Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
Ebook226 pages2 hours
Flying Legends of World War II: Archive and Colour Photos of Famous Allied Aircraft
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
More than thirty Allied Forces' WWII aircraft types are illustrated in many rare and previously unpublished black and white and color photographs. Each type is described giving vital data on development history, combat record, famous pilots and significant air battles. Performance, range and weapon loads are also included. The unique color photographs are from the collection of the late William B. Slate, an aviation photographer who strove to capture the thrilling perspective that can only come from close-up, in-flight vantage points from an aircraft flying in formation.
Author
Philip Handleman
Philip Handleman is the author of twenty-three aviation books and recipient of awards for his contributions to aviation, including the Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum. Mr. Handleman is a longtime pilot who flies antique aircraft out of his private airport. He belongs to more than 30 aviation organizations.
Read more from Philip Handleman
Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airman's Firsthand Account of World War II A Dream of Pilots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Flying Legends of World War II
Titles in the series (100)
The Crushing of Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Defeat on the Eastern Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5D-Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great War Fighter Aces, 1916–1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmoured Warfare in the North African Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armoured Warfare in the Battle for Normandy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chiang Kai-shek Versus Mao Tse-tung: The Battle for China, 1946–1949 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Germans on the Somme Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5U-108 at War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5B-17 Memphis Belle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzkrieg in the West Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Afrika-Korps Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Germans at Arras Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmoured Warfare in Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Allied POWs in German Hands 1914–1918 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Joseph Stalin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adolf Hitler Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Battle for the Caucasus, 1942–1943 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Auschwitz Death Camp Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Mountain Troops, 1939–1945: The Gebirgsjager Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmoured Warfare and Hitler's Allies, 1941–1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5T-54/55: The Soviet Army's Cold War Main Battle Tank Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Royal Armoured Corps in the Cold War, 1946–1990 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Armoured Warfare in the Battle of the Bulge, 1944–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Guns of the Third Reich Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hitler's Panzers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5T-34: The Red Army's Legendary Medium Tank Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/56th SS Mountain Division Nord at War, 1941–1945 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related ebooks
Dive Bomber!: Aircraft, Technology, and Tactics in World War II Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5100 Group (Bomber Support): RAF Bomber Command in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boeing B-17: The Fifteen Ton Flying Fortress Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Defense of Freedom: Stories of Courage and Sacrifice of World War II Army Air Forces Flyers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fighter Pilot: The First American Ace of World War II Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5B-17 Memphis Belle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dogfight: The Supermarine Spitfire and the Messerschmitt BF 109 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Era of Naval Aviation: An Aviator's Journey, 1939-1959 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Hidden Warbirds II: More Epic Stories of Finding, Recovering, and Rebuilding WWII's Lost Aircraft Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForging the Thunderbolt: History of the U.S. Army's Armored Forces, 1917-45 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5American Eagles: US Fighter Pilots in the RAF 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsT-34: The Red Army's Legendary Medium Tank Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5North American Mustang P-51: Long Range Fighter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWith Wings As Eagles: The Eighth Air Force in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5World War 2 In Review No. 