Mikro-Mir MM350-40

Messerschmitt Me-210/Messerschmitt Me-410B-2/U4 colours and markings. Designed in accordance with the 'Zerstorer' (heavy fighter-bomber) concept just prior WWII, the Me 210 was, however, a failure in terms of flying characteristics. Following extensive modifications, its successor, the Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet), was produced in substantial numbers and many variants and saw operational service in Italy and North Africa, and over Germany and Central Europe. The improved Me 210 was also licence-built in Hungary. The publication has 28 pages, including a total of 49 overall and detailed photographs, 12 pages with colour camouflage schemes and their description. Text in English. A comprehensive decal sheet is added for modellers' convenience. Following aircraft are depicted on each decal sheet: Luftwaffe (7x), Royal Hungarian Air Force (1x), Royal Air Force (2x), Soviet Air Force (1x) and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (1x).

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CONSOLIDATED PB4Y-1/1P LIBERATOR by Steve Ginter 241-pages, 4-color cover images, 72 drawings, and 511 b&w photos. The Navy's acquisition of the B-24D as a long range patrol bomber/sub hunter (PB4Y-1) and as a long range photo recon platform (PB4Y-1P) marked a major shift in patrol doctrine and the eventual end to the flying boat patrol plane. The Navy Liberators became a one ship strike forces as they roamed thousands of miles on sector searches and destroyed over a 1,000 ships and hundreds of aircraft. The original under-gunned early B-24Ds were up-gunned with bow turrets from Consolidated, ERCO, MPC, and Emerson and with Sperry ball turrets in their bellys when search radar was not fitted. The B-24Ds were replaced with B-24Js, B-24Ls, and B-24Ms all designated PB4Y-1/1Ps. The PB4Y-1P photo planes were used to map and surveil Japanese strongholds before invasions and discover new airfields and fleet movements. No mission was too far or too dangerous. It was in a remote control PB4Y-1 flying bomb that Joe Kennedy was killed over England. After the war, photo squadrons continued to operate the photo version into the early 1050s. The book covers all engineering details and structures and covers all the PB4Y-1 squadron's historys and most combat operations. 13-pages of modeling options are also provided.

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Douglas C-74 Globemaster By Nicholas M. Williams, 104 pages (88 in b&w, 16 in color), 141 b&w photos, 35 color photos, 22 illustrations. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought U.S. Army Air Corps strategists to the realization that a new global transport was needed to carry large loads over great distances. The Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California, also quickly saw this need and design studies were begun immediately on an expanded version of the company's DC-4. The "C-74 Project Group" adopted a design philosophy to produce a "no frills" transport able to accommodate at least two of the Army's T-9 tanks, two 105mm Howitzers, or two angle dozers. Douglas contacted the Air Corps early in 1942 to determine their interest and a letter of intent was issued in March 1942 for procurement of the Model 415A, now designated the C-74. A contract of over $50 million was signed in June 1942 for fifty airplanes. To speed its delivery to operational units, the C-74 was designed to be released without the benefits of an experimental or prototype model, all aircraft being designated as C-74s with design features following conventional "state-of-the-art" practice. Originally, powered by Wright R-3350 engines, a decision was made in March 1943 to switch to the new, mammoth Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major. The first C-74 was rolled out in July 1945 from the Douglas Long Beach factory. At rollout, the C-74 was the largest land-based transport in the world with a wingspan of 173 feet, length of 124 feet, and gross weight of 145,000 pounds. Able to carry 125 passengers, the C-74 was called the Globemaster as its 11,100-gallons of internal fuel gave it a maximum range of over 7,000 miles, enabling it to circumnavigate the world with only two refueling stops. In its final form, the C-74 was a remarkably efficient airplane, using a semi-laminar flow airfoil for its wings with a full-span flap arrangement. The pilots were enclosed by two teardrop-shaped, double-bubble canopies that provided them with a 360-degree view. Douglas had every intention of adapting the C-74 into a civil airliner once hostilities had ended. In 1944 Pan American World Airways ordered 26 examples of the civil version, the DC-7, for a route expansion program into Latin America. However, further development of this DC-7 design increased its gross weight to 162,000 pounds and the unit cost to $1.4 million and Pan American cancelled its order in October 1945, opting for smaller transports. The first C-74, 42-65402, made its maiden flight from Long Beach in September 1945, but with the end of World War II, most of the C-74 production order was cancelled and only 14 Globemasters were built. Unfortunately, during contractor demonstration flights the second Globemaster crashed. The fourth C-74 was subsequently diverted for static tests and its components tested to destruction at Wright Field, Ohio. Beginning in September 1946, the remaining twelve C-74s were flown for the next nine years by the Army Air Forces' Air Transport Command and the U.S. Air Force's Military Air Transport Service. Once in service, the C-74 Globemaster, based first in Memphis, Tennessee, then Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida, finally at Brookley AFB, Mobile, Alabama, set many records for tonnage carried. In November 1949, a C-74 flew the Atlantic to England with a record 103 passengers aboard. One Globemaster set several records during the Berlin Airlift, averaging over 38,000 pounds of cargo and setting a new Airlift Task Force utilization record by flying 20 hours in a 24-hour period. Until one C-74 was converted to the prototype C-124A and the Globemaster II became available, the C-74 was the only Air Force transport capable of carrying outsized cargo. After the C-74's retirement from service in 1955, several were purchased surplus and began flying for a contract air carrier, Aeronaves de Panama, hauling prize cattle from Denmark to the Middle East, horses to Singapore, and ships' parts and vegetables throughout Europe. Unfortunately, after the tragic crash in 1963 of one C-74 in Marseilles, France, the airline suspended operations and its C-74s eventually were scrapped. Today, no examples of this record-setting transport exist. This monograph of the C-74 Globemaster is written by Nick Williams, an award-winning author of over two dozen articles published in the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society and publications in the U.K. Nick has written two previous books in Steve Ginter's Naval Fighters series as well as his 1999 book published in the U.K., "Aircraft of The Military Air Transport Service 1948-1966". His new book on the C-74 is the result of nearly fifty years of research, containing comments from several of the C-74's engineers as well as former Douglas and Air Force pilots.

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Curtiss P-40. Derived from the earlier Curtiss 75 Hawk the P-40 Warhawk was an attempt to update the original design for more modern warfare. Unfortunately the aircraft that first emerged was seriously underpowered, undergunned and suffering from stability problems. Although not an auspicious start for a fighter design the Curtiss engineers and those of Allison, the engine builders, finally resulted in an aircraft that was worthy of the appellation fighter. While the P-40 would never really gain the fame of other aircraft destined to play their roles in the forthcoming global conflict it would carve out a niches for itself in the deserts of Arabia, the icy Arctic and across the Pacific. Thus in the hands of experienced pilots determined to wring the best out of tools to hand the P-40 was more than able to match the best that the enemy could throw at it. The first claim to fame for the P-40 was with the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers created to support the Chinese Government in repulsing the Japanese invaders. Sporting shark mouths on the nose panels these early aircraft, sometimes working in desperate conditions, repulsed the invaders with great skill and held them at bay until America joined the war. With the air forces of other countries the P-40 made its mark. In the desert with the RAF and RAAF, across the Pacific with the RAAF and the RNZAF and in the frozen north with the RCAF the Curtiss roamed the skies. The P-40 saw service in other air forces with Brazil, Turkey and Russia operating the type with some success. . Written by Kev Darling this latest Warpaint covers all versions of this unique naval aircraft and is illustrated in colour by Richard J.Caruana. Unique 1:72nd scale plans are also included as well as a list of operators plus production details.

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