Trumpeter TU06751

Sikorsky/Westland Sea King with 180 page and over 400 photos, no detail of the Sea King is overlooked in this book. Many different versions of the Sea King are included, from the Belgian Mk.48, German Mk.41, Norwegian Mk.43B, RAF HAR.3, Royal Navy HC4, HAS.6, ASaC.7, Canadian CH-124, and many others, including Marine One ! A really close-up look at the fuselage, cockpit, cargo bay, landing gear, main and tail rotor, a lot of action and as usual an extensive maintenance chapter of 22 pages.

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Building The Harrier. Model Aircraft Extra #5 Building the Harrier The iconic Hawker-Siddeley Harrier was the first of the so- called Harrier 'Jump Jet' series. It was developed in the 1960s as the first operational close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) capabilities, and the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many that arose in that era, and at its heart was the innovative Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine with its thrust vectoring nozzles. The Harrier was developed directly from the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel prototype aircraft, following the cancellation of a more advanced supersonic Hawker Siddeley P.1154. Originally said to be 'unable to carry more than a matchbox over a football field' the Harrier matured into one of the most potent warplanes of its generation. The RAF ordered the Harrier GR.1 and GR.3 variants in the late 1960s, as well as T.4 trainers versions, and it was also exported to the United States as the AV-8A and TAV-8A, for use by the US Marine Corps as well as the Spanish Navy in the 1970s. Spain sold seven single-seat and two twin-seat Harriers to Thailand in 1998. The Sea Harrier FRS.1, which shot to fame during the Falklands War, was designed to fill the strike, reconnaissance and fighter roles for the Royal Navy, and the innovative use of a 'ski jump' allowed the aircraft to take-off from a short flight deck with a heavier loadout than otherwise possible. After the Falklands War, the Sea Harrier was upgraded to the F/A2 standard and featured the Blue Vixen radar and carried the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. The Indian Navy was the only other user of the Sea Harrier aboard their aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Viraat. The BAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier II was a second-generation of V/STOL aircraft designed for use by the US Marne Corps, RAF and the Royal Navy and continues in service with the USMC as the McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B and TA-V8B trainer and is also in service with the Spanish and Italian Navies. For the RAF, initial deliveries of the Harrier II were designated as Harrier GR.5 and subsequent upgraded airframes were redesignated accordingly as GR.7 and GR.9. The RAF Harriers saw action over Bosnia and Afghanistan before being retired in 2011. Most of the original US Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B 'day attack' aircraft were upgraded to either the FLIR equipped 'Night Attack Harrier' or the more capable radar equipped 'Harrier II Plus' and have participated in support of Operation 'Southern Watch', Operation 'Allied Force'. USMC McDonnell-Douglas AV-8Bs also took part in Operation 'Enduring Freedom' in Afghanistan from 2001, and the aircraft also participated in the Iraq War in 2003, acting primarily in support of USMC ground units, and in 2011, they flew in support of Operation 'Odyssey Dawn', enforcing the UN no-fly zone over Libya. This fourth book in the MA Extra Series contains fourteen model builds, colour profiles and scale plans, and will be a must for the Harrier aficionado!

