Archive for the 'Warbird Culture' category
Book Spotlight – A Higher Call by Adam Makos
January 13, 2013 9:02 pm
A Higher Call: An Inspirational True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
by Adam Makos
Description (from Amazon)
Four days before Christmas 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a 21-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. It was their first mission. Suddenly, a sleek, dark shape pulled up on the bomber’s tail—a German Messerschmitt fighter. Worse, the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber in the squeeze of a trigger. What happened next would defy imagination and later be called the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.
This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day—the American—2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown, a former farm boy from West Virginia who came to captain a B-17—and the German—2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler, a former airline pilot from Bavaria who sought to avoid fighting in World War II.
A Higher Call follows both Charlie and Franz’s harrowing missions. Charlie would face takeoffs in English fog over the flaming wreckage of his buddies’ planes, flak bursts so close they would light his cockpit, and packs of enemy fighters that would circle his plane like sharks. Franz would face sandstorms in the desert, a crash alone at sea, and the spectacle of 1,000 bombers each with eleven guns, waiting for his attack.
Ultimately, Charlie and Franz would stare across the frozen skies at one another. What happened between them, the American 8th Air Force would later classify as “top secret.” It was an act that Franz could never mention or else face a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search for one another, a last mission that could change their lives forever.
Available From AMAZON
![[Facebook]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[Reddit]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[Slashdot]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/slashdot.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.warbirds-online.org/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
My first flight sim… Blue Max for the Atari home computer
December 16, 2012 11:57 amBlue Max was the first “flight sim” I ever played. At the time my Atari 1200XL was one bad arsed machine and this was THE game. I love this game and spent 100s of hours playing it. Now I look back on it with fondness ever though it is quite ridiculous compared to modern games.
Video Source: RTFx
Palm Springs Air Museum Event
October 25, 2012 6:38 pm
Movie Spotlight: Paths Of Hate
September 6, 2012 2:54 pm
I just discovered this trailer on YouTube and found the animation style interesting. Check out the trailer below. This short film is available on DVD from Amazon and I have included a link below the trailer.
Available on Amazon.
Book Releases – September 2012
September 1, 2012 4:02 am
4 GROUP BOMBER COMMAND: An Operational Record
56th Fighter Group (Aviation Elite Units)
Famous Russian Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-22
Flyers Far Away: Australian Aircrews over Europe in World War II
Mission to Tokyo: The American Airmen Who Took the War to the Heart of Japan
Swashbucklers and Black Sheep: A Pictorial History of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II
Republic F-105 Thunderchief (Air Vanguard)
Unflinching Zeal: The Air Battles over France and Britain, May-October 1940
Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft (Stackpole Military Photo Series)
Fortress (2012)
1:14 amI watch this movie and if you want hyper realism then you probably should look elsewhere. For a low budget independant film the CGI isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. It is about on par with the old Dogfights tv series. Put that aside though and you have a pretty descent story about a B-17 Bomber crew flying sorties out of North Africa in 1943. I think it’s worth watching but don’t get your expectations too high.
Book Releases for August 2012
August 1, 2012 4:01 am
Blue Moon over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance during the Cuban Missile Crisis (General Aviation)
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet & EA-18G Growler: A Developmental and Operational History
FLYING CATALINAS: The Consoldiated PBY Catalina in WWII
HEROES AND LANDMARKS OF BRITISH MILITARY AVIATION: The first 50 years: From Airship to Jet Fighter
JET AGE MAN: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War
Junkers Ju87: From Dive-Bomber to Tank-Buster 1935-1945
LIBERATOR: THE CONSOLIDATED B-24
LOCKHEED P-38 J-L LIGHTNING
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Manual: 1964 onwards (all marks) (Owners Workshop Manual)
No Empty Chairs: The Short and Heroic Lives of the Young Aviators Who Fought and Died in the First World War
SECRETS OF THE SPITFIRE: The Story of Beverley Shenstone, The Man Who Perfected the Elliptical Wing
Soviet Hurricane Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces)
Valiant Units of the Cold War (Combat Aircraft)
Book Spotlight
July 22, 2012 4:33 pm
Flying Black Ponies: The Navy’s Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam
By Kit Lavell
The tragic, the comic, the terrifying, the poignant are all part of the story of the Black Pony pilots who distinguished themselves in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. Flying their turboprop Broncos down and dirty, low and slow, they killed more of the enemy and saved more allied lives with close-air support than all the other naval squadrons combined during the three years they saw action. Author Kit Lavell was part of this squadron of black sheep given a chance to make something of themselves flying these dangerous missions. The U.S. Navy’s only land-based attack squadron, Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) flew support missions for the counter insurgency forces, SEALs, and allied units in borrowed, propeller-driven OV-10s. For fixed-wing aircraft they were dangerous, unorthodox missions, a fact readers quickly come to appreciate.
Out on DVD… Red Tails (2012)
July 12, 2012 8:40 pm
Amazon Product Description:
Academy Awardr Winner Cuba Gooding Jr.* and Academy Awardr Nominee Terrence Howard** lead a powerful ensemble cast in this high-flying epic inspired by the real-life adventures of the first African-American combat unit to serve in World War II. Italy, 1944. As the war takes its toll on Allied forces in Europe, a squadron of black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen are finally given the chance to prove themselves in the sky…even as they battle discrimination on the ground. Featuring jaw-dropping aerial action and thrilling special effects, Red Tails is a breathtaking tribute to the unsung heroes who rose above extraordinary challenges and ultimately soared into history.
For the DIY SR-71 Blackbird owner
July 8, 2012 8:07 pmTrying to get your SR-71 airborne again? This manual is for you! Personally I think this line of books is quite interesting and is starting to include fictional vehicles such as the Millennium Falcon and starship U.S.S. Enterprise in list of available subjects.
