Автор: Lou Drendel
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
Год издания: 1992
isbn: 0897472713
Количество страниц: 72
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The 1960's were one of (he most difficult periods in the history of the American military. They found themselves increasingly committed to a war in the Southeast Asia that American politicians were increasingly unwilling to fully support, and yet were not willing to end. As the war escalated, the Air Force discovered that their airplanes... airplanes that had been designed in the 1950's for all-out nuclear war, left a lot to be desired when it came to fighting a conventional...or in the case of Vietnam, a semi-conventional war. One arena in which the mission requirements of Vietnam conflicted heavily with the mission capabilities of the aircraft was air superiority. Post World War Two America had been in love with its nuclear sovereignty. Strategic Air Command would keep the peace with its big stick, and if the other guys developed long range bombers, we would knock them cut of the sky with missile carrying interceptors. But when it came time to bomb the other guy in North Vietnam, he sent up nimble interceptors to contest the skies. His tactic was to sneak up behind you, then blast away with guns! Guns! Our airplanes didn't even have guns! And if you managed to turn into him, the chances were that you would be either too close to shoot your missile, or have too much angle-off or G for the missile to handle. The envisioned sophisticated radar-directed push-button air war quickly degenerated into an old fashioned dogfight over North Vietnam. Clearly, what we needed was a dogfighter that had the power and agility to outmaneuvcr an enemy, and the sophisticated avionics to spot and attack him before he could sneak up on you. There were several people in the Air Force who realized this very quickly once the war in Vietnam settled into a daily grind against tough targets. There were even people who had predicted the need for such a fighter before Vietnam. However these ideas were not held in high regard by the Defense Department of Robert McNamara. McNamara and his whiz kids were determined to apply the buy to serve commonality. The first Air Force version, the F-4C, was practically identical to the Navy F-4B, it wasn't until the later D and E versions that the Air Force got a Phantom that was designed around Air Force missions. There were rebels in the Air Force who kept the dream of a pure air superiority fighter alive throughout the McNamara years. They fought hard for Research and Development funds for the FX...tht fighter experimental. But there were politxs involved in keeping the dream alive. McNamara was intent on his airplane for all seasons — the TFX — becoming the be-all, end-all in tactical aircraft. But after the Air Force agreed to buy eleven squadrons of NAVY A-7 Corsair lis, thereby paying homage to the great God Commonality, he acceded to further funding of the FX as a follow-on interceptor to the Phantom. With that chip in hand, the Air Force Systems Command went overboard in its specifications for the new fighter, finally coming up with a proposed airplane that was uncomfortably F-lll like. However, that was not what the chumpions of an air superiority fighter had in mind, and they finally made their voices heard. If any one man could be considered the father of the F-15 it would be Major John Boyd. He had been an instructor at the USAF Fighter Weapons School in the 1950s and had written a tactics manual entitled Aerial Attack Study. Boyd had developed theories that went beyond just pulling Gs during a fight. His energy maneuverability concepts shaped air combat for the future, taking air-to-air combat out of the horizontal plane and making modern air combat truly three dimensional. Boyd, with the assistance of mathematician Tom Christie, used computers at Eglin AFB to refine his theories and gel his conclusions on paper. The resultant report was such an articulate argument in favor of the pure, air-to-air fighter that Boyd was invited to apply his expertise to the design of the FX. What finally emerged from Boyd's studies was a fighter with high thrust to weight ratio and low wing loading. It was optimised...not to necessarily go high or fast...but to maneuver.
Автор: Lou Drendel
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
Год издания: 1991
isbn: 0897472632
Количество страниц: 61
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
It is a collection of interviews from pilots and the makers of the A-6 Intruder...which makes the book really interesting, since they are the experts. In a few short paragraphs, the designer of this plane from Grumman Aircraft explains how/why certain choices were made. There are many excellent drawings (1/72 scale) that help a modeler as well as dozens of color line drawings to show various paint schemes used in the 50+ years of this plane's life. A lot of clear B&W photos are included along with captions explaining what is of interest in the photo.
