American Air Navigator

Fisher, Bernard And Borrowman, Jerry. BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY - The Story of an American Hero. Shadow Mountain, 2004.
Brand New!; Providing close air support to ground troops in Vietnam was hazardous anytime, but on March 10, 1966, the Special Forces in the old French Fortress of Ashau were in particular trouble as the Viet Cong closed in. When an American airman went down, his death was a near certainty. That's when Major Bernie Fisher had a decision to make: leave the pilot to his fate or undertake a near-suicidal landing to help him out. Bernie's decision made him just one of sixteen members in the history of the Air Force to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor. "As a former pilot and navigator with 195 combat missions over Vietnam I found Beyond the Call of Duty to be not only fascinating but extremely accurate. This is the kind of book you don't put down, as it so vividly describes the life, the joys, and the heartaches of an Air Force aviator. "--Ted M. Demars, Lt. Col. USAF Retired, Spokane, Washington ; 0.77 x 9.36 x 6.12 Inches; 240 pages.

Hardcover, New in New dust jacket.

[SW: Biographies & Memoirs Books Military & Spies Professionals & Academics Vietnam War Military History Inspirational Spirituality,]

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David R. Mets: Airpower & Technology, Pentagon Press

New Through this thorough consideration of the evolution of American airpower and technology, Mets provides, not only a map of the past, but a guide to future generations of airpower and its potential for keeping the United States strong and safe. Is there a reason for the busy citizen-leader to read about air and space history, theory, and doctrine? Yes, asserts David Mets, because without some vision of what the future is likely to bring, we enter new conflicts unarmed with any ideas and highly vulnerable to confusion and paralysis. He wrote this book to help the aspirant American leader build a theory of war and air and space power, including an understanding of what doctrine is, and what its utility and limitations are. Since its earliest days, airpower has been one of the dominant forces used by the American military. American airmen, both Navy and Air Force, have been continually striving to achieve precision strikes in high altitude, at long range, or in darkness. The search for precision attack from standoff distances or altitudes has been imperative to national objectives with expenditure of American lives, treasure, and time. This work covers the whole history of American aviation with special attention to the development of smart weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles and the influence they have had on the effectiveness of airpower. In a chronological treatment, emphasizing theory and doctrine, technology, tactics, and strategy. Mets also details both combat experience and intellectual processes, lethal and non-lethal, involved in the preparation of airpower. In addition to the narrative discussion, the work offers sidebars and feature sections that facilitate the understanding of key weapons systems and operational challenges. It also offers A Dozen-Book Sampler for Your Reading on Air and Space Theory and Doctrine. The work concludes with a brief look at information warfare and with some speculations about the future.DAVID R. METS is Professor Emeritus, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at the USAF Air University. He is a retired air force navigator, pilot, commander, and academy professor. He has authored four books and previously served as editor of The Air University Review.Preface 1. Introduction 2. Airpower Thinking and Technology Before Hiroshima 3. The Foundations Of American Airpower 4. The Battle Of Britain/ America Prepares 5. American Airpower In World war II: Genesis Of Precision Weapons 6. The Coming Of The Balance Of Terror 7. Vietnam And The Coming Of The Smart Weapon Age 8. Reaction to Vaietnam 9. Reorganization for the Era of Smart Weapons and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 10. Intelligence, Technology, and Information Warfare 11. The Second Gulf War 12. The Future of Air and Space War Notes Index ISBN 9780275993146

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BENNETT, D. C. T. Portrait of Captain Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett.

