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Aviation
Archaeology Books, Magazines, and Videos
Extra, Extra! Press Release!

Fatal Army Air Force Aviation Accidents in the United
States, 1941 - 1945
by Tony Mireles is now available. Covering over 7100
accidents it takes up THREE volumes!
Click here for ordering details!
By
Nicholas A. Veronico
• A complete guide on how to research and locate
aircraft wrecks
•Ten stories of crashed aircraft - thoroughly
researched, from California to North Carolina
•A chapter taking the reader from start to finish
in finding an aircraft
•Almost 500 aircraft crash sites listed by latitude
and longitude
•64 Black & White illustrations
The complete guide to researching, locating,
and possibly recovering aircraft wrecks. Wreck Chasing
is now being done by most major aviation museums in
an effort to acquire aircraft types that were once thought
to be non-existent. Also, many individuals are combining
aviation interest, research, and outdoor activities
such as hiking and camping in personal searches for
aviation history. Hundreds of aircraft crash sites,
some remote, some accessible, lay dotted across the
U.S. and Canada, many of them are rare vintage military
aircraft. This book provides the methods and techniques
from the start to guide you to and aircraft wreck. Much
of the book is devoted to a selection of stories by
individuals active in Wreck Chasing, who tell their
techniques and stories behind the aircraft they have
pursued. These include a B-24 bomber in Arizona, a P-63
Kingcobra in Oregon, and a Navy F2H jet fighter located
less than a mile from a busy thoroughfare in the San
Francisco Bay area. Also included are detailed appendices
with the known location of nearly 500 aircraft crash
sites listed by state. Included also are a selection
of photos showing actual crash sites, historical photos,
and examples of official records.
Published by Pacific Aero Press. 8.5"x11".
Softbound. 84 pages.
I
just manage to obtain five more copies. After they have
sold that is it!
See Shipping Charge
below
To order Wreckchasing, please send check or money order
for $30.00 + S&H to:
AAIR
7644 S. 15th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85041 |
By
Trey Brandt
This book details
the actual accounts of 20 military aircraft crashes
that occurred in the remote deserts and rugged highlands
of Arizona from 1942-1977. Each story looks into the
events leading up to and after the crash, and describes
what is left at the site today. These facts are corroborated
by newly-declassified, old government documents, personal
visits to the crash sites, and interviews with surviving
crewman and families.
The
book is a 6"x9" soft-cover format. It has 153 pages
with 130 b/w photos.
To Order, visit Trey's
Web site at:
http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/
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By
Gary Pat Macha & Don Jordan
•The 3rd Edition is greatly expanded with 27
detailed stories by Don Jordan
•Details on more than 1500 aircraft accidents
throughout California
• Date, aircraft type, serial number (if known),
location
• Find out what happened to occupants and why
plane crashed
• Historic and modern crashes from 1909 to 1996
• Resource Directory to help you with your research
• More than 350 photographs of California aircraft
accidents
The most complete guide to aircraft
wrecks in California, this book is a must for anyone
who is researching aircraft crashes or would like to
visit crash sites. Most listings have general directions
to the the sites and a narrative on why the plane crashed
and what happened to the pilot and other occupants.
It is organized by region and will serve as an excellent
starting point for your research and aviation archaeology
excursions.
Published by Info Net Publishing.
6"x9". Softbound. 528 pages.
To order Aircraft
Wrecks in the Mountains and Deserts of California,
please contact:
Don
Jordan
at his web
site: http://www.cyberlynk.com/djordan/
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Book
Review
Martyn
D. Tagg
Cultural Resources Manager
HQ Air Force Materiel Command
“Routine Training Flight:” The Legacy of World War II Aircraft Training
Accidents at Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico. Holloman
Air Force Base Cultural Resources Publication
7 (October 2000, Matthew Vandiver and William B. Boehm)
“As rifle fire shattered
the winter afternoon and Taps reverberated over snow covered hills,
residents. . .said goodbye to one of their own. . .[The]
mother received a letter of condolence from the office
of Henry “Hap” Arnold, commanding general of the Army
Air Forces. It
stated in part that her son had ‘lived up to the promise
of his training period and developed into a conscientious,
trustworthy pilot.’ ” This incident, as quoted from
George R. Herman’s “A Bad Day at Douglas Army Air Field”
(The Journal of Arizona History 36 (4),
1995, 379), was repeated over and over again throughout
the country during WWII as military aircrews died in
plane crashes while training for combat. As the daylight bombing campaign in Europe
reached its height, casualties mounted and replacement
crews were needed.