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Grumman FF/SF Plus G-23 Delfin/Goblin and Prototypes By Richard S. Dann 132 pages (128 B&W, plus 4 color Pages), 363 photos and drawings The Grumman FF-1 and its derivatives, namely the SF-1 and G-23, represent a paradox in naval aircraft design. On one hand, it represented the end of the line for two-seat US Navy fighters in the biplane era. On the other hand, it incorporated relatively new technologies that when brought together, gave the FF-1 a significant performance margin over existing U.S. Navy fighters. Indeed, design choices such as retractable landing gear, enclosed cockpits and all-aluminum construction existed previously, but the FF-1 incorporated all these technologies into a single airframe. In the Navy's own words, "The design of the XFF-1 marked a considerable advance in the reduction of weight and drag for this class of airplane and resulted in correspondingly high performance." The origins of the FF-1 can be traced back to early 1930, just months after the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation filed articles of incorporation. During discussions with the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics regarding their "A" Float, the Navy became intrigued by Grumman's approach to retractable landing gear, the Navy asked Grumman about the feasibility of adapting their patented landing gear system to existing Navy fighters, such as the Boeing F4B and the Curtiss F8C. Grumman advised against this approach stating that adding retractable landing gear to these existing aircraft would force a complete redesign. Furthermore, being an aircraft manufacturing company, Grumman desired to design and build its own aircraft. Grumman's Design G-5, was submitted to the Navy, and in March 1931, a contract was awarded to Grumman for the XFF-1. Naval Fighter Series NF121 is an in-depth study of the design and development of the FF-1 and its derivatives. The first half of the book describes the XFF-1, FF-1, XSF-1, SF-1, XSF-2, GG-1 and XSBF-1 in detail with photographs and drawings, while the second half of this book covers operational use. While U.S. Navy service was limited to two fleet squadrons, the FF-1 and SF-1 enjoyed long careers in Navy and Marine Corps Reserve squadrons until mid-1942. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this series was the G-23, a license-built derivative manufactured by Canadian Car & Foundry in Fort William, Ontario, Canada. A total of 52 G-23s were built, with 34 finding their way into combat use by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish "Delfin", as it was known saw extended service after the war, with the last one being retired in early 1954, nearly 22 years after the first flight of the XFF-1. 15 G-23s were accepted by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940 as the "Goblin", and their service is also included in this book. This book is a fascinating in-depth study of a little-known Navy fighter that set the stage for Grumman's dominance of carrier-based naval aircraft that lasted over 50 years. Lots of MPM/Special Hobbies kits of this have been released.

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Martin Mariner & Martin SP-5B Marlin. The Glenn L Martin company would produce the most successful range of seaplanes to enter US service. The first off the blocks was the PBM Mariner that would see extensive service with the U.S. Navy in various roles including general patrol duties, anti-submarine work, rescue duties and strangely enough for a purported patrol aircraft, as a bomber. So impressed was the USN with the Mariner that they pressed Martin to develop an improved version. The result was the Marlin that entered service in the post-war period and supplemented its older sibling during the Korean War. The P5M Marlin's last active service was during the Vietnam War although it was soon replaced by land based patrol aircraft. Both types were used by non-American operators both in Latin America and Europe. Even the Royal Air Force operated the Mariner although its sojurn in RAF colours was brief, to say the least! This book is written by Kev Darling and is superbly illustrated by Richard J.Caruana.

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Hawker Fury and Nimrod Author: William Harrison The first RAF front line fighter to achieve more than 200 mph was the Hawker Fury, and its naval counterpart the Hawker Nimrod. These two attractive fighters came from the design office of the late Sydney Camm, Hawker's chief designer. The Fury started life as a private venture known as the Hornet but when this machine exceeded expectations the name was changed to Fury. Although only ordered in small numbers owing to financial constraints during the Great Depression production eventually exceeded 260 machines with orders from the RAF, Royal Navy, Persia (now Iran), Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia and more than 30 supplied (ex-RAF) to the South African Air Force. The Fury entered service with No.43 Squadron who accepted 16 during May 1930 and stayed in front line service until January 1939 when it was replaced by the Gloster Gladiator, although quite a few remained in the training role until mid-1941. The Furies were used in combat during WWII by Yugoslavia where they were quickly despatched by the more modern fighters of the Luftwaffe. South Africa used Furies in the East African war until 1941 and the three supplied to Spain were in action, one of them serving on both sides! The Nimrod, while bearing a distinct resemblance to the Fury, flew early in 1930. Changes for the RN included longer exhaust pipes extending down both sides of the fuselage as far as the pilot's cockpit; an oil cooler fitted beneath the engine bay and at a later date arrester gear was fitted for carrier use. Later series Nimrods featured a larger tail surface to improve inverted spinning characteristics when fitted with floats. Deliveries of Nimrods started in September 1933 and they remained in use until May 1939. Only a small number of Nimrods found their way abroad, two went to Denmark to act as pattern aircraft for licensed production, one was shipped to Japan and one to Portugal. Although one Fury managed to survive in the scrapyard of a London dealer it fell to John Isaacs, a draughtsman from Vickers Armstrong, to design and build both a 1/7th scale Fury and Spitfire, both of which continue to be built by members of the Light Aircraft Association, nee the Popular Flying Association. This book is written by William Harrison and is superbly illustrated by Richard J.Caruana.

