Militaire vliegtuigen (WO 2): boeken - historie en techniek

Dieser einmalige Band präsentiert in der besten Tradition von "Flugzeuge der Welt" die Flugzeuge des Zweiten Weltkriegs - umfangsbedingt zunächst beginnend mit den Maschinen europäischer Hersteller.
Die Nationen außerhalb Europas werden im Jahresabstand folgen.

Auf 320 Seiten wird je Doppelseite ein Flugzeugmuster mit einer hochwertigen und extra angefertigten Dreiseitenansicht, einem Foto, einer Tabelle und beschreibendem Text vorgestellt. Ein Muss für jede Luftfahrt-Bibliothek und eine optimale Ergänzung zur Reihe "Flugzeuge der Welt". Unstrittig ein neues Standardwerk und schon jetzt ein absoluter Klassiker!

Am Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges waren die Kolbenmotor-Jagdflugzeuge auf dem absoluten Gipfel ihrer Entwicklung. Innerhalb von nur fünf Jahren waren hochgezüchtete Maschinen entstanden, deren Leistungsdaten noch heute beeindrucken: Zwölfzylindermotoren mit beinahe 2.000 PS machten Geschwindigkeiten von über 700 km/h möglich.

Nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges verdrängten die Stahltriebwerke den Kolbenmotor als Primärantrieb von Jagdflugzeugen.
Geblieben sind jedoch klingende Namen wie "Hurricane", "Spitfire" oder "Mustang" - Maschinen, die auf Flugtagen regelmässig tausende Zuschauer mit ihren Darbietungen (und dem Sound) begeistern.

Allied fighter pilots began encountering German jets - principally the outstanding Me 262 fighter - from the autumn of 1944. Stunned by the aircraft's speed and rate of climb, it took USAAF and RAF units time to work out how to combat this deadly threat as the Luftwaffe targeted the medium and heavy bombers attacking targets across the Reich.

A number of high-scoring aces from the Eighth Air Force (Drew, Glover, Meyer, Norley and Yeager, to name but a few) succeeded in claiming Me 262s, Me 163 and Ar 234s during the final months of the campaign, as did RAF aces like Tony Gaze and `Foob' Fairbanks.
The exploits of both famous and little-known pilots will be chronicled in this volume, detailing how they pushed their P-47s, P-51s, Spitfires and Tempests to the limits of their performance in order to down the Luftwaffe's `wonder weapons'.

The Second World War saw the apex of piston-engine aircraft design, and ushered the world into the jet age. Anybody who studies aviation will know the names: Spitfire, Mustang, Zero, Messerschmitt, Shturmovik. But there were many more aircraft to take to the skies before and during the war, and frequently their stories remain unknown.

This book seeks to tell those stories, to bring to the fore the forgotten warbirds. From the valiant Poles fighting the might of the Luftwaffe in their obsolescent craft, to the varied and excellent craft of the French Armee De l'Air, to the graceful craft of Italy's Regia Aeronautica. With stops around the globe, this book seeks to tell the tales of the forgotten or the doomed or the never-quites.

The stories of these aircraft, drawn from Allies and Axis nations alike, bring forth a fuller picture of aviation during the greatest airborne conflict in world history.
Telling these stories will give readers an interesting, and informative, look into the past-with personal reflections and a call to arms for the study of history itself.

Military gliders came of age in World War II, when glider assault infantry were the forerunners of today's helicopter-delivered airmobile troops. From the light pre-war sports and training machines, several nations developed troop-carrying gliders capable of getting a whole squad or more of infantry, with heavy weapons, onto the ground quickly, with the equipment that paratroopers simply could not carry.
They made up at least one-third of the strength of US, British, and German airborne divisions in major battles, and they also carried out several daring coup de main raids and spearhead operations. However, the dangers were extreme, the techniques were difficult, the losses were heavy (particularly during night operations), and the day of the glider assault was relatively brief.

This book explains the development and organization of glider troops, their mounts, and the air squadrons formed to tow them, the steep and costly learning-curve and the tactics that such troops learned to employ once they arrived on the battlefield.

Contents: Introduction: background - Gliders, construction and characteristics: the US Waco CG-4A, British Horsa and Hamilcar, German DFS 230, and minor types - Techniques: take-off, towing, release, landing procedures - Tug aircraft, types and employment: the US C-47 and German Ju 52. Glider and tug training; the fate of glider pilots after landing - Strengths and allocation of glider and tug flying units - Glider-delivered units, their organization, weapons, and equipment: infantry, artillery, engineers, and support units - Operations: tactical concepts; capabilities and limitations; early difficulties, and lessons learned; key operations examined - Select bibliography - Plate commentaries - Index.