Osprey Aircraft of the Aces Series

About this Osprey Publishing BookThe 325th FG was activated under General Order number 50 on 30 July 1942 and set up training operations at Theodore F Greene Field in Providence, Rhode Island. By mid-December 1942 the group was considered ready for combat and the alert for overseas duty arrived on 2 January 1943. The pilots and their P-40s departed on the carrier USS Ranger on 8 January and flew their aircraft off the vessel into Cazes airfield, near Casablanca, on 19 January 1943. After the...

Albatros Aces Of Ww-I Pt1 by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE32Author: Norman FranksIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookThe Albatros family of fighters were amongst the most effective aircraft employed by the Idlfieg (Imperial German Air Service) for much of World War 1, with the D.III and D.Va being flown by most of the 363 pilots who qualified as aces at some point in their often brief careers. The Albatros was the scourge of the RFC on the Western Front in 1916-17, with pilots of the calibre...

Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE66Aircraft of the Aces 66Author: Jon GuttmanIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookTethered balloons reached their zenith as a means of providing a stationary observation platform above the battlefield during World War I. It took a special breed of daredevil to take on such odds deep in enemy lines in order to destroy a balloon, with Balloon specialists such as Willy Coppens, Pierre Bourjade and Michel Coiffard rising...

Early German Aces Of Ww-I by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE73Aircraft of the Aces 73Author: Greg VanWyngardenIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookThe Fokker Eindecker (monoplane) started the true age of fighter aviation. With the development of its revolutionary synchronised machine gun system, the Eindecker caused consternation in the ranks of Allied airmen as its pilots began to reap a grim harvest of victims in 1915. The exploits of aces like Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelke became legendary...

Fiat Cr.42 Aces Of Ww-Ii by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE90Authors: Hakan Gustavsson Ludovico SlongoIllustrator: Richard CaruanaAbout this bookThe Fiat CR.42, a logical development of the Fiat CR.32, was the last single-seat fighter biplane to be produced. It entered service with the Italian Regia Aeronautica in May 1939 before being exported to Belgium, Hungary and Sweden. Its combat debut came when the Belgian air force threw its fleet into action during the German invasion of the Low...

Griffon-Spitfire Aces by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE81Aircraft of the Aces 81Author: Andrew Thomasllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookModified for low-level operations to counter Luftwaffe attacks on the south coast, the Griffon-powered Spitfire XIV became the best low-level fighter of World War II. Squadrons moved to south-eastern England to counter the V1 flying bomb offensive, where daring pilots pioneered the technique of tipping the V1 over with the aircraft's wingtip to disorientate the...

Ki-61 & Ki-100 Aces from Osprey Publishing Item Number:OSPACE114 Aircraft of the Aces Series: Each book focuses on the fighter pilots who became aces flying a particular aircraft in a particular war or theatre of war, with first hand accounts from the aces themselves. Aircraft profiles, unit listings and scale plans support the text. Books in Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces series cover the full spectrum of manned military flight. From the earliest aces of World War I, through every...

Author: Robert ForsythIllustrator: Jim LaurierAbout this book_Viermot Aces_ were pilots who shot down five or more USAAF and RAF bombers during the daylight Defence of the Reich missions from May 1942 through to VE Day. This book tells the complete story of the men and the planes that challenged the great bomber offensive. Flying a number of different aircraft including the Bf 110G, Me 210 and the Me 410, they fought their desperate battles against the numerous machine guns of B-17s and...

Author: Steve BlakeIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookWhen the 82nd Fighter Group was organized in March 1942, most of its initial pilot cadre was comprised of newly graduated staff sergeant pilots of Class 42-C _ enlisted men! They learned to fly the P-38 at Muroc, in California_s Mojave Desert, and then moved to the Los Angeles area to continue their training and to serve as part of its air defence. In September 1942 the group was transported to the East Coast, from where it shipped out...

P-40 Warhawk Aces Of Cbi by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE35This book details the colourful experiences of the elite pilots of the AAF's Tenth and Fourteenth Air Forces in the 'forgotten' China-Burma-India theatre during WW2. Inheriting the legacy of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), units such as the 23rd FG 'held the line' against overwhelming Japanese forces until the arrival of the first P-38s and P-51s in 1944. The Warhawk became synonymous with the efforts of the AAF in the CBI,...

Raf Mustang & Thunderbolt Aces by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE93Author: Andrew ThomasIllustrator: Chris DaveyThe P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt were the finest American fighters of World War 2, and both saw service with the RAF in substantial numbers. The RAF began flying the Mustang in 1944, using it to fly bomber escort missions, and deploying to support the ground campaigns in Italy and the Balkans. It was also flown by a number of Polish units in the RAF. The P-47 Thunderbolt...

Sopwith Camel Aces Of Ww-I by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE52Aircraft of the Aces 52Author: Norman FranksIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookResponsible for destroying 1294 enemy aircraft between June 1917 and November 1918, the Camel was the most successful fighting scout employed by either side in terms of the sheer number of victories that it scored. The Camel was renowned for its sensitivity and need for skill and experience, and casualties amongst pilots undergoing training on the type...

Sopwith Triplane Aces Of Ww-I by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE62Aircraft of the Aces 62Author: Norman FranksIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookThe inspiration behind the iconic Fokker Dr I, Sopwith's Triplane was built as a replacement for the company's hugely successful, and much loved, Pup. Thanks to its massive wing area, the revolutionary Triplane boasted an unmatched rate of climb and greatly improved manoeuvrability. Indeed, when the type made its combat debut in late 1916, the...

Author: Hugh MorganIllustrator: John WealAbout this bookNo single volume in English has ever appeared in the West dealing with this intriguing subject area, but now that restrictions have relaxed in the former Soviet Union, records of the deeds of the elite pilots of the various Soviet Air Forces are coming to light. Although initially equipped with very poor aircraft, and robbed of effective leadership thanks as much to Stalin's purges in the late 1930s as to the efforts of the Luftwaffe,...

Strafing Aces Eighth Air Force by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE51Aircraft of the Aces 51Author: William N HessIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this book'Like The Long Reach, Down to Earth is a message from the battle at its height, told in their own words by the men who fight' - this is how Brig-Gen Francis Griswold, VIII Fighter Command, ends his introduction to this book. His official endorsement reveals just how important a document Down to Earth was to the teaching of tyro fighter pilots heading...

Twelve To One V Fighter Comd by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE61Aircraft of the Aces 61Author: Tony HolmesIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookThis volume details the experiences of 107 elite American aces in combat against the Japanese. The highest scoring US pilots of World War 2 fought against the Japanese Army Air Force and Imperial Japanese Navy over the jungles of New Guinea and the Philippines. Flying P-38s and P-47s, men such as Dick Bong and Thomas McGuire won the Medal of Honor for...