Combat in the Stratosphere by Steven Taylor (.ePUB)
File Size: 2.9 MB
Combat in the Stratosphere: Extreme Altitude Aircraft in Action During WW2 by Steven Taylor
Requirements: .ePUB reader, 2.9 MB | Version: Retail
Overview: The first book devoted exclusively to exploring the development and use of aircraft designed specifically for high-altitude operations in World War II.
In the summer of 1940, a new German aircraft began appearing in the skies over the British Isles. Unlike the rest of the Luftwaffe’s fleet in the Battle of Britain, these aircraft were flying at a height of 40,000 feet and higher – way beyond the reach of the RAF’s defending fighters.
These virtually untouchable intruders were examples of the Junkers Ju 86P. The world’s first operational combat aeroplane equipped with a pressurized cabin, they were able to reach a maximum altitude of 42,000 feet. The Ju 86P’s introduction ushered in a new era of aerial warfare, where combat would take place at previously unimaginable heights.
The Ju 86P was just one of many high-altitude aircraft projects developed by both the Axis and Allied powers during the Second World War. Others included the Vickers Wellington Mk.VI, Vickers Windsor, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Junkers Ju 388, Heinkel He 274 and Henschel Hs 130. With pressurized cabins, such aircraft offered obvious tactical advantages: bombers and reconnaissance aircraft could operate safely above the maximum ceiling of the opposing side’s fighters, prompting intense development – especially by the British and Germans – of pressurized interceptors to meet the threat they posed.
Genre: Non-Fiction > History
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