ca.1945. Original photograph, silver print, 21 x 16 cm, mounted letterpress ticket on verso. Captain Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett 14 Sep 1910 - 15 Sep 1986. aised on a cattle farm in Queensland his family hoped would follow a career in medicine but he had different ideas. As a result, he enlisted in the RAAF, undergoing pilot training at Point Cook and like most of his compatriots of the time, found himself attached to the RAF in Britain. After a year flying fighters he applied to undergo training as a flying boat pilot. - Initially he was disappointed with his next appointment which was as an instructor at Calshot where he remained until his service with RAF came to an end. However, during this time he not only managed to pass on his skills and knowledge to others but was able extend his own experience and qualifications. These included the gaining of his 'B' Pilot's Licence, First Class Navigator's Licence, Ground Engineer's A, C and X Licences, Wireless Operator's Licence as well as an Instructor's Licence. It was at this point that he decided his future lay in civilian flying and so armed with his vast array of qualifications he resigned his commission in the RAF. However, instead of immediately looking for a job he married Elsa, daughter of a Zurich jeweler, and they spent the next year traveling around Switzerland and Australia, returning to Britain in January 1936 where he joined Imperial Airways as a First Officer. - From then until mid 1940 he flew landplanes and seaplanes around the world on Imperial's various routes. These included flying the top half of the Mercury-Maia trans-Atlantic mail plane combination as well as taking part in air-to-air refueling experiments in 1939. The early months of WW2 found him undertaking VIP flights around Europe including a clandestine flight into occupied France to collect Polish military and government officials. Finishing his BOAC (Imperial Airways renamed in 1939) service in July 1940, he was asked by the Ministry of Aircraft Production to join the team being set up to ferry aircraft for Britain across the Atlantic from the United States. Appointed it's Flying Superintendent, he led the first flight of seven Hudsons across the Atlantic in November 1940. With the increase in supplies from America, it was eventually decided to replace the 'civilian' ferry organization with and RAF unit and so with the appointment of ACM Sir Frederick Bowhill in August 1941, Bennett returned to London. - He was initially told that he would be appointed a Group Capt in Training Command, but when this was downgraded to Squadron Leader, he declined the offer, He was eventually granted the rank of Wing Commander and sent to assist in the establish a Navigation School at Eastbourne. Once the school was set up he requested an active assignment and was appointed CO of No 77 Squadron. He flew on operations as often as possible but always with a different crew by replacing that crew's pilot, that way he was able to assess the efficiency of all his crews. April 1942 brought a move to the command of No 10, newly equipped with the four-engined Halifax. Later the same month (27th), he took part in a combined raid by No's 10, 35 and 76 squadron against the Tirpitz. Hit by flak his aircraft caught fire and he set course for Sweden. Unable to make Sweden he ordered his crew to bale out whilst he remained at the controls before making his own escape. Landing in deep snow he located his wireless operator and with the help of friendly Norwegians he managed to cross the border into Sweden and eventually return to Britain resuming command of his squadron one month after baling out and to receive an immediate DSO. However, when No 10 Sqn was posted to the Middle East, he did not accompany them as he was summoned to HQ Bomber Command to see the AOC in C, Arthur Harris, his old CO from the flying boat days. - Harris advised him that he had been instructed to form a special marking force in an attempt to improve the accuracy of his heavy bombs, something Bennett himself had suggested to the Director of Bomber Operations about a year before. Harris also informed Bennett that he was to be promoted to Group Captain to command this unit, which would be known as the Pathfinder Force. Setting up his HQ at RAF Wyton, Bennett was allocated one squadron from each group as his initial establishment, resulting in his unit being equipped with four different types - Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters. With the success of the new unit, following some early teething problems, Bennett's command was upgraded to Group status on 8 January 1943 and given the title - No 8 (PFF) Group with Bennett promoted to Air Commodore as it's AOC. During the remainder of the war No 8 Group continued to lead and mark targets for the Main Force, although he often found himself at odds with his fellow group commander at No 5 Group, AVM Ralph Cochrane, over marking techniques and the need to concentrate marking squadrons in a single specialist group. - At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest Air Vice Marshal in the RAF but on leaving the RAF at the end of WW2, he was the only Group Commander, who having served a full term in the post was not knighted. He resigned his commission in 1945 in order to stand for Parliament, being elected Liberal MP for Middlesbrough West. However, his political career was short lived, losing his seat at the General Election shortly afterwards. He made further attempts to enter Parliament, unsuccessfully, eventually leaving the Liberal Party in 1962 owing to their support of the EEC, which he was against. After the war he also returned to the world of civilian aviation forming British Latin American Airways, later becoming British South American Airways Corporation as their Chief Executive from 1 August 1946 to 31 March 1948. However, he lost his job when he denounced the Minister for Civil Aviation, following the ministry's grounding of his Avro Tudor fleet in 1948. He then went on to form Airflight using Tudors to fly oil into Berlin during Operation 'Plainfare' and in May 1949, Fairflight, which he sold in 1951. He continued to champion the cause of flying boats long after they fell out of favour generally and was a leading advocate in the development of the Saunders-Roe Princess boats, only three of which were built but never entered service. KEYWORDS:Imperial Airways

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Bendiner, Elmer.. THE FALL OF FORTRESSES: A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF THE MOST DARING - AND DEADLY - AMERICAN AIR BATTLES OF WORLD WAR II.. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1980, book club edition.,
258 pp, 8vo (8 7/16" H), hard cover in dust jacket. ISBN 0399123725 B&w photographs. "A vivid, poignant recreation of the European air war, as seen by one who flew in it and felt its terrifying seductive power, (this book) is a major new contribution to the literature of the World War II experience. On an August morning in 1943, a group of American airmen were told that before the day was out they would deliver the blow that would win the war. They, and the B-17 Flying Fortresses they flew, were ordered to obliterate the installations on which all of German industry depended. The survivors would see the vindication of the prophets of air power. The target: the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt. So began the first of two amazing missions. Drawing on his experiences, author-navigator Elmer Bendiner describes the hell of the bombing runs and the terrible trail of Flying Fortresses burning across the face of Europe. Who really won? Who lost? For answers to these questions, the author has turned to German as well as U.S. Air Force archives and to interviews with surviving strategists....Were it nothing but a personal account of what the war was like, (this book) would be well worth reading. But it is more: a highly original and deeply felt meditation on men at war and the myths and realities of air power, as relevant to readers in 1980 as it was to those who met the dawn skies of Europe over thirty years ago." Light edge wear, book slightly cocked, some small areas of dis-coloration and soiling on boards, light wearand wrinkling at top/bottom of spine. Dust jacket has light rubbing, small scuff on front panel, light fading to spine color, light wear with a few tiny chips and/or tears at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, light browning on inside of spine. Good/Good+.

[SW: WORLD WAR II SECOND SCHWEINFURT GERMANY BOMBARDMENT PERSONAL NARRATIVES,]

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