Air Force Aviation

World War II Begins... It's September of nineteen-thirty-nine, and King George of England has just announced to his people that he has declared war on Germany due to their invasion of the Allied country of Poland. This ghastly news immediately falls on the ears of Simon Bentley while he sits enjoying himself at his younger brother George's wedding. Being a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, he knows he must act immediately, so without any hesitation, Simon flees the church basement reception and heads straight for his air base. It is time for all the years of his pilot training to be ...

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the 20th century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Seventh) under his command possessed 4,004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft, and 922 transports.

Between April and July 1944, Truman Smith flew 35 bombing missions over France and Germany. He was only 20 years old. Although barely adults, Smith and his peers worried about cramming a lifetime's worth of experience into every free night, each knowing he probably would not survive the next bombing mission. Written with blunt honesty, wry humor, and insight, The Wrong Stuff is Smith's gripping memoir of that time.

Air Force One keeps the U.S. president safe while flying. Learn more about the features that protect this amazing plane. Also find out how team members protect the president as he travels on Air Force One.

Nowadays, people always use airplanes to get to their destinations. Instead of spending several days taking the bus or train, they prefer a flight that will take three hours at most. In an era when every minute of our day is precious, we can’t afford to waste time on ground transportation. But how did planes first came into being? Who came up with the idea of sticking some wings to a frame to make them fly? How did they manage to fly in the first place? There are so many questions that we want answered – which is exactly what this book is planning to do for you. Here, you will discover:...

…Ben Het has tanks in the wire! “Hawk Claw is engaging,” the pilot reports firing the first TOW missile ever from a helicopter in combat. Fire Base Delta had already been over run and Fire Base Charlie was fighting for its life. How much would fall before the North Vietnamese army was knocking on the doors of the key city of Kontum? This was the third phase of the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive Campaign of 1972. Standing across the country between them and the fall of Saigon was a poorly led South Vietnamese Army, brave South Vietnamese soldiers, and US Advisors. How much ground ...

Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people.

They flew small wooden biplanes at night over the Eastern Front. Searchlights and flak chased them. German troops called them Nachthexen. They flew again and again until dawn. This book tells the full combat story of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later the 46th Guards. You will see how they trained at Engels, learned night tactics with the Po-2, and took on hard targets near the front. You will follow them through the Kuban, Crimea, Belarus, Poland, East Prussia, and the Oder. You will meet Marina Raskova, commander Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, pilot Nadezhda Popova, navigator Yekaterina ...

Sam Kleiner’s The Flying Tigers uncovers the hidden story of the group of young American men and women who crossed the Pacific before Pearl Harbor to risk their lives defending China. Led by legendary army pilot Claire Chennault, these men left behind an America still at peace in the summer of 1941 using false identities to travel across the Pacific to a run-down airbase in the jungles of Burma.

A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. This first-person account of his harrowing missions—chronicling deadly flights through skies of red-hot flak bursts and airmen bailing out with parachutes aflame—will leave listeners staggered by the determination and grit of World War II aviators.

Great Britain, summer 1940. The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Adolf Hitler’s powerful armies control Europe. England stands alone against this juggernaut, the whole world knowing it is only a matter of time before Nazi Germany unleashes its military might on the island nation. And in London, a new prime minister named Winston Churchill is determined to defeat the Nazi menace, no matter the costs. Luckily for Churchill, one quirky Englishman has seen the future.

The US Air Force is a powerful military force. But there is more to this high-flying military branch than you might imagine. These surprising facts about the US Air Force will amaze you.

Air Force One: The Definitive History, Operations, and Security of The POTUS’ Airplane by Dr. Andrew Wharton is a comprehensive exploration of the iconic aircraft that serves as the airborne embodiment of American presidential power. Far more than a mode of transportation, Air Force One is a mobile command center, a diplomatic envoy, and a symbol of national resilience. This meticulously researched volume traces the aircraft’s evolution from its origins in the 1940s to its modern iterations, delving into its engineering marvels, operational protocols, and unparalleled security measures ...

It was 13 October 1972. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying a team of young rugby players, their families and friends, took off for the very last time. A deadly miscalculation saw F571 crash directly into the Andean mountains to devastating consequences: the body of the plane broke violently into two, its floor torn to smithereens; seats flew out of the air taking passengers with them. In the weeks that followed, the remaining people who were on board - the society of the snow - emerged to fight a dire, gruelling battle for survival.

Evasive maneuvers – break hard right! Ryan ‘Reaper’ Merrick had a good reason to jump at the offer of a fake relationship as the beautiful stranger suggested. This would be an easy way to keep a crazy matchmaker off his back. All of his friends were happily married, so they assumed he should be. Fine. Whatever. Besides, being married for thirty days was nothing, wasn’t it? Caution! Grab the handles and punch out! Sophie Lane inherited the bed-and-breakfast, but only if she was married. She had to have a husband by Friday, or the family estate would be liquidated. The idea of losing ...

'Another excellent volume, breaking down a single posting into a multitude of interesting individual stories.' Ron Powell joined the C-130 Hercules fleet as a pilot just as the Falklands War started. So his early months on the aircraft, affectionately known to its crews as Fat Albert, are dominated by frequent visits to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. But this third volume of Shropshire Blue also chronicles flights across much of the rest of the world, from Las Vegas to New Zealand and northern Canada to the Falklands. Highlights include flights into Hong Kong, East Berlin, Beirut, ...

Mayday! Mayday! Prepare to eject… Sutton ‘Firefly’ Grainger wore a mask over his emotions, pretending to be something he wasn’t – strong and brave. Growing up alone, coping with guilt from his past, and then the death of his friend? It was all too much. The trauma, panic attacks, and mental chaos were more than he could bear silently anymore… but he also wasn’t alone in his fight. We’ve got a man down… Melody Greene never thought her husband would come home in a casket. Pregnant, alone, and trying to figure out how to move on? An unexpected letter from Jordan’s fellow ...

A World War II Military Thriller Inspired by True Events of the Winter War In the frozen skies of 1939 Finland, death doesn’t come from above—it hunts in formation. As the Soviet invasion begins, Finnish fighter ace Lieutenant Veikko Niemi takes to the air in his outclassed Fokker D.XXI, battling overwhelming numbers in defense of his homeland. But something is different this time. The Soviet pilots aren't flying blind bombing runs—they’re coordinated, precise, and deadly. Led by the enigmatic Major Grigori Chernyavin, a disgraced stunt pilot returned from Stalin’s purges, the ...

Best-selling author Dee Henderson portrays the valor of naval aviator Lieutenant Grace Yates and Air Force pararescue jumper Major Bruce Stanton, and their blossoming romance. Although deployments keep them apart, their friendship develops in letters of faith and comfort. When Grace's F/A-18 Hornet crashes among Kurdistan's towering peaks, Bruce's elite rescue team races into harm's way to save her. And Bruce fears she'll never know how much he truly cares.

You lack control and just overshot your target… Nick ‘Caboose’ Evans would never admit in a million years that he’d screwed up letting Ivy out of his sights. She was a klutz, washing out of the Academy, nearly destroying government property in the process. He’d lost his temper and his girlfriend in one fell swoop… only to have her rear end his rental car the moment he got to Yonder. Swing around, flyboy, and prepare to take fire… Ivy Quinn saw red as her ex-boyfriend blew past her, driving much too fast. Now a police officer, it was almost enjoyable to pull Nick over… but ...