Convair Aircraft Books - History, Types and Construction

Convair

Becoming the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States when Consolidated merged with Vultee in 1943, Convair quickly built a reputation for designing and building some of the largest and most powerful aircraft in the world.
From the XA-41 ground-attack aircraft in 1944 through to the CV-880 and CV-990 airliners of the early 1960s, Convair pushed the boundaries with every project they undertook. Some were inevitably more successful than others but all would make their mark in aviation history.

The novelty of the turboprop-powered Tradewind flying-boat, the glamour of the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart and the brutish power and futuristic appearance of the B-58 Hustler are all trademark Convair machines.

Discover the history behind these incredible machines, and many others as well, in this profusely illustrated book by aviation writer Martyn Chorlton.

Convair Deltas: From Seadart to Hustler

Tells the compelling story of America's aerospace industry in its heyday, when manufacturers boldly took the initiative to explore futuristic new designs by actually building and test flying airplanes to determine how well they would work, if at all.

Convair led the way in this area with America's only complete family of delta-wing aircraft that included America's first delta-wing jet, the one-of-a-kind XF-92 experimental prototype, the XF2Y-1 jet-powered seaplane, the XFY-1 Pogo turboprop vertical takeoff and landing fighter, the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart supersonic missile-firing interceptors, and the revolutionary record-breaking four-engine B-58 Hustler - the world's first Mach 2 strategic bomber.

Noted aviation author Bill Yenne thoroughly documents Convair's quest to conquer the aerodynamic mysteries of the delta wing with stories of the dramatic struggles and technological breakthroughs that gave the world some of its greatest fighter and bomber aircraft.

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger

With vivid detail and many exclusive photographs, Wayne Mutza chronicles the Convair's F-102 Delta Dagger's unsteady course through history, from its inception to present-day survivors.
Presented for the first time are the fascinating details surrounding the F-102 in the air defense role, special projects, its unconventional use during the war in Southeast Asia, service with foreign air arms, the Air National Guard and its extensive involvement with the drone program.

Special features include a detailed listing of each aircraft's assignment history and many of the insignia associated with the F-102. Through in-depth research, the author has produced a most informative and interesting volume on a classic aircraft.

F-102 Delta Dagger Units

World War II saw the development of the heavy bomber as a decisive weapon which, in sufficient numbers, could overcome defensive fighters and guns and lay waste to strategic targets. The addition of nuclear weapons to the bomber's armament made it even more formidable, and by the late 1940s, US planners saw the growth of a Soviet nuclear-armed bomber fleet as a terrifying threat to North American security.
Conventional subsonic fighters with guns and free-flight air-to-air rockets would be incapable of reaching these incoming bombers in time to prevent even one from delivering a devastating nuclear attack.

As a result, supersonic speed, long-range guided missiles and precise radar-based control of an interception became prerequisites for a new breed of fighters, beginning with the F-102. A massive research and development effort produced the Convair F-102A '1954 Fighter', the J57 afterburning turbojet, its Hughes MX-1554 fire control system and, in due course, the Semi-Active Ground Environment (SAGE) radar and communications network that covered North America to guide its airborne defences.

In service, F-102As also provided air defence in Europe with USAFE, in the Far East and in Southeast Asia, where they protected US airbases in South Vietnam and Thailand from air attack by North Vietnamese fighters and bombers and escorted B-52s and fighter-bombers on their attack sorties.
This illustrated study from leading expert Peter E. Davis details the design, development, and deployment of the futuristic F-102, including its complex research program and role in Vietnam.