Aircraft and aviation Books

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Book SynopsisAdvanced Airship Technologies and Design Approaches identifies and outlines important airship design and practicability considerations and suggests a better design approach that will result in more successful development programs and lead to airships that are in synch with 21st century aviation practices and advanced military-commercial operating utility needs. Airships were very successful flying vehicles until the later 1930s when the rise of wing-borne aircraft gradually led to their demise. They continued in limited use until the 1960s as long-endurance naval patrol craft until they too were superseded by aircraft. A key advantage of the airship is that, once in flight, it requires dramatically less fuel than a conventional aircraft. In an age of rising fuel costs, the need for economical heavy lift transportation as well as specialized intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms is an opportune time to look again at lighter-than-air vehicle technology. An airship revival has proven difficult due to failed or canceled airship programs-proving corrosive to the perceived viability of the technology.The airship often struggles to be taken seriously, scoffed at as being ''just a blimp."" If the present revival of interest in airships is to avoid a new generation of failures, or an inability to achieve promised results, it is essential to introduce an era of more prudent airship design, clear vision, and better management. Advanced Airship Technologies and Design Approaches offers a path forward. It is a must-read for all those with an interest in a successful future for airships.

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Book SynopsisThe Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik became the aerial representative of the Soviet response to the German invasion on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The Il-2 was designed as a low-level close-support aircraft capable of defeating enemy armour and other ground targets. Hardly a fighter, the Il-2 was exclusively engineered to take an enormous amount of punishment and still keep the pilot, rear gunner and critical mechanical components unharmed. In the end, the Il-2 would become the most important aircraft to the Soviet Union in the defence of the homeland against advancing hordes of panzers. At its height, production of the Il-2 hit a peak of 300 aircraft per month and variants boasted potent 23-mm cannon, 200 anti-tank bomblets and 4 x 132-mm rockets. The Il-2 became a highly respected and highly feared adversary. Soviet air crews dubbed the Il-2 as the 'Flying Tank' for its incredible ability to withstand a tremendous amount of damage and still release its payload only to return home intact. Not only did its rear gunners shoot down Luftwaffe aces thanks to its 12.7 -mm machine gun, the Il-2 was also used as a fighter and German pilots were amazed to see 20-mm cannon shells bouncing off its armour plates. Crews were also known to weld additional armour to their Il-2s. The Shturmovik proved so effective that many Soviet crews were recipients of the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union. Even today, the Il-2 is regarded as the Russian equivalent of the Spitfire.By the war's end, some 36,000 Il-2s were produced and became the symbol of the Eastern Front.

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Book SynopsisAlthough the U.S. aviation system is one of the safest in the world, hundreds of fatalities occur each year in general aviation, which includes all forms of aviation except commercial and military. The general aviation industry is composed of a diverse fleet of over 220,000 aircraft that conduct a wide variety of operations, from personal pleasure flights in small, piston aircraft to world-wide professionally piloted corporate flights in turbine-powered aircraft. According to the 2011 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data, 92 percent of that year''s fatal accidents occurred in general aviation. The majority of general aviation accidents are attributed to pilot error. This book examines the characteristics and trends of aviation accidents from 1999 through 2011 and recent actions taken by the FAA to improve general aviation safety.

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Book SynopsisIf you’re an aviator or aviation enthusiast, you cannot be caught with an out-of-date edition of the FAR/AIM. In today’s environment, there is no excuse for ignorance of the rules of the US airspace system. In the newest edition of the FAR/AIM, all regulations, procedures, and illustrations are brought up to date to reflect current FAA data. This handy reference book is an indispensable resource for members of the aviation community, as well as for aspiring pilots looking to get a solid background in the rules, requirements, and procedures of flight training. Not only does this manual present all the current FAA regulations, it also includes:• A study guide for specific pilot training certifications and ratings• A pilot/controller glossary• Standard instrument procedures• Parachute operations• Airworthiness standards for products and parts• The NASA Aviation Safety reporting form• Important FAA contact informationThis is the most complete guide to the rules of aviation available anywhere. Don’t take off without the FAR/AIM!

