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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

Search our site for other combat planes. A- 1 Eaton A- 4 Skyhawk A- 6 & A- 7 Air Weapons AV- 8 to A- 10 A- 20 Havoc A- 22 Martin Maryland A- 23 Martin Baltimore A- 24 Douglas A- 26 Douglas Invader Attack Planes B- 2A, F-111, F-117 Stealth B- 17 Flying Fortress B- 24 Liberator B- 25 North American B- 26 Marauder B- 29 Superfortress B- 32 Dominator B- 35 Flying Wing B- 36 B- 47 Stratojet B- 50 Boeing B- 52 Stratofortress B- 57 Canberra B- 58 Hustler Biplanes Biplanes, Army Pursuits Bombers, B- 70 to Stealth Bombers, First Big Curtiss Falcon CO- 1 DH- 4 De Havilland F3D- Douglas Skyknight F3H- McDonnell Demon F4D- 1 Skyray F4F Grumman Wildcats F- 4U Corsair F6F Grumman F7F Grumman F7U Vought F9F G. Cougar F9F G. Panther F- 16 Fighting Falcon F- 84 F- 86 Sabre F- 89 to F-94 F- 100 to F-108 First Fighters Flying Boats GAX Iraq to Afghanistan Martin Bombers Missile Era Fighters Navy Fighers Navy Flying Boats O- 2 Douglas P- 35 Seversky P- 36 to 42 Curtiss P- 38 Lightning P- 39 Airacobra P- 40 Line P- 47 Thunderbolt P- 51 Mustang Fighter P- 61 Black Widow P- 63 Kingcobra P- 79 to P-81 P- 82 Twin Mustang SB2C Helldiver TBF-TBM Avenger Thomas-Morse Torpedo Planes V- 11 Vultee XB -28 XP -48 / 77

Air Weapons for the Cold War, 1946-1962

Atomic Bombs, Mk 5, Mk 6, Mk 7

Page 7

By the time John F. Kennedy became President in January 1961, early war plans had been replaced by the SIOP (Strategic Integrated Operating Plan) a continually updated force deployment program. This system required an accurate assessment of targets and hostile forces.

Version of Nagasaki's Fat Man

The 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing operated Air Force U-2s on many missions over the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, but the most important accomplishment was revealing the threat posed by the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Instead of the purported defensive systems, the secret Soviet buildup in Cuba included 60 ballistic missiles, accompanied by Il-28 jet bombers, 134 nuclear warheads, and 40,000 troops.

This unacceptable threat brought a catastrophic nuclear war closer than at any other time in history. The crisis ended with an agreement to remove offensive weapons from Cuba in exchange for a promise not to invade Cuba and to withdraw Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

Improved models of Lockheed's U-2 would continue to provide information on international situations for the rest of the century. As a non-combat type, its detailed history is not part of this book, but interested readers should see Norman Polmar's excellent study, SPYPLANE, (MBI Publishing: 2001). Mk 5

The Cold War reached a climax in 1962 with the Cuban Missile crisis. Other air power events that year included the end of Boeing bomber production, and establishment of the aircraft designation system that would be used for the remainder of the century. This book's last section will complete the story of Cold War air power development. Cold War Aircraft and Weapons development

Cold War Aircraft and Weapons development
From 1946 to 1962, combat planes evolved into the shape of contemporary aircraft, with gas turbine power plants, wings swept back for high speeds, and extensive electronics. These aircraft became much heavier and more expensive than their ancestors, consumed enormous amounts of fuel, but did have a much longer service life. Mk 6

A new system of stating aircraft performance was required by the increase in fuel weight. Combat weight, after fuel has been consumed to reach combat area, was selected as the point of measurement. At that weight, combat ceiling is that at which a fighter can climb at a rate of 500 feet per minute, or a bomber at 200 feet per minute.

Wartime research indicated that propeller-driven aircraft could not be expected to achieve speeds much beyond 500 mph. When information was received in 1941 on the British Whittle jet engine, General Electric began developing this centrifugal-flow gas turbine into the J31 and J33 units . Meanwhile, Westinghouse in 1943 developed an axial-flow turbine, the J34. Axial-flow units are smaller in diameter, but longer than the centrifugal-flow types. Their development led in 1953 to the Pratt & Whitney J57 used in the B-52 and in the F-100, the world's first supersonic fighter. By 1973, the same company was producing the F-100 turbofan power plant for Air Force fighters.

When a long endurance was required, such as the Navy's patrol and early warning types, propellers retained their place, now powered by turbojet engines with the propeller driven from the turbine shaft. The Allison T56 used on the P-3 Orion is the most successful example of these turboprop engines. Mk 7

Weapons
The most prominent weapons of the new generation were, of course, the atomic bombs. First tested at Alamogordo July 16, 1945, with a yield of 19 kilotons, was the "Fat Man," actually the 10,300-pound plutonium at Nagasaki.

The Mk III production version had so many faults that, after about 120 examples, it was replaced by the improved Mk 4 in 1949/50. A family of nuclear weapons developed in two directions; one to increase blast, and the other to provide smaller packages for smaller aircraft. Thus the first lightweight bomb, the 3,175-pound Mk 5, and the powerful 8,500-pound Mk 6 mass-produced for the heavy bombers. The basic Mk 6 shape evolved by 1954 into the 8,600-pound Mk 18, with 25 times the kiloton yield of the original "Fat Man."

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