The modern aircraft carrier is without doubt one of the most exciting and hazardous operating environments in the field of warfare. The ‘flattop’ is a symbol of global military power without parallel, and it remains a capability beyond reach of all but the most well equipped navies. With the detail, precision and accuracy expected of Harpia Publishing, this latest volume provides a force report of the various air components and associated vessels fielded by those select nations that field fixed-wing-capable aircraft carriers. While the United States maintains a carrier fleet the size of which is almost incomparable to that of its rivals, the coverage of this book also extends to the smaller nations that only possess a single carrier: Brazil, France, Russia and Spain. Meanwhile, full coverage is given over to the navies that are in the process of expanding their burgeoning carrier aviation capabilities, through the introduction of new, indigenously designed carriers and aircraft, namely the Asia-Pacific rivals China and India. Within Europe, chapters are devoted to Italy, currently with two carriers in commission, and the United Kingdom, which will make a historic return to carrier aviation this year. Since the scope of this volume extends to navies operating any carrier that routinely embarks fixed-wing air power, US Navy amphibious assault ships and US Marine Corps aviation assets are also included. Drawing upon a cadre of authors who are experts in their field, Carrier Aviation in the 21st Century continues Harpia’s reputation for providing unprecedented detail and extensive technical specifications, as well as detailing the structure of all the air arms and the individual units that currently embark on board carriers. Illustrations include specially commissioned artworks and diagrams to help illustrate how carrier air power remains an essential element of modern warfare.

Harpia Publishing is proud to announce the launch of a new title for 2017, EMB-312 Tucano: Brazil’s turboprop success story, set to become the definitive English-language reference work on this revolutionary Latin American aerospace product. Written by an expert in the field, this book recounts the story of Embraer’s EMB-312 turboprop trainer, the first aircraft in its class to offer a cockpit and controls equivalent to its fighter contemporaries, as well enough power to match the high-speed manoeuvres of comparable jet trainers. Cheap to fly, capable of operating from unprepared runways and with limited maintenance requirements, the Tucano was Embraer’s first design to be built under license outside Brazil, and more than 660 units were produced for service in 16 countries, seven of which have taken it into combat. Although it is best known as a trainer, this remarkable aircraft has also provided front-line air defence in countries including Paraguay and Honduras. After almost 30 years of service, it remains in widespread use today. This lavishly illustrated story of the first-generation Tucano includes accounts of Embraer’s path to global success, service of the EMB-312 in its native Brazil, including with the air force’s display team, licence production for the Royal Air Force and for export as the Shorts Tucano, and a detailed breakdown of every worldwide operator, past and present. Also included is the story of how the EMB-312 began its evolution towards the EMB-314 Super Tucano, which Harpia will cover in a separate book at a future date. Appendices, in typically thorough Harpia style, include a six-view drawing and a full inventory of EMB-312 units and insignia. With the level of accuracy and insight familiar to Harpia’s regular readers, this unique aircraft profile also includes specifications, and details of training syllabuses, upgrades, avionics and weapons.

"A completely wonderful book! ..

This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, durign which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence. As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight. However it was the supreme power of aircraft carriers that had the biggest impact. Four Japanese fleet carriers facilitated the capture of Rabaul over a devastating four-day period in January 1942. The following month, the USS Lexington’s fighter squadron VF-3 scored one of the most one-sided victories of the entire Pacific War. By March 1942 the Japanese had landed on mainland New Guinea, and the scene was set for a race to control Port Moresby. This is the full story of both sides of an air war that could have been won by either incumbent, but for timing, crucial decisions and luck.

