Mariusz Lukasik Livres

The strategic bombing campaign during World War II played a crucial role in the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany, significantly impacting civilian life and industrial targets. British night raids and USAAF daylight missions devastated German cities, resulting in substantial civilian casualties. The evolution of military aircraft, driven by an arms race, enabled operations at higher altitudes, transitioning from reconnaissance to bombing and fighter missions. Early high-altitude flight posed challenges that necessitated advancements in pressurized cockpits and enhanced powerplants.

Focusing on the E variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane, this visual study delves into the aircraft's design, features, and historical significance. It includes detailed illustrations and photographs, providing enthusiasts and historians with an in-depth look at one of the most iconic fighters of its time. The publication highlights the technical advancements and variations within the E series, making it a valuable resource for aviation aficionados.

List of planes whose drawings are in the book: Hanschel Hs 123, Arado Ar 196, Messerschmitt Bf 109 A-D, Messerschmitt Bf 109 E, Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-B, Messerschmitt Bf 109 T, Messerschmitt Bf 109 F, Me 262 Schwalbe, Dornier Do 17/Do215, Curtis P-40, P-51 Mustang, SBD Dauntless, Ki 43 Hayabusa, Saab J29 Tunnan.

Aircraft described as flying wing have aroused interest of the designers since the early, pioneer years of aviation. This definition is used to describe aircraft with specific design solutions, allowing for resignation from conventional vertical and horizontal empennage and primarily from conventional fuselage. Virtually the whole airframe comprises only the wing, housing both the cockpit and powerplant. A sugroup of flying wings are tailless aircraft, differing from the traditional designs only in lack of horizontal empennage.18

This publication is mainly devoted to the Marks IX and XVI of Supermarine Spitfire. The 20 page, A4 size booklet contains 15 sheets of 1:72 scale drawings with specifications of external changes in various versions of the aircraft and color profiles of 5 planes, all with English and Polish captions. Also attached are 3 folded A2 size sheets with 1:32, 1:48 and 1:72 scale drawings printed on both sides. A masking foil sheet for painting the canopies of 1:32 Tamiya's Spitfire Mk. IXc is a free addition.

The Dornier Do 17 was one of the Luftwaffe's three main bomber types early in the war. Designed as a passenger and mail plane, the military version ultimately proved true. Its last version, powered by Bramo 323 radial engines was the Do 17 Z. Based directly on the Do 17 M airframe, it had a revised front fuselage section to improve the crew's working conditions in the form of a so-called "Waffenkopf" (armed head). A total of approximately 910 examples in several sub-variants, from Z-0 to Z-10 were built from early 1939 till mid-1940. These aircraft saw combat in Polish and French campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Balkan operations, the Russian campaign until 1942, and sporadically in the African campaign. The crews considered the Do 17 one of the most reliable aircraft and despite poor armor in their opinion it had good flight characteristics.

Douglas SBD Dauntless is one of the most popular American naval bombers of World War II era. The name Dauntless fits well to the aircraft's "personality". SBD was built with the aim of dive bombing, quickly nicknamed "helldiving". Interestingly, one of the successors of Dauntless - Curtiss SB2C - was officially named "Helldiver" SBD. During the next year many improvements were added, such as: self-sealing fuel tanks, stronger armament, and better electric installation. The most characteristic element was the airbrakes. They were mounted through almost the full length of the bottom wing and halves of the upper wings. Therefore the braking system was very effective at stabilizing the dive. The plane became a fully capable war machine. The most popular version was the SBD-5 with a 1200 HP Wright R-1820-60 radial engine. Almost 3,000 SBD-5 were produced. The plane took part in many important battles over the Pacific, but definitely the most significant were the Battle for Midway and the battle over the Guadalcanal. Dauntless' were solid and reliable planes and crews really liked them. They quickly gave it a special nickname made from the letters SBD - "Slow but Deadly". Today there are four air-worthy SBD's (all in the USA). 11 more are museum exhibits or undergoing restoration.

The decision to start the production of the Curtiss P-40 fighter was made primarily due to the relatively low airframe price and the possibility of launching it almost immediately (based on Curtiss P-36s ready fuselages). The P-40 did not have a turbocharger, but despite this the requirements were constantly increasing, especially when it comes to the maximum speed. It was requested to raise it by over 100 km/h (up to 580 km/h). It required a number of construction changes e.g. new exhaust pipes, new shape and size of the air intake to the carburetor at the top of the engine cover, moving forward the coolers under the nose. After the tests in the NACA wind tunnel it turned out that these changes were not enough. The plane underwent further aerodynamic refinements, using, among others, smooth riveting and retractable tail ring. In the end, the speed was 589 km/h at 4570 m, which gave the green light for serial production.

Petropavlovsk was part of the seven-ship unit of the Nikolaev type (project 1134B Berkut), which was a gas-turbine alternative design to the units of the project 1134A.