Showcasing some of the most recognized and dynamic examples of aviation art ever produced, the paintings here appeared on model airplane kit boxes. Generations of hobbyists have enjoyed these colorful and inspiring paintings that graced model packaging in hobby shops. More than 170 of the most memorable examples are displayed in full color. They chronicle aviation history from the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk Flier to the Apollo Lunar Module, including many of the best-known aircraft in aviation history. Among the many artists whose works are portrayed are Tom Morgan, John Steel, Jack Leynnwood, Lorenzo Ghiglieri, Jim Cox, John Amendola, Ray Gaedke, Jo Kotula, and Dick Locher. In the well-researched text, these artists tell personal stories behind their art in their own words. This book will be treasured by aviation enthusiasts, model builders, and everyone who has fond memories of their model building days.

With "Air Power," a gifted writer pens an epic up-to-the-minute history of the airplane in combat--the pilots, the strategists, the weaponry, and the high-tech battles they increasingly dominate.

Aviation in the 20th Century changed the world forever, and this book portrays that history through art. In addition to more than 60 original fine art paintings of significant moments in aviation history are the dramatic and compelling personal stories of 30 renowned airmen who blazed new trails and accomplished many significant 'firsts' in American skies. Names like Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, Pete Everest, and Joe Engle grace this list. Add pilots like "Fitz" Fulton, Jack Broughton, and "Tex" Johnston, and you have a veritable "Who's Who" of America's greatest aviation legends. This book gives readers a special "behind-the-scenes" look at the actual process of how aviation art is made. Many projects are shown from the very first "back-of-the-napkin" sketch to the complex developmental steps leading to final engineering drawings and finished paintings. If you've ever wondered how aviation art is created, this book not only explains the process in detail, but shows how the pilots contribute to finished artwork as well. Through his award-winning artwork, Mike Machat has documented aviation for the past 40 years in ways never before seen, a process made possible by flying in many of the aircraft he painted, and developing life-long personal friendships with pilots of the aircraft he has preserved for history.

No single human invention has transformed war more than the airplane—not even the atomic bomb. Even before the Wright Brothers’ first flight, predictions abounded of the devastating and terrible consequences this new invention would have as an engine of war. Soaring over the battlefield, the airplane became an unstoppable force that left no spot on earth safe from attack. Drawing on combat memoirs, letters, diaries, archival records, museum collections, and eyewitness accounts by the men who fought—and the men who developed the breakthrough inventions and concepts—acclaimed author Stephen Budiansky weaves a vivid and dramatic account of the airplane’s revolutionary transformation of modern warfare. On the web: http://www.budiansky.com/

This history follows the development of the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force from its predecessor organization -the Assistant Secretary of War for Air during World War II-to its modem identity as one of three service secretariats within the Department of Defense. Watson vividly describes the influence of several Air Secretaries: Robert A. Lovett, W. Stuart Symington, Harold E. Talbott, and Eugene M Zuckert. Each made a personal contribution in defining and answering the military issues of the day, among them, the independence of the Air Force, the war in Korea, arguments over roles and missions, and nuclear strategy.