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Book SynopsisSince the early 1990s, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have operated on a limited basis in the National Airspace System (NAS). Until recently, UAS mainly supported public operations, such as military and border security operations. The list of potential uses is now rapidly expanding to encompass a broad range of other activities, including aerial photography, surveying land and crops, communications and broadcast, monitoring forest fires and environmental conditions, and protecting critical infrastructures. UAS provide new ways for commercial enterprises (civil operations) and public operators to enhance some of our nation''s aviation operations through increased operational efficiency and decreased costs, while maintaining the safety of the NAS. This book focuses on the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace system; provides an unmanned aircraft systems comprehensive plan; and discusses the final privacy requirements for the unmanned aircraft system test site program.

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Book SynopsisReducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint is the answer to the airline executives’ problems, when it comes to looking for ways to reduce aircraft operations cost. Reducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint introduces the Electric Taxi System, ETS. When commercial aircrafts are equipped with this system, the cost of operation will be reduced due to taxi without the main engines running. Also, the aircraft engines will not be ingesting foreign object debris (FOD) causing damage to the internal moving parts, and the airport area air pollution will see a decrease. This is the grey cloud that hovers over most busy airports. Reducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint breaks through this cloud by providing ETS as the solution. Throughout its pages, Dr. Thomas F Johnson addresses these benefits of ETS: Improvement of Airport Area Air Quality Reduce aircraft carbon footprint Potential Costs of ETS Installation Fuel Consumption Evaluation before and after ETS installation Ground Taxi Time Evaluation Improved Airport Terminal Accessibility Landing Gear Compatibility for the ETS Installation

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Book SynopsisA valuable training aid for applicants preparing for glider category rating or current glider pilots who wish to improve their knowledgeThis comprehensive handbook, created by the Federal Aviation Administration, supplies glider pilots with all the information they need for certification in the glider category. An all-in-one technical manual, the Glider Flying Handbook focuses solely on the precise science of glider flight. Inside are hundreds of detailed illustrations and diagrams on:Components and systemsFlight instrumentsPerformance limitationsLaunch and recovery proceduresFlight maneuversTraffic patternsSoaring weatherRadio navigationAnd much moreComplete and authoritative, the FAA’s Glider Flying Handbook makes available to the reader everything from the history of glider flight to the skills needed to fly cross-country. This ultimate resource is the essential tool all student glider pilots need to get certified and all experienced flyers need to stay safe and informed.

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Book SynopsisA year after the disappearance and commencement of the international search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, no sign of the plane has been found—no debris, no bodies, no sign of the much-talked-about black box. Richard Belzer, George Noory, and David Wayne want to know why.Scrutinizing the theories the media and politicians claim are the “most likely” reasons the plane crashed, Belzer, Noory, and Wayne argue that if a year after a huge Boeing 777 has gone missing, and there’s still no sign of it whatsoever, it’s time to think outside the box. The public needs to stop being misled.If a plane and its passengers went "missing" once, what's to stop it from happening again?Some of the theories the authors consider seem implausible on the surface, but the thorough research they've done and the continual failure of politicians, aviation authorities, and military members around the world to give any indication they're wrong makes their arguments as good—if not better—than the more widely shared ones.The title of this thought-provoking volume, Someone is Hiding Something, is a line spoken by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad—perhaps the only government official to publicly acknowledge the true reason that neither Flight 370 nor the 239 people onboard have been found.Trade Review"...a fair and balanced presentation of the very diverse views of this tragedy of the century. It is written without fear or favor, and I salute its authors for that." —Sakinab Zaharie, sister of Captain Zaharie of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370"...a fair and balanced presentation of the very diverse views of this tragedy of the century. It is written without fear or favor, and I salute its authors for that." —Sakinab Zaharie, sister of Captain Zaharie of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

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Book SynopsisA former aircraft engineer exposes the dangerous breakdown in airline safety due to lapses in maintenance and quality control. This book chronicles maintenance-related accidents caused by individual, corporate, or governmental negligence and brings the industry's current state of affairs into sharp focus. The author, a former aviation engineer, examines how failures of the smallest of parts have brought down airliners, explaining sometimes esoteric mechanical issues for readers with no technical background. Vividly describing the terror of accidents and close calls, the author then follows the painstaking investigations to determine causes. He focuses on maintenance errors, which rank as one of the top three causes of airline accidents, and points to the factors that have led to an alarming situation-- continued reduction of licensed mechanics, the shutting down of maintenance bases in the United States, and the outsourcing of maintenance to lowballing contractors. Outsourcing has forced thousands of licensed mechanics into retirement or different careers. For those mechanics still employed in the United States, the ever-present threat to their jobs does nothing to cultivate loyalty to an employer and devotion to a task. The Federal Aviation Administration, which should be overseeing quality control, is caught in a conflicted dual role--charged with regulating safety on the one hand and assuring the fiscal stability of airlines on the other. This disturbing wakeup call for improved airline safety standards highlights the critical importance of attention to detail. Porter recommends that the numbers and job security of airline mechanics be increased and that they be vested with an authority level akin to medical professionals.

