Kev Darling – författare

This is the story of British naval flying from aircraft carriers, from its conception in World War One to the present day. It includes the types of aircraft and the men who flew them, the carriers and the evolution of their designs, the theatres of war in which they served and their notable achievements and tragedies. It traces navy flying from the early days of the biplane, through the rapid developments during World War Two to the post-war introduction of jet-powered flight. The British inventions of the angled flight deck and later vertical landing jets revolutionised sea warfare and allowed the carrier to play a vital part in many recent land wars when naval aircraft flew in support of Allied land forces.Although the British carriers have always been smaller than their American counterparts, the Royal Navy and its aircraft have always been in the van of the development of ships and aircraft. This is the proud history of British Naval flying and ships such as HMS Eagle, HMS Hermes, HMS Glorious, HMS Ark Royal and many more.

This is the story of British naval flying from aircraft carriers, from its conception in World War One to the present day. It includes the types of aircraft and the men who flew them, the carriers and the evolution of their designs, the theatres of war in which they served and their notable achievements and tragedies. It traces navy flying from the early days of the biplane, through the rapid developments during World War Two to the post-war introduction of jet-powered flight. The British inventions of the angled flight deck and later vertical landing jets revolutionised sea warfare and allowed the carrier to play a vital part in many recent land wars when naval aircraft flew in support of Allied land forces.Although the British carriers have always been smaller than their American counterparts, the Royal Navy and its aircraft have always been in the van of the development of ships and aircraft. This is the proud history of British Naval flying and ships such as HMS Eagle, HMS Hermes, HMS Glorious, HMS Ark Royal and many more.

The Douglas SBD Dauntless earned itself a reputation as a great dive bomber even though its antecedents were very much of pre-war origin. Many nicknames were given to the SBD during its time in frontline service, my own personal favourite is 'slow but deadly'. The original concept was developed by Jack Northrop with some help from Ed Heinemann. The resultant aircraft, the BT-1, had quite a few faults that would be rectified when the SBD-1 appeared. Very much a pre-production model the remainder of this first contract was completed as the SBD-2 and had few improvements over the earlier machines. It took the appearance of the SBD-3 to create a more warlike machine that incorporated self-sealing fuel tanks, armour plating and improved armament. Each version thereafter showed some improvement, the final version, the SBD-6, being the best of all. The USAAF also used a version of the Dauntless, this being the A-24 Banshee. The only difference between the two models was the lack of naval equipment for carrier operation otherwise it was the same. Unfortunately by the time the SBD-6 appeared the frontline career of the Dauntless was over. However, the Dauntless and its land equivalent the Banshee had other careers with the Royal Navy, the French Air Force and Navy, Chile and Mexico. 104 pages

This book covers all aspects of the operations made by US aircraft carriers, from their introduction into service during WW1 to the continuing conflicts in the Middle East. America's part in WW1 saw the deployment of US Navy aircraft operating from coastal bases - mainly Curtiss flying boats. In the immediate postwar period the first aircraft carriers were commissioned; Langley, Saratoga and Lexington. After the wreckage had settled in the mud of Pearl Harbor, US Navy fighters engaged the Japanese for the first time at Wake Island. Japan continued its conquest of the Pacific countries and Islands throughout 1941. The USN then went on the offensive when two carriers attacked the Gilbert-Marshall Islands, and the Doolittle raid against Japan was launched from USS Hornet. During the Battle of Coral Sea the US Navy achieved a significant victory. Meanwhile in the Atlantic, US Carriers including Wasp and Ranger undertook escort duties across Atlantic. The latter also helped with the supply of Spitfires to Malta.Post WW2 actions included the War in Korea when the US Navy deployed for operations covering combat on both the east and west coasts. During the War over Vietnam USMC and US Navy aircraft were deployed from carriers against targets in North and South Vietnam. Most recent carrier deployments include both Gulf Wars and continuing middle-eastern conflicts.Appendices include technical details of USN carriers and the aircraft types flown.

In 1968 a decision was made to combine the RAF Commands that had become famous in World War Two. Thus Fighter,Bomber, Coastal, Air Support and Signals Commands were combined into the single Strike Command. This amalgamation was to see service throughout the remaining years of the Cold War and action in the Falklands and the Middle East in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Granby.This book looks at the origins of the World War Two Commands and their outline histories until 1968. The organizational change caused re-equipment, base changes and increasing economic constraints – an all-too familiar story. The Royal Navy was now responsible for the UK’s nuclear deterrent in the form of their Polaris submarines, so the RAF’s V-Bomber Force were now relegated to tanker operations, with the exception of the lone Vulcan that was sent to the Falklands conflict. The Commands fleet of fast jets became more adaptable, with single types able to assume the roles of fighter, bomber,reconnaissance and maritime attack. The aircraft also become multinational in their design and manufacture as Britain’s postwar lead in aircraft design had been frittered away by years of thoughtless government and our aircraft manufacturing devolved into a single company. Apart from the brilliant Harrier which the US continues to develop and build, other aircraft flown by the Command were from European syndicates, the Tornado and Jaguar being examples. The US supplied the transports in the form of the faithful Hercules and Europe most of the helicopter fleet.This book looks at the operations that took place during Strike Commands existence, the aircraft they flew and the men who flew them. It is a tribute to the fast-dwindling strike power of the Royal Air Force.

Bringing together numerous untried technologies the Boeing Aircraft Company launched its most significant bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. Although beset by development problems and having suffered the loss of the prototype and its Chief Test Pilot Eddie Allan, the company pushed on to create the first long-range strategic bombers. Once the Pacific Islands had been captured the B-29 Bomb Groups began bombing raids on the Japanese Home Islands. On the other side of the Himalayas further bomb groups launched attacks against targets in Japan. As combat experience grew the focus turned to destroying as much as possible of its production facilities, mainly by firebombing areas known to have these targets.

Derived from the earlier Curtiss 75 Hawk the P-40 Warhawk was an attempt to update the original design for more modern warfare. Unfortunately the aircraft that first emerged was seriously underpowered, undergunned and suffering from stability problems. Although not an auspicious start for a fighter design the Curtiss engineers and those of Allison, the engine builders, finally resulted in an aircraft that was worthy of the appellation fighter. While the P-40 would never really gain the fame of other aircraft destined to play their roles in the forthcoming global conflict it would carve out a niches for itself in the deserts of Arabia, the icy Arctic and across the Pacific. Thus in the hands of experienced pilots determined to wring the best out of tools to hand the P-40 was more than able to match the best that the enemy could throw at it. The first claim to fame for the P-40 was with the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers created to support the Chinese Government in repulsing the Japanese invaders. Sporting shark mouths on the nose panels these early aircraft, sometimes working in desperate conditions, repulsed the invaders with great skill and held them at bay until America joined the war.

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was one of those aircraft that was either loved or hated, there was no middle ground. Forged in a hurry for the forthcoming war the Helldiver was designed in a hurry and built by mostly underskilled personnel while being bombarded by the customer with their extra changes and demands. Despite this pressure Curtiss managed to produce a prototype that flew, even though it would soon reveal strength and build problems. The first production model, the Dash-1, was beset by many problems that saw one carrier captain demanding that the Helldivers be removed and the offloaded Douglas Dauntless dive-bombers be reinstated. From the SB2C-3 onwards, after undergoing a full modification programme, a competent combat aircraft would emerge.