Avions Convair : livres - histoire, modèles et technique

Becoming the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States when Consolidated merged with Vultee in 1943, Convair quickly built a reputation for designing and building some of the largest and most powerful aircraft in the world.
From the XA-41 ground-attack aircraft in 1944 through to the CV-880 and CV-990 airliners of the early 1960s, Convair pushed the boundaries with every project they undertook. Some were inevitably more successful than others but all would make their mark in aviation history.

The novelty of the turboprop-powered Tradewind flying-boat, the glamour of the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart and the brutish power and futuristic appearance of the B-58 Hustler are all trademark Convair machines.

Discover the history behind these incredible machines, and many others as well, in this profusely illustrated book by aviation writer Martyn Chorlton.

Consolidated Vultee, which later became Convair, built some of the world's best flying boats in the 1930s, and the world's best bombers during World War II. Convair's six-engine B-36 strategic bomber was credited with keeping the world safe during the early throes of the Cold War. But before all these great aircraft took to the skies, scores of ideas and concepts were proposed and analyzed by company management to determine if production would even be feasible.

"Convair Advanced Designs" is a book that brings these futuristic, but stillborn, concepts to life for the very first time. It features many never-before-seen company photographs, models, and drawings of such futuristic concepts as a folding-rotor anti-submarine patrol bomber and a giant seaplane passenger transport launched from a high-speed rail car!
Readers will also be fascinated to see how certain seemingly unbelievable designs evolved into actual production airplanes years later, such as the giant Convair Tradewind turboprop seaplane transport.

Tells the compelling story of America's aerospace industry in its heyday, when manufacturers boldly took the initiative to explore futuristic new designs by actually building and test flying airplanes to determine how well they would work, if at all.

Convair led the way in this area with America's only complete family of delta-wing aircraft that included America's first delta-wing jet, the one-of-a-kind XF-92 experimental prototype, the XF2Y-1 jet-powered seaplane, the XFY-1 Pogo turboprop vertical takeoff and landing fighter, the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart supersonic missile-firing interceptors, and the revolutionary record-breaking four-engine B-58 Hustler - the world's first Mach 2 strategic bomber.

Noted aviation author Bill Yenne thoroughly documents Convair's quest to conquer the aerodynamic mysteries of the delta wing with stories of the dramatic struggles and technological breakthroughs that gave the world some of its greatest fighter and bomber aircraft.

First published in 1992, the Sea Dart book covers the engineering, development and testing of the Navy's only supersonic seaplane fighter ever built.

The XF2Y-1 was the seaborne fighter component of the Navy's late 1940 "mobile Base" concept along with Convair's R3Y Tradewind seaborne heavy transport and Martin's P6M SeaMaster seabourne supersonic bomber.

The concept was eventually abandoned with the twin Jet Sea Dart fighter and the P6M SeaMaster jet bomber being cancelled. The Sea Dart design was unique, as it used either one or two extendable skiis for its take offs and landings. 4 of the 5 Sea Darts are still on display or in storage today.

Author David Baker offers an unrivalled insight into Convair B-36, America's 'Big Stick' nuclear-capable intercontinental bomber that held the line against the growing Soviet threat during the opening decade of the Cold War. He lifts the lid on the 'Peacemaker', bringing together several decades of research and investigation into an aircraft that bridges the piston-engine era and the age of the all-jet bomber.

With the aid of more than 300 photographs and detailed performance charts, he describes the design, development, structure and systems of the B-36 and its service with the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command at a crucial point in post-war history.

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The largest piston-powered airplane ever mass-produced, the Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was also the world's first thermonuclear bomber. The prototype B-36 flew in 1946, and was quickly upgraded as the need for a bomber with a large lifting capacity became paramount.

Yet, when it entered active service in 1949, the "aluminum overcast" was already considered obsolete. Nevertheless, nearly 400 B-36s were built and flew as strategic deterrents before the B-36 was retired in 1959.

Originally printed by the U.S. Air Force, this Flight Operating Handbook is an authentic reprint of an original. Classified "Restricted", the manual was declassified and is here reprinted in book form.

