Lightnings To Spitfires
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| Author | : Clive Rowley |
| Publisher | : Air World |
| Total Pages | : 304 |
| Release | : 2022-01-15 |
| Genre | : Biography & Autobiography |
| ISBN | : 139901563X |
A former fighter pilot chronicles his career flying for the Royal Air Force for over four decades in this action-packed memoir. For forty-four years, Clive Rowley flew with the Royal Air Force, and for thirty-one of those years he specialized as an air defense fighter pilot. Such was his love of fast fighter aircraft that, in order to stay flying, he transferred to Specialist Aircrew terms of service, relinquishing any chance of further promotion above his rank of squadron leader. During those years Clive flew Lightnings, Hawks, and Tornado F.3s but, perhaps more intriguingly, for eleven years he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the RAF’s, if not the world’s most famous “warbird” display team, which he ultimately led and commanded. Many readers will have watched him, perhaps unknowingly, as he flew these iconic aircraft, often alongside the Lancaster, at air shows and large-scale commemorations around the UK and Europe. During the Cold War, Clive flew the BAC Lightning from Gütersloh in Germany and in the UK, becoming an expert in the art of air combat in the process. Then for sixteen years he flew the Tornado F.3 as the RAF moved into expeditionary operations. Packed with humorous and often hair-raising anecdotes, but also revealing the shock and sorrow he felt at the deaths of friends and colleagues, this book is a highly detailed account of life as a fighter pilot in the RAF in the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Clive is open about the fears he sometimes felt in this dangerous world and how he allayed them to continue flying for more than four decades. This book is illustrated with wonderful photographs from his time on the front line as well as with the BBMF, many of which have never been published before. If you have ever wondered what it is like to fly supersonic jet fighters, like the Lightning and the Tornado F.3, or iconic “warbirds,” such as the Hurricane and Spitfire, Clive Rowley brings you into those cockpits and shares his experiences.
| Author | : Clive Rowley |
| Publisher | : Air World |
| Total Pages | : 256 |
| Release | : 2021-11-30 |
| Genre | : |
| ISBN | : 9781399015622 |
For forty-four years, Clive Rowley flew with the Royal Air Force and for thirty-one of those years he specialised as an air defence fighter pilot. Such was his love of fast fighter aircraft that, in order to stay flying, he transferred to Specialist Aircrew terms of service, relinquishing any chance of further promotion above his rank of squadron leader. During those years Clive flew Lightnings, Hawks and Tornado F.3s but, perhaps more intriguingly, for eleven years he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the RAF's, if not the world's most famous 'warbird' display team, which he ultimately led and commanded. Many readers will have watched him, perhaps unknowingly, as he flew these iconic aircraft, often alongside the Lancaster, at air shows and large-scale commemorations around the UK and Europe. During the Cold War Clive flew the BAC Lightning from Gütersloh in Germany and in the UK, becoming an expert in the art of air combat in the process. Then for sixteen years he flew the Tornado F.3 as the RAF moved into expeditionary operations. Packed with humorous and often hair-raising anecdotes, but also revealing the shock and sorrow he felt at the deaths of friends and colleagues, this book is a highly detailed account of life as a fighter pilot in the RAF in the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Clive is open about the fears he sometimes felt in this dangerous world and how he allayed them to continue flying for more than four decades. This book is illustrated with wonderful photographs from his time on the front line as well as with the BBMF, many of which have never been published before. If you have ever wondered what it is like to fly supersonic jet fighters, like the Lightning and the Tornado F.3, or iconic 'warbirds', such as the Hurricane and Spitfire, Clive Rowley brings you into those cockpits and shares his experiences.
