A written record can only inadequately reflect the stories those old pilots who are still around will tell over a glass of wine.
This book represents an effort to preserve what can still be preserved of the human dimension-a less tangible but equally important element in black and white. It is not about the planes’ souls-which are the pilots and their memories. But much of this is only about metal, armaments, fabric, wood, and paint. Performance data and statistics and stories of their actions in the war can also help future generations understand these great war machines. There are many historians who research how they came to be designed and built and have learned some of the intrigues that surround them. And there are many curators, mechanics, and young pilots who know a great deal about the mechanics of how they function. Many of these fighters are still in great condition in museums or even flying. Our generation has been dying out progressively and with it the knowledge of how things really were-all those aspects that go beyond the metal bits and pieces that are called airplanes. There are only a very few of us left of the generation who actually flew the fighters like the Bf 109, the Fw 190, and especially the Me 262 during the war under combat conditions. USAAF 357th Fighter Group Me 262 Victory Creditsīritish RAF and Commonwealth Jet Claims/Victories Order of the Iron Cross and Knight’s Cross This book is dedicated to all the airmen from all nations who flew in World War II and never came home.Ĭertain proceeds from the sale of this book will support the Wounded Warrior Project and the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.Ĭorresponding German and Allied Air Force Ranks
Heaton Colin D.įrom the Pilots Who Flew, Fought, and Survived It
0 kommentar(er)
