In 1935 the USAAC wanted to build a potential intercontinental bomber, a 'Guardian of the Hemisphere,' and granted Donald Douglas a contract to build the world's largest bomber.The groundwork for the intercontinental bomber had been laid in the previous two decades by the courageous military and civilian pilots who risked their lives to set new distance and endurance records. After World War I the future Axis and Allied nations built larger aircraft and finally dur...

In 1935 the USAAC wanted to build a potential intercontinental bomber, a 'Guardian of the Hemisphere,' and granted Donald Douglas a contract to build the world's largest bomber. The groundwork for the intercontinental bomber had been laid in the previous two decades by the courageous military and civilian pilots who risked their lives to set new distance and endurance records. After World War I the future Axis and Allied nations built larger aircraft and finally during World War II Germany...

The XB-40 and XB-41 were secret, little-known experimental modifications of the B-17F and B-24D, respectively, into heavily-armed bomber gunships sometimes referred to as “bomber escorters”.They were developed during early World War II in response to the lack of a USAAF long-range fighter aircraft able to escort and protect regular B-17 formations making the round trip from Britain deep into Germany. Unfortunately, these “protecters” were found wanting in several w...

An Aeronautical Engineer's View.....The Vought F4U Corsair and its Contemporaries (6th Edition), by Tom Brinkman, is a well researched, factual and historical description of five legendary United States fighter aircraft of WW II - the Vought F4U Corsair, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, North American P-51 Mustang, Grumman F6F Hellcat, and Lockheed P-38 Lightning. This book presents a clear description of the design rationale, capabilities, characteristics, performance, and limitations of each o...

The M1 Garand gave the US infantryman a marked edge during World War II. It shot faster and further than enemy infantry rifles and hit harder. No less an authority on killing the enemy than General George S. Patton called the Garand, “The greatest battle implement ever devised.” At a time when opposing forces were armed with bolt-action rifles, US troops had a highly reliable self-loader. The eight-round clips which were used to load the M1 Garand were, however, viewed with mixed emotions ...

The Browning “50-cal” has become the longest serving weapon in the US inventory. The “fifty” has been employed in every imaginable role for a machine gun. It is considered such an effective and reliable weapon that few countries ever attempted to develop an equivalent weapon. Even the Japanese created a copy of it during World War II when the US was producing literally thousands every month to use in every theater. This is a history of the development of this famous weapon, its most critic...

A definitive technical guide to the long-nosed Curtiss P-40 Warhawk variants.The initial version of the Curtiss P-40, designated by the manufacturer as the Hawk H-81, combined the established airframe of the earlier radial-powered H-75 (P-36) fighter with the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engine. The year was 1939, and the marriage was one of expediency. With the threat of war in Europe growing by the day, the US Army Air Corps brass wanted a modern fighter that wou...

In 1966, the Marine Corps introduced a bold, new concept to the battlefield. Little did the designers of that concept realize that it would change the way wars are fought, and the Corps, from that day forward.One of the most influential strategies of the Vietnam War, the Stingray Patrol comprised seven to ten marines in small teams, inserted by chopper deep in enemy territory. Surrounded on all sides by North Vietnamese Army troops and Viet Cong guerillas, these small, high-effecti...

In 1964 Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, activated a joint unconventional task force known as the Studies and Observation Group-MACV-SOG. As a cover its mission was to conduct analysis of lessons learned in combat by all branches of service. SOG's real mission was to conduct covert strategic reconnaissance missions into Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam as well as sabotage and 'Black' psychological operations. Ground, air and naval assets were employed to insert, collect, extract, and ...

An illustrated profile of the Marine Corps component of USSOCOM, its origins & history, training & missions, and special equipment & weapons.The United States Marine Corps has a rich tradition of special operations, from World War II's famed Marine Raiders and Para Marines to Korea and Vietnam's legendary Marine Force Recon companies. Indeed, when Navy underwater demolition teams, the direct predecessors to the SEALs, performed the preinvasion reconnaissance of Iwo ...

The helicopter changed war forever. This book examines the range of duties helicopter pilots carried out in Vietnam, from air-lift, med-evac and fire-support to landing in high volume crossfires in 'Hot LZs'.Protected by little more than an armoured seat, operating in terrible conditions and flying long hours these brave men led hard, dangerous lives, and casualties were high. Following these pilots from initial deployment through to the deadly thrill of combat in ...

"A well written history of a history-changing aircraft," the bomber that carried the two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII ( Aeromilitaria).The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined heavy bomber flown primarily by the United States in World War Two and the Korean War. The name "Superfortress" was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B–17 Flying Fortress. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built...