| Author | : Christopher Coville |
| Publisher | : Air World |
| Total Pages | : 250 |
| Release | : 2022-01-12 |
| Genre | : Biography & Autobiography |
| ISBN | : 1399015605 |
A young boy sits in the back of a Chipmunk aircraft at RAF Woodvale, near Liverpool. He has never flown in anything before. As the power goes on and the little aeroplane soars into a clear blue sky, he decides at once that this is the only thing he wants to do in life: to be an RAF pilot. Fighter Pilot: From Cold War Jets to Spitfires tells the riveting story of how a boy from Liverpool, at the height of the Cold War, joined an RAF that was largely led by veterans of the Second World War. Christopher Coville arrived at the RAF College at Cranwell to find an environment shaped by English Public School traditions, but he made the grades needed to be streamed onto fighters, and went on to fly the Lightning, Phantom and Tornado F3 in the air defense role. Christopher eventually became station commander of RAF Coningsby and while in that role flew with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, becoming the only station commander to qualify on the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster. He also qualified on helicopters and multi-engine aircraft and became responsible for the quality of the displays performed by the Red Arrows, flying with them regularly. Along the way, he steered the RAF’s biggest re-equipment programme since 1945 during a tour at the Ministry of defense and filling a challenging top NATO post during the wars in the Balkans. While this is a book about a young man from Liverpool who joined from grammar school and became a three-star Air Marshal, it is also, above all, a story written by a passionate aviator, whose affection for flying leaps out of every line, in a book which is full of excitement, deep knowledge of flying and affection for his fellow servicemen and women. But it is also a wonderful narrative about people, the great characters forged by military life, and honed by fear, exhilaration, and occasional tragedy. Fighter Pilot: From Cold War Jets to Spitfires is a unique perspective on aviation, written by a talented and dedicated pilot at the very top table of the RAF. This book culminates with his retirement, as the No.3 in the RAF, and being invited to have lunch with The Queen.
| Author | : Martin W Bowman |
| Publisher | : Pen and Sword |
| Total Pages | : 531 |
| Release | : 2021-03-23 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1526705664 |
The early 1950s were a boom time for British aviation. The lessons of six years of war had been learned and much of the research into jet engines, radar and aerodynamics had begun to reach fruition. In Britain, jet engine technology led the world, while wartime developments into swept wing design in Germany and their transonic research program were used to give western design teams a quantum leap in aircraft technology. At English Electric, 'Teddy' Petter's design team were keen to capitalize on the success of their Canberra jet bomber and rose to the challenge of providing a high speed interceptor for the RAF. Martin W. Bowman describes the career of the Lightning in detail using first-hand accounts of what it was like to fly and service this thoroughbred. Illustrated with over 200 color and b/w photographs, appendices listing Lightning squadrons, production totals, individual aircraft histories and with the first in-depth analysis into why a third of all Lightnings were lost, The Men Who Flew the English Electric Lightning is a fine record of the last truly great all-British fighter.
| Author | : David Thole |
| Publisher | : iUniverse |
| Total Pages | : 228 |
| Release | : 2001-08-24 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 9781469780214 |
Unlike most "histories", this book tells the story of the 14th Fighter Squadron in the words of the pilots who were there. Filled with riveting accounts of combat flying, this book is a must-have for all aviation buffs. The squadron has a unique history, starting out as a reconnaissance squadron in WW II flying Spitfires and Lightnings. Late in the war, they became the first reconnaissance unit to be equipped with fighters to escort their long-range missions. In Vietnam, they became the only tactical reconnaissance unit in theater, taking their RF-4Cs north into the Vietnamese air defenses, oftentimes with no escort. Today flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon in Japan, they stand ready to defend America and her Allies. Open the cover, strap yourself into the cockpit of a Spitfire, Lightning, Mustang, Phantom, or Viper, and find out what it's like flying in and training for combat.
| Author | : Tony Holmes |
| Publisher | : Casemate Publishers |
| Total Pages | : 133 |
| Release | : 2017-05-31 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1473889251 |
Through the medium of period photography, Star-Spangled Spitfires chronicles the combat operations of the USAAF units equipped with the iconic Supermarine fighter whilst employed in both the European and Mediterranean theaters of war, from the summer of 1942 right up to the end of the conflict.Only a handful of British combat aircraft wore the stars and bars of the USAAF during the Second World War, with the Beaufighter, Mosquito and Spitfire being the key types to see action with American crews in American squadrons. The Spitfire was, by some margin, the most widely used of the three, and the Yanks that flew it in combat rated the fighter very highly. Employed primarily by the six squadrons of the 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups, initially from airfields in the UK and then in North Africa and Italy, the Spitfire was used both as a fighter and fighter-bomber until it was replaced by the P-51 Mustang from the spring of 1944.The final star-spangled Spitfires in the frontline were the Eighth Air Forces high-flying and unarmed PR XI photo-reconnaissance aircraft, flown by to the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group alongside F-5 Lightnings from November 1943. Ranging as far into Germany as Berlin, the PR Blue Spitfires provided critical target imagery both pre- and post-strike for the Mighty Eighths heavy bombardment groups through to April 1945.All feature here across a series of black and white and color images that all capture some unique aspect of the star-spangled Spitfire's illustrious service career.
