Archive for Items Categorized 'Military', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Flying Wings & Radical Things

by Tony Chong

You may think you know what all came out of Northrop Grumman over the years. You don’t; even if you worked there . . . This book will add a whole new list of names to drop at your next party.

British Secret Projects: Jet Fighters Since 1950

by Tony Buttler

Lots of aircraft went into production—but so, so, so many more remained at the thought or test stage. This book looks at the jet fighter side of it, and it is the one whose original version launched a whole series of books—with no end in sight.

Training the Right Stuff: The Aircraft That Produced America’s Jet Pilots

by Mark A. Frankel & Tommy H. Thomason

Jets behaved like nothing before them; accident rates soared. It wasn’t until 1948 that the military had a proper jet trainer—developed with private funds! This splendid book takes us from biplane to high-tech simulator.

“Sam” – Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Elworthy

by Richard Mead

KG, GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC, MA—this letter salad bespeaks a highly decorated life. It is only fitting that a biography of this distinguished officer should appear during the RAF’s Centenary year.

Horten Ho 229

by Andrei I. Shepelev & Huib Ottens

The work of the Horten brothers is very remarkable, especially given their young age and the circumstances under which they worked. The Ho 229 was their last and most ambitious project—yielding lessons that are puzzling engineers still.

Soviet Naval Aviation 1946–1991

by Yefim Gordon & Dmitriy Komissarov

A subject shrouded in mystery and suffering from spotty information. No more. Both history and machinery are covered.

Wave-Off! A History of LSOs and Ship-Board Landings

by Robert R. “Boom” Powell

If you have even the remotest interest in flying—of any sort—or teamwork—of any sort—don’t miss this book because it’ll offer food for thought about many things!

Tupolev TU-22/TU-22M

by Yefim Gordon & Sergey Komissarov

Similar names, different aircraft. One was the first Soviet supersonic nuclear-capable bomber but failed to live up to expectations, the other a completely reconfigured improvement. This book needs no improvement.

Vought F-8 Crusader: Development of the Navy’s First Supersonic Jet Fighter

by William D. Spidle

The Navy’s first fully operational supersonic aircraft would become the most successful military aircraft ever built. This book covers its design and development as well as the early stages of its operational history.

Ladies of Lascaris: Christina Ratcliffe and the Forgotten Heroes of Malta’s War

by Paul McDonald

The RAF did tremendously important reconnaissance work on Malta, and the women and girls who worked as plotters and cipherenes helped. Obviously, they had private lives, and Ratcliffe’s in particular is way out there.

Project Terminated

by Erik Simonsen

“Too many cooks spoil the broth” . . . this book puts the blame for pulling the plug on seemingly viable aviation projects on hapless bureaucrats who keep the military from doing its thing. But it ain’t that easy . . .