Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - Aviation & Space

North American Aviation's rapid and original design development of the P-51 resulted in success versus German and Japanese planes in World War II.

Not enough credit is given to Allison-engined variants of one of the world's most famous fighters. We now associate the name "Mustang" with the pretty bubble-canopied fighters which now grace our skies as war birds at Airshows around the world today. There is no doubt that the Merlin engine elevated the Mustang's performance from just being "very good" to "exceptional" and this, in many people's eyes, peaked with the P-51B and P-51C, not...

Unable to conduct ground operations on the European continent until Allied strength was marshalled for a full-scale invasion, the British government based its grand strategy in World War II on a protracted campaign of aerial bombardment of Nazi Germany's cities in order to bring the Third Reich to its knees. At the heart of this strategy were the emerging technologies of the heavy bomber, combined with night-navigation and precision-bombing techniques. The RAF introduced the huge four-engined Avro Lancaster in 1942 and used it to spearhead this aerial offensive. In response, the Luftwaffe...

From Coral Sea to Midway to Guadalcanal and Santa Cruz, these fighters battled for air supremacy over the Pacific in World War II.

The Grumman F4F Wildcat and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen were contemporaries, although designed to very different requirements. Ruggedly built so as to survive the rigors of carrier operations, the Wildcat was the best carrier fighter the US Navy had available when the USA entered World War II, and it remained the principal fighter for the US Navy and the US Marine Corps until the more capable F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair entered service in 1942-43....

This German World War I fighter squadron led by a Blue Max recipient didn't include the Richtofen (the Red Baron), but it's range of colorful characters was nonetheless impressive.

Initially formed to assist in the defence of the city of Metz against French bombing raids, Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 17 would go on to become one of the most distinguished German fighter units of World War 1. Its first victory was scored by the pilot whose story is inextricably interwoven with that of his unit - the 'Blue Max' recipient Julius Buckler. Buckler would rise from a humble NCO to commander of...

Like the American A-10 Warthog, the first Soviet jet dedicated by design to CAS (Close Air Support), the 'Frogfoot' has durability and firepower.

In February 2012, the Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) celebrated 37 years of its maiden flight, 31 years of its formal induction into squadron service and 25 years of its formal entry into service with the Soviet Air Force. It was the Soviet Air Force's first mass-produced jet purposely designed for the Close Air Support (CAS) role and is a simple, effective and durable attack workhorse that, by 2012, had seen combat in no fewer...

The USAAC's Tuskegee Experiment, designed to prove that African-Americans were not capable of flying combat aircraft, ironically resulted in the creation of one of the USAAF's elite units.

Crewed by highly-educated and exceptionally motivated men, the 99th Fighter Squadron, led by Col Benjamin O. Davis (later joined by the 100th, 301st, and 302nd FS to form the 332nd Fighter Group), first flew ground attack missions in P-40s in North Africa and participated in the destruction and surrender of Pantelleria, off Sicily. Later, after the unit was equipped with P-51 Mustangs, the 'Redtails'...