Jesper. . . . in the excellent 2TAF book series by chris thomas . . .
Sounds very interresting. Must be this and the 3 following volumes?
JesperSome more:
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Jesper. . . . The 607 book is indeed a nice read. I would have enjoyed it more if the author had perhaps acknowledged where some of his information came from (like from some of my Vulcan books), but still a nice read 😉
Thank you WH904, for the info. 😎
But, I have to ask – from pure and utter ignorance, sorry 🙁 – for your Vulcan book titles?
Now I’m ‘at it’ I’d like to read more about the Vulcan.
JesperWas XH558 used in the Falklands War?
I’m’ currently reading ‘Vulcan 607’ by Rowland White. A very, very good read. Like fiction, but it isn’t
And am – again – impressed by how resourceful and ingenious the British servicemen and women were. The whole thing of planning and executing the Falklands operation with the assets and time frame available remains impressive.
Take care
J
JesperFirst of all: My deepest respect to all the men and women restoring warbirds. That be parts of, ‘statics’ or ‘airworthies’.
Regarding this . . . . oh man! Reminds me of a wooden something my son brought home from carpentry class in 3rd grade or something like that: No aesthetics, pure funtion. Maybe the same here?
Take care
J
JesperAn informed study of the whys and wherefores of design philosophy as it changed over the years, especially between 1930 and 1950. Everyone knows the world went from ‘rag and stick’ to supersonic jet aircraft.. but the story of the engineers and physicists who did this is largely obscure and lost in generalisation and assumption. Why did the Spitfire REALLY have a higher limiting Mach than any other propeller aircraft, regardless of wing thickness? Why was there a sudden sprouting of root fillets in the late thirties? Why did the p-38 shake uncontrollably over 500mph? Who worked it out, and how was it fixed? The answers are surprising (not fairings or under-wing flaps), largely unpublished, and I am sure there is a lot more out there. It was a time of immense change and technical noses to the grindstone, but it seems to have gone down in history as just somehow having happened without effort or immense scientific achievement.
Very interesting subjects 😎
Jesper. . . . . . . . To my mind it looks like something you might find on a wet fish counter.
Yikes! 🙂
Fortunately beauty is depending on the eye on the beholder. And how wonderful that is 🙂
To me the Connie is the most beautiful of all ‘tube liners’, of any era. It has a certain ‘eagle-ish’ look.
A colleague of mine saw – and heard! – a Connie take of (From Duxford ?) and was duly impressed. Apparently a sight and sound never to forget.
And I am NOT envious . . . . . . . not at all . . . . . . . . . . . :angel:
JesperApparently she had 3 identities 🙂
More info on spitfire.dk
JesperI can see that I have had preferences for the Vietnam Era now that I ‘dig in’ my book list.
Some of them are read a long time ago hence it is not always I remember the details.
Denis Barnham: “Spitfire Ace Over Malta: A Personal Account of Ten Weeks of War, April-June 1942”
A good account on the hardships of the defenders of Malta written in a low key
Eric Brown: Wings of the Luftwaffe: Flying German Aircraft of the Second World War
Liked this book very much, many details of the characteristics of German aircraft
Alex Henshaw: Sigh for a Merlin: Testing the Spitfire
A story from the home front, well written
Tim Mason: The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down, 1939-1945
If your are into tech this is for you. “An extraordinary look at more than 1,500 British, U.S., and German aircraft and armaments, including experimental machines”
Gordon Wallace: Carrier Observer
As I remember it this was ok.