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Book SynopsisThe crash of Air France Flight 447 (AF447) off the coast of Brazil in June 2009 and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) in the southern Indian Ocean in March 2014 highlight several challenges authorities may face in locating aircraft in distress and recovering flight recorders. In response to these aviation accidents, government accident investigators, international organisations, and industry have offered proposals that aim to enhance oceanic flight tracking and flight data recovery on a global scale. Given the implications for the U.S. commercial fleet, it is essential that the Congress understand the strengths and weaknesses of these proposals. This book describes the challenges in tracking aircraft and recovering flight data highlighted by recent commercial aviation accidents over oceanic regions; government and industry proposals to enhance aircraft tracking, and how aviation stakeholders view their strengths and weaknesses; and government and industry proposals to enhance the recovery of flight data, and how aviation stakeholders view the proposals'' strengths and weaknesses.

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Book SynopsisAs the Allies were approaching the German frontier at the beginning of September 1944, the German Armed Forces responded with a variety of initiatives designed to regain the strategic initiative. While the "Wonder Weapons" such as the V-1 flying bomb, the V-2 missile and the Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter are widely recognized as being the most prominent of these initiatives upon which Germany pinned so much hope, the Volks-Grenadier Divisions (VGDs) are practically unknown. Often confused with the Volkssturm, the Home Guard militia, VGDs have suffered the undeserved reputation as second-rate formations, filled with young boys and old men suited to serve only as cannon fodder. This groundbreaking book, now reappearing as a new edition, shows that VGDs were actually conceived as a new, elite corps loyal to the National Socialist Party composed of men from all branches of Hitler's Wehrmacht and equipped with the finest ground combat weapons available.Whether fighting from defensive positions or spearheading offensives such as the Battle of the Bulge, VGDs initially gave a good account of themselves in battle. Using previously unpublished unit records, Allied intelligence and interrogation reports and above all interviews with survivors, the author has crafted an in-depth look at a late-war German infantry company, including many photographs from the veterans themselves. In this book we follow along with the men of the 272nd VGD's Fusilier Company from their first battles in the Huertgen Forest to their final defeat in the Harz Mountains. Along the way we learn the enormous potential of VGDs . . . and feel their soldiers' heartbreak at their failure.Among Douglas Nash's previous works is Hell's Gate: The Battle for the Cherkassy Pocket, January-February 1944, a work unsurpassed for insight into the other side of the hill in WWII.

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Book SynopsisReducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint is the answer to the airline executives’ problems, when it comes to looking for ways to reduce aircraft operations cost. Reducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint introduces the Electric Taxi System, ETS. When commercial aircrafts are equipped with this system, the cost of operation will be reduced due to taxi without the main engines running. Also, the aircraft engines will not be ingesting foreign object debris (FOD) causing damage to the internal moving parts, and the airport area air pollution will see a decrease. This is the grey cloud that hovers over most busy airports. Reducing Airline’s Carbon Footprint breaks through this cloud by providing ETS as the solution. Throughout its pages, Dr. Thomas F Johnson addresses these benefits of ETS: Improvement of Airport Area Air Quality Reduce aircraft carbon footprint Potential Costs of ETS Installation Fuel Consumption Evaluation before and after ETS installation Ground Taxi Time Evaluation Improved Airport Terminal Accessibility Landing Gear Compatibility for the ETS Installation

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Book SynopsisWhen using the electric taxi system, pilots will be able to load up their passengers, taxi to the runway run up area, and start their engines—all without using fuel.Reducing Business Jet Carbon Footprint details how business jets equipped with the aircraft electric taxi system will be able to land, turn off main engines and taxi on the tarmac using electric power. Aerospace engineer/scientist and licensed FAA commercial pilot Dr. Thomas F Johnson describes how the electric taxi system saves fuel (and reduces emissions) for medium to long range business jets by using electricity for certain aspects before take-off and after landing.Dr. Johnson’s work as an Aerospace engineer has rewarded him with three patents related to the aircraft gas turbine engine (GTE). His knowledge of commercial flight and plane mechanics are featured in Reducing Business Jet Carbon Footprint, where he explains the details (and potential costs) of installing the electric taxi system. Johnson examines how the use of clean energy will improve airport air quality and preserve fuel consumption for when it’s needed. His writing models and simulates the exciting new technological opportunities for air travel—ready to be put into service.

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Book SynopsisReflections of a Teenage Barnstormer is the story of a 1933 two-month barnstorming tour of the Ohio River Valley of southern Indiana when the author was 16 years old. It is told in a first person, present tense in the manner he would have told it at the time it occurred.

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Book SynopsisThe C-5 Galaxy is truly an effective military aircraft. It remains an essential, successful component of the U.S. military airlife capability. This book reveals the events that led to the C-5 requirement; and the controversies of its early operational existence. Details of testing, flight characteristics, operational accomplishments and world flight records are presented. Interviews from senior Lockheed management and experienced flight crews validate the C-5's decisive accomplishments.

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Book SynopsisWhen the China Clipper shattered aviation records on its maiden six-day flight from California to the Orient in 1935, the flying boat became an instant celebrity. This lively history by Robert Gandt traces the development of the great flying boats as both a triumph of technology and a stirring human drama. He examines the political, military, and economic forces that drove its development and explains the aeronautical advances that made the aircraft possible. To fully document the story he includes interviews with flying boat pioneers and a dynamic collection of photographs, charts, and cutaway illustrations.

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Book SynopsisThis collection, immaculately curated by leading aviation historian Guy Van Herbruggen, dives into the never-before-seen archives of the pioneering Flying Tiger Line, starting with the airline's founding by American combat pilots based in China during World War Two, through the golden age of the propliner up to the arrival of their first jet, the Boeing 707. The aircraft, the people, the places and the times are brought to vivid life in this stunning collection of nearly 350 fascinating images. Aviation pioneers, Hollywood stars, presidents, pistons, and propellers create a stunning portrait of a bygone ageTrade Reviewan engaging journey with the airlines of the world ....... a surprisingly durable souvenir; Charles Kennedy: Airliner World

