Search results for ""Author Graham M Simons""

The story of the Consolidated B-36 is unique in American aviation history. The aircraft was an interesting blend of concepts proven during the Second World War combined with budding 1950s high-tech systems. The program survived near-cancellation on six separate occasions during an extremely protracted development process. It was also the symbol of a bitter inter-service rivalry between the newly-formed US Air Force and the well-established US Navy over which of which of the two organizations would control the delivery of atomic weapons during the early years of the Cold War. Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was a remarkable design. It was the largest mass-produced piston-engine aircraft ever built, having the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft in history. Importantly, in terms of the developing Cold War at least, the B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the weapons in America's nuclear arsenal without modification. To achieve this part of its role, the Peacemaker had an operational range of 10,000 miles, being capable of intercontinental flight without refuelling. It is difficult to imagine a modern aircraft remaining airborne for two days without refuelling - but such missions were relatively routine for the B-36 crews. Whilst there were, at the time of its service, questions around its flight speed, the Peacemaker flew so high that this was considered of little concern - few fighters of its era could reach the same altitudes, and operational surface-to-air missiles were still in the future. The B-36, despite its seemingly conventional appearance, pushed the state-of-the-art technology further than any other aircraft of its era. Its sheer size brought with it structural challenges, while its high-altitude capabilities led to engine cooling and associated problems. However, all of these were finally overcome, and the B-36 served well as the first Big Stick' of the Cold War.

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The Boeing 737 is an American short- to medium-range twinjet narrow-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a division of the Boeing Company. Originally designed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from the 707 and 727, the 737 has grown into a family of passenger models with capacities from 85 to 215 passengers, the most recent version of which, the 737 MAX, has become embroiled in a worldwide controversy. Initially envisioned in 1964, the first 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered airline service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The 737 series went on to become one of the highest-selling commercial jetliners in history and has been in production in its core form since 1967; the 10,000th example was rolled out on 13 March 2018. There is, however, a very different side to the convoluted story of the 737's development, one that demonstrates a transition of power from a primarily engineering structure to one of accountancy, number-driven powerbase that saw corners cut, and the previous extremely high safety methodology compromised. The result was the 737 MAX. Having entered service in 2017, this model was grounded worldwide in March 2019 following two devastating crashes.? In this revealing insight into the Boeing 737, the renowned aviation historian Graham M. Simons examines its design, development and service over the decades since 1967\. He also explores the darker side of the 737's history, laying bare the politics, power-struggles, changes of management ideology and battles with Airbus that culminated in the 737 MAX debacle that has threatened Boeing's very survival.

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France has been called the cradle of aviation by many - a fact that cannot be disputed, although some have tried. By the end of the 19th century, she led the world in lighter-than-air flight. Any concern about heavier-than-air flight was dismissed as inevitable, and France would achieve it in due course. By the time Bl riot bravely enquired Which way is England?' the country was ready to redress any perceived shortfall. Besides leading European aviation, France was the nation that named all the parts of an aeroplane with words many of which we still use everywhere today. France was also the first nation to stage air exhibitions. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, Germany and America, French designers were thoroughly entrepreneurial and tried a wide variety of adventurous styles from pusher to canard and monoplane to multiplane. In 1909 the first Air Show was held at the Grand Palais. The Exposition Internationale de locomotion a rienne' ushered in what was to become an enduring tradition. Every year, the aircraft exhibitions were a massive success. The interior design by Andr Granet, who since his youth had been fascinated by flying, was such a success that the Automobile-Club subsequently commissioned Granet to do the same for the car shows. It is not surprising that all this derring-do, all these technological achievements and all this innovation drew reporters and photographers like moths to a flame. The men, the machines, the places and the events all were recorded, reported, reproduced and then were filed away. Hundreds of images appeared in print, but thousands were printed up only as contact prints from large-format glass negatives and then disappeared into albums to be forgotten about. In the mid-1990s the author came across one such treasure-trove; a number of dust-covered albums containing around five hundred images of aircraft, airships and expositions - it is doubtful if most have appeared in print before, so this will probably be the first time the events of these French pioneers have ever been showcased.

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The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was almost certainly the most versatile Second World War Bomber. Apart from its bombing role in all theatres of operation, the B-24 hauled fuel to France during the push towards Germany, carried troops, fought U-boats in the Atlantic and, probably most important of all, made a vital contribution towards winning the war in the Pacific. Its most famous single exploit is possibly the raid on the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943. The B-24 ended World War Two as the most produced Allied heavy bomber in history, and the most produced American military aircraft at over 18,000 units, thanks in large measure to Henry Ford and the harnessing of American industry. It still holds the distinction as the most produced American military aircraft. The B-24 was used by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean and China-Burma-India theatres. This book focuses on the design, engineering, development and tactical use of the many variants throughout the bombers service life. The overall result is, as David Lee, the former Deputy Director of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford said upon reading the final manuscript, to be acquainted with all you never knew about the B-24! The book is enlivened by the many dramatic photographs which feature, and this coupled with the clarity of Simons' prose makes for an engaging and entertaining history of this iconic Allied bomber, a key component in several of their biggest victories and a marvel of military engineering