Ken Bell: 100 Missions North: A Fighter Pilot’s Story of the Vietnam War
Not the best book I have read, but ok
Jack Broughton: Thud Ridge: F-105 Thunderchief missions over Vietnam
Jack Broughton: Going Downtown: The War Against Hanoi and Washington
These books are good reads. But no doubt that the author was an outspoken member of the ‘The-politicians-tied-our-right-arm-on-our-back’ wing
Ed Cobleigh: War For the Hell of It: A Fighter Pilot’s View of Vietnam
I liked this book, written in a low key manner. The mans love of flying shines through
Richard S. Drury: My Secret War
Flying the Skyraider, the anachronism of the Vietnam war. One of my first books in English and still one of my favorites
Paul T. Gillcrist. Vulture’s Row: Thirty Years in Naval Aviation
Paul T. Gillcrist. Tomcat!: Grumman F-14 Story
Paul T. Gillcrist. Crusader! : Last of the Gunfighters
Paul T. Gillcrist. Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot
These books are very good. A good mix of facts and ‘sea stories’. Laughed out loud may times
Marshall Harrison: A Lonely Kind of War: Forward Air Controller, Vietnam
Have a soft spot for the OV-10 Bronco. A good read
James L. Holloway III: Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation
As seen from the very top of the totem pole, I liked the book
Mika Jackson: Naked in Da Nang: A Forward Air Controller in Vietnam
Ok book
Hugh L. Mills Jr: Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot In The Big Red One
An action packed account
Kit Lavell: Flying Black Ponies: The Navy’s Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam
Another of my ‘first’s’ and favorites. Highly recommendable
Dick Lord:; From Fledgling to Eagle: The South African Air Force During the Border War
Not all air wars has to involve huge numbers of aircraft as e.g. the Vietnam War. A bit too detailed for my taste though, more like a combat report than a ‘traditional’ book on the subject
George J. Marret: Contrails Over the Mojave: The Golden Age of Jet Flight Testing at Edwards Air Force Base
George J. Marret: Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry
Well written books
Robert Mason: Chickenhawk
Liked this book for it’s straight forwardness
Dan McKinnon: Rescue Pilot : Life-Saving At – Sea Navy Helicopter Missions
From the infancy of rescue helicopters, interesting
Robert Prest: F4 Phantom: A Pilot’s Story
A RAF pilots peace time experience with The Phabulous Phantom. Told in a low key manner, very British and a good book.
Ed Rasimus: When Thunder Rolled: An F-105 Pilot over North Vietnam
A favorite of mine.
Warren Thompson: Bandits Over Baghdad: Personal Stories of Flying the F-117 Over Iraq
The first over the target
David Kirk Vaughan: Runway Visions: An American C-130 Pilot’s Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia, 1967-1968
Stories about the boredom of hauling ‘ass’n’trash’ as well as harrowing combat missions into e.g. Khe Sahn
Randy R. Zahn: Snake Pilot: Flying the Cobra Attack Helicopter in Vietnam
Like ‘Low Level Hell’ an action packed account
Enjoy, and take care
J
JesperIf you want to obtain some background info on the night bombings I can recommend
Alfred Price’s Instruments of Darkness: The History of Electronic Warfare, 1939-1945
Alfred Price is absolutely one of my favorite authors and this book is on my ‘To read again’ list
Take care
J
JesperMy bid
Been a while since I read these but as far as I remember none of them ‘fell through’ and I read them with pleasure (These guys must have been of the ‘Right Stuff’ for sure) Enjoy!
Infamous Aircraft: Dangerous Designs and Their Vices (Robert Jackson)
“Many aircraft, some famous and some rare, gained a reputation for being difficult to fly and sometimes downright dangerous.
This book looks at some of the worst culprits over a period spanning World War One to the age of supersonic flight . . . . “
The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down, 1939-1945 (Tim Mason)
“Delves into the highly classified world of WWII aircraft testing at Great Britain’s Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment.
An extraordinary look at more than 1,500 British, U.S., and German aircraft and armaments, including experimental machines. . . . “
Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (George J Marret)
“In 1969, after his return from Vietnam, George Marrett took a job as a test pilot at Hughes Aircraft. For twenty years, he tested the most sophisticated airborne radar and missiles ever designed for advanced Navy and Air Force aircraft. . . . . ”
Corky Meyer’s Flight Journal (Corwin ‘Corky’ Meyer)
Designing high-performance military aircraft in the slide-rule era was challenging. Being the first person to fly these airplanes and expand an aircraft’s flight envelope was often very frightening, if not downright deadly. It is hard to believe that someone could really endure 22 years in this occupation, plus another 30 years in the aircraft industry, often leading the industry-wide transition from large, too-complicated piston engines to doggy, . . . .