Автор: Wojciech J. Gawrych
Издательство: Progres Publishing House
Год издания: 2003
isbn: 8391648354
Количество страниц: 88
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Язык: английский / польский. The idea of a 'fast tank', based on the Christie suspension, came to the British only in the mid-1930s. The various trials of experimental mechanized forces of the 1920s and early 1930s had led info the development of three distinct types of lank - the 'infantry tank' to support infantry in the attack (slow, lhighlly armed, but heavily armored), the cruiser tank' (faster, more lightly armored, fitted with a gun suitable for taking on enemy tanks), and the 'light tank' (last but hightly armed and armored, for reconatssance).
Автор: Lou Drendel
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
Год издания: 1990
isbn: 0897472543
Количество страниц: 62
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Introduction: When I wrote "F-14 In Action" during 1977. the Tomcat was a relatively new aircraft. It had made its first operational deployments just two years previously and there were only ten squadrons in active service. A lot has happened since 1977. but Grumman's big swing-wing fighter is still the hottest thing in the fleet It was the aircraft flown by Maverick and Goose in "TOP GUN" and. while all Tomcat pilots wont end up with Kelly McGillis. you can bet that they believe the only reason is that there is a limited supply of Kelly McGillises. Tomcat pilots are the elite of the carrier air wings, masters of the air-to-air arena, the tip of the foreign policy sword and are filled with a self-confidence borne of the certain knowledge that they are flying the best fighter-interceptor the Navy has ever put aboard ship. Victories against terrorism are few and far between, but the most celebrated victories in recent years have been won by Tomcats and Tomcat pilots. These include four kills against the Libyan Arab Air Force and the capture of the hijackers of the ACHILLE LAURO. The Tomcat was born almost twenty years ago. yet with new engines and a re-manufacturing program the F-14D will remain in front-line service well into the next century. The fact that new technology can be integrated into the basic airframe of the Tomcat is an impressive tribute to the sound design of the F-14. In this book you will read the experiences of four of the Tomcat's test pilots. These are men who are uniquely qualified to discuss the design of the airplane and how it has been kept up to date with new avionics, engines and improved tactics. From this vantage point, it would be easy to call the F-14 "The Timeless Tomcat."
Автор: Lou Drendel
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
isbn: 0897472047
Количество страниц: 63
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The F/A-18 Hornet has become the most common aircraft on the decks of US aircraft carriers in the history of naval aviation. While the Super Hornet is a distant relation of the A-D Hornets, they all trace their roots to the loser of the lightweight fighter competition of the early 1970s, the Northrop YF-17. 100 photographs, color profiles and detailed line drawings.
Автор: Glen Phillips, David Smith
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
Год издания: 1998
isbn: 0897473868
Количество страниц: 82
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Allison Engined Mustangs Walk Around (SC). Covers four variants of Allison engined-powered Mustangs: Mustang I (RAF), P -51, A-36 Dive Bomber. and the P-51A. 40 pages in color, 12 color profiles.
Автор: Maj. Ronald E. Bergquist
Издательство: Air University Press
Год издания: 1988
isbn: 158566023X
Количество страниц: 105
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
This book is an outgrowth of questions raised in the fall of 1980 and spring of 1981 about the conduct of air operations in the war between Iran and Iraq. Unlike previous Middle Eastern wars, this one had continued over a protracted period while we in the United States and in the U.S. Air Force had been able to observe it only from a distance. As the war haltingly progressed, we began to have a fair picture of what was going on in the air war, though our information was far from complete or detailed. The sketchy picture that emerged, however, seemed to indicate the combatants were using their airpower assets in ways contrary to our expectations. Most notably, it seemed that both sides seemed content not to use their airpower and relied instead on ground forces for most combat operations. This report examines the air war between Iran and Iraq, but rather than attempt to lay out what happened in the war, it attempts to discern why Iran and Iraq used their airpower as they did. The results of this study do not call into question any basic U.S. Air Force airpower approaches, but they do highlight significant considerations that affect the use of airpower by Third World nations.
