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The B-17 Flying Fortress Story: Design-Production-History Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone familiar with the history of the B-17 and, in particular, the Eighth Air Force, knows the name of Roger Freeman. Author of the reknowned series beginning with "The Mighty Eighth", Freeman and co-author David Osborne assembled a new volume entitled "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story." This new book fills a gap in the literature about the Flying Fortress. The first quarter of the book covers the type in general, from initial design through production and modifications. Included here are excerpts from technical orders and operating manuals. Also included are a selection of somewhat rare photos and a special section on the Wright R-1820 engine. Of greater significance to the student of the B-17, however, are the last three quarters of the book. This section provides individual aircraft histories for each of the 12,700-odd B-17s produced by the consortium of Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed between 1935 and 1945. This massive undertaking was apparently performed by Osborne reviewing each of the individual military record cards available and tying that information to other available sources. Thus, having the military serial of a particular B-17 (say, for example, from a photograph) enables a reader to see where that aircraft came from and its eventual disposition. The information is, by necessity, brief but usually contains specifics on an aircraft if it was lost in action. There are a few noted errors, surpisingly, for those B-17s which survived to enjoy civil service as that information is available elswhere in detailed form. Other editing errors (i.e. the book refers to the `Reclamation Finance Centre' (RFC) vs. the actual `Reconstruction Finance Corporation') may appear but such minor things can be overlooked in such a gigantic effort.

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Containing an abbreviated operational history for each of the 12,731 B-17s that flew in World War II, this is a volume devoted to the Flying Fortress. The text also contains information on the evolution and testing of the plane and its powerplant and performance.

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XB-70 Valkyrie: The Ride to Valhalla Review

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(More customer reviews)The XB70 has been a great mistery for a long time. Its secrecy was largely due to the great leap in aeronautical science when the technological race between US and former CCCP was at its peak. Designed successor to B52, the XB70 has a troubled story from the start, its fortunes were forever sealed by McNamara's will to terminate the program. The book is about the history of political tribulations at all levels (USAF comands and interservice rivalry plus adverse lobbying in the Kennedy Administration and in the Congress, the last being not enough supportive). A respectable critical survey on program managment is given, providing a chronological description of machinations that overshadowed even the final experimental program.
Many details are covered but always from the historical point of view. The volume does not provide many technical facts and it still lacks a description of the airplane engine and systems, besides a precise perfomance summary is missing. The most important facet is the conversation record of the crash (XB70 ship AV002 and NF104 n°813). If the reader is looking for some Washington politics insight or behind the scene work, the narrative style is remarkable, but if he is looking for technicalities he has to wait for a new release or new bunch of declassified data.

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The incredible Valkyrie was envisioned as a long-range, high-altitude, triple-sonic bomber, capable of Mach 3 at 74,000 feet. Conceived during the Cold War, just two prototypes were ever completed. One crashed during flight testing, the other survives as a centerpiece exhibit at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This is the inside story of the development, testing, and cancellation of the revolutionary XB-70 Valkyrie.

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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century: A Comprehensive Reference Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best "Airplane Book" to come along in a very long time. Speaking as the widow of a pilot, I can tell you that he would have been thrilled with this book. The information and pictures are outstanding. It's the perfect Christmas, Birthday, Father's/Mother's Day or any other day gift that you can give a pilot or anyone interested in aviation. Ray Wagner is a legend in aviation and put an amazing collection of photos with all the information about them together. Jack Bacon is also an outstanding publisher who has an impressive list of books published by his company. I'd give this book 10 stars if I could or more! I guarantee you will enjoy this book if you like planes at all. L. Wicksten, Sparks/Reno, Nevada

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The most authoritative and comprehensive history ofAmerica's military aircraft ever published.From World War I to Iraq.Profusely illustrated with over 1700 photographs.Each plane arranged by fighting purposeand appearance in history.Vital facts on every plane - how powerful, how big, how heavyhow fast, how high, and how far.American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is the only complete reference to all the airplanes that created American airpower. It tells the story of the marriage between aircraft and war. Every combat type built in the United States for the Air Force, Navy, or for foreign governments, is included, together with foreign aircraft bought for American fighting units. American Combat Planes of 20th Century is 758 pages, hardcover, printed on high quality coated stock, with a section of color photographs showing the history of military airplane color configurations.All the planes designed to attack an enemy with guns, bombs, or rockets are described, along with armed reconnaissance aircraft, and those derived from fighter designs, providing a quick reference for each type. Along with famous mass-production types, like the Liberator, Mustang, and Hellcat, with their major modifications, all the little-known experimental projects are included and compared.Ray Wagner's definitive work arranges all those planes by their fighting purpose and appearance in history. Even by simply viewing their photographs page by page, the reader sees the story of combat plane design over the years. Below each picture are the vital facts of each type: the engine's name and power, how big and how heavy that plane is, as well as how fast, how high, and how far it can go.As the reader follows the text, he learns who made these planes and when. What could each plane do, how many were made, and where were they used? Why each combat plane was built is the most important question, and is best answered by placing each design in the historical context in which it was developed, from America's entrance into World War One in 1917 to Operation Allied Force in 1999.World War Two is the center focus, along with insights on aircraft involved with conflicts in Nicaragua, China, Spain, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq.The bibliography indicates this history's primary sources and is a readers' guide to the many books and publications to expand your interests.