Contrails Over The Mojave: The Golden Age Of Jet Flight Testing At Edwards Air Force Base (Marrett, George J.)
“In Contrails over the Mojave, Marrett takes off where author Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff ended in 1963. Marrett started the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB only two weeks after the school’s commander, Col. Chuck Yeager, ejected from a Lockheed NF-104 trying to set a world altitude record. He describes life as a space cadet experiencing 15 Gs in a human centrifuge, zero-G maneuver . . . . “
Fighter Test Pilot: From Hurricane to Tornado (Roland Beamont)
” . . . . . . Roland Beamont is not just the first British pilot to exceed the sound barrier, he has broken many other world flying records and his handling of prototype aircraft at air displays has produced many disbelieving gasps. In this book he recounts many of his varied experiences, from wartime incidents like the above to such occasions as, when demonstrating the Canberra at Farnborough, a horrified control tower told him the aircraft was ‘dropping pieces’ or when, on a TSR2 flight, the undercarriage failed to open properly necessitating a very ‘tip-toe’ landing. . . . . “
JesperIf my memory serves me correctly, the book ‘Shadow and Stinger: Developing the AC-119G/K Gunships in the Vietnam War’ (P. Head) states that the USAF initially wanted to designate the C-47 gunships FC-47, the ‘F’ for fighter (!)
But changed it to AC-47 after strong objections from the fighter community. The term ‘fighter’ in context with a ungainly WWII cargo plane was simply too much for the fighter jocks to bear 😀
(The book is by the way a ‘must read’ for every one interested in the development of gunships)
JesperWings of the Luftwaffe and others
Currently I have the pleasure of reading:
Wings of the Luftwaffe: Flying German aircraft of the Second World War (Eric Melrose Brown)
[INDENT]According to Wikipedia, Brown have flown more types of aircraft than anyone else in history. In this book he ‘reviews’ – among others – the Fw200C, Heinkel He162, Junkers Ju87, Dornier Do217, Messerschmitt Me262, Bf109G and Bf110. (Must have been like being a child in a candy store, albeit a dangerous candy store from time to time?)[/INDENT]
Gunner: An illustrated history of World War II aircraft turrets and gun positions (Donald Nijboer)
[INDENT]With lots of wonderful pictures by photographer Dan Patterson[/INDENT]
On the bedside table I have:
[INDENT]The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down 1939-1945 (Tim Mason)
Contrails over the Mojave: The golden age of jet flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base ( George J. Marrett)
Dogfight: The greatest air duels of world war II (Tony Holmes)
Bandits over Baghdad: Personal stories of flying the F-117 over Iraq (Warren E. Thompson) [/INDENT]
A good thing about the time of year we are approaching is the ‘need’ to commence indoor activities 😎
JesperWings of the Luftwaffe and others
Currently I have the pleasure of reading:
Wings of the Luftwaffe: Flying German aircraft of the Second World War (Eric Melrose Brown)
[INDENT]According to Wikipedia, Brown have flown more types of aircraft than anyone else in history. In this book he ‘reviews’ – among others – the Fw200C, Heinkel He162, Junkers Ju87, Dornier Do217, Messerschmitt Me262, Bf109G and Bf110. (Must have been like being a child in a candy store, albeit a dangerous candy store from time to time?)[/INDENT]
Gunner: An illustrated history of World War II aircraft turrets and gun positions (Donald Nijboer)
[INDENT]With lots of wonderful pictures by photographer Dan Patterson[/INDENT]
On the bedside table I have:
[INDENT]The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down 1939-1945 (Tim Mason)
Contrails over the Mojave: The golden age of jet flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base ( George J. Marrett)
Dogfight: The greatest air duels of world war II (Tony Holmes)
Bandits over Baghdad: Personal stories of flying the F-117 over Iraq (Warren E. Thompson) [/INDENT]
A good thing about the time of year we are approaching is the ‘need’ to commence indoor activities 😎
JesperJust finished ‘War in the Fourth Dimension: US electronic warfare, from the Vietnam War to the present’ (Albert Price) Very, very good. EW is not ‘just that’, I found out
Currently reading ‘Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue’ (George Galdorisi)
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