Peebles admirably assembles, from a multitude of sources, a compact complete history of U.S. programs to develop so-called black or secret aircraft. Those began with work on the first American jet, the Bell P-59, during World War II, and proceeded to include the construction of such eventual headline-makers as the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, which distinguished itself in the Gulf War. Also covered are such lesser-known vehicles as several families of reconnaissance drones, some fast and high, some low and slow. Besides the hardware, Peebles covers the logistics, administration, and politics of keeping multibillion-dollar programs under wraps until they succeed or fail.

Red Star vol.26
This interesting survey looks at Russian military aviation in the post-Soviet era. While difficulties with funding means that the large new aircraft programs of the Cold War era are likely to remain things of the past, military aviation in Russia is not standing still. Upgrades to existing programs and reorganization of current resources are two of the ways in which combat capability is being not just maintained but enhanced. This volume looks at programs like the new Mi-8MTKO and Mi-24PN night-capable helicopters from Mil. The latest Sukhoi upgrades such as the Su-24M2, Su-25SM, and Su-27SM are also explored, along with the programs designed to extend the capabilties of the Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers by allowing for the carriage of new and more capable missiles. The revamping of the Russian Air Force's training fleet with the Yakovlev's Yak-130 is also considered, contrasting the differences between the first ones built and production-standard aircraft.

This exciting on-going series covers every aspect of the Luftwaffe in World War II and charts the rise and fall of this mighty force. Each volume makes use of over a hundred rare and valuable photographs, many of them taken by Luftwaffe personnel, to bring history to life and record both the men and the aircraft they flew. Eagles Over Africa and the Mediterranean examines the situation of the Luftwaffe in North Africa between 1940 and 1943. Although the Luftwaffe achieved a great deal of success here, it was hampered by the constant demand for men and machines elsewhere, logistical problems, such as a crippling lack of fuel, and the harsh desert conditions.

A history of the Miles aircraft manufacturing company, from the formative years to post-war financial crisis. The Miles company manufactured some 7000 aircraft, and designed other aircraft which never flew, including what would have been the world's first supersonic aircraft.

During the course of war, man's ingenuity inevitably results in the development of new tools of destruction. At no time and place in history has this been more true than World War II Germany, when scientists and engineers of the Third Reich mounted a campaign intended to change the face of warfare itself. Superbly illustrated with full-color drawings and specially commissioned cutaways, this study provides a wealth of information on all of Germany's secret weapons programs during World War II, offering an in-depth look at Germany's successes and failures with rocketry and jets, helicopters, submarines and torpedoes, armored fighting vehicles, artillery, anti-tank armaments, and surface-to-surface missiles. Each piece of artwork is accompanied by a comprehensive specification table.

The great leaps in aviation history - the Wright brothers'first flight, Lindbergh's first crossing of the Atlantic, Yeager breaking the sound barrier - were all made by pushing the boundaries of aeronautical science, wringing extraordinary performance out of experimental and untested aircraft.
However, for every success like these there were new aircraft designs which flew badly (or not at all), crashed on landing, burned up fuel at an alarming rate, exploded without warning, or pointlessly wasted millions of dollars.

Updated and revised edition written with the total cooperation of Lockheed's Advanced Development Company, this is the most definitive history of this renowned aircraft design and production facility.
Included are excerpts from "logs" kept by Clarence. L "Kelly" Johnson--founder and former director of the Skunk Works--and others describing the day-to-day activities inside the facility, along with the trials and tribulations of individual aircraft programs.
Readers will learn the official histories of such noteworthy products as the U-2, A-12, D-21, SR-71, and F-117, as well as the P-80, RB-69, Saturn, Constitution, T-33, F-94, XF-90, X-7, and more. Production quantities, serial numbers, Lockheed build numbers, and other related facts and figures are included.
Jay Miller is a renowned aerospace historian. He has written many books and has been featured on the Discovery Channel.

Features 300 of the world's most important biplanes, triplanes and seaplanes, each one illustrated with a detail colour drawing, plus full specification and details of armaments, and a full development and operational history. A great history of these very special aircraft, from the AEG C. IV to the Zeppelin-Staaken R.
Each aircraft is illustrated by full colour art work, with accompanying text and a detailed specifications table. Types used in the major wars of the 20th century are listed, including the Sopwith Camel and the Red inter-war civil aircraft.

In this release, Kagero examines the operational history of the US Navy's air superiority aircraft during WW2, the Vought F4U Corsair. Published in both Polish and English, the author walks the reader through the initial design of the fighter through the initial introduction into the Marine Corps and early combat operations.
In addition to the early history of the aircraft, the title has line drawings of the F4U in 1/48 and 1/72 as well as a nice color profiles of the aircraft.

