Perhaps the most seaworthy flying boat ever built, the elegant, tri-motor Dornier Do 24 served with both the Allied and Axis forces in very different parts of the globe during World War II, garnering an excellent reputation along the way This study uses archival records, first-hand accounts and revealing photographs to illuminate the combat career of this remarkable aircraft for the first time in English. 
The German-built Do 24 was the Netherlands Navy's principal aerial asset during the Japanese invasion of the East Indies. While the survivors of that ordeal served in the Australian Air force, in occupied Holland and France production continued swiftly and the Do 24 equipped the German Air-Sea rescue service, whose crews loved and respected the machine. The type witnessed the rise and fall of the Luftwaffe over all the European seas, took part in the desperate evacuations of Wehrmacht troops on the Baltic in the face of the overwhelming Soviet advance, and was pressed out of service only with the withdrawal of Spanish Do 24s in 1969. 
This volume tells the long and eventful story of the faithful Do 24 in full.

Dornier Do 24 Units (Combat Aircraft, 110)

History

Jong, Peter de

Europe

Osprey_Publishing

A detailed study of the attractive Arado Ar 196, one of the last fighting seaplanes. It was the standard seagoing aircraft for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II, providing the Luftwaffe with reach into the southern oceans. Beating its biplane rivals in a 1936 Reich Air Ministry design competition, the Arado Ar 196 provided the Kriegsmarine with possibly the best shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II. Replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane as the standard catapult-launched floatplane embarked on the Kriegsmarine's capital ships, the Ar 196 flew an assortment of combat missions during World War II, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissance, and convoy escort sorties. The first vessel to take its Ar 196A-1s to sea was the pocket battleshipGraf Spee, which embarked two in the autumn of 1939. The battleshipsBismarck andTirpitz could carry six Arados each, the battlecruisersGneisenau andScharnhorst four, and smaller pocket battleships and cruisers two. Shore-based aircraft were also operated from coastal ports on the Channel, Baltic, North Sea, and Bay of Biscay coasts, as well as in the Balkans and Mediterranean. In this title, supported by an excellent selection of photographs and full-color illustrations, Peter de Jong explores the history of the Arado Ar 196, detailing their development and assessing the combat capabilities of one of the last fighting seaplanes.

Arado Ar 196 Units in Combat (Combat Aircraft)

Entering service with the Dutch air force from early 1938, the aircraft was also built under license in Denmark and Finland. Production was also scheduled to commence in Spain too but Nationalist forces overran the factory before this commenced. The Dutch D.XXIs saw less than a week of action following the German invasion of the west on 10 May 1940, with many of the country's 28 fighters being destroyed on the ground. However, those that survived the initial onslaught inflicted losses on the Luftwaffe, 15 pilots sharing in the destruction of 14 German aircraft (fighters, bombers and transports). By then, however, the D.XXI had found everlasting fame in Finland during the Winter War of 1939-40. Proving itself a real thorn in the side of the Soviets, the fighter, operating in primitive conditions and against vastly superior numbers, Finnish D.XXIs racked up an incredible score against the Red Air Force, and in particular its bomber units. No fewer than ten pilots became aces during this brief, but bloody, campaign, with a similar number claiming four victories and subsequently 'making ace' in later types. The sturdy D.XXI was highly rated by the leading Finnish pilots of the time, boasting a good rate of climb and the ability to break off combat when required thanks to its high speed in a dive. The D.XXI also has the distinction of producing the first 'ace in a single mission' in World War 2, when then 1Lt Jorma Sarvanto shot down six Ilyushin DB-3 bombers on 6 January 1940. After spending a year providing home defence and flying coastal patrols during the early stages of the Continuation War in 1941, all surviving Finnish Fokker D.XXIs were relegated to the reconnaissance role, which they performed through to the end of hostilities in September 1944.

Fokker D.XXI Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces, 112)

Stenman, Kari

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Books by Jong, Peter de

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jong, Peter de. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dornier Do 24 Units (Combat Aircraft, 110)

Arado Ar 196 Units in Combat (Combat Aircraft)

Fokker D.XXI Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces, 112)