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In April 1972, after six gruelling years of design and development, the then Lockheed California Company (now Lockheed Martin) delivered the most technologically advanced commercial jet of its era, the L-1011 TriStar, to its first client, Eastern Airlines. To mark the moment, Lockheed decided to make an impressive statement about the capabilities of its new medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner. It did so in spectacular fashion. Overseen by two test pilots, a total of 115 crew members, VIPs, Lockheed employees, and selected reporters boarded a TriStar at Lockheed's Palmdale plant in California. The subsequent 4-hour, 13-minute flight to Washington Dulles Airport was achieved with virtually no input from the two pilots in the cockpit, the TriStar's Automatic Flight Control System being 'engaged from takeoff roll to landing'. It was, Lockheed proudly claimed, 'the first cross-country flight without the need for human hands on the controls'. As Lockheed themselves note, in a similar fashion to other iconic passenger airliners before it, the L-1011 had faced daunting challenges on the way to its inaugural flight. Divergent needs from competing airlines led to design challenges. Financial difficulties ravaged its engine's manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, whilst a recession, fuelled by the world's first oil crisis, lessened the demand for commercial airliners. Lockheed, though, battled through these challenges, which even included international allegations of bribery, with the result that the TriStar, famed for its large, curved nose, low-set wings, and graceful swept tail, remained in production until 1984, by when 250 examples had been built. The toll on Lockheed, however, was too great and after the TriStar it withdrew from the commercial aircraft business. In this revealing insight into the L-1011, the renowned aviation historian Graham M. Simons reveals the full story of this airliner's design, development and service over the decades since 1970.

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Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland was one of the world's true pioneers of powered flight, a man as important to Britain in aviation terms as the Wright brothers were to America. From humble beginnings, he went on to develop some of the finest aircraft to see action during the First World War, before going on to create the illustrious company that bore his name. All of this began in his youth when, without experience, plans or instructions, he embarked on the ambitious task of not only building his very first flying machine, but also constructing the engine to power it. This book explores the influences and milestones of his early years before going on to examine his company, The De Havilland Aircraft Company Limited, in detail. Amongst the momentous machines that he had a hand in creating were the Gipsy Moth and Tiger Moth - two iconic aircraft types destined to set a variety of aviation records whilst being piloted by de Havilland himself. Another highlight of the company's history saw the esteemed aviatrix Amy Johnson fly solo from England to Australia in a Gipsy Moth in 1930\. The high-performance designs and monocoque wooden construction methods passed through the supremely elegant DH.91 Albatross into the Mosquito. The company then followed up these successes with the high-performing Hornet fighter, which pioneered the use of metal-wood and metal-metal bonding techniques, eventually resulting in the world's first jet airliner, the fabulous Comet. Every one of De Havilland's products are listed and recorded in detail here, as are all the designs that never left the drawing board and the products of De Havilland's companies in Australia and Canada. Fully illustrated throughout, this volume is sure to be highly prized amongst serious collectors.

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The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined heavy bomber flown primarily by the United States in World War Two and the Korean War. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s. The British Royal Air Force flew the B-29 and used the name Washington for the type, and the Soviet Union produced an unlicensed copy as the Tupolev Tu-4. The name Superfortress was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, trainers and tankers including the variant, B-50 Superfortress. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War Two. A very advanced bomber for its time, it included features such as pressurized cabins, an electronic fire-control system and remote-controlled machine-gun turrets. Though it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions

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Founded in 1961 as Euravia by British businessman Ted Langton and aviation consultant J.E.D. Walker, at a time of considerable turmoil for the independent sector of the British air operators' industry, Britannia Airways went on to become the world's largest holiday airline. Just as Court Line evolved from Autair, so Britannia Airways evolved from Euravia. Both UK airlines had strong links with the travel industry; Court Line with Clarksons Holidays, and Britannia with the Thomson Group, in particular the Sky Tours' brand. Both were innovative in their own ways, and both grabbed the UK travel industry by the scruff of the neck and shook it into the jet age - Court line travelling down the brasher cheap-and-cheerful road, while Britannia took the more staid, upmarket route. By 1972, Britannia had developed to such a degree that it was the biggest of the British independent charter airlines. It was also a ground-breaking operation - during the late 1960s, it became the first charter airline to offer assigned seating, as well as hot in-flight meals. Prior to the mid-1970s, Britannia, much like other British carter airlines of the era, had concentrated upon low-cost flights to Spain and the use of provincial airports to provide its services. The company's management, however, harboured ambitions to grow beyond this. As a result, for example, Britannia's 767s began regular charter flights between Britain and Australia in 1988, a route to New Zealand being added the following year. Between 1968 and 1984, Britannia carried nearly forty-two million passengers, while the company's fleet grew to include twenty-nine Boeing 737s and a pair of 767s. Drawing on the author's in-depth research and knowledge, as well as first-hand interviews with individuals such as Ted Langton, the original tour operator who wanted his own airline, and Jed Williams, who created Britannia, this the full story of one of the most important airlines in the history of civil aviation.