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Hunting-Percival Pembroke, Prince & Sea Prince 44 pages The Pembroke originated as a development of an idea sponsored by Lord Brabazon towards the end of World War II, when he chaired a committee whose brief was to assess the civil aviation requirements after the end of hostilities, and recommended several specifications for civil aircraft required to keep Britain ahead for both home and export sales. A twin-engined transport emerged from Percival called the Merganser in 1947. This was refined and in 1950 the Prince was born, being immediately snapped up by companies as there was nothing similar on the market at the time. The Royal Navy were quick to order the type as a communications aircraft and could see the potential for it as a navigation trainer. With an extended nose for radar and other equipment, Percival were quick to assess that as being suitable. Named the Sea Prince, the Royal Navy ordered three of the early short-nosed variant as the Sea Prince C1 for communications, forty-one of the T.1 version built for navigation and anti-submarine training, and four C.2s as a transport version of the Sea Prince T1. The RAF, seeing this interest, finally ordered forty-five of the type naming it 'Pembroke', the last of which was completed in February 1958. The Pembrokes were used for light transport and communications, and were also used as pilot trainers and flying classrooms. Overseas, ten countries ordered the type for similar roles in their Air Forces in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sudan, Sweden, Rhodesia, Thailand and Zambia. This is another Warpaint by author Adrian Balch, comprehensively illustrated with over 100 top quality photographs from his extensive archives, once again being illustrated by accurate quality colourful profile drawings by artist Sam Pearson including 5-view line drawings/plans making this a must for the aviation historian and modeller.

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Supermarine Scimitar By Tony Buttler AMRAeS. The Supermarine Scimitar was the first swept-wing, twin-engined, single-seat jet aircraft to serve with the Royal Navy and it was also the last all-new fighter type to be designed and built by Supermarine. It evolved from a straight wing design called the Supermarine Type 508, passed through a swept wing development called the Type 525 and then matured into a service aeroplane. When the aircraft entered service it was the largest and heaviest aircraft yet to land on a British aircraft carrier. In the end well under a hundred examples were built and the type's career was relatively quiet, but the Scimitar was an immensely strong and a spectacular-looking aircraft, an incredibly fast and noisy one as well, and it gave the Royal Navy a nuclear capability. In fact the Scimitar took on much of the Navy's conventional and nuclear strike operations but fortunately was never called upon to deliver any type of weaponry in anger. The story is quite fascinating.

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Curtiss SB2C Helldiver Warpaint Special No.7 116 Pages The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was one of those aircraft that was either loved or hated- there was no middle ground. Forged in a hurry for the forthcoming war the Helldiver was designed in a hurry, built by mostly by under skilled personnel while being bombarded by the customer with their extra changes and demands. Even under this pressure Curtiss managed to produce a prototype that flew, even though it would soon reveal strength and build problems. This is what prototypes are for, however, the first production model, the Dash-1, was beset by many problems that saw one carrier captain demanding that the Helldivers be removed and the off loaded Douglas Dauntless dive bombers be reinstated. From the SB2C-3 onwards, after undergoing a full modification programme, a competent combat aircraft would emerge. Used throughout 1944/45 the Helldiver squadrons, now operating from the fast carriers, took the war to the Japanese all the way to Tokyo. Post 1945 the Helldiver would stay on active service until replaced by the Douglas AD-1 Skyraider. Overseas usage would see later build models being operated by France, Greece, Italy ,Portugal and Thailand. The Royal Navy also formed a single squadron that would never deploy on active service. Undergoing flight testing in Britain, Eric 'Winkle' Brown would declare that the Helldiver was the worst aircraft he had ever flown. Artwork and scale drawings by Sam Pearson.

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