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Book SynopsisIn November 1919, a year after the Great War, four Australian servicemen made a unique and epoch-making journey home. In the open cockpit of a twin-engine Vickers Vimy bi-plane, brothers Ross and Keith Smith and mechanics Wally Shiers and Jim completed the 18,000-kilometre flight from Britain to Australia. The 28-day journey, part of a competition sponsored by the Australian government, made the Smith brothers internationally famous and marked Australia's emergence into the air age. Ross Smith's fame would be short-lived: he would be killed in an air accident less than three years later on the eve of an attempt to make the first ever circumnavigation of the world by air.Born on a South Australian cattle station, Smith had a relatively privileged and cosmopolitan upbringing. He was, nonetheless, working in a warehouse in Adelaide in 1914, where he would have no doubt eked out a quiet and unremarkable life were it not for the war's outbreak. Enlisting in the light horse at 22 years of age, Smith survived arduous campaigns at Gallipoli and in the Sinai Desert before volunteering for the Australian Flying Corps. Smith's feats in the skies above Palestine during 1917-18 earned him a reputation as one of the great fighter pilots of the war. By the armistice he had received the Military Cross twice and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times; he was one of only three British Empire airmen to do so during the war. Smith's skill in the cockpit also saw him assigned the Middle East theatre's only twin-engine bomber during the war's final year, a machine he used to support T. E. Lawrence 'of Arabia's' campaign against the Turks in Jordan and, after the war, survey an air-route between Cairo and Calcutta.Anzac and Aviator is the story of this extraordinary Australian and the fascinating era in which he lived, one in which aviation emerged with bewildering speed to comprehensively transform both warfare and transportation. Born a decade before powered flight and going off to war on horseback, Smith finished the conflict in command of a bomber, the weapon that would come to symbolise the totality of warfare in the twentieth century.Table of ContentsForeword Andy Thomas, NASA Astronaut (Retired)PrefaceMapsText notesPrologue: Brooklands aerodrome, Weybridge, England PART ONE: 'A DETERMINED BOY' 1892-19141 Mutooroo 2 Froggy 123 A little more eclat 4 Aviemore PART TWO: 'A BRITISHER WITH HIS BACK TO THE WALL' 1914-19165 The Great War 6 Six-bob-a-day tourists 7 Anzac 8 Life in the trenches 9 The August offensive 10 Quinn's Post 11 Cutting some ice 12 Once more out in the desert 13 The savage satisfaction of seeing them drop PART THREE: 'A LEADER BORN' 1916-191814 The coming thing 15 Hadji16 Gaza 17 Quite an airman now 18 Vengeance is only poor consolation 19 Brisfits and baggage20 Biffy and the Bloody Paralyser 21 ArmageddonPART FOUR: '14,000 MILES THROUGH THE AIR' 1918-191922 Preaching the gospel of the RAF 23 An awfully good time 24 South Asian survey 25 The great race 26 God 'elp all of us! 27 Class 5-unfit for all flying 28 Crossing the Mediterranean 29 Do your best but do nothing foolhardy 30 Chasing Poulet 31 The Far East 32 The bamboo runway 33 The supreme hour of our lives PART FIVE: 'THE FOREMOST LIVING AVIATOR' 1919-192234 Everyone has gone quite mad 35 Fame and fortune 36 Leaving an old and trusty friend 37 The aristocracy of achievement 38 Viking 39 Valhalla40 Now he belongs to the empire Epilogue Acknowledgements Note on sources Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisOn 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot out of the sky above Ukraine. Aboard were 298 people, 38 of whom were Australians. No one survived.Subsequently it was shown that the airliner was almost certainly hit by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists aided by the Russian military. The debris from the plane's disintegration mid-air was spread over 50 square kilometres, but for weeks rescue teams and investigators were denied access. The Russians have refused to take any responsibility for the deaths.This is the story of some of the people who boarded that fatal flight and the conflict below them that was doomed to destroy their lives and the happiness of the people they left behind. The fullest account yet published, it is also the story of a continuing clamour for justice. Unsettling, compelling and revealing, Shot Down will provoke both outrage that this criminal act could have happened and deep sadness for the lives lost.'A compelling account of one of the most appalling aviation atrocities of our time.' JIM EAMES, author of Courage in the SkiesTable of ContentsMap: Route taken by MH17Map: MH17 debris sitesChapter 1 Amsterdam, 17 July 2014Chapter 2 Ukraine, November 2013Chapter 3 17 July 2014Chapter 4 Ukraine, November-December 2013Chapter 5 17 July 2014Chapter 6 Ukraine, January-March 2014Chapter 7 17 July 2014Chapter 8 Crimea, February-March 2014Chapter 9 17 July 2014Chapter 10 Ukraine, March 2014Chapter 11 17 July 2014Chapter 12 Ukraine, June-July 2014Chapter 13 17 July 2014Chapter 14 Ukraine, 17 July 2014Chapter 15 17 July 2014Chapter 16 ChaosChapter 17 OutrageChapter 18 Bringing them homeChapter 19 The BukChapter 20 The wreckageChapter 21 2015Chapter 22 2016Chapter 23 2017Chapter 24 2018Chapter 25 Empty chairsAppendix List of victimsAcknowledgementsNotesReferences

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Book SynopsisA magical, airborne story of father and son.Jonathan Rotondo was 28 when his father, Antonio, died. Numb with grief, Rotondo decided to track down the object that had once given his father so much joy: a tiny single-seat biplane called Charlie Foxtrot Foxtrot Alpha Mike. Thus began Rotondo's journey to retrace his father's life from Italy to Canada via the plains of East Africa. In his search for Foxtrot Alpha Mike, Rotondo meets a host of colourful characters: an Australian expat living in Kenya who inspired Antonio's love of flight; a soft-spoken Swiss-Canadian who managed to get Foxtrot Alpha Mike into the air; a free-spirited dreamer who bought the plane to dogfight with his mates. In this uplifting story of a father and son, Rotondo catches fleeting glimpses of his father and rediscovers his own passion for flight. All the while he captures "the rush of speed, the exhilaration of the wind's breath rushing through the cockpit and along the fabric flanks, the surreal sensation of gravity's pull and lift's might."

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