Name: Malmstrom Air Force Base
Brand: Lt. Col. George A. Larson USAF (Ret.)
SKU: 9781467105484
Price: 12.5 USD
Availability: InStock

Malmstrom Air Force Base

9781467105484

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

Malmstrom Air Force Base is located east of Great Falls, Montana. The base was activated as an operational Second Air Force training installation in 1942, when the first B-17 landed on Great Falls Army Air Force Base. B-17 combat crew training ended in October 1943, and Lend-Lease operations were begun to provide support to Russia during World War II. The base also served as the primary C-54 training site for Berlin Airlift aircrews. In 1954, the base was named after the 407th vice wing commander, Col. Einar Axel Malmstrom, who died in a T-33 crash. From 1954 to 1991, Strategic Air Command tankers were on the base, and in 1961, the 341st Missile Wing was activated and became the nation's first Minuteman ICBM wing, which continues today with the Minuteman III, one-third of the nation's land-based missile deterrent. Today, Malmstrom Air Force base is preparing to field the new Northrop Grumman Ground Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system, program to replace the decades-old Minuteman III.

Hill Air Force Base

9781467106436

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Dive into the military history of Hill Air Force Base as author George Larson explores why this base in northern Utah has played such an important role in supporting the conflicts in both World Wars as well as in Korea and Vietnam, and has helped to develop the United States Air Force into what it is today.

Hill Air Force Base is located 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was named in honor of Maj. Ployer Peter Hill, who was killed in a crash of a Boeing B-17 at Wright Field. In World War II, the base became a maintenance, supply, and temporary surplus aircraft storage depot. Hill supported US forces in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. It also became a maintenance and support facility for the Air Force's turbojet aircraft and missiles during the Cold War. One of the base's important missions is support for the Utah Test and Training Range. Currently, Hill Air Force Base has 78 F-35s assigned to the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings. Lt. Col. George A. Larson, USAF (Ret.), served more than 22 years as an intelligence officer. He is a military and aviation writer who has published numerous books and hundreds of magazine articles.

Grand Forks Air Force Base

9781467104081

$23.99 $12.00 Save 50%

In February 1952, the Air Force announced its plans to build Grand Forks Air Force Base to support Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers as well as Air Defense Command fighter-interceptors. On February 8, 1957, Air Defense Command activated the 486th Fighter Group on Grand Forks Air Force Base. In December 1957, the Air Force activated the Grand Forks Air Defense System of the North American Air Defense Command. This sector became operational with the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system to cover the air space of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota and one Canadian province (Manitoba). The first Boeing B-52H Stratofortress arrived on April 29, 1962. In 1983, the B-52Hs were replaced with B-52Gs, and on December 4, 1986, B-52Gs departed the base, replaced by B-1B Lancers in 1987. The 321st Strategic Missile Wing became operational to administrate, man, and operate the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in December 1966. The Air Force made the formal announcement that it would remove 150 Minuteman III ICBMs with the inactivation of the 321st on July 2, 1998. After that, the Detachment 1, 9th Reconnaissance Wing arrived with the Global Hawk.

Cover image for Grand Forks Air Force Base, isbn: 9781467104081

Glenn H. Curtiss

9780738505190

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Charles R. Mitchell tracks Curtiss's dizzying ride from a village bicycle shop to record-smashing motorcycle races and city building in the Florida land boom.

Glenn Curtiss beat even the Wright brothers (who sued him bitterly) to get pilot's license No. 1 in America. He teamed with Alexander Graham Bell, helped develop the moving wing part known as the aileron, introduced tricycle landing gear, made the first airplane sales, and turned aeronautics into a multimillion dollar business. His innovations ranged from the Curtiss Pusher to the hydroaeroplane, the flying boat, and the Curtiss Jenny. Curtiss, his engines, and his airplanes dominated the world of early aviation on this side of the Atlantic. Glenn H. Curtiss: Aviation Pioneer charts Curtiss's breakneck course across two continents, North America and Europe, setting speed and distance records, experimenting with military applications, always striving for a safer, faster airplane. Fostering both water flyers and shipboard landing, he became the Father of Naval Aviation. But even the skies were not wide enough for the busy brain of Curtiss.

Naval Air Station Wildwood

9780738572123

$24.99

Commissioned on April 1, 1943, Naval Air Station Wildwood trained thousands of U.S. Navy airmen during World War II. Located in southern New Jersey on a peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, the air station was perfectly sited to provide them with the over-water practice they needed for fighting the Japanese fleet in the western Pacific theater. Some of the war's most lethal bombers-Helldivers and TBM-3E Avengers among them-were flown by members of naval fighter, dive-bombing, and torpedo-bombing squadrons based at the station from 1943 until 1945. At least 42 airmen lost their lives while training at the station, but their deaths brought about improvements in airplane design and tactics. Today only a handful of the station's 126 original buildings remain; the largest of these, Hangar No. 1, has been restored to its original appearance and houses Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum.

Central Oregon Aviation

9781467106870

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This book will take readers back in time to the pioneering days of Central Oregon, when birdmen and barnstormers crisscrossed the skies in their Wright Flyers, Curtiss Jennys, and Ford Trimotors. In the early days, the dusty high desert airfields were home to flimsy airplanes. As air travel evolved from utilizing seat-of-the-pants construction to becoming a new mode of mass transportation, the Central Oregon region developed along with the technology. Over the next century, a dedicated group of visionaries--aviators and city officials--built a thriving economy around Redmond Municipal Airport. Today, this transportation hub, also known as Roberts Field, sees an average of 1 million passengers each year. It is complemented by smaller general aviation airports that are home to private and corporate pilots, as well as a flourishing aviation industry.

North Dakota Air National Guard

9781467109437

$23.99

The North Dakota Air National Guard's (NDANG) 119th Wing boasts an illustrious 60-year history of flying fighters. The NDANG can trace its roots back to the 392nd Fighter Squadron, which fell under the 367th Fighter Group. Many of its charter members began their careers in the Army Air Corps during World War II and brought their expertise and experience to their home station unit in Fargo, North Dakota. People like Alexander Macdonald had a hand in nearly every success from 1950 through the F-16 years as a pilot, commander, adjutant general, and then as a civilian advocate. Duane "Pappy" Larson is credited with being the namesake for the unit nickname "The Happy Hooligans." The 119th unit's history is a story about the people who achieved unprecedented accomplishments within the Air National Guard and, sometimes, even among the active duty US Air Force.