Aeronaves Consolidated: libros - historia, modelos y técnica

Founded by Reuben H. Fleet in 1923, Consolidated Aircraft Corporation (later Convair) became one of the most significant aircraft manufacturers in American history.
For roughly 60 years, this prolific company was synonymous with San Diego. In fact, whole sections of the city were designed to provide homes for the Convair workers and their families. These men and women were responsible for building some of the most significant aircraft in aviation history, including the PBY Catalina, B-24 Liberator, F-102 Delta Dagger, as well as the reliable Atlas missile, which was vital in launching America into space.

To this day, more than a decade after the company passed from the San Diego scene, tens of thousands of San Diegans still celebrate a seminal connection with Reuben Fleet, his company, and his popular slogan, "Nothing short of right is right."

Over 24,000 B-24s were constructed between 1940 and 1945, making it the single most produced aircraft of World War II. The B-24 served in all theaters of World War II: China-Burma-India, Japan, South Pacific, North Africa, Italy, France, Germany, and Russia.

The history of the B-24 is presented here in hundreds of photos, over seventy in World War II era color, and most unpublished. Detailed photographs of nose art and markings, and overall shots, present all aspects of the various models.
All war fronts are covered and show the early B-24c types to the late war, Privateer, and Naval models, and the B-32 Dominator. A special color section features the doomed Lady Be Good when it was found in the Libyan desert in the early 1960s.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was almost certainly the most versatile Second World War Bomber. Apart from its bombing role in all theatres of operation, the B-24 hauled fuel to France during the push towards Germany, carried troops, fought U-boats in the Atlantic and, probably most important of all, made a vital contribution towards winning the war in the Pacific. Its most famous single exploit is possibly the raid on the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943.
The B-24 ended World War Two as the most produced Allied heavy bomber in history, and the most produced American military aircraft at over 18,000 units, thanks in large measure to Henry Ford and the harnessing of American industry. It still holds the distinction as the most produced American military aircraft.
The B-24 was used by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean and China-Burma-India theatres.

This book focuses on the design, engineering, development and tactical use of the many variants throughout the bomber's service life. The overall result is, as David Lee, the former Deputy Director of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford said upon reading the final manuscript, to be acquainted with '...all you never knew about the B-24!'
The book is enlivened by the many dramatic photographs which feature, and this coupled with the clarity of Simons' prose makes for an engaging and entertaining history of this iconic Allied bomber, a key component in several of their biggest victories and a marvel of military engineering.

Vintage photos of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator from assembly line to flight line, plus exploded views, cutaway and phantom drawings from tech manuals, disassembled aircraft, rare variants and experimental models.

Covers A through M models, PB4Y Privateers, C-87s and C-109s.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator first saw combat in June of 1942, making a daring raid into Nazi-occupied Romania to bomb the oil fields at Ploesti. Nearly 18,500 Liberators were built during the war years, making it by far the most-produced American combat aircraft. It served in many roles beyond heavy bomber, transport, and anti-submarine patrol, and flew in Africa, Europe, India, the Atlantic, India and the Pacific Theatre.

Originally printed by the United States Army Air Force in 1942, the B-24 Liberator Pilot's Flight Operating Manual taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Originally classified "Restricted", the manual was declassified long ago and is here reprinted in book form.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator first saw combat in June of 1942, making a daring raid into Nazi-occupied Romania to bomb the oil fields at Ploesti. Nearly 18,500 Liberators were built during the war years, making it by far the most-produced American combat aircraft.
It served in many roles beyond heavy bomber, transport, and anti-submarine patrol, and flew in Africa, Europe, India, the Atlantic, India and the Pacific Theatre.

Originally printed by the United States Army Air Force in 1942, the B-24 Liberator Pilot's Flight Operating Manual taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Originally classified "Restricted", the manual was declassified long ago and is here reprinted in book form.

Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le bombardier B-24 Liberator a été produit en plus grande quantité que n'importe quel autre avion militaire américain, y compris le B-17. Il fut la colonne vertébrale de l'offensive de bombardement de l'USAAF contre l'Allemagne, aux côtés du B-17. Le Liberator effectua des contributions significatives dans d'autres rôles, notamment dans le Pacifique, où - grâce à sa formidable capacité à bombarder des cibles japonaises à basse altitude- il fournit un soutien inestimable à l'US Navy. En dépit de sa remarquable carrière, le B-24 - et les aviateurs qui volèrent à ses commandes- resta toujours dans l'ombre de son frère, le B-17. Ce livre a pour ambition de rétablir l'équilibre entre les deux appareils.

Cet ouvrage fournit une quantité de détails techniques et opérationnels à propos de l'avion, sur chaque arme et/ou équipement des membres de l'équipage. Le coeur de ce livre repose néanmoins sur les nombreux témoignages de missions de combat effectuées par les membres d'équipage de Liberator, dont beaucoup n'ont jamais été publiés jusqu'alors. Le B-24 est sans doute mieux connu pour ses raids au-dessus de l'Europe occupée, au sein de la 8e et de la 15e Air Force. Les témoignages que comporte ce livre se rapportent tous au théâtre d'opérations européen. Ils révèlent, avec force détails, ce que c'était d'effectuer une mission de combat du point de vue de chaque membre d'équipage, du pilote jusqu'au mitrailleur de queue.

The B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers than any other US warplane, yet its combat crews live, even today, in the shadow of the less plentiful, but better-known, B-17. Accounts of the 'Mighty Eighth' in Europe, and indeed many of the books and films that emerged from the greatest air campaign in history, often overlook the B-24, even though it was in action for as long as the Flying Fortress, and participated in just as many perilous daylight bombing missions.

Contents: 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - Appendices.

The first in a planned series that presents the B-24 Liberators used by the 15th Air Force in World War II, noted B-24 historians Robert Beitling and Mike Hill present for the first time the biographies of the individual B-24s used by the 451st, 461st and 484th Bomb Groups of the 49th Bomb Wing in Italy.

As much information as is known about the individual aircraft is presented in biographical form: serial number, nickname, how the aircraft received its nickname, number of missions, original aircraft for the groups, and the ultimate fate of the aircraft.
The volume will be of interest to historians, veterans and those who are interested in the B-24s that flew in the flak filled skies of the Third Reich.

The B-24 was heavily utilised in the North African and Mediterranean theatres by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force, with operations over the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania being some of the most famous missions undertaken by the big American 'heavy' in World War 2.

The stirling work of the Fifteenth Air Force is often overshadowed by the glamorous 'Mighty Eighth', yet the men flying the B-24 fought ceaselessly right through to VE Day. This is the third of five titles planned to chart the operational history of the Consolidated heavy bomber, and is the first single volume to exclusively cover the Fifteenth Air Force's B-24 units.

An informative and personal account of a young man's flying experiences during WW2. Growing up in York, shaped by the threat of war-Jack Colman achieves his long held desire to become a pilot, joining the RAF in October 1940 just after his 21st birthday.
He is sent to Canada to learn to fly and becomes intrigued by the technical and practical aspects of flying and navigation. Becoming a Pilot/Navigator, he joins Costal Command on Liberators based in Iceland.

The practical difficulties of flying over the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans protecting the convoys and hunting U-boats are relived as he battles with atrocious weather and navigational uncertainties.
His brushes with death whether due to mechanical failure, hitting the sea, U-boat gun fire or running out of fuel, in an ever changing hostile environment are described realistically and calmly (often with humour), situations helped by a confidence in the good advice given by others, his knowledge, skills and a trust in his crew.
When training he hears about the death of his father, on leave he finds time to fall in love and marry.

