Flying Guns World War II

Flying Guns World War II
Author: Emmanuel Gustin
Publisher: Crowood Press (UK)
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2003-06-08
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book describes the history of aircraft guns, their ammunition and their installations in aircraft. It commences with a technical history covering the development of guns, their ammunition, and related issues such as mountings and sights. This is followed by chapters on aircraft installations covering all nations and an evaluation of their use in combat. Appendices include comprehensive tables of the gun installations of World War II combat aircraft with details and illustrations of the guns used and specifications of their ammunition. There has never before been a comprehensive description of World War II aircraft gun armament. This book has been written with the aim of being the definitive work on this subject, dealing with armament of all participating air forces. Every technical aspect has been covered: gun design in the full range of sizes from small-caliber machine guns to heavy cannon; ammunition types and their use; fixed, flexible and turreted installations and gun sights. Comparative drawings and specifications of service weapons are provided, plus illustrations and data concerning their ammunition.

The Flying Guns

The Flying Guns
Author: Clarence Earle Dickinson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1980
Genre: History
ISBN:

Flying Guns of World War I

Flying Guns of World War I
Author: A.G. Williams
Publisher: Crowood Press (UK)
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2004-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book gives a complete picture of the Maritime Transport Industry so that those involved in shipping can see their own specific field of interest in perspective and understand how the basic mode of transportation works.

Gunner

Gunner
Author: Donald Nijboer
Publisher: Erin, Ont. : Boston Mills Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2006
Genre: Aerial gunnery
ISBN: 9781550464863

Through Patterson's remarkable photography and Nijboer's interviews with veterans, "Gunner" allows readers to imagine what it must have been like to be an air gunner in the Second World War. 150 color photos plus historical b&w photos.

World War II US Gunships

World War II US Gunships
Author: William Wolf
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 81
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472844599

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. Using many formerly-classified documents from his large microfilm collection, William Wolf presents their previously-unpublished history. It describes in depth for the first time the politics and development and associated problems of both escorter types. Unfortunately, these “protecters” were found wanting in several ways - after the addition of guns and ammunition they became overweight and tail-heavy causing center of gravity problems and each encountered numerous delays in the development and delivery of their various armament additions and improvements, particularly the Bendix chin turret. In the end, the YB-40 participated in only 14 lackluster operational service test missions during mid-1943 before being withdrawn from service. The XB-41 Liberator never saw operational testing before also being cancelled for its poor performance. The failure of the gunship concept left a huge hole in the capabilities of the Eighth Air Force. Their failure, however, spurred the adoption of the Merlin-powered P-51 Mustang, the outstanding escort fighter that was key to Allied victory in the air war over Europe.

Allied Strafing in World War II

Allied Strafing in World War II
Author: William B. Colgan
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786458356

Among the offensive aerial missions employed in World War II, air-to-ground gun fighting was one of the most valuable. Strafing, which involved the extensive damage of ground, air and naval forces by pilots flying in deadly, low-altitude skies, helped the Allies to their victory. This historical text examines the role of strafing in combat, particularly during World War II, but also during the Korea and Vietnam wars. The nature of gunnery, strafing and gunfighting are explored within the context of particular missions and actions. First-hand accounts and gun camera film evidence contribute to the exploration of this most dangerous form of combat and honor the courage of America's veterans who served as pilots or aerial crewmen.

Short Sunderland

Short Sunderland
Author: HENDRIE ANDREW
Publisher:
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2022-04-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781399014540

Flak in World War II

Flak in World War II
Author: Donald Nijboer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 081176592X

More than half of the U.S.’s aircraft losses in Europe in World War II were due to German antiaircraft artillery, and many of the American aircraft shot down by Luftwaffe fighters had first been driven out of formation by flak and made easy prey for the fighters. A world away in the Pacific, American flak guns aboard naval ships formed the last line of defense against Japanese kamikazes. Historian Donald Nijboer relies on firsthand accounts, newly discovered files, photos, diagrams, and maps to reveal the forgotten contribution of flak in World War II, from doctrine and tactics to combat stories on the ground and in the air about what it was like to fly into the teeth of antiaircraft fire.

Indestructible

Indestructible
Author: John R Bruning
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2016-10-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0316339393

In this remarkable WWII story by New York Times bestselling author John R. Bruning, a renegade American pilot fights against all odds to rescue his family -- imprisoned by the Japanese--and revolutionizes modern warfare along the way. From the knife fights and smuggling runs of his youth to his fiery days as a pioneering naval aviator, Paul Irving "Pappy" Gunn played by his own set of rules and always survived on his wits and fists. But when he fell for a conservative Southern belle, her love transformed him from a wild and reckless airman to a cunning entrepreneur whose homespun engineering brilliance helped launch one of the first airlines in Asia. Pappy was drafted into MacArthur's air force when war came to the Philippines; and while he carried out a top-secret mission to Australia, the Japanese seized his family. Separated from his beloved wife, Polly, and their four children, Pappy reverted to his lawless ways. He carried out rescue missions with an almost suicidal desperation. Even after he was shot down twice and forced to withdraw to Australia, he waged a one-man war against his many enemies -- including the American high command and the Japanese--and fought to return to the Philippines to find his family. Without adequate planes, supplies, or tactics, the U.S. Army Air Force suffered crushing defeats by the Japanese in the Pacific. Over the course of his three-year quest to find his family, Pappy became the renegade who changed all that. With a brace of pistols and small band of loyal fol,lowers, he robbed supply dumps, stole aircraft, invented new weapons, and modified bombers to hit harder, fly farther, and deliver more destruction than anything yet seen in the air. When Pappy's modified planes were finally unleashed during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the United States scored one of the most decisive victories of World War II. Taking readers from the blistering skies of the Pacific to the jungles of New Guinea and the Philippines to one of the the war's most notorious prison camps, Indestructible traces one man's bare-knuckle journey to free the people he loved and the aerial revolution he sparked that continues to resonate across America's modern battlefields.

Secret Weapons of World War II

Secret Weapons of World War II
Author: William Yenne
Publisher: Berkley
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2003
Genre: Military weapons
ISBN: 9780425189924

This look at the techno-military breakthroughs that changed history covers the years of World War II, presenting more than 175 weapons that were developed by both Axis and Allied powers, from Navajo Code Talkers to the atomic bomb. Original.