Sierra Sue Ii

During World War II, 15,000 P-51 Mustang fighter planes were produced by North American Aviation. Arguably the best fighter plane ever made, today there are less than a hundred left flying in the world. Of those, only a handful saw combat. Sierra Sue: The Story of a P-51 Mustang is the story of one of those survivors. The backdrop for the story is Sierra Sue IIs appearance at the huge Offutt Air Force Base Open House in 1989. There, we go behind-the-scenes for glimpses of warbird pilots and jet jockeys alike, preparing for their air show acts. We also go six stories underground for a rare, chilling visit to our nuclear command post. But the real story is the history of Sierra Sue II, and the remarkable pilots who flew and loved her: from 1st Lt. Bob Bohna who flew her in combat during World War II and nearly became a reverse ace, to Sten Soderquist who flew her in Sweden in the early 50s when more than thirty Swedish pilots died in Mustang crashes, to Nicaragua where she was involved in several of dictator Luis Somozas military adventures in the late 50s, to California where Dave Allender modified her with the intent of setting a new world speed record for piston aircraft. Almost forty years after her combat missions in the war, Sierra Sue II is bought by a hard-flying Minnesota physician known on the air show circuit simply as Doc. His romance with Sierra Sue II continues where Bohna and Soderquist and Allender leave off. But Doc is more than just another ardent admirer in her long history. While an Air Force jet pilot in the 50s, Doc crashed and suffered major injuries that ended his Air Force career. During his long recuperation, he took up a study of medicine that led to a general practice in Minneapolis. Now, he is determined to restore Sierra Sue II to her World War II condition and take her on the Midwest air show circuit. We follow that restoration in California by a mechanical genius named Jack Cochrane, and then Docs cross-country flight to Minnesota, ending in a harrowing landing at nightfall on a remote airstrip on the Minnesota prairie. Millions of air show fans have enjoyed the sight of Sierra Sue IIs ageless beauty. Now, here is her story.

Longarm’s memory might be gone, but his desire for justice is as strong as ever… When Deputy Marshal Custis Long steps in to stop a bank robbery, he ends up getting pistol-whipped by a feisty female named Sierra Sue. By the time he comes to, Longarm has more than a splitting headache—he can barely remember who he is. And he sure doesn’t remember agreeing to marry a soiled dove who claims she’s pregnant with his love child! As the cobwebs start to clear, Longarm gradually recalls the name of the gal who hit his head. It’ll take more than a little wooziness to keep him from tracking her down and bringing her to justice. Now, if he can just remember where he put his Winchester…

True WWII biographies. Oral interviews given by 50 men & women about their unique WWII experiences. Fascinating stories, many never published before. From old notes, logs, diaries & unpublished manuscripts. Pearl Harbor. Hiroshima. Kassarine Pass. Normandy. China-Burma-India...flying over the hump. Stories about a disastrous secret invasion (Devon Invasion). The very first radar installations. Marines guarding President Roosevelt. An admiral disappears (forever). Discovery of old masters paintings hidden by German military. Stories from six continents, every ocean. Compelling thoughts of foot soldiers dismantling mines. Gunfire at a conference with General "Hap" Arnold. The U.S. Navy ships real gold. Stalag 17 secret death march log. "Milk Run" by an injured pilot. Bloody invasions in the South Pacific. Navigating Lindbergh himself. Movie stars. Glen Miller. VJ & VE Days celebrated worldwide. Holocaust museum's vice chairman loses 40 family members...from his childhood at Auschwitz to being a speaker at the Capitol rotunda. Submariners in battle. Typhoons. How survivors led admirable lives, educated themselves. Order from Senior Distributors, P.O. Box 185, Vineburg, CA 95487.