This new addition takes a close look at a varied range of aircraft types, principally described as ground-attack and special-purpose types, but which includes Kampfzerstörer (multi-purpose combat aircraft), multi-purpose and fast bombers, explosive-carrying aircraft intended to attack other aircraft, air-to-air ramming vehicles, bomb-carrying gliders and towed fighters, and airborne weapons and special devices (rockets, cannons, flame-throwers, etc.)
The technical descriptions and histories of about 140 aircraft types are brought to life by many specially created full-color artworks, showing the projects, often in unit markings, as they might have appeared if they had come to fruition and/or if the war had continued beyond 1945. This series has proven indispensable for historians and notably for modelers, whose imaginations are fired up by these revelations.

Until the break-up of the USSR, the development of Soviet aviation was kept secret, and it is only in recent years that authors have been able to gain access to so much previously unpublished material. Bill Gunston has taken full advantage of the new openness and this, along with his connections at Tupolev, has resulted in a history of Tupolev aircraft, from the ANT-1 to the Tu-2000. In the early years, Tupolev followed Junker's methods and built a range of metal aeroplanes with corrugated sheet skins. Among these was a range of four-engined heavy bombers, the ANT-9 twin- and three-engined airliners, the very long-range single-engined ANT-25 which made non-stop flights from the USSR to the West coast of North American and the very large eight-engined "Maxim Gorky". The range of twin-engined SB wartime bombers were of Tupolev design. After the war, Tupolev produced the successful Tu-16 series twin-jet and the Tu-20 (Tu-95) four propeller-turbine military types, to be followed by the supersonic Tu-22 jet bomber. Tupolev also pioneered the jet airliner, beginning with the Tu-104 which was followed by the Tu-124, Tu-134, Tu-154. Not so successful was Tupolev's Tu-144, the first supersonic aeroplane to fly. Amongst the latest products is the Tu-204 airliner with Rolls-Royce engines. The author describes all the Tupolev types and many of the projects in detail, employing the Putnam format.

The book features over 280 individual military aircraft types (from the Eurofighter to the UH-60 Black Hawk, MiG-21, C-130 Hercules and T-6 Texan) and their many individual variants that are currently in service or under development. Each aircraft listing features a photograph and details of its powerplant/s, performance, weights, dimensions, armament, accommodation, operators, and development and operational history.
In addition it contains a listing of the inventories of the world's air arms and a concise review of the major developments and trends of the past two years in the world of military aviation.

This book covers the great variety of secret and largely unknown German missile programs: GUIDED MISSILES: Ruhrstahl/Kramer X1 "Fritz-X", Henschel Hs 293, Hs 294, Hs 295 and Henschel "Zitterrochen", Blohm und Voss Bv 226, Bv 246 "Hagelkorn" and Lippisch GB-3/L, Blohm und Voss Bv 143, Henschel G.T. 1200 and other gliding torpedos, Arado E-377 and E-377a, Mistel Me 262 A-1/A-2 and Me 262 A-1a/Ju 287b-1, Fieseler Fi 103 Series; PILOTED MISSILES: Blohm und Voss Bv 40, Daimler-Benz Projekt E and F, Messerschmitt Me 328, "Gleiter Bombenflugzeug" 1945,

The first of a two-volume work, this book covers the history of Douglas and its associate companies, and details all of its aircraft up to the 1967 merger with McDonnell.

Mikoyan built his first aircraft in 1936. The company has since gone on to produce some of the most fearsome high-performance military aircraft of the post-World War II period, such as the MiG-15, MiG-21 and MiG 29. This book describes all these aircraft and more, in detail.

With access to much previously unpublished information the authors bring to life futuristic shapes that might have terrorized the Allies had the war gone beyond 1945. Full color action illustrates and contemporary unit markings show vividly what might have been achieved. Careful comparison with later Allied and Soviet aircraft show the legacy handed on, right up to today's stealth aircraft.

A large number of fighter projects have been drawn by British companies over the last fifty years, but very few have turned into hardware, and very little has been published about these fascinating "might-have-beens." This book makes extensive use of previously unpublished, primary-source material-much recently declassified. It gives an insight into a secret world where the public has had little idea of what was going on, while at the same time presenting a coherent nationwide picture of fighter development and evolution. Particular emphasis is placed on tender design competitions and some of the events that led to certain aircraft either being canceled or produced. Some of the many and varied types included are the Hawker P.1103/P.1136/P.1121 series, and the Fairey "Delta III".

This is a study of aircraft from World War II. The book is part of a 12volume series, which covers the production and operation of aircraft worldwide. Each volume is devoted to essays on aircraft types, their development and option, systems and equipment.
As well as outlining developments, each article seeks to explain why progress was in a particular direction, emphasizing the political, strategic or economic factors that dictated that development. Moving from the general to the specific, graphs and tabular data relating to typical or significant aircraft or allied subjects are provided in each section.
The series concentrates on the development of aircraft from the viewpoint of their technical development, the effect of technical development on the use of aircraft, and the effect of their usage on technical development.