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The B-17 Flying Fortress Review

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(More customer reviews)The development and combat career of Boeing's four-engined wonder is nicely covered in this 2001 book from Robert Jackson and MBI Publishing/Amber Books. Though claiming to be an 'in-depth study' of the B-17, Jackson's book is actually a workmanlike, entertaining introduction to the Flying Fortress.
B-17 FLYING FORTRESS runs to 96 pages. Within those pages Jackson describes the origins and evolution of the B-17, Flying Fort ops in the Pacific/NW Europe/Western Europe, Foreign use of B-17s and Special Forts/Special Missions. Though Jackson has a wide canvas to cover, he relates the B-17 story in an entertaining, informative fashion. He also includes several interesting first-person accounts along with several tables and appendices comparing the B-17 to other WWII heavy bombers, 8th AF groups, etc. and detailed cutaways of the Flying Fort. Some 70 black & white and color photos along with color artwork complement the text; most have appeared previously in various Aerospace Publishing titles.
In summary, there's not much new in Jackson's book but it is a easy-to-read, nicely illustrated introduction to the B-17. Recommended.

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This photohistory gives a complete account of the legendary bomber, from the Army Air Corps 1934 request and specifications to the aircrafts retirement after World War II. Three appendices provide specifications for all variants and comparisons to their contemporaries. Archival photography, line drawings, and special colour profiles are throughout.

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B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (Combat Aircraft) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sent into combat once more - this time in 1950 over North Korea - Boeing's B-29 labored valiantly in support of the UN cause. Its crews, many of them retreads like their aircraft, pitted their lumbering craft against new and very deadly opponents, namely the swept-wing MiG-15. Forced to switch to night-time attacks because of losses due to the MiGs, the B-29s kept up their attacks till war's end. Their story is told by Robert Dorr in this Osprey 'Combat Aircraft' volume from 2003.
Superforts were committed to action early on in the conflict and logged their last missions a month before the cease-fire agreement was signed. By war's end, five bomb groups - the 19th, 22nd, 92nd, 98th and 307th - had seen action, dropping some 167,000 tons of bombs. Thirty-four B-29s had been lost to all causes.
Dorr does a nice job of relating the B-29 experience in Korea, charting how unprepared America was to fight that far-away conflict and how B-29 crews/units went about forging an effective weapon. The early daylight missions were successful but, by October 1951, unsupportable due to the MiG-15 threat. After that date, black-bellied B-29s logging night missions were the order of the day. Superforts also logged other missions (photo-recce, weather recce, ASR, etc.) and Dorr covers those activities as well. Many first-person reminiscences are included, a definite plus in my book.
Dozens of b&w photos and 16 pages of color profiles - including three pages of nose art close-ups - are included. The B-29 crews were wildly inventive in their markings and some of the nose artwork has to be seen to be believed.
All in all, B-29 SUPERFORTRESS UNITS OF THE KOREAN WAR is an excellent summary of the air war fought by that majestic bomber and its intrepid crews. Recommended.

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This book is the story of a majestic bomber of the propeller era flying perilous combat missions against a sleek, nimble warplane of the jet age, the Soviet MiG-15. A very heavy bomber and a sky giant during World War 2, at that time the B-29 was the most advanced combat aircraft in the world. By the time North Korea attacked its southern neighbour in 1950, the B-29 had been reclassified a medium bomber. Many of its crew members had fought their war and settled down to raise families and begin careers only to be recalled to fight another war on a distant Asian peninsula.

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B-17 at War Review

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(More customer reviews)Along with being the most famous bomber in history, the Boeing B-17 has been the subject of more books than probably all other bombers combined. Bill Yenne's 2006 B-17 tome for Zenith Press is one of the latest to pay tribute to Boeing's war winner.
After a brief chapter on the Flying Fort's development and introduction to service, Yenne devotes succeeding chapters to missions flown in 1941, 1942, 1943, etc. before concluding with a brief epilogue on the B-17 after World War II.
The book, part of the publisher's "At War" series, is very much the story of the machine and not the men who flew her. And therein lies my problem with it. Nowhere in Yenne's mission narratives are there any mention of specific units, specific crews, memorable events during the mission, etc. The book is basically 100+ pages of "On March 3rd 67 B-17s bombed Berlin and Dresden while another 59 hit Emden. The next day 118 B-17s hit Kiel..." and so on. Taking out the human element enables the author to condense the B-17's story to 100 or so pages but it also removes all the drama from the story. As a result, B-17 AT WAR is as dry as toast.
The book is illustrated with over 160 black & white and color photographs. About 1/2 have been previously published.
Check out the B-17 books done by Martin Bowman, Steve Birdsall or Roger Freeman for a more memorable look at the Flying Fort in action. Bomber completists may want to add Yenne's book to their collection but, sorry to say, I wouldn't rate it an essential purchase.

