American Attack Aircraft Since 1926

This book provides a concise historical survey of the various types of aircraft used by the United States Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, and Air Force, and the Navy and Marine Corps to accomplish air attack missions since 1926. The text covers four types of fixed-wing aircraft: designated attack aircraft; light, medium, and tactical bombers; fighter-bombers; and adapted attack aircraft. Reports on individual aircraft types include the aircraft's original military requirements, production history, and operational record, usually accompanied by photographs, illustrations, and technical specifications. Four appendices detail aircraft designations and nomenclature used throughout the military, the organizational structure of various military air units, aircraft designs that never made it into official service, and the evolution of attack aircraft weapons and tactics.

Over the past eight decades, developments in vertical lift aircraft--both helicopters and vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) planes--have given the American military unparalleled capabilities on the modern battlefield. The U.S. has led the world in vertical lift technologies with the help of some of the brightest minds in this field--Igor I. Sikorsky, Arthur M. Young, Frank N. Piasecki, Charles H. Kaman and Stanley Hiller, Jr., to name a few--and by having the industrial prowess to make their concepts reality. This book provides a concise historical survey, including technical specifications, drawings, and photographs of every type of helicopter and V/STOL aircraft developed for the U.S. military, from the earliest examples tested in 1941 and 1942, up to the newest prototypes.

Without the support of airlift, the modern American military machine would be brought to a standstill. Since World War II--beginning with the Cold War and continuing up to the present day--the U.S. armed forces have come increasingly to rely upon airlift for mobility. The power to rapidly move and thereafter support a military operation--anywhere in the world, at any time--has become a foundational element of American defense policy. This work provides the reader with a comprehensive historical survey--including technical specifications, drawings, and photographs--of each type of fixed-wing aircraft used by U.S. military forces over a nearly 90-year period to carry out the airlift mission.

The U.S. did not become the world's foremost military air power by accident. The learning curve--World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and more recently the war on terror--has been steep. While climbing this curve, the U.S. has not only produced superior military aircraft in greater numbers than its foes, but has--in due course--out-trained them, too. This book provides a comprehensive historical survey of U.S. military training aircraft, including technical specifications, drawings and photographs of each type of fixed and rotary-wing design used over a 98-year period to accomplish the first step of the learning process: the training of pilots and aircrews.

Among the world’s military air arms, United States Marine Corps Aviation occupies a unique tactical niche. As the air component of a combined-arms expeditionary force, it exists primarily to support Marine combat forces on the ground in their amphibious assault mission. From the “Banana Wars” of the 1920s to the present day “War on Terror,” Marine aviation has undergone a lengthy fine-tuning process not only in terms of warfare doctrines and tactics, but also in the types of aircraft needed to accomplish the mission. This comprehensive survey provides the history, technical specifications, drawings, and photographs of every type of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft used by Marine Air from its origins prior to World War I up to current operations.

The Boeing 787 is the new Boeing aircraft. It is currently in its development phase. Designers of this plane is made lot of research for this aircraft should be particularly fuel-efficient through the use of composite materials in the construction of the device and use of new reactors. It should enable airlines to reduce by nearly 20% in fuel consumption compared to aircraft of this size. This aircraft are expected to compete in the world of aircraft types and gain the admiration of the public . The Airbus product line started with the A300, the world\\\'s first twin-aisle, twin-engined aircraft. A shorter, re-winged, re-engined variant of the A300 is known as the A310. Building on its success, Airbus launched the A320, particularly notable for being the first commercial jet to utilize a fly-by-wire control system. The A320 has been, and continues to be, a great commercial success. The A318 and A319 are shorter derivatives with some of the latter under construction for the corporate business jet market as Airbus Corporate Jets. A stretched version is known as the A321. The A320 family\\\'s primary competitor is the Boeing 737 family. Development of a new manned ultralight FanWing is ongoing and presently planned for a first public flight at Oshkosh 2013. Reaction Engines has announced that is has successfully tested the key pre-cooler component of its revolutionary SABRE engine crucial to the development of its SKYLON spaceplane. The company claims that craft equipped with SABRE engines will be able to fly to any destination on Earth in under 4 hours, or travel directly into space. The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets (F/A for Fighter/Attack). The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). NASA has been exploring a variety of opti

The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopter. It is used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Additional tasks include combat support, search and rescue (SAR), support for forward refueling and rearming points, CASEVAC and Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP). Canada also operated the Sea Knight, designated as CH-113, and operated them in the SAR role until 2004. Other export customers include Japan, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. The commercial version is the BV 107-II, commonly referred to simply as the "Vertol". The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. With a top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h) it is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s. The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest and heaviest helicopter in the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80 it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, a seventh blade to the main rotor and canting the tail rotor 20 degrees. It was built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Marine Corps. The less common MH-53E Sea Dragon fills the United States Navy's need for long range mine sweeping or Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) missions, and perform heavy-lift duties for the Navy. Under development is the CH-53K, which will be equipped with new engines, new composite rotor blades, and a wider cabin. The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. The V-22 originated from the United States Department of Defense Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimenta