Mini Art MT38002

Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Few aircraft have the ability to radiate menace like the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Its angular canopy, sharp fuselage, bulging radial-engined nose and heavy weaponry all say "threat" and they do not say it very quietly. Issue 26 - Focke-Wulf Fw-190 It is difficult to avoid comparisons with its stablemate and rival the Messerschmitt Bf-109 " they were two very different aircraft designed and called upon to do the same job, but the Bf-109 came first. With its stubby wings, rectangular windows and, at least initially, tail support struts, the Bf-109 is plainly a fighter of the 1930s. While its lightweight design was revolutionary in its day, it still had that prewar propaganda tool look that associated it so closely with the rise of Hitler and his Nazis, and everything that they stood for. The Fw-190, designed after Focke-Wulf"s Kurt Tank had taken a good long look at the Bf-109 and spoken with its pilots, was a war machine for the 1940s: ruthlessly functional, overtly powerful, technologically advanced, rugged, heavy and armed to the teeth. Hitler, and the Nazis associated with the Fw-190 " and it is unshakably associated with them " were a different bunch. By the time it reached front line service in any numbers, the self-satisfied posturing and lazy confidence had evaporated. Tank had a fondness for naming his company"s aircraft after birds and he named the Fw-190 "W"rger", the German name for the shrike or "butcher bird", but no-one outside Focke-Wulf seems to have used this name at the time. It appeared on the front of company brochures of 1942 but the name only seems to have entered truly common usage after the war. The shrike is a Eurasian species that inhabits most of Europe and Asia " perhaps Tank was making a reference to the pan-Eurasian ambitions of the Third Reich when he picked the name. Whatever the case, the Fw-190 certainly succeeded in menacing the RAF when it first appeared in the skies over Europe. British intelligence had known its name and basic layout for some time but no-one expected the impact it would have. Even the most advanced Spitfire had met its match and one after another they fell before the Fw-190"s guns. A British intelligence report of 1942 reveals the confusion that reigned during those early encounters. Was this radial-engined fighter that kept appearing a captured French Curtiss Mohawk? Or perhaps a Bloch MB.152? How about a Koolhoven F.K.58? A clipping from a Swedish newspaper is appended to the report, describing the Focke-Wulf 190 as the "world"s fastest fighter". There"s also a grainy photo of the genuine article as seen while diving away from a British bomber. As the war dragged on and Germany began to suffer reversals and setbacks on every front, the Fw-190 was entering service with more and more Luftwaffe units until it was on a par with the Bf-109. When the war entered its final phase, Fw-190s formed the last desperate line of aerial defence for the Third Reich. The much-vaunted jets and rocketplanes came far too late and the Fw-190 bore the brunt of the Allies" final assault. RAF, USAAF and Soviet fighter unit logs are filled with details of encounters with Fw-190s during the last months of the war. It became a symbol of German defiance and ultimately of defeat. Today the Fw-190 still looks the part. Its stern features genuinely seem like they were designed to absorb punishment and dish it out in equal measure. And somewhere out of sight, but still not too far away, lies the wreckage of the Third Reich.

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Messerschmitt Bf-108B Taifun (Includes 1/48 & 1/72 Scale plans). The Messerschmitt Bf-108B Taifun (German for "typhoon") was a German single-engine sports, touring and communications aircraft developed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works). The experience gained by Messerschmitt in developing this aircraft led to the most important German fighter of World War II, the Messerschmitt Bf-109. By the outbreak of World War II, the BF-08 was in widespread service with the Luftwaffe as a communications and ferry aircraft. Both pre- and post-war, the BF-08 was a popular and widely-used civil light aircraft. Profusely illustrated with photos, including a comprehensive walk-around section showing all aspects of the airframe, and diagrams from official manuals. Includes 1/72nd and 1/48th scale plans of all variants, and colour profiles showing many of the colourful schemes applied to the BF-08 by its many users.

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Curtiss XP-55 Ascender By Gerry Balzer, 72-pages, 148-b&w photos, 4-color photos. The Curtiss XP-55 Ascender was a tailless swept-wing WWII pusher fighter design born out by the USAAC 1940 fighter competition. The USAAC was looking for a fighter to counter the threat of the German Bf-109 and the Japanese 'Zero' and replace the obsolete P-35s, P-36s and the front line P-40s just entering service. From this competition three unusual pusher prototypes were ordered, the Consolidated XP-54, Curtiss XP-55, and the Northrop XP-56. A low powered full scale flying model (model CW 24B)was built out of wood and cloth to substantiate the flying qualities, and was first flown on 2 December 1941. The XP-55 mock-up was completed in August 1942, and the first of three XP-55s was completed on 26 June 1943 with its first flight being conducted on 13 July 1943. The first aircraft was destroyed on 15 November 1943. Changes deemed necessary were incorporated in the second airframe in which performance testing began on 16 September 1944. Although the much more capable P-38, P-47, and P-51 had entered service, research into the XP-55s unusual design continued. The third XP-55 had entered flight testing in April 1944 and was used at Eglin Field for armament tests before being lost during a war bond rally display on 27 May 1945. By then the program had been terminated. Today, the second XP-55 presides in restored condition at the Kalamazoo Air Museum.

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German Light Field Artillery in WWII

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de Havilland DH.98 MOSQUITO IN ACTION (Softcover) Ron Mackay A World War II forerunner of the modern, multi-role combat aircraft, the de Havilland Mosquito was conceived as a fast, light warplane that could out run and out climb enemy aircraft, and therefore could dispense with heavy armament. Known as the “Wooden Wonder," the Mosquito was constructed almost entirely of wood and, when it entered production in 1941, was one of the fastest aircraft in the world. The Mosquito made its debut in its first widespread role as a fast, high-altitude photo reconnaissance (PR) aircraft, a job it continued to perform until the end of WWII. American General “Hap" Arnold requested and received a number of Mosquitos for use by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Meanwhile, the versatility of the Mosquito led the Light Night Strike Force (LNSF) to begin employing the wooden craft alongside heavy bombers for raids over the Reich. Mosquitos dropped 4,000-pound “Cookie" bombs in lightning raids inside the German homeland, in a de-facto pay back for the German Blitz, and Mosquito Fighter Bombers (FB) carried out strikes on German security points and U-Boats. In addition to operations over Nazi-occupied Europe. Meanwhile, British RAF and Australian RAAF crews took the multi-role Mosquito into combat against the Japanese in the South East Asian theatre. Get an up-close but comprehensive look at the de Havilland Mosquito with this new title, illustrated with more than 180 photographs, two dozen of them in colour, plus a table, colour profiles, and detailed line drawings. 80 pages. [Mk.IV Mk.VI]

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Messerschmitt Bf-109G (Walk Around Series) (Paperback) Commonly known as the "Gustav" because of the G suffix in its name, The Bf-109 G began rolling off assembly lines in February 1942 and remained in production until the end of World War II. The Bf-109 G was mainly distinguished from its predecessor by the fact that it incorporated the Daimler Benz DB 605 A engine, a powerplant with a takeoff rating of 1,475 h.p. - 125 h.p. more than the DB 601 E engine in the Bf-109 F-4. Production of the Bf-109 G was also undertaken by Germany's Allies, including Romania and Hungary. No reliable manufacturing statistics survive but it is estimated that a massive 23,000 Gustavs were built by the end of the war. Lavishly illustrated with wartime photos as well as modern museum shots, this volume recounts in detail the stories of the numerous versions of the versatile Gustav, including the G-1 and G-5 with their pressurized cabins; the prolific G-2 and G-4, which saw extensive service on the Eastern Front and in North Africa; the G-6, which was built in greater numbers than any other Gustav; the short-range reconnaissance G-8, and others. Particular attention is devoted to Gustav aircraft flown by Germany's allies during the war - wartime photos of Croatian, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Romanian, Slovak, and Slovenian pilots and their aircraft fill the book, highlighting a facet of the Axis war effort often overlooked by historians. Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, detailed colour profiles and line drawings; 80 pages.

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Douglas C-54/R5D Skymaster and DC-4 The Douglas C-54 Skymaster, a direct adaptation of the civilian DC-4 while still on the production line, became the outstanding long-range four-engined transport aircraft of the Second World War. With its origins as a civilian airliner, it served chiefly on the long-distance haul of Air Transport Command of the United States Army Air Forces on the Atlantic and Pacific routes, where it cut flight hours between the United States and the theatres of operation thousands of miles away. The reliability of its airframe and engines was put to good use also on the India-China 'Hump' route, which was described as the most arduous of all within the responsibility of Air Transport Command. Like its smaller Douglas stable mate the C-47, the C-54 boasted legendary reliability, and was the preferred long-range transport from among its contemporaries. A special VIP version was built for use by the President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt. The Royal Air Force also used it in small numbers during the Second World War, one of which was outfitted as a VIP aircraft for use by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The U.S. Navy acquired it under the designation R5D. All production having been commandeered by the USAAF on the outbreak of war, no civilian DC-4s flew during the war. After 1945, however, hundreds became available for use by civilian airlines, which converted them into airliners with passenger seating and comfort, or used them as freighters. Douglas re-opened its production line for new builds in 1946, but the cheap price of the second-hand market kept back this production to only 79 examples. Also in 1946 Canadair ventured to build a Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered version, which it named North Star, used by both military and commercial operators. The DC-4 was a common sight in the immediate post-war period up to the 1950s flown by leading European and United States airline liveries, until it started to be replaced by Douglas's own DC-6 and DC-7. The aircraft came in handy during the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift, during which it hauled food supplies and even coal to the beleaguered German city, and again during the Korean War, airlifting the wounded to Japan and the United States. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research and missile tracking and recovery. No fewer than 1,315 examples of Skymasters were built in the United States and Canada, flown by 35 air arms of other countries in a variety of versions and roles, and full information on serials, versions and other remarks are all included in very detailed tables in this book. The Aviation Traders Carvair cross-Channel car ferry is not forgotten in this account, and a chapter is dedicated to this unique aircraft converted in Britain from standard C-54s. This new 96 page Warpaint publication written by Charles Stafrace contains 200 colour and B&W photos plus eleven pages of colour artwork by Richard Caruana.

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The Last Flight Of the L31. The true story of the Potters Bar Zeppelin (Albatros specials) On October 1 1916, the inhabitants of Potters Bar, Middlesex were witness to the fiery destruction of a raiding German Zeppelin that came down on the Oakmere Estate.All 19 crewmembers perished,including the airship's redoubtable commander Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy. This evocative century-old event is now commemorated by Ray Rimell in this new book officially published on 1 October 2016; with the aid of many contemporary eyewitness accounts,plus official military records and personal family archives ,the author presents a fulsome account of the night's drama and traces the wartime career of L31's commander as never before. Including over 50 rare photos,together with specially- commissioned artwork and drawings ,Ray's unique account accurately records one of the most dramatic aerial encounters over British soil during 'The Great War.' Limited to 1000 copies,all individually numbered and signed by the author, advance copies are now available in limited numbers....

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