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An innovation in aviation development, Concorde was the subject of political rivalry, deceit and treachery from its very inception. After their failure to be the first nation to develop a jet airliner for transatlantic flight or to send spacecraft into space, the US Government was adamant that they would beat other nations to the goal of supersonic flight and so development of the SST began. However, with McNamara and Shurcliff’s negative attitudes to the project, it was soon killed off. Thus began the ‘if we cannot do it, neither can you’ attitude towards other countries’ efforts for supersonic flight. This is the story of ten years of behind-the-scenes political intrigue, making use of inside information from two American presidents and the Federal Aviation Authority, as well as recently declassified papers from the CIA and President Kennedy on how the Americans planned to destroy Concorde and their own American SST. Lavishly illustrated with black and white and colour images throughout, Concorde Conspiracy is a must read for any enthusiast on supersonic flight and anyone who enjoys a real-life conspiracy.

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Contains hundreds of photos of the Mosquito production line and design concepts. Appendices include first hand pilot accounts, details of the unique variants put into production, and information relating to the Mosquito's deployment in a civilian context with BOAC.

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Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson's design for the Lockheed Constellation, known affectionately as the 'Connie', produced one of the world's most iconic airliners. Lockheed had been working on the L-044 Excalibur, a four-engine, pressurised airliner, since 1937\. In 1939, Trans World Airlines, at the instigation of major stockholder Howard Hughes, requested a 40-passenger transcontinental aircraft with a range of 3,500 miles, well beyond the capabilities of the Excalibur design. TWA's requirements led to the L-049 Constellation, designed by Lockheed engineers including Kelly Johnson and Hall Hibbard. Between 1943 and 1958, Lockheed built 856 Constellations in numerous models at its Burbank, California, factory - all with the same distinctive and immediately recognisable triple-tail design and dolphin-shaped fuselage. The Constellation was used as a civil airliner and as a military and civilian air transport, seeing service in the Berlin and the Biafran airlifts. Three of them served as the presidential aircraft for Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the Second World War, TWA's trans-Atlantic service began on 6 February 1946 with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation. Then, on 17 June 1947, Pan Am opened the first-ever scheduled round-the-world service with their L-749 Clipper America. In this revealing insight into the Lockheed Constellation, the renowned aviation historian Graham M. Simons examines its design, development and service, both military and civil. In doing so, he reveals the story of a design which, as the first pressurised airliner in widespread use, helped to usher in affordable and comfortable air travel around the world.

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The Boeing 707 family - that includes the forerunner Model 367-80, the KC-135 series of military transports and the slightly smaller Model 720 - was the pioneer of the sweptback wing, incorporating podded engines borrowed from the B-47 military bomber. It was the aircraft that many regard as the design that really ushered in the Jet-Age. This new book from the established aviation historian Graham Simons examines the entire course of the Boeing 707 s history, charting an impressive design evolution and illustrating the many ways in which the 707 s legacy continues to be felt to this day. In laying the foundation for Boeing's preeminence on the word s jetliner market during the 1980s and 90s, the 707 paved the way for future innovations in both civilian and military fields and Graham Simons has put together an image-packed history that records the historic and landmark milestones of this iconic aircraft type.

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Howard Hughes' life ambition was to make a significant contribution to the field of aviation development. But the monumental folly of his endeavours on the HK-I Hercules meant that he came to be known and remembered to a great extent for all the wrong reasons. The 'Spruce Goose' (a name Hughes detested) became a product of his wild fixation on perfection and scale. Once completed, it was the largest flying machine ever built. Its wingspan of 320 feet remains the largest in history. Yet it only completed one flight; flying for a mile on its maiden voyage above Long Beach Harbour, before being consigned to the history books as a failure. Experienced author Graham M. Simons turns his attention to the production process that saw this colossus take shape. In words and images, all aspects of this process are illustrated. We have shots taken during the initial design period, images of the craft under construction, and photographs taken at the test flights. In addition, Simons has been gifted access to the highly prized and rarely seen aircraft manual produced for the aircraft, content from which has been extracted and used to supplement the narrative. The book goes on to explore the political issues that sprung up as a result of Hughes' endeavours, looking into the Senate War Investigations Committee's findings which explored the extent to which government funds had been utilised in the development and construction of the flying boat, adding a whole new layer of controversy to the proceedings.

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