The destruction of much of the remainder of the Japanese fleet and its air arm in the later half of 1944 left the Japanese Home Islands vulnerable to attack by US naval and air forces. In desperation, the Imperial Japanese Navy proposed using "special attack" formations, a euphemism for suicide attacks. These initially consisted of crude improvisations of conventional aircraft fitted with high-explosive bombs that could be crashed into US warships. Called "Divine Wind" (Kamikaze), the special attack formations first saw action in 1944, and became the scourge of the US fleet in the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. In view of the success of these attacks, the Japanese armed forces began to develop an entire range of new special attack weapons. This book begins by examining the initial kamikaze aircraft attacks, but the focus of the book is on the dedicated special attack weapons developed in 1944, including the Ohka, a rocket-powered guided missile and the Kaiten man-guided torpedo submarines. It also covers specialized suicide attack weapons such as anti-tank lunge mines. Much of the information in this book comes from little known US intelligence reports and photos compiled after the war that have never been widely published.

Do you love video games? Ever wondered if you could create one of your own, with all the bells and whistles? It's not as complicated as you'd think, and you don't need to be a math whiz or a programming genius to do it. In fact, everything you need to create your first game, "Invasion of the Slugwroths," is included in this book and CD-ROM. Author David Conger starts at square one, introducing the tools of the trade and all the basic concepts for getting started programming with C++, the language that powers most current commercial games. Plus, he's put a wealth of top-notch (and free) tools on the CD-ROM, including the Dev-C++ compiler, linker, and debugger--and his own LlamaWorks2D game engine. Step-by-step instructions and ample illustrations take you through game program structure, integrating sound and music into games, floating-point math, C++ arrays, and much more. Using the sample programs and the source code to run them, you can follow along as you learn. Bio: David Conger has been programming professionally for over 23 years. Along with countless custom business applications, he has written several PC and online games. Conger also worked on graphics firmware for military aircraft, and taught computer science at the university level for four years. Conger has written numerous books on C, C++, and other computer-related topics. He lives in western Washington State and has also published a collection of Indian folk tales.

An expert examination of the evolution of military aviation and its profound impact on warfare-from the employment of balloons during the French Revolutionary wars to the use of aircraft in World War I.

From ancient times to World War II and the postwar period, Battleships charts the evolution of the vessel that ruled the seas-a vessel that, until the arrival of the aircraft carrier, would be the most expensive and complex human-made moving object in history.

A large number of fighter projects have been drawn by British companies over the last fifty years, but very few have turned into hardware, and very little has been published about these fascinating "might-have-beens". This book makes extensive use of previously unpublished, primary-source material-much recently declassified. It gives an insight into a secret world where the public has had little idea of what was going on, while at the same time presenting a coherent nationwide picture of fighter development and evolution. Particular emphasis is placed on tender design competitions and some of the events that led to certain aircraft either being canceled or produced. Some of the many and varied types included are the Hawker P.1103/P.1136/P.1121 series, and the Fairey "Delta III". The book includes many illustrations, plus specially commissioned renditions of "might-have-been" types in contemporary markings.

Many books, pamphlets & reports have been written about the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. These have ranged from the almost encyclopaedic British Air Ministry publication to short leaflet summaries. They have been concerned primarily with the truly impressive statistics, & some have concentrated almost exclusively on the aircraft. But none has seemed to approach this historical event from the viewpoint of its historical perspective. John Provan & Ron Davies have now cooperated in this Paladwr Press book to try to compensate for this past shortcoming. The first part of the narrative explores the political & economic circumstances that led to the crisis of May 1948, & it also takes a look at the situation as it probably appeared to the Soviet Union. To have a capitalist enclave within its jealously (& military)-guarded sphere of influence must have seemed something of an imposition in Muscovite eyes. On the other hand, many readers may be surprised to realize that Berlin is only 30 miles from Poland. And--again to remember perspectives of time, as well as of place & motivation--how many recall that the Airlift was launched only three years after the end of the Second World War? In addition to picture-descriptions of all the transport aircraft, U.S. & British, military & civilian, involved in the Airlift, this book has delved into the problems of logistics, on the ground as well as in the air & has not forgotten the human aspects, for example, the famous exploits of the Candy Bomber & the Camel Caravan. Here is a book that, in addition to being a useful reference to one of the great events of transport aviation history, should delight the eye; & even, here & there, amuse. For without a sense of humor, the Berlin Airlift would have been a grim experience for all the participants.