Henschel Hs 126 was a two-seater all-metal hinged monoplane with fixed landing gear. The first prototype – Hs 126 V-1 (D-UBYN) – had its flight-test in August 1936. It was powered by 12-cylinder liquid-cooled JUMO 210 C engine. By the end of year 1937 ten preproduction Hs 126 A-0 were delivered. Aircrafts were produced at Henschel-Werke plant and also at AGO Flugzeugwerke. Hs 126 had exceptional short landing performances, important for the close army cooperation. Armament consisted of two machine guns cal. 7.92 mm: pilot’s fixed MG-17 in front (with 500 rounds) and defense MG-15 in the observer cockpit (with 975 rounds). For the optional close support missions it was capable to carry bombs on two side racks (2×10 kg or 2×50 kg). It also had radio equipment and after gaining combat experience, some machines were equipped with side armor plates of 8 mm steel. The first combat employment of several Hs 126’s took place in Spain, where they were used as tactical reconnaissance within Ausfklarungsgruppe 35, and where they received the code name “Super Pavo”. Loses in Spanish civil war were minor. Some Henschels were also sold to Greece, Bulgaria and Estonia. At the beginning of world war II (invasion on Poland) the Hs 126’s were the backbone of reconnaissance units of the Luftwaffe. From 29 staffelns this machine was deployed in 23 of them (267 Hs 126’s were in combat units, of which 234 were combat-ready). However, Polish campaign showed that Hs 126 is vulnerable airplane. German lost about 41 of them to a AA fire and Polish fighter actions, and another 40 were seriously damaged. Hs 126 participated in missions over all WW2 fronts: from Africa, Soviet Union, West Europe to the Balkans. On the 1st of June 1941 Hs 126’s were still used by operational combat units as well as flying schools. However, raising loses resulted in withdrawing the type from combat units, but it was still presented in big number. For example, in March 1942 from 35 Aufklärer Staffels on East Front 16 operated Hs 126’s. Just in first day of Operation “Barbarosa” Germany lost 13 Hs 126’s and by the December 1941 they lost even 381 of them. Germans tried to accompany Hs 126’s with fighter escort during missions but this did not help much. For this reason from autumn 1941 the obsolete Henschels were replacing by more modern Fw 189. It is worth noting that Hs 126 played their role on rescuing the Benito Mussolini on 12th of September 1943. It made a reconnaissance mission to spot landing positions for gliders. By the March 1944 only 174 Hs 126’s still remained in the Luftwaffe, some of which were in service with the following combat squadrons on the Eastern Front: 13./NSGr-11 with a base in Estonia, 2./NSGr-12 with a base in Estonia/Lithuania and 2./NSGr-7 with a base in the Balkans. At that time title aircraft were used as night light bombers. Behind the front line the Hs 126 were used as daytime light bombers and scouts to fight the partisans, as well as communication planes in which role they served until the end of the war.Today not much parts of the Hs 126 is preserved and most of them was lost over Soviet Union.

15 accurate, authentic renderings of weapon used during Operation Dynamo in 1940. You can color them.Also captions with technical data and plans. • Universal Carrier• Souma 35• Sdkfz 251• Panzer I• Panzer II• Panzer III• Briths truck• Hawker Hurricane Mk I• Messerschmitt Bf 109 E• Supermarine Spitfire Mk I• Junkers Ju 87 B• Char B1 Bis• Light Tank Mark I• Cruiser Mk I• Evacuating soldiers

‘For you the war is over’. ‘Last of the Kriegies’ tells the extraordinary stories of five of the last remaining Second World War RAF Bomber Command Prisoners-of-War: pilot Reg Barker, bomb aimer Charles Clarke, air gunner David Fraser, air gunner Albert Gunn and navigator Henry Wagner. Each veteran shares the journey they went through joining up with the Royal Air Force, their training and crewing up, and operational duties with RAF Bomber Command. We accompany them on raids over enemy territory as they fight to survive against the relentless flak, searchlights, and deadly enemy nightfighters. Eventually each airmen’s next of kin receives a knock on the door and the dreaded ‘regret to inform’ you telegram. Reg, Charles, David, Albert and Henry describe the circumstances in which they are shot from the sky, descending by parachute in to hostile territory, and their subsequent failed attempt to avoid capture. Interrogation follows and we hear how the downed airmen negotiate the aggressive and devious tactics employed by their captors as they try and extract secret information. Our ‘Kriegsgefangener’ soon find themselves behind the barb wire of a German prison camp facing the trials and tribulations of daily life as a ‘kriegie’; the battle with hunger and frustration, the baiting and harassing of prison guards, friendships made, and attempts to break out and escape their captivity. In the final months of the war some of our POWs endure the gruelling and harsh conditions of the forced ‘Long March’. Despite frustrating delays, as the Nazi regime enters its final death throes, our airmen eventually taste the sweetness of liberation and journey home to loved ones and family. Fighting High Publishing and Bomber Command historian Steve Darlow present the extraordinary testimony of five veterans who endured and survived being shot down, captivity, degradation, and suffering. Illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and with a foreword from former Gulf War POW Squadron Leader Bob Ankerson RAF (Ret’d) ‘Last of the Kriegie’s' reveals the extraordinary strength and resilience of the human spirit struggling with incarceration and the loss of freedom.

