Avions Northrop : livres - histoire, modèles et technique

From flying wings to polar explorers, from air racers to air liners, here is the full story of the single-engine airplanes designed and constructed by Jack Northrop during aviations golden age.

The striking P-61 Black Widow was the first purpose-built American night fighter. Designed by Jack Northrop and Vladimir Pavlecka, the P-61's menacing appearance was matched by the plane's advanced technology and fearsome weaponry.
Interestingly, the Widow is credited with the final aerial kill of the war.

This book tells the story of the Black Widow from the experimental XP-61 on through the final production variant, the F-15A, through black-and-white photos and vintage color photos, augmented by four color profiles and detailed line drawings.

The heavily armed P-61 Black Widow was the U.S. Army Air Force's first dedicated night fighter. Equipped with radar, four .50 caliber machine guns and four 20mm. cannons, the Widow was a fearsome adversary. It flew as both an intruder and interceptor in Europe and the Pacific.

Originally printed by Northrop in 1945, the P-61 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. This affordable facsimile has been reformatted, and color images appear as black and white. Care has been taken however to preserve the integrity of the text.

The first aircraft to be purposely designed as a radar-equipped nightfigher, Northrop's P-61 Black Widow was heavily influenced by early RAF combat experience with radar-equipped aircraft in 1940/41. Built essentially around the bulky Radiation Laboratory SCR-720 radar, which was mounted in the aircraft's nose, the P-61 proved to be the largest fighter ever produced for frontline service by the USAAF.

Twin-engined and twin-boomed, the Black Widow was armed with a dorsal barbette of four 0.50-in Browning machine guns and two ventrally-mounted 20 mm cannon.
This volume features all the frontline users of the mighty P-61, and includes many first-hand accounts from pilots and gunners who saw action in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Western Europe.

Contents: Prelude to Combat - European Theatre - Mediterranean Theatre - Pacific Theatre - China - Burma - India Theatre - Appendices.

Detailed developmental and operational history of the first USAF dedicated all-weather, jet-powered interceptor. It also features the colorful paint schemes applied to F-89s, which should appeal to both modelers and historians.

In the late 1950s, an era when some Cold War allies still flew cast-off World War II propeller-driven bombers and fighters, Northrop seized on the need to deliver modern warplanes with modest maintenance requirements. The shapers of American foreign policy needed an economical way to give allies supersonic performance.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy only tangentially used the F-5, but decades of new American fliers honed their skills on the similar T-38 variant, a high-performance training aircraft. The F-5, an all-out air superiority fighter, possesses remarkable performance to match its classy good looks. It has served U.S. allies (and a few former allies like Iran) for decades. Many still fly, including F-5Es, F-5Fs, and modified F-5Ns used by the U.S. Navy as aggressor training aircraft at its famous Top Gun school. The T-38 carries the sleek lines into the training world. And the powerful single-engine F-20, the ultimate iteration of this Northrop line, brought the basic F-5 premise forward into a new era.

Vintage and modern photos in this WarbirdTech volume depict F-5s, T-38s, and the few F-20s in many guises; technical drawings and detail photos show the inner workings. Declassified documents illuminate the story of USAF F-5s combat-tested in Vietnam. Other photos capture variations in camouflage and markings since 1959. The enduring story of the Northrop F-5 series and the aircraft it spawned is overdue and timely for an audience that increasingly seeks reliable information and photos about Cold War aircraft.

This book is part of a reference series for aircraft modellers called 'Spotlight On' and presents detailed illustrations of the Northrop F-5E and F-5F Tiger II supersonic jet fighter of the Cold War era, showing the aircraft deployed by many different countries, around the world including the USA, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

The book contains 40 specially commissioned colour plan and profile views of the aircraft illustrating the striking camouflage, colours and markings of the different air forces. This is a rarely documented aspect of post-War and Cold War aviation history, providing brand new reference material for aviation modellers and collectors.

Mushroom Model Publications' Spotlight On books feature superb colour illustrations of camouflage and markings, specially commissioned for the series, never seen before.

The Northrop YF-17 holds a special place in aircraft history. The YF-17 was one of the two prototypes tested in the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Fighter competition, a program which attempted to reverse the trend of increasing cost and complexity of new fighter aircraft, and which resulted in the selection and manufacture of the F-16 as the next generation free world fighter.

Even though the YF-17 lost the USAF competition, it was the prototype for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 aircraft. This work tells the story.

This manual (reprint) contains the necessary information for safe and efficent operation of the YF-23A flight test prototype aircraft. These instructions provide a general knowledge of the aircraft and specific normal and emergency operating procedures.
Your experience is recognized; therefore, basic flight principles and detailed description and operation of systems common to all other aircraft are avoided. This manual provides the best possible operating instructions under most circumstances but is not a substitute for sound judgement. Multiple emergencies, adverse weather, terrain, etc., may require modification of the procedures.

This publication is intended for use by an experienced and qualified pilot assigned to the YF-23A Flight Test Program. Flight and operating limitations included herein can be supplemented and/or superseded by Supplemental Flight and Operating Limitations, published under separate cover by Northrop System Safety (Orgn. 3891/89.) The Manual is divide into seven fairly independent sections to simplify reading straight through or using as a reference manual.

This is the story of the most successful pilot training jets ever produced: Northrop T-38 Talon. The history of the aircraft is broken down by the roles it has played in over 30 years of service including development and testing, pilot training, flight test support, NASA program support, air combat aggressor, aerial target, Thunderbird-USAF air demonstration team aircraft, companion trainer, and civilian test support.
All units flying the T-38, their markings, and paint schemes are covered in over 300 color photographs-including a chart of colors used listing Federal Standard (FS) color numbers.