By early 1941, the war raged in Europe and Great Britain stood alone against the aerial might of Nazi Germany. Although much of the Royal Air Force's pilot training program had been relocated to Canada and other Dominion countries, the need for pilots remained acute. The British looked to the United States for possible assistance. Passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 allowed for the training of British pilots in the United States and the formation of British Flying Training Schools....

With the outbreak of World War II, British Royal Air Force (RAF) officials sought to train aircrews outside of England, safe from enemy attack and poor weather. In the United States six civilian flight schools dedicated themselves to instructing RAF pilots; the first, No. 1 British Flying Training School (BFTS), was located in Terrell, Texas, east of Dallas. Tom Killebrew explores the history of the Terrell Aviation School and its program with RAF pilots. Most of the early British students...

From the bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House, this is the incredible true story of how a college student and two female accomplices stole some of the rarest objects on the planet—moon rocks—from an "impregnable" high-tech vault.But breaking into a highly secure laboratory wasn't easy. Thad Roberts, an intern in a prestigious NASA training program, would have to concoct a meticulous plan to get past security checkpoints, an...

Patrick Bishop looks at the lives and the extraordinary risks that the painfully young pilots of Bomber Command took during the air-offensive against Germany from 1940-1945. As featured on the BBC 1 documentary BOMBER BOYS, presented by Ewan McGregor.They came from every corner of Britain and its Empire. They were the best of their generation…heading for one of the worst tasks of the WWII.Like RAF pilots, the thousands of brave young men who joined Bomber Command took to th...

Written by 43 Squadron's intelligence officer, Hector Bolitho, Finest of the Few revolves around Bolitho's friend, fighter ace John W.C. Simpson, who shot down 13 German aircraft during the Battle of Britain. The book was written in 1941 and was based on John Simpsons Combat Reports, his personal letters and papers together with Hectors own recollections of the heady days of the summer of 1940.Contains 80 black and white illustrations

The definitive account of the incomparable Lone Star state by the author of Fire & Blood: A History of Mexico.T. R. Fehrenbach is a native Texan, military historian and the author of several important books about the region, but none as significant as this work, arguably the best single volume about Texas ever published. His account of America's most turbulent state offers a view that only an insider could capture. From the native tribes who lived there to ...

"A gem of a book that highlights the 'fog of war' as seen by American, British, and Canadian airborne units when they parachuted behind enemy lines." — WWII HistoryMagazine"Gentlemen, do not be daunted if chaos reigns; it undoubtedly will." So said Brigadier S. James Hill, commanding officer of the British 3rd Parachute Brigade, in an address to his troops shortly before the launching of Operation Overlord—the D-Day invasio...

A unique account of the fastest British fighter plane of World War 2.Modified for low-level operations to counter Luftwaffe attacks on the south coast, the Griffon-powered Spitfire XIV became the best low-level fighter of World War II. Squadrons moved to south-eastern England to counter the V1 flying bomb offensive, where daring pilots pioneered the technique of tipping the V1 over with the aircraft's wingtip to disorientate the bomb. Andrew Thomas also investigate...

There have been several books published about the wartime experiences of individual air gunners but there is no general history of Air Gunners, their equipment, training or service in the various RAF Commands in which they served. This book explains in great detail how and why the trade of air gunner was developed at the outset of World War II. Chapters include the history of the guns and turrets, the famous gunners, outstanding bravery during major raids, flying with Coastal Command, Bomb...

The first pilot to fly around the world in a homebuilt plane tells his remarkable story in this memoir of determination, courage and adventure.After beating cancer, Manuel Queiroz was ready to take on a life-changing goal—and decided that he would fly solo around the world. Five years later, he not only fulfilled that dream—setting six world speed records in the process—but did it in a plane he built himself. Now he shares the incredible story of his record-breaking...

The Airbus A380 is a commemorative volume preserving the history of this iconic craft in words and images from aviation writer and historian Graham Simons.Every seven minutes, an A380 takes off or lands somewhere in the world.The Airbus was initially designed and developed in order to provide a contender to the Boeing's growing monopoly of the skies in the biggest large-aircraft market in the world. Ambitious in design, the undertaking seemed mammoth...

In this military memoir, a veteran recounts his time as a navigator and plotter with the Royal Air Force tanker fleet during the Cold War.This book gives a rare insight into the life inside the tanker squadrons of the Royal Air Force, viewed through the eyes of Tony Golds, one of the RAF tanker fleets longest serving Navigator / Plotters. During his service career which spanned four decades, he flew in dozens of aeroplanes, for literally thousands of hours and cover...