Scale plans in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale of famous Japanese fighter10 A3 size pages in A4 pb. All subversions are shown.

The intervention of the German Air Force, called Luftwaffe, during World War II is well known by those interested in this conflict, due to the large number of works dealing about it. Much less well-known are the air forces of Germany's allied countries, although in the last years excellent works appear about these ones. Among them, perhaps the least known and treated is Bulgarian Air Force (although its more exact name would be Royal Bulgarian Air Force) because of its lesser degree of participation in the war unlike other countries like Hungary, Romania or Finland. That is the reason why Bulgarian Air Force is Germany's forgotten ally…

The book shows the major role of aviation in the armed conflicts of the 20th century using the example of the Israeli-Arab Wars. It presents the primacy of the effectiveness of modern Israeli aviation, which is generally equipped with state of the art equipment and well-trained personnel, on Arab aviation which was based primarily on numbers rather than quality. In these activities, Israel has shown the perfect example of “Blitzkrieg” strategy which within a few hours enabled it to annihilate the more numerous Arab forces with its modern and well-trained aviation. It also describes the history of the rise of Israeli aviation, including its many Polish-related topics.

Just over a decade after the first successful powered flight, fearless pioneers were flying over the battlefields of France in flimsy biplanes. As more aircraft took to the skies, their pilots began to develop tactics to take down enemy aviators. Though the infantry in their muddy trenches might see aerial combat as glorious and chivalric, the reality for these ‘Knights of the Sky’ was very different and undeniably deadly: new Royal Flying Corps subalterns in 1917 had a life expectancy of 11 days. In 1915 the term ‘ace’ was coined to denote a pilot adept at downing enemy aircraft, and top aces like the Red Baron, René Fonck and Billy Bishop became household names. The idea of the ace continued after the 1918 Armistice, but as the size of air forces increased, the prominence of the ace diminished. But still, the pilots who swirled and danced in Hurricanes and Spitfires over southern England in 1940 were, and remain, feted as ‘the Few’ who stood between Britain and invasion. Flying aircraft advanced beyond the wildest dreams of Great War pilots, the ‘top’ fighter aces of World War II would accrue hundreds of kills, though their life expectancy was still measured in weeks, not years. World War II cemented the vital role of air power, and post-war innovation gave fighter pilots jet-powered fighters, enabling them to pursue duels over huge areas above modern battlefields. This entertaining introduction explores the history and cult of the fighter ace from the first pilots through late 20th century conflicts, which leads to discussion of whether the era of the fighter ace is at an end.

Eighty years after its creation, the Luftwaffe is still one of the most fascinating forces in the history of aviation. A companion to Luftwaffe in Colour Volume 1, which covered the victory years from 1939 up to Spring 1942, this volume with nearly 400 images contains even more fascinating material on the machines of the Luftwaffe and the men who flew them, as their fate took an increasingly grim path. Initially the Luftwaffe ruled the skies but thereafter fought an increasingly futile war of attrition which when combined with vital strategic mistakes in aircraft production, was its death knell. Despite this the Luftwaffe produced the most successful air aces of all time who feature in this volume. Among many remarkable images we see one of the last Junkers 87 B-2 operational on the front line on the Eastern Front during the winter of 1942-1943, the huge BV 222 V-5 of Lufttransportstaffel in the port of Heraklion in late 1942, pilots in Tunisia in 1943, the aces Hans Philipp, Wolfgang Spate and Heinz Schnaufer and a vivid demonstration of the reversal in fortunes in 1944 as Allied bombers destroy 106 places, engulfing them in fire at Schwabisch-Hall on German soil. In this painstakingly pieced together collection, originally published in France, the full detail behind the propaganda is once more revealed, in rare colour photographs.

