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

The Birth of the Royal Air Force 

by Ian Philpott 

Which branch of the military operates stuff that flies? Not always and not everywhere is it the air force. This book fields micro and macro analysis to explain how the oldest independent air force in the world came into being. And what the other services had to say about that.

The Bombing of Rolls-Royce at Derby  in Two World Wars—With Diversions

by Kirk, Felix & Bartnik

Industrial sites are a prime bombing target, so much so that the British set up “shadow” factories to fool the enemy. But the actual R-R works took their share of hits, and here’s their story.

Fast Jets, The History of Reheat Development at Derby 

by Cyril Elliott, with contributions from John Goodwin

Afterburners are a slick piece of technology. The Rolls-Royce company played a crucial role in pioneering and finessing such work.

Lockheed A-12, The CIA’s Blackbird and Other Variants

by Paul F. Crickmore

You may not know and you may not care but without the A-12’s intelligence-gathering successes the world would have blown up long ago. No kidding. Read why and how here!

Rolls-Royce Motors: The Crewe Years

by Malcolm Bobbitt

Hard to imagine but a mere 64 pages manage to convey one of the best condensed versions of what was this fabled marque’s home for most of its now 110-year history.

Hungarian Fighter Colours 1930–1945

by Dénes Bernád and György Punka

Written specifically with the modeler in mind as sort of an authenticity guide in regards to paint and markings, these excellent books actually do quite a bit more by fleshing out one of the lesser-known chapters of WWII military aviation with extensively researched micro detail.

Fabulous Flying Boats

by Leslie Dawson

Nice overview of flying boats with lots of details on what an actual flight was really like.

Britain’s Greatest Aircraft

by Robert Jackson

Radar, jet engine, ejector seat, VTOL—these are just some of the technologies that carry a “Made in the UK” label. The book describes the design, development, and operational highlights of 22 significant examples of British fixed-wing aircraft.

Breguet 27, Potez 39, Mureaux 115/117

by José Fernandez

These three French light aircraft of the 1930s borrowed construction techniques from the car industry. Many previously unpublished photos add layers of detail, especially about their service with foreign air forces.

The Pucará Story

by Ricardo Caballero, Phil Cater

Still in production after some 45 years, and still only airplane insiders know and appreciate this little multi-role machine. For the first time in English, a proper book gathers all you need to know.

Zeppelin: the Story of the Zeppelin Airships

by Hans Georg Knäusel

For almost forty years, Zeppelins glided through the skies. How they got there and how they suffered extinction at the very height of their technical perfection is the story here.