This book on USN and USMC bomber units of the Second World War, is the story of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7) and the men who flew the Navy version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber out of Dunkeswell and Upottery, England during World War II.

Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator squadrons were unlike their counterparts in the U.S. Army's 8th Air Force, who battled their way through thick flak and swarms of German fighters while flying to and from targets in continental Europe. The job of U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator aircrews was to keep German U-boats from successfully operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel by going out day after day, often in miserable weather conditions, on unrelenting search and destroy missions.

During the war, FAW-7 Liberators were responsible for the sinking of five U-boats and damaging many more.

The B-24 Liberator remains to this day the world's most-produced heavy bomber and multi-engine aircraft, and the most produced military aircraft in US history, with almost 19,000 examples leaving the assembly lines of five plants.
Through a broad range of photos gathered from around the world, this book chronicles the design, development, and wartime use of the iconic early models of the B-24-those featuring the so-called "glass nose"-from the assembly line to their use in the famous raid on the refineries at Ploesti, Romania, in 1943.

The story of these iconic early WWII aircraft is told through carefully researched photos, many of which have never before been published, which are reproduced in remarkable clarity.
Large clear photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, unlock the secrets of this aircraft. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

Provides a gripping and detailed account of RAF Liberator missions against the Japanese in Asia. British and Commonwealth aircrews displayed great gallantry in many instances on low-level precise bombing sorties destroying specific targets, including a great number of bridges constructed by the Japanese in their conquest to reach India.

A number of detailed accounts are based upon personal flying logbooks and other unique material originating from the pilots and aircrews. 159 Squadron was the first four-engine heavy bomber squadron that flew from India and operated over Burma. They instigated greater accuracy in destroying a multitude of vital targets.

The legendary film The Bridge over the River Kwai (1957) evokes images that are historically set in celluloid; however, that blockbusting film had separated fact from fiction and this book examines the true events that took place through 'Bridge Busting', including techniques developed and deployed by the RAF against the Japanese.

Features:
- Referenced from operational flying log books written by aircrews during the Second World War
- Provides a detailed examination of the Japanese military administration and occupation of Burma
- Provides the true account of the destruction of the infamous bridge over the River Kwai
- Profusely illustrated with rare and unpublished photographs.

The work of the RAF's 100 Group remains one of the least known aspects of the 1939-45 war. Even less has been written about the specifics of day-to-day electronic warface operations and the countermeasures employed.
This book, the result of many years meticulous research by Squadron Leader Richard Forder RAF (Ret'd) redresses the balance by focussing on one the heavy units, 223, and its sister units at RAF Oulton, Norfolk.

Equipped with former USAAF Liberators, they operated from August 1944 to the end of the European war, with a primary role of protecting Bomber Command Main Force ops by radio and radar countermeasures against German defences.
By analysing original documents and recording first hand accounts from both sides of the conflict, including those of Main Force personnel, Forder and Bond present a complete, detailed and valuable picture of the secret and vital activities of the special operatives, and their effect on German defences.

This volume is organized two ways: by the name given to the Consolidated B-24 aircraft in all their variations from World War II era and also by the unit with which the aircraft served. Over 7,800 entries, includes group, squadron, serial number, and vintage photos. The photos in this book are black and white.

Over the years the B-32 has been described only in a small number of magazine articles and in a booklet that have generally given a superficial and incomplete account, maligning the bomber, fairly or not, as a mediocre design besieged with developmental problems and a lackluster combat record.

"Consolidated B-32 Dominator - The Ultimate Look: from Drawing Board to Scrapyard" is the definitive description and appraisal of this neglected bomber's development, testing, manufacture, and combat experience.
The author used company design and production information, flight and test evaluations, along with previously unexplored Flight Manuals and Consolidated-Vultee Erection and Maintenance Manuals.
From rare microfilm of original material and insights and personal narratives of the personnel involved, Wolf has gathered information on the pre-combat testing and all the combat missions of the bomber in the Pacific.