selection of U.s wwii wARBIRD books

 The story of the P-51B Mustang aircraft from its development prior to the American entry into the war through to D-Day in June 1944.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Corps was led by a cadre of officers who believed implicitly that military aviation, particularly fast heavy bombers at high altitude, would be able to destroy strategic enemy targets during daylight with minimal losses. However, by 1942 the Flying Fortress was proving vulnerable to Luftwaffe fighters. 

 Without doubt Boeing Flying Fortress B-17F 41-42285 Memphis Belle and her crew generate an image that is an all-American icon. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Memphis Belle is in the top five of the most famous American aircraft of all time. In September, 1942, a new Flying Fortress was delivered at Bangor, Maine, to a crew of ten eager American lads headed by Robert K. Morgan, a lanky 24-year-old USAAF pilot from Asheville, N. C. The boys climbed aboard, flew their ship to Memphis, Tenn. and christened her Memphis Belle in honor of Morgan's fiancée, Miss Margaret Polk of Memphis, and then headed across the Atlantic to join the US Eighth Air Force in England. 

 Throughout the first year of the war in the Pacific during World War II the USAAF was relatively ineffective against ships. Indeed, warships in particular proved to be too elusive for conventional medium-level bombing. High-level attacks wasted bombs, and torpedo attacks required extensive training. But as 1942 closed, the Fifth Air Force developed new weapons and new tactics that were not just effective, they were deadly. A maintenance officer assigned to a B-25 unit found a way to fill 

 Designed as an interceptor, when the Bell P-39 Airacobra appeared in 1941 it was acclaimed as one of the most advanced combat planes of the time. Elegantly designed and innovatively engineered (it featured the engine mid-aircraft like a racing car), it experienced mixed operational fortunes but was especially successful in the Soviet Air Force. This book is a full technical history of this important but neglected fighter of World War Two. It presents scale plans of all versions, many detailed photographs of surviving aircraft, full color illustrations of the aircraft in the different liveries of its many users: USAAF, RAF, Soviet, French, Italian and others, in total more than 50 color profiles. 

 A definitive technical guide to one of the icons of mid-20th century military aviation, with over 12,500 produced.

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, resilience and firepower. It also served in Indochina and Algeria, and in 1969's 'Soccer War' between Honduras and El Salvador, Corsairs were flown by both sides and fought the last propeller-aircraft dogfights in history.

This highly illustrated volume recounts the design and development history of one of the most iconic fighters in military aviation history. 

 “A well written history of a history-changing aircraft,” the bomber that carried the two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII (Aeromilitaria).

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined heavy bomber flown primarily by the United States in World War Two and the Korean War. The name “Superfortress” was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B–17 Flying Fortress. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, trainers and tankers including the variant, B-50 Superfortress.
 

 LIGHTNING STRIKES-THE LOCKHEED P-38 tells the full story of one of the most successful and versatile aircraft of the Second World War. The P-38 (including its F-4 and F-5 photo reconnaissance models) eventually served with all the USAAF's numbered overseas air forces, from early 1942 to VJ Day. The book describes the Lightning's design and its technical details as it gradually evolved and improved, from the original XP-38 to its final variant, the P-38L-5. The main focus is on its service in the combat theatres, from the frigid, windswept Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific to the steaming jungles of the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, the burning sands of North Africa and the more temperate climes of Europe. All the units that flew the Lightning are included, as are the experiences of many of their pilots and ground crewmen as they fought the Japanese Empire and the European Axis. Also related are the P-38's service with foreign (non-U.S.) air forces, its postwar commercial utilization as civilian aircraft and the surviving examples in museums around the world. The book is extremely well illustrated by over 400 high-resolution photographs, art work and graphics, and is supplemented by detailed appendices. 

 The Grumman-designed TBF Avenger was unquestionably the most successful torpedo bomber in the US fleet during WWII. Developed just prior to the US entry in WWII, the type made its combat debut at the Battle of Midway. Demand for the large carrier-borne aircraft, which could drop conventional bombs and depth charges in addition to torpedoes, soon outstripped Grumman's capacity. To supply the needed aircraft to the US Navy, the US Marines, and the Royal Navy, the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors was contracted to build duplicate aircraft, which were designated TBM. With numerous adaptations, both the TBF and TBM continued to serve militaries well after WWII. Through carefully researched photos, many of which have never before been published and which are reproduced in remarkable clarity, the history and details of this iconic aircraft are revealed and put the reader in the skies with this historic aircraft. 

In the 1930s, the Grumman Corporation developed a series of biplane carrier fighters for the US Navy, beginning with the "FF-1", which led to the refined "F2F" and "F3F". They had no great distinction, but just before World War II, Grumman evolved their biplane fighter designs into a monoplane fighter, the "F4F Wildcat", which would serve with distinction all through World War II, proving very important after Pearl Harbor. The Wildcat led to the bigger and better "F6F Hellcat", which led in turn to the "F8F Bearcat". Grumman also developed a twin-engine fighter, the "F7F Tigercat". This document provides a history and description of the Wildcat, Hellcat, Bearcat, and Tigercat. [revcode v1.1 / 01-25]