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The B-17 bomberwas America’s flying icon, from its inauspicious start (the prototype crashed a mere two months after its launch in 1935) to its starring role in World War II (serving first the RAF and then the U.S. Army Air Force, in every combat zone) to its eventual status as the grand old bomber without peer. Noted aviation author Bill Yenne takes readers through the hits and misses of the B-17’s development, the deployment of the different models, the missions flown, and the men who flew them.

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Allied Bombers 1939-45 (The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide) Review

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(More customer reviews)Allied Bombers 1939-45 has many useful tables and illustrations and goes a ways toward helping me reach my goal of understanding the WWII air war in terms of major air engagements, raids, and types of aircraft engaged.
BUT - the book's advertised descripion overpromises what what the book delivers. E.g., "the definitive study of the equiment and organization of the Allies' bomber units throughout the war" and "describes the models of aircraft in service withwith each unit along with their individual squadron markings".
While what is provided is indeed very interesting, there are glaring omissions:
1. The air war in the Pacific and the CBI theaters - totally.
2. The bomber units of Poland, Denmark, Norway, and Greece.
3. The Italian Co-belligerent Air Force.

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Illustrated with detailed artworks of Allied bomber aircraft and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, The Essential Identification Guide: Allied Bombers 1939--45 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of the Allies bomber units throughout the war. Organized by theatre of operations, the book describes in depth the various units that were fighting on the front at key points in the war and describes the models of aircraft in service with each unit along with their individual and squadron markings. With information boxes accompanying the full-color artworks, The Essential Identification Guide: Allied Bombers 1939--45 is an essential reference guide for modelers and any enthusiast with an interest in the aircraft of the period.

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B-17 Flying Fortress -Cmbt Leg (Combat Legends) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an imformative, facinating,and sometime sad video of the men who fought in WWII and flew the B-17's. It is hard to belive that they were so young and faced the dangers so bravely. I bought this as a present after watching it myself. It gave me an understanding of what my father faced. I especially liked the inclusion of where the remaining planes are now.

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The Boeing B-17, which has come to epitomise the American war effort in Europe, took the fight to the German Air Force from the late summer of 1942 through to VE-Day. Its primary operator in Western Europe was the 'Mighty Eighth', who controlled 27 bomb groups for much of the war. Over 12,000 Fortresses were built. They were mainly deployed in Europe, flying from the 8th Air Force in England and the 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean. Their only form of defence was to fly in a tight formation and outgun any attacking Luftwaffe fighters by bringing their massive firepower to bear on intruders.

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Boeing B-52 Stratofortress - Walk Around No. 6 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a good book for detail modelers or people intereseted in the "nuts and bolts" of the B-52. There are many close-up photos of the inside and outside of the aircraft. It has excellent detail shots of all flight positions, with the exception of the gunner (a station rendered moot by absence of the gun) and, disappointingly, the EW officer. The book also offers artists impressions of various models of the BUFF from different time periods. There are also some historical pictures taken of the B-52 during the Cold War years.

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The B-52 served as the primary bomber for SAC through the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s and into the '90s. The B-52 saw combat in Vietnam & in the Persian Gulf. This volume gives a pilot's eye view of the Stratofortress covering details seldom seen in other publications. 80 pages, 40 in color, over 200 photos.

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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (Osprey Production Line to Frontline 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)Volume 2 of Osprey's 'Production Line to Frontline' series is devoted to Boeing's mighty Flying Fortress. Michael O'Leary provides a 144-page illustrated overview of how the B-17 was born and evolved between the years 1934 and 1945.
Comparing the original Model 299 with a B-17G model reveals how far that war-winning design evolved. The B-17 didn't really become a true combat aircraft until the B-17F model but earlier models did see their share of combat.
O'Leary's narrative mainly focuses on the aircraft's development. Aside from details on the B-V-D manufacturing triumvirate, production line info is limited to some of the well-captioned photographs. There are a great many pix of B-17s under assembly, which bolsters the idea that, in many ways, WWII was won in American factories.
Reading BOEING B-17 FLYING FORTRESS, I got the feeling "almost but not quite." It doesn't really give many details on the Production Line aspect but rather focuses on airframe and power-plant development.
That said, bomber fans should enjoy this nuts-and-bolts guide to a classic warbird. Recommended.

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From the vast production lines at the Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed Vega plants, to the war torn skies over Germany and the Pacific islands, the B-17 is seen it all its metalic glory.An eight page colour sectionprovides a unique slice of period colour colour through the reproduction of the company advertisements that have not been seen in print since the war.

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