Air Force: A Pictorial History of American Airpower

248 Pages·1957·41.362 MB·English

by  Martin Caidin

U
PICTORIAL HISTORY AMERICAN AIRPOWER
OF
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MARTIN CAIDIN
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IN COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED STATES AIR FORGE
$10.00
AIR
A Pictorial History of American Airpower
MARTIN CAIDIN
In cooperation with the U. S. Air Force
Although several "firsts" distin-
—
guish this valuable — and handsome
volume, possibly the most important is
that this is the first book wholly con-
cerned with the exciting concept of air-
power; it is a book about airplanes,
aviation, and airmen only insofar as
they are related to the central theme of
American airpower. It is also the first
book done with the complete coopera-
tion of the U. S. Air Force and, coming
on the 50th anniversary of that organi-
zation, is a major contribution to the
literature of the conquest of the air.
Every single photograph in the
U. S. Air Force files in the Pentagon
(some 850,000) have been examined
by Mr. Caidin, plus thousands more
from the Institute of Aeronautical Sci-
ences and private and industrial collec-
tions. The result is the four hundred
photographs here—clear, startling and
dramatic. Only action photographs
have been used, whether of men or
machines.
(continued on back flap)
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FORCE
AIR
A Pictorial History of American Airpower
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THE LONG NIGHT VANGUARD! WORLDS IN SPACE
ROCKETS BEYOND THE EARTH ROCKETS & MISSILES: PAST & FUTURE
ZERO! (with M. Okumiya & J. Horikoshi)
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SAMURAI! (with S. Sakai & F. Saito)
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A
Pictorial History of American Airpower
MARTIN
By CAIDIN
In cooperation with tlie U. S. Air Force
RINEHART & COMPANY, INC. New York Toronto
for
Colonel "Chuck" Whitehead, USAF
AU6
m.-
Published simultaneously in Canada by
Clarke, Irwin & Company, Ltd., Toronto
©
1957 by Martin Caidin
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved
Layout by the author
Typography by Edwin H. Kaplin
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-6575
Foreword
AIR FORCE
is a pictorial documentation of fifty years of the development
of airpower within the United States Air Force and its preceding organiza-
tions. It is not a book about airplanes, or even about airplanes within the
We
Air Force. have presented here only those airplanes which made definite
and vital contributions to the development of airpower, either through their
application in war or as vehicles used in peacetime to develop the techniques
of air combat and to further a broader understanding of the proper use of
the aerial weapon.
The reader will find many historical photographs which are reproduced
here for the first time. Indeed, we have been unusually fortunate in being
able to demonstrate pictorially, for example, that virtually every method of
bombing attack employed by the AAF in World War II had been practiced
and developed before that war started.
We
have attempted to demonstrate the development and the use of the
airplane through the years not merely as a shooting and a bombing plat-
form, but as a iveapons system. Many of the photographs herein are not of
airplanes, but of the men who flew them, of the many branches of the vast
logistical army which enabled the weapons to be used. Airpower is a hand-
maiden to the man on the ground; it has always been so, and so it will
alway be.
The writer personally searched through every single file in the vast
USAF storage facility in the Pentagon. The historical files of the Institute
of Aeronautical Sciences were generously made available to the author.
Headquarters, USAF, requested its field organizations to participate in the
enormous research project which went into the making of air force, and
field OIS personnel performed a yeoman's job in forwarding material for
consideration in this book. Several private collections of historical photo-
graphs were opened for research, and the voluminous files of the major air-
craft companies were examined for additional material.
The contents of the book were studied in joint and lengthy conferences
by members of the Historical Division, Air University, USAF, by members
of air staff and policy divisions, Headquarters, USAF. Official records and
documents which have never been seen by the public eye were plumbed to
assure that air force woidd be the most authentic book possible on this
subject.
It would be difficult to list here all those persons and institutions whose
contributions and long hours of effort made this book possible. The author
wishes, however, to thank particularly Lt. Colonel Gordon C. Furbish,
Chief, Still Picture Section, Office of Information Services, for "bird-dog-
ging" much of the research effort. No two people worked harder than Mrs.
Margaret Abendschein and Mrs. B. L. Hardesty, PRSD, USAF, to complete
the Pentagon research work; their efforts were aided in no small degree by
Mr. Joseph L. Albright. Flizabeth Brown of the I. A. S. was more than gen-
erous in researching thousands of pictures for historical material, and special
thanks are due to Peter M. Bowers for his World War I research effort.
Captain James Sunderman, of the USAF Magazine and Book Branch, per-
formed invaluable service in attending to many research problems, and I am
particularly grateful for his assistance. Special thanks are due to Major Ray-
mond E. Houseman, who has w^orked with the writer for many years in
accumulating data and photographic material; to Major Keith M. Garrison,
who proved particularly adept at ferreting out rare material; and. Captain
Carl B. McCamish, who provided the writer with invaluable research mate-
A
rial not available in any other form. personal vote of thanks goes to
Stewart Richardson; and, above all, to my editor, Robert D. Loomis, who
was of enormous personal and professional assistance through every stage of
the project.
MARTIN CAIDIN
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