N.-Y.: Osprey Publishing, 2015. - 64 p. The SR-71 has come to represent the very pinnacle of Cold War aircraft design - indeed, it has become an icon. Together with its predecessor, the A-12, the Blackbird was a giant leap into the technical unknown as the design employed many forms of new technology made necessary by the excesses of speed, altitude and temperature to which the...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Richard Chasemore, Ian Palmer. - Osprey Publishing, 2012. — 64 p. While the introduction of the Merlin engine did improve the Mustang's performance and produce the bubble-canopied fighters with which we associate the name, credit must be given to the Allison-engined variants that preceded it. From its inception in early 1940, the Mustang's development...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. - Osprey Publishing, 2012. — 64 p. The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was the fastest and most successful strike fighter of the Cold War. Designed to deliver nuclear weapons at low altitude and then fight its way back to base, by the early 1960s it was the primary weapon in the USAF's tactical strike arsenal. Thunderchief pilots in Europe,...
Illustrator: Simon Smith, Harry Dempsey, Richard Chasemore, Peter Bull. - Osprey Publishing, 2012. — 64 p. An icon of World War I aerial combat, the Sopwith Camel was a superb dogfighter in the hands of a pilot who could master its vicious idiosyncrasies. The first British fighter to be armed with twin machine guns, the Camel packed a considerable punch and was highly...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. One of the most underrated medium bombers of the Second World War, the Martin B-26 Marauder never fully managed to shake off an underserved early reputation as a dangerous aircraft to fly. Deemed superior to all other designs on the table at the time, almost a 1,000 had been ordered before the aircraft...
Illustrator: James F. Miller, Simon Smith, Henry Morshead, Peter Bull. - Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. In 1916 German aerial domination had been lost to the French and British fighters. German fighter pilots requested an aircraft that was more powerful and more heavily armed, and the Albatros design bureau set to work on what was to become an iconic aircraft design. By April...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Simon Smith.— Osprey Publishing, 2012. — 64 p. At the outbreak of World War II, only 111 Squadron and a handful of others were equipped with the Hurricane. Thanks to sudden massive orders and a well-organized Hawker sub-contracting production to Gloster and General Aircraft, more squadrons rapidly became operational. Cutting their teeth during the...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. In many respects the most successful, versatile and widely-used combat aircraft of the post-war era the F-4 Phantom II was quickly adopted by the USAF after its spectacular US Navy introduction. Its introduction to USAF squadrons happened just in time for the Vietnam conflict where USAF F-4Cs took over...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Richard Chasemore. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. The initial version of the Curtiss P-40, designated by the manufacturer as the Hawk H-81, combined the established airframe of the earlier radial-powered H-75 (P-36) fighter with the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engine. The year was 1939, and the marriage was one of expediency. With the threat of war...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. The Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot was the Soviet Air Force's first mass-produced jet purposely designed for the close air support (CAS) role and was a simple, effective and durable attack aircraft that, by 2012, had seen combat in no fewer than 40 conflicts. Some 630 Su-25s were built between 1979 and 1991, as well as 185...
Illustrator: Henry Morshead, Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. Despite its uncertain start the F-111 proved to be one of the most successful and influential designs of the 1960s. Its radical ‘swing wing' was adopted by the F-14 Tomcat, Panavia Tornado and Rockwell B-1B Lancer while its turbofan-type engines became standard in many combat aircraft. F-111 crews...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Richard Chasemore. — Osprey Publishing, 2013. — 64 p. An improved version of the Allison V-1710 engine gave rise to the Curtiss H-87, which began life in 1941 as the P-40D and featured a completely redesigned fuselage. The shorter and deeper nose of the new fighter gave it a decidedly snub-nosed appearance compared to the earlier P-40 models. Curtiss...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. During the early years of the Cold War, the most effective way to gather strategic intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies was manned overflight. Lockheed's U-2 was spectacularly successful in this role, however, much to the concern of US President Eisenhower, its shape meant that it could be tracked on...
Illustrator: James F. Miller, Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. In 1916 German aerial domination, once held sway by rotary-engined Fokker and Pfalz E-type wing-warping monoplanes, had been lost to the more nimble French Nieuports and British DH 2s which not only out-flew the German fighters but were present in greater numbers. Born-from-experience...
Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. The MiG-21 (NATO reporting name Fishbed) firmly holds the title of the world's most widely built and used supersonic jet fighter, with more than 10,000 units rolling off the lines of three plants in the former Soviet Union. The type was also built under license in India and Czechoslovakia, and without license in China until the late 2000s....
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. In the opening days of the Blitzkrieg campaign, few aircraft could invoke as much terror as the Junkers Ju 87. Nicknamed the "Stuka” (an abbreviation of Sturzkampfflugzeug - the German term for "dive-bomber”), the Ju 87 was perhaps the most feared tactical bomber of the ETO. With its fixed landing gear...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. Developed by the legendary Lockheed ‘Skunk Works,' the F-117 Nighthawk was a phenomenal technical achievement. Featuring cutaways, detail plates and battlescene artwork, this book tells the incredible story of the design of the machine, from the revolutionary materials used to the highly advanced...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2014. — 64 p. With over 12,500 produced, the Vought F4U Corsair is one of the icons of mid-20th century military aviation. It was as a Marine Corps aircraft that the Corsair was to become famous, fighting through World War II and Korea. Able to outperform its contemporaries, notably the A6M Zero, the Corsair combined speed,...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2015. — 64 p. From the nascent days of the Spanish Civil War to the desperate, final defence of the stricken Reich, the Messerchmitt Bf 109 was the Luftwaffe's signature fighter. From the very beginning of its combat career it came to symbolize what could be achieved with a modern monoplane fighter aircraft, instilling fear and...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2016. — 64 p. Unquestionably the most iconic Japanese fighter of World War II, the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-Sen, Type Zero fighter was used from the initial raid on Pearl Harbor up to the Kamikaze attacks at the end of the war. Facing off against the likes of the Wildcat, Corsair and even the Spitfire, the Zero gained a legendary...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2015. — 64 p. The Avro Lancaster was one of the finest bombers of World War II and became the spearhead of the RAF's strategic bombing campaign over the Third Reich. Richard Marks draws on extensive research and detailed technical drawings to explore the evolution of this heavy bomber, revealing how its design developments...
Illustrator: Adam Tooby, Henry Morshead. — Osprey Publishing, 2016. — 64 p. Originally designed as a carrier-borne long-range interceptor armed with radar-guided missiles and tasked with defence against missile-launching bombers, the Phantom II went on to establish itself as one of the most important multi-role fighter, attack and reconnaissance aircraft of the 20th century....
Illustrator: Adam Tooby. — Osprey Publishing, 2015. — 64 p. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was one of the truly world class piston-engined fighters of World War II. This reputation rests largely with the E and F variants, which bore the brunt of the Luftwaffe's most important operations in World War II and shot down tens of thousands of Allied aircraft in the Battle of Britain, the...
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