Aviation historians often dismiss the Polyikarpov I-16 because it did not fare well against its more modern adversaries in WWII. It was often referred to in the West by the disparaging nickname of Rata, the Russian word for rat! Nikolay Polyikarpov's I-16 was nevertheless an outstanding fighter in its day--among other things, because it was the world's first monoplane fighter with a retractable undercarriage. Its capabilities were demonstrated effectively during the Spanish Civil War and it was still in front line service when the German armed forces fell on the Soviet Union in 1941. This book details every variant of this diminutive fighter, including development aircraft and unbuilt projects. An account is also given of Polyikarpov's early monoplane fighters that presaged the I-16 and of the later designs that evolved from it. Details are given of all surviving examples including the six aircraft that were restored to airworthy condition in Russia in the 1990s.

The great leaps in aviation history - the Wright brothers'first flight, Lindbergh's first crossing of the Atlantic, Yeager breaking the sound barrier - were all made by pushing the boundaries of aeronautical science, wringing extraordinary performance out of experimental and untested aircraft. However, for every success like these there were new aircraft designs which flew badly (or not at all), crashed on landing, burned up fuel at an alarming rate, exploded without warning, or pointlessly wasted millions of dollars. The World's Worst Aircraft takes a lighthearted look at 150 of these flying failures - old and new - and asks the pertinent questions. Why did they ever get off the drawing board? What went wrong? Why were they sq unreliable, and how much money was wasted by governments, manufacturers and individuals trying to make them a success? Each aircraft is illustrated with a full-page photograph, annotated to show particularly bad, dangerous or unusual features. The lively text provides an insight into the history and (lack of) development of each type, alongside archive images from the aircraft's heyday, artworks or diagrams. Featuring some of the world's weirdest, strangest and most dangerous planes, this book is a perfect illustration of how not to build aircraft.

For decades the Soviet Union and now Russia have held leading positions in the development of a special class of vehicles that are neither aircraft nor ships or both at once. Known as wing-in-ground effect (WIGE) craft or by their Russian name of ekranoplan, these vehicles combined the best of both worlds, operating on the borderline between the sky and the sea, offering the speed of an aircraft coupled with better operating economics and the ability to operate pretty much anywhere on the world's waterways. As such they promptly attracted the attention of the military and thus have been veiled in secrecy until recently. The book describes in detail the many series of WIGE vehicles developed by various design bureaus, including the Orlyonok, the only ekranoplan to see squadron service, the missile-armed Loon and the famous and awesome KM, or Caspian Sea Monster, which first attracted the attention of the West to these developments.

This book provides an excellent overview of the Boeing 747SP, a somewhat overlooked aircraft which paved the way for today's 747-400s. The photography in this book is excellent, and the reproduction of proposed interiors for the Iranian VIP ship are worth the price.

Each booklet in this series includes general history, specifications, technical data, photographs & colour profiles of the featured aircraft

Mikoyan built his first aircraft in 1936. The company has since gone on to produce some of the most fearsome high-performance military aircraft of the post-World War II period, such as the MiG-15, MiG-21 and MiG 29. This book describes all these aircraft and more, in detail.

Osprey's study of AH-1 helicopters and their participation in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Bell’s AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated helicopter gunship to reach frontline service anywhere in the world. Developed as a private venture by the manufacturer, and based on the mechanics of the ubiquitous UH-1 Huey, the Cobra proved a huge success once introduced into combat with the US Army in 1966. Built as a key weapon in the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System concept of 1965, the AH-1 was one of the few aircraft to reach the combat zone after actual combat experience went into its design. The AH-1 helped reduce the losses being suffered by vulnerable troop transport helicopters by providing effective fire suppression during airmobile operations. This book explores its history, technology and crew.