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnited States Tanks and Tank Destroyers of the Second World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld War 2 In Review No. 60 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTigers in Combat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsP-51 Mustang Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInside Tanks and Heavy Artillery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsModelling a Tiger I Gruppe Fehrman, Germany 1945: In 1/35 scale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTiger I: The Official Wartime Crew Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Armored Fighting Vehicles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5U-Boats at War in World War I and II Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Reasons To Improve: The Evolution Of The US Tank From 1945-1991 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Panther Tank: Hitlers T-34 Killer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa: Soviet versus German Armour on the Eastern Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Air War on the Eastern Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5German and Russian Tank Models, 1939–45 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Wars & Military For You
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
Iconic Ships 12: HMS Barham 0% found this document usefulEmpire Flying Boats at War Part 3 with Phil Vabre 0% found this document usefulSecret War, Unsung Heroes, WW2 Victory with retired Air Force Colonel Mark Vlahos 0% found this document usefulJust Old Time Radio 95 Hop Harrigan in Photo Mission to Berlin: Old Time Radio at its Best from the Orginal Shows 0% found this document usefulJuly 4th Commemoration Part I: US and UK Navies Squared Off in the Age of Sail 0% found this document usefulThe History of Britain's Black Airmen 0% found this document usefulFPP039 - A-7 Corsair ll: With retired US Navy Captain Tom "Demon" Mitchell 0% found this document usefulHogs and The Black Jet with Jon Boyd 0% found this document useful4th of July Commemoration Part II: The US Navy in the Age of Battleships and Aircraft Carriers 0% found this document usefulNo. 6 - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters 0% found this document usefulIconic Ships 10: Ark Royal 0% found this document usefulFPP080 - AC-130 Gunship: With retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Craig "Buck" Walker 0% found this document usefulFocke-Wulf's Savage Airliner with Matthew Willis 0% found this document useful#151: WWII Weekend Part II - Walter Stitt and Victor Marulli: Army Tankers and Navy Frogmen 0% found this document usefulEncore: The WWII Home Front | Arsenal of Democracy | 1 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Bell P-39 Airacobra History of WarArticle
Bell P-39 Airacobra
Feb 17, 2022
3 min readRestoring A Panther History of WarArticle
Restoring A Panther
Aug 8, 2019
3 min readDefending The Fleet Flight JournalArticle
Defending The Fleet
Oct 21, 2021
7 min readSpearhead To The Meuse History of WarArticle
Spearhead To The Meuse
Feb 26, 2020
2 min readBuild an NFFX Flat Wagon Australian Model Railway MagazineArticle
Build an NFFX Flat Wagon
Jul 18, 2018
9 min readJagdpanz er 38 History of WarArticle
Jagdpanz er 38
Aug 5, 2021
3 min readTest-flying The hellcat Flight JournalArticle
Test-flying The hellcat
Apr 5, 2022
14 min readA Deadly Duel World War IIArticle
A Deadly Duel
Feb 5, 2019
6 min readThe Luftwaffe’s Lost Cause Aviation HistoryArticle
The Luftwaffe’s Lost Cause
Apr 5, 2022
11 min readJoin Our Team! Flight JournalArticle
Join Our Team!
Apr 5, 2022
Do you have aviation in your blood? Crazy about aircraft and flying? Add your unique perspective to our content mix! We’re looking for flightline reporters and contributors to share their expertise and advice in videos and posts. (Original and unpubl
1 min readLuftwaffe’s Fighter General Aviation HistoryArticle
Luftwaffe’s Fighter General
Sep 4, 2018
11 min readThunderbolt! Aviation HistoryArticle
Thunderbolt!
Oct 27, 2020
10 min readHardware Albatros D.III Military HistoryArticle
Hardware Albatros D.III
Dec 24, 2019
1 min readOrdeal By Degradation World War IIArticle
Ordeal By Degradation
Aug 31, 2021
3 min readT-34 Shock The Soviet Legend In Pictures History of WarArticle
T-34 Shock The Soviet Legend In Pictures
Sep 2, 2021
1 min readM24 Chaffee Light Tank History of WarArticle
M24 Chaffee Light Tank
