Military Air

An errant encounter with a passing star has flung Earth away from its old Solar System into the dark and cold of deep space. With the entire atmosphere frozen as chemical snow dozens of feet deep, one last family struggles to survive. But what are they to think when they see figures moving in the city ruins? Are Earth's dead coming back to life?

The second book in this series follows the history of the "Guinea Pig Club". Founded by the brilliant plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe, this is probably the most exclusive club in the world, and one no one would want to join given the chance. McIndoe directed operations, re-constructing his patients and inspired them to rebuild their own lives.

The fifth book in this series recounts the nostalgic and moving history of fighting in the skies during World War II, from every fighting air force on both sides of the Atlantic, and the stories of the men and machines that made those forces great. It follows the development of military aircraft - the RAF and the USAF - from fighters to the big bombers that ruled our skies during World War II from the Battle of Britain to the atom bomb.

World War I, also known in its time as the Great War or the War to End all Wars, was an unprecedented conflict in terms of its sheer scale. Before 1914, flying machines were objects of public curiosity. By 1918, all the major belligerents were fielding squadrons of fighting aircraft. Bombs were dropped on Paris in August 1914, and Zeppelins bombed Belgian forces as the Germans advanced on Liège. Zeppelin raids on Britain would continue for nearly four years. These raids and the attempts to stop them would be carried out at the cutting edge of new technology.

The air war over Europe during World War II proved that combat in the sky can be even more devastating than combat on the ground. When the war ended, every major city in Germany was virtually destroyed. A German writer admitted that his own nation, in taking up the sword to conquer the world, had "summoned up those bands of furies which raced across the German skies".

In the middle of August 1944, the Soviet Red Army crossed the eastern border of Romania and threatened the entire position of the Axis in the Balkans. On August 23, Romania's King Michael summoned the head of the government to the royal palace and asked him to break with the Germans and negotiate surrender terms with the Soviet Union. Shortly thereafter, Michael took Romania out of the war and issued an ultimatum that the German forces leave the country within three days.

Gerald "Jerry" Keyser and I became friends in 1966, when we were both in USAF Pilot Training. In 1970 I got out of the Air Force and Jerry stayed in. We remained friends and I followed along in awe as he went on to have the most amazing flying career I have ever seen. He flew 100 different types of airplanes, helicopters, and gliders during his 20 years in the Air Force, including a stint with NASA, and his 17 years as a test pilot for Hughes-McDonell Douglas-Boeing Helicopter Company in Arizona.

This book tells the fascinating story of the world's only airworthy Bristol Blenheim bomber, heroically restored to its original glory by ex-RAF pilot Graham Warner and his dedicated team over the course of two decades. The Blenheim Bomber story will take you back to the plane's beginnings, its role during World War II and the long-lasting effect it had on its crews. Relive the enthralling and nostalgic story of this mechanical hero, long forgotten and unsung.

At the end of August 2012, BBC ran a report about the commemoration of a young man who had been killed more than 70 years earlier. Just 12 days before Oswald St John Pigg’s death, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had already immortalized the men of the Royal Air Force with one of the West’s most famous war-time quotes. But the sentiment and gratitude Churchill expressed back in 1940 is very much alive today. The sacrifice made by “The Few”, the British and Allied fighter pilots who won the Battle of Britain in 1940, remains close to the hearts of the British public.

One of the most important breakthroughs in military technology associated with World War I, and certainly the one that continues to capture the public imagination, was the use of airplanes, which were a virtual novelty a decade before. While the war quickly ground to a halt in its first few months, the skies above the Western Front became increasingly busy. The great powers had already been acquiring aircraft for potential uses, but given that aerial warfare had never been a major component of any conflict, it’s understandable that few had any idea what the planes were capable of.

One of the most important breakthroughs in military technology associated with World War I, and certainly the one that continues to capture the public imagination, was the use of airplanes, which were a virtual novelty a decade before. While the war quickly ground to a halt in its first few months, the skies above the Western Front became increasingly busy. The great powers had already been acquiring aircraft for potential uses, but aerial warfare had never been a major component of any conflict.

The growing buzz of aircraft engines disturbed the Japanese military construction personnel hauling equipment ashore on the beige coral sand of Tulagi Island at 8:20 AM on May 4, 1942. Offshore, the large IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) minelayer Okinoshima, flagship of Admiral Shima Kiyohide, lay at anchor, along with two destroyers, Kikuzuki and Yutsuki, and transport ships. Six Japanese Mitsubishi F1M2 floatplanes also rested on the gentle, deep blue swell, marking Tulagi's future as an IJN floatplane base.

En 1903 los hermanos Wright inventaron el avión y ese acontecimiento cambió las reglas de la guerra para siempre. De guerra en guerra, la tecnología ha ido mejorando en un esfuerzo por conseguir la máquina de guerra aérea definitiva. El audio libro Aviones de Combate de Pacific Media nos cuenta la historia desde la creación del avión hasta el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

As American forces pushed the Japanese back across the Pacific from 1942-1944, their island-hopping campaign ultimately made it possible for the Air Force to conduct bombing runs over the Japanese mainland. The first serious air raids came in November 1944, after the Americans had captured the Marianas Islands, and through February 1945, American bombers concentrated on military targets at the fringes of the city, particularly air defenses.

The British people had no sooner finished rescuing their trapped army from Dunkirk than they found themselves preparing for an attack from the Germans once again. But the heroism of the Royal Air Force and the fortitude of the British people turned Germany’s certain victory into defeat, forcing Hitler to abandon his plans to invade England. “We shall never surrender,” Churchill vowed, and his words rallied a nation, delivering a blow to the Nazi war machine that would, in the end, prove to be a turning point in World War II.