Celebrate 75 years of the iconic World War II warbird that helped win the war and flew into the heart of American life. From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge, through reconnaissance missions and combat, fighting flying bombs and Me 262 Stormbird jets, P-51 Mustang pilots saw it all during World War II. P-51 Mustang celebrates the 75th anniversary of the most iconic American warbird written by Cory Graff, lead curator at the Flying Heritage Collection--one of the world's most important collections and sites for warbird restoration. The entire story of this plane is here, starting with the astonishing fact that the P-51 Mustang was built in less than 120 days. This first version was hardly a world-beater, and it took the addition of a Rolls-Royce-designed Merlin to make the Mustang a legend. These nimble and versatile fighters were able to escort Allied heavy bombers all the way to Berlin and back. In the Pacific, their long-range ability was pushed to its limit, with pilots flying 1,500-mile, eight-or-more-hour missions over water to attack Tokyo. On the home front, Graff profiles the impact manufacturing Mustangs had on workers in Los Angeles and Dallas. The United States wasn't finished with the P-51 Mustang after World War II. It was used in the Korean War and, afterwards, as a symbol and icon of American ingenuity. Graff explores the post-World War II history of this iconic plane, making this a book that every single World War II, history, and aviation enthusiast will want to buy.

"This biography takes the reader from Gene Autry's childhood in Oklahoma through his career as a singer and actor, and covers his later triumphs in business and sports. Of particular interest is the book's detailed day-to-day treatment of Autry's performing career, with information on each recording session and film shoot, including key personnel and interesting anecdotes"--Provided by publisher.

The first Japanese American jockey, Kokomo Joe burst like a comet on the American horse-racing scene in the summer of 1941. As war with Japan loomed, Yoshio ?Kokomo Joe? Kobuki won race after race, stirring passions far beyond merely the envy and antagonism of other jockeys. His is a story of the American dream catapulting headlong into the nightmare of a nation gripped by wartime hysteria and xenophobia. The story that unfolds in Kokomo Joe is at once inspiring, deeply sad, and richly ironic?and remarkably relevant in our own climate of nationalist fervor and racial profiling. ø Sent to Japan from Washington State after his mother and three siblings died of the Spanish flu, Kobuki continued to nurse his dream of the American good life. Because of his small stature, his ambition steered him to a future as a star jockey. John Christgau narrates Kobuki?s rise from lowly stable boy to reigning star at California fairs and in the bush leagues. He describes how, at the height of the jockey?s fame, even his flight into the Sonora Desert could not protect him from the government?s espionage and sabotage dragnet. And finally he recounts how, after three years of internment, Kokomo Joe tried to reclaim his racing success, only to fall victim to still-rampant racism, a career-ending injury, and cancer.

By the mid-1930s the obstacles to high speed that aircraft designers faced included the question of cooling the engine. This was a big challenge that those working on the new fast aeroplanes entering service as the war clouds gathered over Europe had to consider, as the drag from the system increased as a square of the speed. Ducted systems were designed which lowered drag, but these were based on the assumption that the system was cold. This ignored the potential energy from the air, heated by the radiator, for liquid-cooled aircraft, and from the discharged engine exhaust gases. It took a profoundly lateral thinker to harness the possibilities of the paradox that heat could cut the cost of cooling. That thinker was the British engineer Frederick William Meredith. A researcher at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough until 1938, F.W. Meredith a key player in the UK’s development of the autopilot and remote-controlled aircraft. His contribution to Allied success in the Second World War was enormous – but, incredibly, he was also a known a Soviet agent. Few would doubt that the Supermarine Spitfire was a pioneering aeroplane – not because it was an all metal, monoplane with retractable undercarriage and enclosed cockpit as these were not unique – but because it was the first to incorporate a Meredith designed ducted cooling system. This was intended from the beginning to use heat to create ‘negative drag’. In practice the Spitfire’s design was flawed, as Meredith himself pointed out, and did not fully use what became known as the ‘Meredith Effect’. Meredith also made entirely overlooked but extremely important contributions to resolving the problem of how to induce air smoothly into cooling ducts at high speeds without which, as the Spitfire demonstrated, ducted cooling systems worked sub-optimally. The first aeroplane properly to exploit the ‘Meredith Effect’ was the North American P-51 Mustang, this being a very significant factor as to why it was 30mph faster than the Spitfire when both had the same Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. This book by Peters Spring examines the life of the remarkable, and controversial, F.W. Meredith, an individual who has largely been forgotten by history despite the brilliant advances he made – advances which helped the Allies win the war against Hitler’s Third Reich.