| Author | : Philip Kaplan |
| Publisher | : Casemate Publishers |
| Total Pages | : 411 |
| Release | : 2017-07-31 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1473898544 |
“An amazing tribute to the people who designed, built and flew it—a comprehensive history of one of the most beautiful aircraft ever manufactured.”—Books Monthly The magnificent Vickers Supermarine Spitfire, together with its able partner the Hawker Hurricane, saved Britain from Nazi invasion in the summer of 1940 and irrevocably changed the course of the Second World War. This book from Philip Kaplan celebrates one of history’s most important weapons in a glorious new light. A British national icon, the Spitfire is the best-known symbol of the war years for generations of Britons. From the deep, haunting growl of its Rolls-Royce engine, to the elegant style of its elliptical wing, it is perhaps the most famous and revered combat airplane ever built. Kaplan investigates just what it is that fuels the Spitfire’s compelling mystique. During wartime, it held an unrivaled reputation amongst Allied and Axis airmen. Today, it continues to hold aviation enthusiasts in thrall. Kaplan highlights the immeasurable contributions of Spitfire designers Reginald J. Mitchell and Joseph Smith, test pilots Jeffrey Quill, Mutt Summers and Alex Henshaw, and ace Spitfire pilots including Al Deere, Sailor Malan and Pierre Clostermann. All added to the legend of this lovely, but deadly, little fighter. “Can be considered a ‘Potted History’ of the Spitfire and its military and civilian service, with particular emphasis being placed on the restoration of AR213. On that basis it will probably appeal to Spitfire aficionados in particular and to aviation and war-bird enthusiasts in general.”—NZ Crown Mines
| Author | : Ron Lloyd |
| Publisher | : Air World |
| Total Pages | : 336 |
| Release | : 2020-09-30 |
| Genre | : Biography & Autobiography |
| ISBN | : 1526759071 |
A memoir of RAF service in the postwar era and the golden age of British military aviation, including photos. How often have you glanced skyward at the sound of a passing aircraft and wondered what it would be like to fly one of those gleaming metal machines? Or admired the skill and daring of the fighter pilot swooping down upon his enemy in the awe-inspiring, unrivaled elegance of a Spitfire? Ron Lloyd has had the experience of flying the majestic propeller-driven aircraft of the Second World War as well as the roaring, sound-barrier-breaking jets of the Cold War—and in this exciting book, he places the reader in the cockpit, describing what it really feels like to be sitting at the controls of a fighter aircraft. Lloyd joined the RAF after World War II, and during his early service he was selected as one of the pilots to fly the wartime aircraft in the feature film The Battle of Britain, giving him the opportunity to fly a Spitfire and even a Messerschmitt Bf 109 during the six weeks of filming. His role with the RAF, on the other hand, saw him on the front line in the Cold War, piloting de Havilland Vampires, Hawker Hunters, Gloster Javelins, Lightnings, and Phantoms. He also served on exchange in the USA where he flew Convair F-102s, Convair F-106s, and Lockheed T-33s. Packed with unique photographs of the golden age of British military aviation, Fast Jets to Spitfires allows readers to experience, through Ron Lloyd’s graphic accounts, the pure joy of being airborne.
| Author | : Peter Caygill |
| Publisher | : Pen and Sword Aviation |
| Total Pages | : 0 |
| Release | : 2006 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 9781844153558 |
The English Electric Lightning was the only single-seat supersonic interceptor fighter designed and manufactured in the UK. It saw service with the RAF in the sixties and seventies and gained a worthy reputation for its speed ( in excess of Mach 2 ) and phenomenal rate of climb. It was, however, a not entirely reliable airplane and over fifty were lost during its operational career. In this book, the author has gathered together 16 personal accounts of what it was like to fly the Lightning, thrilling stories that convey the immense brute power of the machine and also it's many pitfalls. It will enthrall the enormous following the aircraft still enjoys. Two are now flying in South Africa and four are being restored to flight-worthy condition in the UK. To see a Lightning take off and climb vertically until it vanishes into the sky is one of the most spectacular sights in aviation.
| Author | : Peter Caygill |
| Publisher | : Casemate Publishers |
| Total Pages | : 211 |
| Release | : 2013-01-19 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1783376287 |
"The English Electric Lightning entered RAF squadron service in 1960 and continued flying in the interceptor role until 1988. It had a stunning world-beating performance with a top speed in excess of Mach 2 and a climb rate that would take it to 40,000 feet in a little over 3 minutes. The aircrafts safety record, however, left much to be desired. During a period in the early 1970s the attrition rate was the loss of a Lightning every month. There was a six per cent chance of a pilot experiencing an engine fire and a one in four chance that he would not survive.This book looks at Lightning accidents and incidents in chronological order using the official accident reports, Board of Inquiry findings and firsthand accounts from pilots. It puts the reader very much in the cockpit. "
