B-17 FORTRESS AND B-29 SUPERFORTRESS AT WAR ROGER A FREEMAN AND DAVID A ANDERTON PROMOTIONAL REPRINT COMPANY 1996 30 x 22 cm. 320 pp. HB/DJ B-17 Fortress At War More words have probably been written about the Boeing B-17, the famed 'Flying Fortress', than any other product of the United States aircraft industry. However, leading authority on american military aircraft Roger A Freeman covers aspects that have hitherto received scant attention, presenting the aircraft as it was seen by those operating and maintaining it, exploring its combat attributes and deficiencies and showing why it became a legend. The research involved entailed the help of a hundred persons, including nationals of 10 different countries. Several veterans have contributed first-person accounts and there is one for every crew station on a Fortress, telling what it was like to fly and fight in that position. B-17 Fortress at War reveals how the famous name evolved; the politics surrounding the B-17's early employment by the RAF and why this venture failed. It establishes the first-ever Fortress air combat and gives the surprising outcome and tells why the Japanese found it so difficult to shoot down the early B-17s. The operational difficulties that beset the US Air Forces in using the Fortress in different environments are also disclosed as are its clandestine operations with the Luftwaffe, together with its last major combat use in the Middle East conflicts of the late 1940s and 1950s. There is also a detailed study of the original crews and aircraft of a typical B-17 squadron and their eventual fates. B - 29 Superfortress At War 'She was born in Seattle, grew up in Wichita, and died in the skies over Japan. She was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, loved and hated, Queen of the skies and an aborting bitch. 'She was graceful, with a long, sleek body that caught the sun in dazzling highlights. Her wings were wide, with a gentle taper and a slimness that hinted at effortless flight. Her power lay inside four huge engine nacelles, crowding forward from the uncluttered wing, bulging with steel and aluminium and magnesium that had been alloyed and shaped into cylinders, gears, rods, cases, and twin superchargers. 'She was clean, aerodynamically smooth, with countersunk rivet heads lying flush with the aluminium alloy skin surfaces. Drop the landing gear, and her drag doubled. 'She spawned superlatives: highest, fastest, biggest bomb load. Slowest-fuming, biggest metal propellers. Largest cowl flaps. Heaviest and longest aluminium extrusion. 'And the ultimate superlative: She dropped the first - and then the second - atomic bomb. 'She was the pivotal airplane in the long and difficult transition from a subservient strategic air force to an independent United States Air Force.' While gathering material to evoke this superb aircraft, american aviation writer David Anderton attended reunions of both the 58th and 73rd Bomb Wings, corresponded extensively with dozens of former B-29 crewmen and support personnel, and copied and printed more than 500 pictures from loaned collections of B-29 memorabilia.

B-17 FORTRESS AND B-29 SUPERFORTRESS
AT WAR

ROGER A FREEMAN AND
DAVID A ANDERTON

PROMOTIONAL REPRINT COMPANY
1996

 

B-17 Fortress At War
More words have probably been written about the Boeing B-17, the famed 'Flying Fortress', than any other product of the United States aircraft industry.
However, leading authority on american military aircraft Roger A Freeman covers aspects that have hitherto received scant attention, presenting the aircraft as it was seen by those operating and maintaining it, exploring its combat attributes and deficiencies and showing why it became a legend.

The research involved entailed the help of a hundred persons, including nationals of 10
different countries. Several veterans have contributed first-person accounts and there is one for every crew station on a Fortress, telling what it was like to fly and fight in that position.
B-17 Fortress at War reveals how the famous name evolved; the politics surrounding the B-17's early employment by the RAF and why this venture failed. It establishes the first-ever Fortress air combat and gives the surprising outcome and tells why the Japanese found it so difficult to shoot down the early B-17s. The operational difficulties that beset the US Air Forces in using the Fortress in different environments are also disclosed as are its clandestine operations with the Luftwaffe, together with its last major combat use in the Middle East conflicts of the late 1940s and 1950s. There is also a detailed study of the original crews and aircraft of a typical B-17 squadron and their eventual fates.

 

B - 29 Superfortress At War
'She was born in Seattle, grew up in Wichita, and died in the skies over Japan. She was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, loved and hated, Queen of the skies and an aborting bitch.

'She was graceful, with a long, sleek body that caught the sun in dazzling highlights. Her wings were wide, with a gentle taper and a slimness that hinted at effortless flight. Her power lay inside four huge engine nacelles, crowding forward from the uncluttered wing, bulging with steel and aluminium and magnesium that had been alloyed and shaped into cylinders, gears, rods, cases, and twin superchargers.
'She was clean, aerodynamically smooth, with countersunk rivet heads lying flush with the aluminium alloy skin surfaces. Drop the landing gear, and her drag doubled.
'She spawned superlatives: highest, fastest, biggest bomb load. Slowest-fuming, biggest metal propellers. Largest cowl flaps. Heaviest and longest aluminium extrusion.

'And the ultimate superlative: She dropped the first - and then the second - atomic bomb.
'She was the pivotal airplane in the long and difficult transition from a subservient strategic air force to an independent United States Air Force.'

While gathering material to evoke this superb aircraft, american aviation writer David Anderton attended reunions of both the 58th and 73rd Bomb Wings, corresponded extensively with dozens of former B-29 crewmen and support personnel, and copied and printed more than 500 pictures from loaned collections of B-29 memorabilia.

30 x 22 cm. 320 pp.

Very good + condition, bump to front outer hinge but otherwise like new.




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