- ARCHITECTURE / Buildings / Public, Commercial & Industrial
- HISTORY / Military / Aviation
- HISTORY / Military / Vietnam War
- HISTORY / Military / World War II
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Pacific Northwest (OR, WA)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Aerial
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional (see also TRAVEL / Pictorials)
- TRANSPORTATION / Aviation / History
- TRAVEL / United States / South / West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
- ARCHITECTURE / Buildings / Public, Commercial & Industrial
- HISTORY / Military / Aviation
- HISTORY / Military / Vietnam War
- HISTORY / Military / World War II
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Pacific Northwest (OR, WA)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
- HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Aerial
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
- PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional (see also TRAVEL / Pictorials)
- TRANSPORTATION / Aviation / History
- TRAVEL / United States / South / West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)
Helicopter Training at Fort Wolters: Mineral Wells and the Vietnam War
9781467161473
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%Originally a World War II infantry training center, followed by a brief stint as a US Air Force base, Camp Wolters was redesignated a US Army installation in July 1956, and its primary mission was to train helicopter pilots.
Mineral Wells offered an ideal climate and terrain for flight training with predominately clear skies, rolling open ranch land, high bluffs, and the Brazos River valley. An integral part of Mineral Wells’ economy, the flight school expanded in the 1960s due to escalation of the Vietnam War. During the war, with the exception of the US Navy, all helicopter pilots receiving primary flight training passed through Fort Wolters. During its 17 years of operation, over 40,000 pilots were trained, which included international students from 33 countries. The last Fort Wolters pilots graduated in 1973, and it was formally closed in 1975 and was converted into an industrial center.
Wes J. Sheffield is an aviation/aerospace professional and historian. He has taught history at Dallas Baptist University and is an active member of the West Texas Historical Association, serving as the organization’s social media editor. His interest in Fort Wolters began while employed with Bell Helicopter, where he met and later interviewed former Vietnam War helicopter pilots while writing a narrative history of Fort Wolters, US Army Helicopter School.
Dallas Love Field
9781467160599
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
Aviation in Reading and Berks County
9781467103220
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%How a Pennsylvania town and county's aviation journey began with a balloon ascension and eventually matured into the site of the country's largest air show.
Author, pilot and Reading native Michael J. Floriani shows how Berks Countians began embracing aviation when balloonist pioneer John Wise held his first balloon ascension in Reading in August 1836. In 1912, Charles Walsh became an instant celebrity when he was the first person to fly among thousands of spectators. After World War I, barnstormers landed surplus military planes on fields that once populated Reading, and Whander Field became the first airport in Pennsylvania to accommodate Reading Airways - the state's first commercial airline. Visionaries like Eddie Nibur, Alfred M. Bertolet, and J. Harding Breithaupt made significant aviation contributions, building flight training, charter operations, and general aviation empires, while Boyertown's Gen. Carl Spaatz served as commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe during World War II. As aviation matured, Reading Airport became the county's first municipal airport and the site of the nation's largest air show throughout the 1970s. Today, new industries provide opportunities for Berks County to lead aviation into the 21st century and build upon the rich heritage that already exists.
Ellington Field
9781467104807
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
9781467130400
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
A History of Chicago's O'Hare Airport
9781609494346
Regular price $21.99 Sale price $16.49 Save 25%The history of one of the most important airports in the US comes to life in over 150 historical photos.
In 1942, a stretch of Illinois prairie that had served as a battleground and a railroad depot became the site of a major manufacturing plant, producing Douglas C-54 Skymasters for World War II. Less than twenty years later, that plot of land boasted the biggest and busiest airport in the world. Many of the millions who have since passed through it have likely only regarded it as a place between cities. But for people like Michael Branigan, who has spent years on its tarmac, they know that O'Hare is a city unto itself, with a fascinating history of gangsters and heroes, mayors, presidents and pilots.
Liberal Army Airfield
9781467162289
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%The southwest corner of Kansas was once home to Liberal Army Airfield. For 27 months, from April 1943 to September 1945, the desolate plains of Kansas were alive with the deep throaty roar of the B-24 Liberator.
The Liberal Army Airfield trained approximately one-quarter of all B-24 commanders. Residents of the area recall few days and nights in which they did not hear the familiar roar of the big Pratt & Whitney engines flying overhead. What was once a wheat field, a symbol of peace, became thousands of feet of concrete runways used to train pilots for vital World War II missions. To this day, many of the runways and structures of the base still survive. Years have passed since the inception and closure of the base, but its history will always be a part of Liberal, Kansas.
Lidia Hook-Gray was born in Liberal and raised in the adjacent Oklahoma Panhandle. A local history buff, she has always been intrigued by the Liberal Army Airfield, the big B-24s, the people that came to the base, and their stories. Hook-Gray is also the author of Liberal and Seward County. Connie Gray-Bowman was born in Liberal. Her father, Herbert Gray, flew 52 combat missions as a nose gunner on a B-24 with the 454th Bombardment Group, the Tailwind Crew. His last assignment was stationed at the Liberal base, where he met his wife at a USO dance.
The Secret Genesis of Area 51
9781467138055
Regular price $21.99 Sale price $16.49 Save 25%
Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT
9781467127431
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%The heroic actions of one marine group's impact on World War II is captured through testimony and nearly 200 rare and historic images.
Marine Air Group 25 was a pioneering combat air transport unit that entered overseas service during the Guadalcanal campaign in September 1942, helping to achieve the first American offensive victory of the war in the Pacific. It quickly gained fame for its rapid delivery of vital supplies and its lifesaving evacuation of casualties. During the fight for Guadalcanal, Marine Air Group 25 became the nucleus of the joint-service SOPAC (South Pacific) Combat Air Transport Command, or SCAT, partnering with troop carrier and medical units of the US Army Air Forces. SCAT would continue to play a crucial role in subsequent Allied operations throughout the Solomon Islands, including the battles for New Georgia and Bougainville. After SCAT was dissolved in February 1945, Marine Air Group 25 continued its mission in the Philippines and then Northern China until being deactivated in 1946. In 1950, the group was reactivated, seeing further service during the Korean War.
Massachusetts Aviation
9781467124027
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%
Oregon Airfields during World War II
9781467162401
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%The US Army and US Navy both decided that Oregon would be a great location for numerous airfields in support of training and positioning of air crews.
Oregon is not the first state that comes to mind when discussing military bases and active-duty military. During World War II, however, this was not the case. From bombers to fighters and even some balloons, Oregon’s skies were filled with aircraft. Most of these bases have either been lost to time or transformed into civilian airports. Explore the rich history of Oregon’s World War II airfields by taking a step back in time.
Historian Andretta Schellinger has lived in Oregon the majority of her life. She has two bachelor’s degrees from Pacific University in history and sociology and a master’s degree in military and diplomatic studies from Hawaii Pacific University. While living in Hawaii, she worked at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) as an archivist. She now owns Schellinger Research, based in Central Oregon, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and numerous animals. She is the author of three books and specializes in cultural history.