The Convair B-58 Hustler, with its distinctive delta wing shape, would become the world's first supersonic bomber, and the first aircraft to fly to Mach 2. With development beginning in 1949, the B-58, which could not carry conventional weapons, would become part of the US nuclear arsenal during the height of the Cold War.
Although these bombers were initially considered difficult to operate, in time the hand-chosen crews who flew them came to love and respect the aircraft. Throughout the 1960s, crews flying the B-58 set numerous speed and distance records. These planes were tremendously expensive to operate, and it was budget issues that forced the early retirement of the bomber.

The story of this historic aircraft is told through carefully researched photos, which are reproduced in remarkable clarity. Large, clear photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, unlock the secrets of this aircraft.

The USAF's first jet-powered bomber capable of reaching Mach 2.0, the Convair B-58 Hustler carried a crew of three and a nuclear payload.
A complex aircraft, the B-58 suffered teething problems during development and became infamous for its maintenance requirements. It also compiled a dubious safety record: out of 116 Hustlers, 26 were lost in accidents. Nevertheless, the B-58's career spanned nearly a decade between 1960-70.

Originally printed by the U.S. Air Force, this flight operating manual taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Classified "Restricted", the manual was recently declassified and is here reprinted in book form.

The history of the legendary Convair B-58 Hustler, one of the most interesting bombers to reach operational status, that had an appearance - even though designed in the 1940s - that would not look out of date in the 21st century.

The first USAF delta-wing bomber was the Mach 2 Hustler that had the performance of a fighter aircraft. However, its tenure was short due to technical problems and excessive costs. The majority of Hustlers met their demise in the late 1960s, but a few remain at museums across the country.

One of the most dramatic bombers of its day, the Convair B-58 came to epitomise the Cold War power of Strategic Air Command. Introduced only 12 years after the sound barrier was first broken, this iconic plane became the first large long-range supersonic bomber to take to the skies, a feat which had seemed far-fetched only a few years previously.
Outstripping its contemporaries in terms of speed, and agile enough to escape most interceptors, the B-58 was a remarkable feat of engineering, setting 19 world speed records and collecting a host of trophies. The first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 at 63,000 feet, it was able to evade hostile fighters and represented a serious threat to targets across the Soviet Bloc.

Supported by contemporary first-hand accounts, photography, and full-colour illustrations, this study explores the history of this ground-breaking aircraft from its conception to its little-known testing for use in the Vietnam War.

With vivid detail and many exclusive photographs, Wayne Mutza chronicles the Convair's F-102 Delta Dagger's unsteady course through history, from its inception to present-day survivors.
Presented for the first time are the fascinating details surrounding the F-102 in the air defense role, special projects, its unconventional use during the war in Southeast Asia, service with foreign air arms, the Air National Guard and its extensive involvement with the drone program.

Special features include a detailed listing of each aircraft's assignment history and many of the insignia associated with the F-102. Through in-depth research, the author has produced a most informative and interesting volume on a classic aircraft.

World War II saw the development of the heavy bomber as a decisive weapon which, in sufficient numbers, could overcome defensive fighters and guns and lay waste to strategic targets. The addition of nuclear weapons to the bomber's armament made it even more formidable, and by the late 1940s, US planners saw the growth of a Soviet nuclear-armed bomber fleet as a terrifying threat to North American security.
Conventional subsonic fighters with guns and free-flight air-to-air rockets would be incapable of reaching these incoming bombers in time to prevent even one from delivering a devastating nuclear attack.

As a result, supersonic speed, long-range guided missiles and precise radar-based control of an interception became prerequisites for a new breed of fighters, beginning with the F-102. A massive research and development effort produced the Convair F-102A '1954 Fighter', the J57 afterburning turbojet, its Hughes MX-1554 fire control system and, in due course, the Semi-Active Ground Environment (SAGE) radar and communications network that covered North America to guide its airborne defences.

In service, F-102As also provided air defence in Europe with USAFE, in the Far East and in Southeast Asia, where they protected US airbases in South Vietnam and Thailand from air attack by North Vietnamese fighters and bombers and escorted B-52s and fighter-bombers on their attack sorties.
This illustrated study from leading expert Peter E. Davis details the design, development, and deployment of the futuristic F-102, including its complex research program and role in Vietnam.