Sep 1, 2022
3 min readOn A Strange Shore World War IIArticle
On A Strange Shore
Feb 4, 2020
7 min readPanzerkampfwagen V Panther History of WarArticle
Panzerkampfwagen V Panther
Jul 12, 2018
3 min readHardware M4A3E8 Sherman Military HistoryArticle
Hardware M4A3E8 Sherman
Dec 22, 2020
1 min readNapoleonic Banner History of WarArticle
Napoleonic Banner
Oct 1, 2021
1 min readFlying The Hellcat Flight JournalArticle
Flying The Hellcat
Apr 5, 2022
3 min readP.j. Ash’s a-1 Skyraider Model Airplane NewsArticle
P.j. Ash’s a-1 Skyraider
Oct 4, 2022
2 min readThe Battle Of St Vith History of WarArticle
The Battle Of St Vith
Feb 26, 2020
6 min readFinland’s Famed ‘Sky Pearl’ Military HistoryArticle
Finland’s Famed ‘Sky Pearl’
Aug 3, 2021
11 min readFlying The “George” Flight JournalArticle
Flying The “George”
Jun 16, 2020
4 min readThe Tigers Of Bastogne History of WarArticle
The Tigers Of Bastogne
Nov 28, 2019
16 min readWhat We Learned From…Battle of the Chir River Military HistoryArticle
What We Learned From…Battle of the Chir River
Mar 5, 2019
2 min readThe New American Rifle That Came Under Assault VietnamArticle
The New American Rifle That Came Under Assault
Feb 4, 2020
8 min readMe 262 Schwalbe Model Airplane NewsArticle
Me 262 Schwalbe
Apr 6, 2021
1 min readNorth American P-51 Mustang History of WarArticle
North American P-51 Mustang
May 17, 2018
2 min read
Reviews for Flying Legends of World War II
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Flying Legends of World War II - Philip Handleman
Chapter 1
Keep Them Flying
Salutes
From spring through autumn, at out-of-the-way airports scattered across both the American and European landscapes, aviation enthusiasts can be observed tinkering with the machines that warm their hearts and light their souls.
At the crack of dawn, when the air is still and the morning dew glistens, a distinctive shape, sleek yet strapping, emerges from the rows of weather-beaten hangars. In the glow of the brightening sunrise, the silvery ship projects a simple majesty, and even the uninitiated perceive that this is not just any aircraft but a rare breed with a story as profound and scintillating as the sky itself.
A deep-bellowed rumble accompanied by a spurt of grey-white smoke signals the first stirrings amid the sleepy surroundings. The old warhorse, cajoled by her proud and adoring master, brays and whinnies. An ornery temperament is the apparent price for such refined pedigree. Gentle stroking of the throttle brings fits and starts until the myriad moving parts harmonize. Once bridled, the bronco purrs.
There is a purposeful veer off the taxiway onto the adjoining open pasture, flat grassland being the preferred surface for antiques of wartime vintage. A serpentine path to the grass runway reflects the lack of forward visibility from the pilot’s angled perch. With the old-style configuration that places the third wheel in the tail, this ship requires special handling on the ground; she isn’t for novices.
The fuselage’s exposure sideways reveals classic star-in-bar markings to passersby on the contiguous country lane. Though weekend chores loom, some of the motorists slow to a stop on the side of the road. They know this aircraft is different than the everyday spam cans that crisscross the sky. Yes, this one is of grandpa’s time, the kind he flew when he served during World War II. Or maybe an uncle crewed on the type. Or perhaps a distant relative, whose exact role during the war has been lost to time, happened to serve contemporaneously with this mare and her stable mates.
From the corner of his eye, the pilot catches a glimpse of the roadside gawkers. A few of them brave the morning chill and stand by their cars, zipping up their jackets and rubbing their hands. Others twist their necks in the warmth of their cars. One in the disparate assemblage waves to the aircraft and soon everyone clustered along the road follows.
The morning’s flight has turned, innocently enough, into an impromptu flying display. That’s the way it should be, the pilot muses. He tips his head in acknowledgement and raises his arm in a swooping motion over his head to the extent his harness permits. Before swivelling the tail around to point the ship’s nose into the wind for the pre-flight run-up, in the universal language of aviation he flashes a determined upraised thumb to his spontaneous roadside audience.
The engine howls and the ship vibrates. Toe brakes are stressed to their limit. There is a trace of an easing up, just for a fleeting moment. The sequence repeats itself. The magneto checks verify that sparks are ablaze to keep the cylinders firing. Another falloff, this one more pronounced than the prior two, followed by the engine’s return to a full-throated roar, signals that the propeller governor is cycling through pitch settings
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1