The pilot of the F-16 Viper, which is the U.S. Air Force’s frontline fighter and attack aircraft, is at the pinnacle of combat aviation. Viper Force tells the story of what it takes to become an F-16 pilot and what it’s like to fly and fight the Viper in combat. Because the F-16 is a dual-purpose combat aircraft, its pilot must master two widely divergent disciplines: air-to-air flying against enemy fighters to maintain control of the air over the battle field and air-to-ground fl...

Published to coincide with the 80th birthday of the Spitfire this is a gripping and visually spectacular volume, which celebrates the life of Britain's most iconic military aircraft.The Spitfire turns 80 on 5 March 2016, and the passion for the RAF's best-loved fighter is running at an all-time high. There are more than 50 Spitfires flying in the world today, and John Dibbs has shot virtually all of them 'on the wing' in his breathtaking style.This eye-catc...

2017 marks the 80th anniversary of the remarkable Hawker Hurricane formally entering service.The RAF's first monoplane fighter, it dragged the Air Force into a position where it could defend Britain in her 'hour of need'. The true workhorse of the RAF, the Hurricane came into its own in the hot summer months of 1940 valiantly defending the skies above Britain.Outnumbering Spitfires three to one, the Hurricane also downed far more enemy aircraft. Without the...

A lavish photographic history that reveals the vital role that the pilots and their aircraft played throughout the course of World War II.Soaring high above the fields and cities of Europe and Asia as well as the vast expanse of the Pacific, Allied and Axis pilots engaged in a deadly battle for control of the skies in World War II. Whoever won the skies would win the war.Published in association with the National Museum of World War II Aviation, Storm o...

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

A pictorial history of the legendary Lockheed spy plane, written by one of its pilots and "filled to the brim with information and revelation" ( Seattle Post Intelligencer Travel for Aircraft blog).At the height of the Cold War in 1964, President Johnson announced a new aircraft dedicated to strategic reconnaissance. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flew more than three-and-a-half times the speed of sound, so fast that no other aircraft could catch it...

Bloody Paralyser: The Giant Handley Page Bombers of the First World War tells the story of the largest British bombers of the First World War and the men who flew them. In 1915, the biggest plane ever seen in Britain took flight for the first time a twin-engine monster with a 100- foot wingspan, designed to be a Bloody Paralyser to the Germans. Operating mainly at night, the Handley Page bombers attacked Germany and Germanoccupied towns and cities, disrupting the ...

Faster and better armed than the Spitfire, the Whirlwind was the RAF s response to a new generation of armoured German bombers which it expected to meet over England in 1940. A few months after its first flight, 1,000 Whirlwinds were ordered, but nine months later the RAF cancelled the entire programme. Just 114 were built, but they went on to have a distinguished three-year career from the uneasy months following the Battle of Britain to their final sorties against Hitler s V-weapon sites...

The Spanish Civil War, 1936–39, was the curtain-raiser to World War II, and the major international event of the 1930s.It was the first great clash of 20th-century ideologies, between the rebel Nationalist army led by General Franco (right-wing, and aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy), and the Republican army of the government (left-wing, and aided by the Communist Soviet Union and many volunteers from liberal democracies). Three years of widespread campaigns ...

The Red Arrows are the world’s greatest aerobatic display team. For decades they have thrilled crowds with their exciting mix of precision formation flying and breathtaking aerobatic manoeuvres. They promote British industry; they represent the Royal Air Force with huge distinction; and they help with recruitment for the British armed forces. But above all they are the great entertainers, performing for millions of people all round the world. Packed with fabulous photograph...

The Sopwith Camel may be the most celebrated British fighter plane of the First World War, but it was the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a that almost all the highest scoring aces, including McCudden and Mannock, preferred. The S.E.5a was deadly. It was well-armed, fast, highly manoeuvrable and a superb gun platform, and yet it was easy and safe for even the most sketchily trained pilot to fly. Not only could it absorb punishment, it could also deal it out with its .303 Vickers and .303 Lewis...

The RAF air war versus Japan in the Far East is grossly under-represented in print; the Kirkness memoir lessens this gap with its valuable contributionsThirty-two combat ops may seem like too many to individually chronicle in a single memoir; however, each op’s narrative is compellingly, and uniquely, presented and the cumulative result is that Kirkness’ final, harrowing, op is the most riveting of them allLavishly illustrated with previously unpublished photographsRA...