats of nuclear weapons and stand-off missiles compounded the difficulties of naval air defence and the second half of the book covers RN and USN attempts to solve these problems, looking at US experience in Vietnam and British operations in the Falklands War.
It concludes with the ultimate US development of techniques and technology to fight the Outer Air Battle in the 1980s, which in turn point to the current state of carrier fighters and the supporting technology.

Based largely on documentary sources, some previously unused, this book will appeal to both the naval and aviation communities.

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Wings of the Navy

Carrier aircraft, since their beginning, have been a very special kind of machine and demand something equally special of the men who flew them. Landing on a pitching, bucking deck of a carrier, or catapulting over a plunging bow, shipboard aircraft and their pilots had to be exceptional.
Often, the real characteristics of these assorted aircraft lie forgotten in the annals of time but Eric 'Winkle' Brown, the first naval officer to head the elite Aerodynamics Flight at Farnborough, records his cockpit experiences testing British and American carrier aircraft.

Having enjoyed one of the most extraordinary careers in flying, Eric 'Winkle' Brown places on record the flying characteristics, good bad and indifferent, of a myriad of 30 aircraft types - from the Fairey Swordfish and Albacore, Grumman Avenger and Panther to the Supermarine Seafire, Douglas Dauntless, North American Skyray, de Havilland Sea Vixen and Blackburn Buccaneer.
Highly illustrated with cutaways, photographs and colour profiles, "Wings of the Navy" makes a valuable contribution to aviation history and keeps the memory of these diverse and absorbing aircraft alive.

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The Illustrated Guide to Modern Naval Aircraft

An A-Z directory of all the major naval aircraft since 1945, including jet-engined fighters and strike aircraft, carrier-borne AEW aircraft, V/STOL aircraft, and helicopters.

This title examines the history and evolution of naval aircraft from the immediate post-World War II period to the present, with special reference to Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands War, Libya, Top Gun, and future developments in modern naval combat.
It features all the best-known modern planes and helicopters, such as the F/A-18, Fairey Gannet, Grumman A-6 Intruder, Super Etendard, Buccaneer, Westland (Sikorsky) Sea King, 55 in total.

It includes specification boxes which provide at-a-glance information about each aircraft's name, country of origin, first flight, power, armament, size, weight and performance.

With its lively narrative and 330 photographs, this authoritative volume provides historians and enthusiasts with key information about the naval aircraft of this key period in history.

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Trägerflugzeuge des Zweiten Weltkriegs 1939-1945 (Typenkompass)

During the Second World War, carrier-based aircraft were used on a large scale for the first time.
After initial experiences in the previous World War, by 1939, powerful carrier ships and the associated aircraft were built mainly by the warring nations of England, the USA and Japan. These were to play a decisive role during the major naval battles in the Pacific and in the hunt for submarines in the Atlantic.

An excellent addition to the Typenkompass series - not only in the area of aviation but also as a supplement to the Typenkompass volumes on aircraft carriers: "Flottenträger" and "Hilfs- and Geleitträger".

Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical sheet.

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Trägerflugzeuge - seit 1945 (Typenkompass)

Aircraft that operate from carriers have to withstand extremely tough everyday and operational conditions: take-offs and (very tough) landings over minimal distances, accommodation in the smallest of spaces and yet still being fully usable for military purposes.
And all of this in a salty environment - certainly not ideal starting conditions. It is therefore no wonder that carrier aircraft are, in the end, technical masterpieces. Reason enough to dedicate a separate Typenkompass to this type of aircraft.

Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical sheet.

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U-Boot-Jäger - U-Jagdflugzeuge seit 1945

After 1945, the submarines, which had been feared during the war, developed away from their exclusive role of attacking ships and towards huge missile carriers, which had an arsenal of nuclear weapons on board and could wipe out entire countries in an emergency - a threat that is still very serious today.
This is countered by a multitude of highly interesting types of aircraft: submarine hunters are specially developed or appropriately converted machines that hunt submerged submarines over the seas, track them down and fight them effectively.

An extremely exciting topic awaits the reader in this volume by Heiko Thiesler.

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