This first of two volumes on the Supermarine Spitfire covers the design, testing, development, and early WWII combat use of the famed British fighter aircraft's initial variants. The Spitfire in its original marques up to the Mk. VII provided a platform that allowed the Royal Air Force to challenge the German Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters during the 1939-1942 period of WWII. The book also covers the Seafire Marques I to III, which provided similarly valuable service for the British Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 112

Dimensions: 228 x 228 mm

Publication Date: 28-10-2021

This second of two volumes on de Havilland's "Wooden Wonder" covers the World War II bomber and photoreconnaissance variants of the deadly Mosquito. Along with its night fighter and fighter-bomber variants, Mosquito bomber squadrons attacked the enemy around the clock. Pinpoint assaults on specialist targets were another aspect of Mosquito operations, whose destructive effect on the Axis was constantly felt. Also featured in this volume is the Mosquito's operational service between 1942 and 1945 within the ranks of the RAF, Commonwealth air forces, and US Army Air Force, as well as postwar use.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 112

Dimensions: 228 x 228 mm

Publication Date: 28-09-2021

Introduced in 1941, the Short Stirling was the Royal Air Force's first four-engine heavy bomber of the Second World War. However, early on, the Stirling's performance was compromised by several issues: a reduced wingspan, which resulted in serious limitations on maximum altitude capability; the two-stage landing gear proved to be dangerously frail; and the bomb-bay design proved incapable of carrying large-scale blockbuster bombs. Its altitude ceiling limitations left the aircraft particularly vulnerable to isolation and dispatch by enemy night fighters within the bomber stream, and it was these factors that ultimately led to its withdrawal from Britain's strategic bombing campaign over occupied Europe. By November 1943, it was replaced by the more effective Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster. However, it did see important second-line duty in the glider-towing, paratroop drop, minelaying, and supply roles. The Stirling also saw post-WWII duties as a passenger transport up to the late 1940s. This book is a concise, visual history of this lesser-known RAF WWII bomber.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 112

Dimensions: 230 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 22-11-2022