Classic Fighters - Hardcover

Bonds, Ray

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0785827854 ISBN 13: 9780785827856

Publisher: Chartwell Books, 2011

Synopsis

Packed with fascinating facts, this volume contains incredibly detailed cutaway drawings of arguably the greatest fighter aircraft ever flown. Each drawing examines what’s ‘under the skin’, clearly showing ‘the inside story’ – airframe structure, cockpit components, engines, fuel tanks, avionics, machine guns and cannon, missiles and bombs – revealing how the fighters were built, and the weapons they have carried into combat.  

Each significant component is given a number and is identified in an accompanying key. Moreover, together with stunning photographs, as well as detailed specifications, the absorbing in-depth development histories provide avid aviation enthusiasts all the information they could wish for about the most exciting warplanes spanning almost a hundred years. The aircraft themselves vary tremendously, from simple, wooden-framed, fabric-covered machines with open cockpits, often firing machine guns through whirring, propellers, to super-fast, highly maneuverable, sophisticated and stealthy fighters armed to the teeth with multi-barrel cannons and missiles that can destroy enemy aircraft from beyond visual range. In between are featured a host of combat-proven fighters, many of which have recorded a plethora of ‘firsts’ – first jet warplane, first supersonic fighter to enter service, first Mach 2 and even Mach 3 interceptors, first tail-less delta machine, first sweeping-wing machine, first missile-armed fighter, and many more. It is certainly an extraordinarily wide-ranging subject presented in such a fantastically individual manner that it is difficult to imagine a more striking volume in aviation publishing.

About this title

About the Author

Ray Bonds has been a defense journalist, editor and publisher during a career spanning over thirty-five years, covering periods and subjects as wide-ranging as the American Civil War, antiballistic missile systems, stealth warfare and modern military intelligence gathering. He has written and edited scores of well-respected titles on military aviation, and the world’s major armed forces, their battles, weapons and organization.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chartwell Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0785827854
• ISBN 13: 9780785827856
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 253