‘Tonight you are going to the Big City. You will have the opportunity to light a fire in the belly of the enemy that will burn his black heart out.’ The message from Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command Sir Arthur Harris was clear. As the Second World War continued into a fifth year, the airmen of Bomber Command were to fly deep into hostile airspace and bring the war direct to the German Nazi capital Berlin. From the autumn of 1943 to the last days of winter in early 1944, during the hours of extended darkness, the bomber crews braved the flak, the searchlights, enemy night fighters and extremes of weather, to bombard the ‘black heart’. Prior to the all-out campaign against the ‘Big City’ Sir Arthur Harris firmly believed his bomber force could break the German will to wage war, but he also prophesied that ‘It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft’. Fighting High Publishing brings together acclaimed Bomber Command historians to tell the story of some of the thousands of airmen who failed to return from operations as part of the 1943 and 1944 Bomber Command Battle of Berlin. The authors, utilising family archives, personal testimony and records, wartime memoirs, diaries and letters, witness recollections, logbooks, and official documents, piece together the remarkable, yet ultimately tragic events surrounding the losses described. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished black and white and colour photographs Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return ensures the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice is kept alive. ‘We Will Remember Them’.

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was constructed in the early 1940s at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. in Bethpage. Unlike its predecessor, the Grumman F4F Wildcat, the Hellcat received a low gear, with widely spaced wheels on the main chassis. Significantly increased both wings and fuselage to accommodate the required fuel and ammunition supply and to provide adequate structural strength. Fixed weapons consisted of six 12.7 mm machine guns. A contract for the construction of two prototypes of the new BuAer fighter was made with Grumman on June 30, 1941. During the entire production period only minor changes were made to the construction to the Hellcat.

The distinctive black and yellow chequered markings of the 353rd Fighter Group, the ‘Slybirds’, made them one of the USAAF ‘Mighty’ 8th Air Force’s most colourful fighter groups. Flying P-47D Thunderbolts and later P-51D Mustangs the 353rd’s appearance in the skies over occupied Europe witnessed growing American air power and helped to change the course of the air war. From mid-1943 until the end of hostilities in Europe, the 353rd participated in all major aerial battles from the 1943 Regensburg and Schweinfurt raids to ‘Big Week’, the attacks on Berlin, and the support of the D-Day landings and Normandy campaign in 1944. They went on to win the Distinguished Unit Citation during the Arnhem operation of September 1944 and after converting to P-51 Mustangs they continued to play a full and prominent role in the final smashing of the Third Reich from the air.Fighting High Publishing has come together with respected 8th Air Force historian Graham Cross to tell the story of the ‘Slybirds’. With access to an unparalleled photographic archive built up over nearly thirty years of close association and friendship with the group, the author provides a detailed representation of all aspects of the group’s key activities. Focussing not just on the aircraft and pilots but also the vital work of the ground crews and service personnel, this is a stunning tribute that fills a major gap in the history of 8th Fighter Command. A full honour roll to those who made the ultimate sacrifice is included along with details of all POWs and all confirmed claims by the Group’s air-to-air aces.Packed with nearly 450 photos, the majority of which are previously unpublished, unseen wartime colour photos and detailed captions, this book is a visual and information feast. This latest volume in Fighting High Publishing’s ‘Odyssey’ series is the most in-depth photographic record of the 353rd to date and provides a unique window on a fighter group at war.

In this book the authors have endeavored to remedy the notable lack of comprehensive coverage. The development of all the many engines produced by Japanese aero-engine manufacturing companies from 1912 to 1945 is explored in detail, including a full explanation of the different systems used to identify them. Furthermore, the developments are related to the aircraft in which the various engines were used, including prototypes, flying test-beds, and changes in the make or type of engine during an aircraft’s operational service. In other words aircraft evolution in Japan is viewed in snapshots as it happened from the aero-engine aspect and not from the complete aircraft aspect as is featured in most publications. Unfortunately this approach necessitates numerous cross-references in the text where several different engines are associated with a particular aircraft, for which the authors can only apologize. Lastly, to illustrate the industrial background, the origin and development of each of the aero-engine manufacturing companies is also outlined briefly