When the Soviet Union pulled its forces out of Afghanistan, the American media had a simple explanation: Soviet troops had been hounded out of the mountains by U.S.-armed guerrillas--the skies cleared of Soviet aircraft by Stinger missiles--until the Kremlin was forced to cry uncle. But Diego Cordovez and Selig S. Harrison shatter this image. Out of Afghanistan shows that the Red Army was securely entrenched when the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw: American weaponry and Afghan bravery raised the costs for Moscow, but it was six years of skillful diplomacy that gave the Russians a way out. Cordovez and Harrison provide the definitive account of the Soviet blunders that led up to the invasion and the bitter struggles over the withdrawal that raged in the Soviet and Afghan Communist parties and the Reagan Administration. The authors are particularly well-suited to their task: Cordovez was the United Nations mediator who negotiated the Soviet pullout, and Harrison is a leading South Asia expert with four decades of experience in covering Afghanistan. Their story of the U.N. negotiations is interwoven with a gripping chronicle of the war years, complete with palace shootouts in Kabul, turf warfare between rival Soviet intelligence agencies, and the CIA role in building up Islamic fundamentalist guerrilla leaders at the expense of Afghan moderates. Cordovez opens up his diaries to take us behind the scenes in his negotiations, and Harrison draws on interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and other key actors. The result is a book full of surprises. For example, the authors demonstrate that the Soviets intervened not out of a desire to drive to the Indian Ocean, but out of a fear of a U.S.-supported Afghan Tito. Rebuffs by hardline "bleeders" in the Reagan Administration undermined efforts by Yuri Andropov to secure a settlement before his death in 1983. Even more startling, Gorbachev resumed the search for a negotiated withdrawal more than a year before the first American-supplied Stinger missiles were deployed in the war. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was one of the pivotal events of recent history. Out of Afghanistan destroys many of the myths surrounding the Afghan war and will have a profound impact on the emerging debate over how and why the Cold War ended.

The German 88 mm was by far the most famous and versatile artillery weapon of World War II. It was first used as an anti-aircraft weapon by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and saw further service in the German invasions of Poland and France, where it was first used in its anti-tank role. This role was particularly successful and the 88 became feared by tank crews from North Africa to Russia. Apart from these two main roles the 88 mm was used as the main weapon on late-war German tanks, as a self-propelled gun, and even as an aerial weapon. This book covers all these variants, explaining their design, development and operational use.

Learn everything you need to know about making your dioramas look real! This fantastic revised edition will show you how with new projects, new photos, and expert tips. Includes painting, weathering, and detailing tips for figures, aircraft, vehicles, and more! 290+ photos with color throughout

Consolidated's B-24 Liberator was one of the most costly and complicated aircraft produced by the US during WWII. It was produced in greater numbers than any other US bomber. 19,000 were built and served all over the globe as a bomber, transport, and long-range anti-submarine aircraft. This is a detailed examination of the design, development and use of the B-24 - the backbone of the USAAF bombing offensive during WWII. Extensively illustrated with over 200 archive photographs. Exceptional!

This book explores the development of Polikarpov's fighting biplanes from the 2I-N1 to his first aircraft to see production; to the I-3 and the I-5 created while the designer was in prison. This design paved the way for the I-15 which earned fame as the Chato during the Spanish Civil War and also saw action against the Japanese, and the I-15bis, which owed its existence mainly to Soviet Air Force's prejudice against gull wings; and the famous I-153 Chaika, a gull-wing biplane with retractable-landing gear. Experimental versions of this aircraft are also included. This title includes a detailed account of these aircraft's' combat roles and structural descriptions. The book also features details of the ill-starred I-190, which was to have superceded the Chaika, and of privately owned I-15bis and I-153s that have been restored to airworthy condition.

When a new type of warship, the aircraft carrier, came into existence after World War I, it could not yet be suspected that a quarter-century later this type would surpass and finally replace the battleship, which until then had been regarded as the "nucleus" of every high-sea fleet. At that time the aircraft carrier was still regarded as a kind of auxiliary warship, and certainly as a satellite of the battleship, to which it could be assigned for its protection. Only a few far-seeing naval officers considered the possibility of offensive carrier warfare, and they were stationed, as could be said, at indefensible positions. The opposition of those circles who continued to see the battleship as the "non plus ultra" and were willing to concede, at most, reconnaissance service and defensive possibilities to the carrier, was too great. But since the new type of warship was at hand, the great sea powers did not give up on it, but at first they did very little to promote its further development. Meanwhile, time worked in favor of the airplane: with the increase in aircraft performance, the tactical standpoints toward a future sea war changed, and the aircraft carrier gradually gained importance.

Too late to change the course of the war, the Me262 was nevertheless a remarkable and very successful aircraft. Here Baker tells the full story, from its tortuous development through to its operational days, including details of its specs, and insight into the men who designed and flew the Me262. An exhaustive study.