Armée de l'Air: książki - historia i samoloty (1914-1918)

L'aviation Française 1914-1918

Berceau de l'Aviation, la France ne disposait, au début de la Grande Guerre, que de quelques dizaines d'aéronefs militaires dont l'état-major ne savait d'ailleurs trop quoi faire. Au moment de l'armistice du 11 novembre 1918, l'Aéronautique militaire française était devenue l'une des plus puissantes du monde, rassemblant 10 000 appareils répartis dans près de 300 escadrilles.
L'industrie aéronautique française avait été capable de produire en quatre ans 50 000 avions dont beaucoup équipèrent de nombreux pays alliés, dont la Grande Bretagne, la Russie et surtout les États Unis.

Cet ouvrage, le premier en son genre en langue française, dresse un panorama complet de l'évolution de l'aviation militaire française de 1914 à 1918 au travers d'un récit historique émaillé d'anecdotes et illustré de nombreuses photos d'époque inédites et de profils des appareils les plus emblématiques, complété par des fiches techniques complètes des avions construits et utilisés par la France pendant la Grande Guerre.

French aviation during the First World War

Despite being the cradle of aviation, at the beginning of the Great War, France had access to only a few dozen military aircraft, with a staff who didn't quite know what to do with them.
However, during the course of the conflict, the embryonic air force, dedicated to the creation of reconnaissance and bombing missions, evolved like wildfire to the point that by the Armistice of 11 November 1918, French military aviation had become one of the world's most powerful as a result of the construction of 10,000 aircraft spread throughout nearly 300 squadrons.

Having become the first nation equipped with an air force, the French aviation industry in its infancy before the war, had been able to produce in four years 50,000 aircraft, many of which would go on to support a number of her allies, including Britain, Russia and especially the United States.

In this richly illustrated book Vital Ferry describes the development of the French military aviation between 1914 and 1918. Complete with technical data and profile drawings of the aircraft made and used in France during the First World War.

The French Air Force in the First World War - Rare photographs from wartime archives (Images of War)

The French air force of the First World War developed as fast as the British and German air forces, yet its history, and the enormous contribution it made to the eventual French victory, is often forgotten.
So Ian Sumner's photographic history, which features almost 200 images, most of which have not been published before, is a fascinating and timely introduction to the subject.

The fighter pilots, who usually dominate perceptions of the war in the air, play a leading role in the story, in particular the French aces, the small group of outstanding airmen whose exploits captured the publics imagination.
Their fame, though, tends to distract attention from the ordinary unremembered airmen who formed the body of the air force throughout the war years.

Ian Sumner tells their story too, as well as describing in a sequence of memorable photographs the less well-known branches of the service the bomber and reconnaissance pilots and the variety of primitive warplanes they flew.

Kings of the Air : French Aces and Airmen of the Great War

In comparison to their British and German counterparts, the French airmen of the Great War are not well known. Yet their aerial exploits were just as remarkable, and their contribution to the war effort on the Western Front was equally important. That is why Ian Sumner's vivid history of the men of the French air force during the war is of such value.

He tells their story using the words of the pioneering pilots and observers themselves, drawn from memoirs, diaries, letters, and contemporary newspapers, magazines and official documents.
The recollections of the airmen give an authentic portrait of their role and their wartime careers. They cover recruitment and training, reconnaissance and artillery spotting, aerial combat, ground strafing and bombing, and squadron life.

They also highlight the technical and tactical innovations made during those hectic years, as well as revealing the airmen's attitude to the enemy - and their thoughts about the ever-present threat of injury and death.

Camouflages et marques de l'aviation française (1939-1945)

Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur les camouflages et marques français sans avoir osé le demander, le grand spécialiste de la question, Christian-Jacques Ehrengardt, vous le détaille en 216 pages.

Et puisque, comme aurait dit Napoléon, si Niepce était né un siècle plus tôt, une petite photo vaut mieux qu'un long discours, ce livre est bourré d'illustrations : près de 500 photos et 100 profils en couleur, avec de nombreux tableaux d'insignes.

L'auteur passe en revue les usages - et les nombreuses exceptions - de la période 1938-1940, puis étudie les spécificités des avions de l'Aéronautique navale, les marques particulières de l'aviation de Vichy et des FAFL (d'Afrique, de Grande-Bretagne et même de Russie), et enfin termine ce vaste tour d'horizon par la reprise de la lutte aux côtés des Alliés.

Si de l'uniformité naquit l'ennui, une chose est sûre : on ne risque pas de s'ennuyer avec les camouflages et marques des avions français de la Seconde Guerre mondiale !

Encyclopédie des avions de chasse français 1939-1942

Cette encyclopédie consacrée aux avions de chasse français de la période 1939-42 brosse un vaste panorama de l'état de santé de notre industrie aéronautique à la veille d'un cataclysme sans précédent dans l'histoire de notre pays.
À l'exception des avions relégués aux tâches subalternes avant septembre 1939 et des chasseurs livrés par les Alliés après novembre 1942, Christian-Jacques Ehrengardt s'est livré à une étude référence abordant tous les appareils utilisés par les unités de première ligne de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Aéronautique navale pendant la période considérée. Même les prototypes ayant effectué leur premier vol avant le 25 juin 1940, et qui auraient ainsi pu entrer en service si les événements n'en avaient pas décidé autrement sont traités.

Chacun de ces 22 chasseurs français fait l'objet d'un historique détaillé couvrant la totalité de sa carrière depuis sa conception jusqu'au retrait du dernier exemplaire existant, y compris dans les forces aériennes étrangères.
Ce travail minutieux écrit par le créateur d'Aérojournal réunit environ 180 photos, une douzaine de plans cinq vues et une cinquantaine de profils en couleur signés Jean-Marie Guillou. Un ouvrage qui fera date, et se révélera indispensable à tout passionné d'aviation, ou plus largement, de la Seconde Guerre mondiale !

The Rise and Fall of the French Air Force : French Air Operations and Strategy 1900-1940

On 10 May 1940, the French possessed one of the largest air forces in the world. On paper, it was nearly as strong as the RAF. Six weeks later, France had been defeated.
For a struggling French Army desperately looking for air support, the skies seemed empty of friendly planes. In the decades that followed, the debate raged. Were there unused stockpiles of planes? Were French aircraft really so inferior?

Baughen examines the myths that surround the French defeat. He explains how at the end of the First World War, the French had possessed the most effective air force in the world, only for the lessons learned to be forgotten. Instead, air policy was guided by radical theories that predicted air power alone would decide future wars.

Baughen traces some of the problems back to the very earliest days of French aviation. He describes the mistakes and bad luck that dogged the French efforts to modernise their air force in the twenties and thirties. He examines how decisions made just months before the German attack further weakened the air force. Yet defeat was not inevitable.

If better use had been made of the planes that were available, the result might have been different.

From the Voisin to the Mirage : 100 Years of French Aeronautic Presence in Peru

From the very beginning of aviation in South America, French aircraft and aviators played a major part in the development of military flying in Peru.

This book covers the use of French aircraft and the involvement of French designers, instructors and military thinking in the development of the Peruvian air force. From 'stick and string' biplanes through to supersonic jets, many of the most significant French types saw service in Peru and were involved in local conflicts, as detailed in this book.

Profusely illustrated with many rare photographs and colour profiles of selected aircraft in Peruvian markings.