Take to the skies and discover the soaring history of the United States Air Force! Explore its unusual beginnings, its key role in World War I and World War II, the pilots and airmen who gave everything for the service, and its role in conflict management and peacekeeping. Get the inside stories of Medal of Honor winning heroes, recordbreaking daredevils, and the inventors of modern technologies. Plus get an in-depth look into the cockpits of some of the USAF's most iconic planes, and their role in keeping America - and the world - safe for years to come.
WELCOME
AIM HIGH… FLY-FIGHT-WIN • The US Air Force, created officially in 1947, continues as a frontline component of MILITARY DEFENCE for the United States and the free world
Air Force to Space Force
AERONAUTICS AND AVIATORS • The earliest stirrings of a DEDICATED US AIR FORCE occurred during the Civil War and steadily grew at the turn of the 20th century
Eddie Rickenbacker • Proving he wouldn’t ask his pilots to do anything he wouldn’t do himself, this lieutenant flew a solo mission over Billy, France, on 25 SEPTEMBER 1918, taking on SEVEN ENEMY PLANES
THE AIR SERVICE • The fledgling Aviation Section of the Signal Corps earned COMBAT EXPERIENCE IN WORLD WAR I and expanded into the US Army Air Corps by the 1940s
Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold • One of America’s first military aviators, Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold was AN ACCLAIMED PILOT and led US air forces DURING WORLD WAR II
Fear of Flying • Shaken by numerous aerial mishaps, Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold once grounded himself and took a leave of absence
What’s in a Name? • Known to history as ‘Hap’, General Henry H Arnold embraced the nickname later in his military career
THE DOOLITTLE RAID • On 18 April 1942, American bombers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle took off from the USS Hornet. THEIR TARGET: TOKYO. THEIR MISSION: AVENGE PEARL HARBOR
THE FLYING TIGERS • How the OUTNUMBERED FIGHTER ACES of the American Volunteer Group DEFIED IMPERIAL JAPAN in war-torn China
CBI air rage • Flying Tiger pilots in their Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters fought superior numbers of Japanese planes above China and Burma
Curtiss P-40 • The warbirds of the AVG may be remembered for their iconic nose art, but it took more than graphic design to win the air war for Chinese freedom
Christmas combat • The first Flying Tiger missions were flown on 8 December 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. Perhaps the most dramatic engagement of the Flying Tigers’ brief combat history took place on Christmas Day, 1941
TIGER Roll CALL • A number of Flying Tiger pilots achieved success during and after their days with the famous fighter group
THE MIGHTY EIGHTH OVER EUROPE • Sometimes called the ‘MASTERS OF THE AIR’, American bomber crews faced terrible conditions to win the air war over occupied Europe
The Bloody 100th
Reverse Lend-Lease
Over-sexed, over-paid and over here
THE LEGENDARY RED TAILS • The Tuskegee Airmen overcame enemies at home and abroad to become AMERICA’S ONLY ALL-BLACK FIGHTER GROUP during World War II
Being black in Britain • The British took a very different approach to Black and ethnic minority personnel
The Tuskegee bomber boys • Less famous than the legendary Red Tails, there was also a Black Bomb Group
NORTH AMERICAN P-51 MUSTANG • Despite an unpromising start, the Mustang became a WORLD-CLASS FIGHTER and the aircraft that DESTROYED THE LUFTWAFFE
Chuck Yeager • The man who made history by BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
A LIFE’S WORK • The journey to becoming the ‘Fastest Man Alive’
TARGET RED • Created in 1947 as the Cold War emerged, the US Air Force was heavily engaged in the next...