The Republic Aviation Corporation F-84 series, the Thunderjet, Thunderstreak, and Thunderflash was the United States Air Forces' first Post World War II jet fighter. As a somewhat sad result of this, it has been ignored by most aviation historians and aficionados. It was not the Air Forces' first operational jet fighter, as that honor went to the Lockheed F-80 which was created during World War II. And it did not receive the glory of the North American Aviation F-86, which followed it in sequence and was more photogenic, faster, and more involved in the glory of aerial combat. Nevertheless,...

Mustangs Over Korea is a documentary history of one of the most famous fighters ever built during a historically almost unrecognized war. Flown by four air forces in support of the United Nations, the F-51 Mustang dropped more napalm and fired more rockets than any other aircraft during that conflict - and in the process suffered the highest number of losses. Told is the story of the bravery of the fighter-bomber pilots in the serious air-to-mud war against horrendous anti-aircraft fire, and also the first swirling air battles against the vaunted MiG-15.

With names like Zemke, Schilling, Gabreski, Mahurin and Johnson, the 56th Fighter Group was, and still is, one of the legendary fighter units of World War II.
BEWARE THE THUNDERBOLT ( the apt official motto of the 56th) is the story of the 56th Fighter Group in a chronological narrative of their combat missions. Composed of heroic pilots that aggressively took the air war into the enemy heartland in 1943, the "Wolfpacks" P-47 Thunderbolt contrails crossed high in the upper stratosphere as they escorted heavy bomber missions, or fell upon the enemy on the ground as their pilots destroyed over...

The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star was the first American operational jet fighter. David McLarens new book chronicles the development and early trials of the aircraft during Lockheeds groundbreaking attempts to create a viable jet fighter, in a period when jet propulsion was still an innovative unknown. This period also saw engineers and test pilots like Kelly Johnson and Tony LeVier facing many challenges, incidents and accidents as they attempted to create a new fighter from yet untested aerodynamic theories, and engines that were still under development. Also discussed are the record...