Автор: Siegfried Breyer
Издательство: Podzun-Pallas-Verlag
Год издания: 1998
isbn: 3790906506
Количество страниц: 52
Язык: другой
Формат: PDF (scan)
Zum vorliegenden Band werden u.a. Fotos abgedruckt, die einerseits noch nicht bekannt sind, andererseits aber in der Qualität nachgelassen zu haben scheinen. In der Tat: Nachgelassen haben sie, zumal auf Chamoispapier abgezogen; im Laufe von mehr als sechs Jahrzehnten sind sie gelblich nachgedunkelt. Sie stammen aus einer Sammlung, die erst vor Jahresfrist erworben wurde, und stellten sich in ihrer Zeit sicher als exzellent dar. Von der Wiedergabequalität haben sie indessen kaum eingebüßt, aber sie sind vergilbt und daher nicht mehr sehr ansehlich. Gleichwohl ist auf den Abdruck nicht verzichtet worden, weil sie den Wert echter Zeitdokumente haben. Es wird auch in Zukunft an der Maxime festgehalten, besser ein rares, aber nicht mehr im ßestzustand befindliches Bild zu zeigen als darauf zu verzichten. Das Gros der Leserschaft wird dies zu schätzen wissen.
Автор: SOKO Mostar Team
Издательство: SOKO Mostar
Год издания: 1983
Количество страниц: 31
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The G-4 Super Galeb is a new-generation jet strike-trainer intended to replace the successful Soko Galeb/ Jastreb family in the conditions expected to prevail in military pilot training in the late eighties and the nineties. Through backed by extensive experience gained by its predecessor through seventeen years now in service with the Yugoslav Air Force and overseas, the Super Galeb is a completely new, modern design, connected only by name and tradition to the G-2A Galeb, rather than being a derivative of the latter in a technical sense. Increasing cost and complexity of modern combat aircraft and, consequently, of corresponding operational conversion types, as well as fuel economy considerations, advocate the reduction of flying hours on operational conversion aircraft as far as possible. This has brought about a marked upward extension in the performance envelopes of modern training aircraft. The G-4 follows this trend, while avoiding over-sophistication and excessively demanding handling characteristics which would undercut its range of applicability at the low end of the scope of training missions. It thus represents a well-balanced compromise to economically and efficiently cover the widest range of pilot training requirements. After highly successful flight-testing of the prototype, the Yugoslav Air Force has placed a substantial order for the new G-4 Super Galeb strike-trainer aircraft.
Автор: Jim Mesko, Don Greer
Издательство: Squadron/Signal Publications
Год издания: 1985
isbn: 0897471636
Количество страниц: 67
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The war in Vietnam was often a sludy in contrasts. No better illustration of this can be found than in the role played by the United States Navy. In the Tonkin Gulf naval aviators, flying supersonic jets off the decks of huge super carriers, participated in the aerial campaign against North Vietnam, while cruisers and the Battleship New Jersey bombarded enemy coastal areas. Further south, a vast array of small craft, few of which were ocean going, carried out a variety of tasks along the coast and up the various rivers and canals which dissected this war torn land. And w hile much has been written about the aerial and bombardment campaign, little has been written about these small craft in the war. Yet in terms of men, ships, action, and heroism this little known aspect of the Navy's war in Vietnam deserves equal treatment with the more glamorous big-ship operations that caught the public's attention through newspaper reports and television. The sailors who manned these small fragile boats and often fought pitched battles with the Viet Con% (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) at small arms range and on occasion even had to repel boarders! The kind of warfare that was waged on the inland and coastal waters of Vietnam was last practiced by the United States Navy during the Civil War, almost exactly one-hundred years earlier. As a result much of the tactics were based on the earlier experiences of the French Union Forces, or were developed through trial and error. Mistakes were made, as was to be expected, but in the end the resourceful individual sailors of these varied forces learned their lessons well and were forged into formidable fighting forces which deprived the enemy (he use of these waterways. In RIVERINE, I have tried to present a broad outline of the operations by the Brown Water Navy, as these forces came to be known, from their inception to the withdrawal of US Forces from Vietnam. The scope of this book covers the three major components of the Navy's riverine force and their subsidiary units. Each had its own distinct function but also worked in conjunction with the other two components when the situation dictated. Task force 115 (Market Time), had the responsibility for coastal patrol, surveillance, and interception of enemy gun runners on the high seas. Using equipment that ranged from Patrol aircraft such as the Neptune and Orion to small Swift Boats, which even included US Coast Guard cutters. Market Time carried out the usually monotonous duty of interdicting communist supplies along the coast of Vietnam. Task Force 116 (Game Warden), carried the war as far up the rivers and canals of Vietnam as their shallow draft boats would go. Using various modified landing craft, armored power boats, helicopters and even fixed wiog Broncos, they eventually swept the Viet Cong from the Mekong Delta.
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