This resulted in shortened training schedules,
a large number of training-related aircraft crashes,
and crew fatalities as described by Herman: “The cost
of a conflict is often tallied in battle casualties.
But the enormity of mobilization for WW II can
also be seen in the observation that four years of war
claimed the lives of 14,900 airmen in 6,000 fatal crashes
of military aircraft within
the continental United States.
This one fatal day at Douglas [Army Air Field—referring
to a crash of four training planes in one day that claimed
six lives] was a microcosm of that larger sacrifice.” These stateside fatalities represent 12.5%
of the approximately 120,000 U.S. Army Air Forces casualties
during the war.
Alamogordo Army Air Field
(AAAF-- now Holloman Air Force Base) in southern New
Mexico was a Heavy and Very Heavy bomber training crew
base during WW II. Here, crews completed final flight training
in B-17s, B-24s, and B-29s before receiving overseas
assignments for the war in Europe and the Pacific.
These crews spent many hours in the classroom
at the base, as well as flying training missions throughout
the United States and over ranges such as the Alamogordo
Bombing and Gunnery Range.
As a training base, AAAF saw its share of tragedies
– in one month in 1943 over 100 airmen died in training-related
accidents! The authors determined that as many as
117 accidents occurred during “routine training flights”
that involved AAAF-based aircraft between 1942 (when
the base opened) through 1946 (when the last bomber
left). To
give the reader an impression of the risks inherent
to the aircrew before they even faced the enemy, in
78 crashes alone, 540 crewmembers were involved and
171 were fatally injured
This report, part of
the Holloman Air Force Base Cultural
Resource Publication series, documents the history
of the base and the associated bombing range during
WW II and details 78 of the 117 aircraft crashes that
occurred during that time (only those for which information
was located).
In addition to discussing the crashes, the authors
describe attempts to identify four crash sites that
have been found on the base.
The primary data was drawn from official crash
records (Report of Major Accident and Report of Aircraft Accident) located on
microfilm at the U.S. Air Force archives at Maxwell
Air Force Base, Georgia.
Interspersed with this data are reflections from
interviews with five veterans who served at AAAF during
the war. The
report is also illustrated with 24 historic photographs
and maps and 13 recent photographs of the four HAFB
crash sites.
There was nothing unique about
the training that took place at AAAF or the accidents
that occurred during this training.
These events were repeated many times over at
hundreds of other bases throughout the country. Thisreport documents the role of one such
base in the struggle against Fascism, and it is dedicated
to those who paid the ultimate price for that victory.
Copies of this report can be acquired by contacting
Holloman Air Force cultural resources manager, at
505-572-3931. I have been told this
book is no longer availible. |
By
Troy Turner •Features
almost 100 WWII accidents in Colorado.
•Detailed stories on the accidents.
• Photographs of the crash sites and the crew.
• Visit a crash site over 50 years later with
the survivors who remember those who didn't.
8.5"x11". Softbound. 130
pages.
Sold Out!
I am trying to get more in stock.
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By
Ian McLachlan
- •True
stories of courage and bravery behind the crash sites
- •Details
of the research and recoveries
- •More
than10 WWII crash sites in England
- •194
Black & White illustrations
A chronicle of aviation archaeology.
Final Flights gives the complete story of the excavation
of the sites as well as details behind the causes of
the crashes. In this book, you follow the author throughout
the entire process of documenting a site, from the initial
research to placing the artifacts in museums. Learn
the trials of gaining permission from land owners and
the Ministry of Defense as well as dealing with difficult
excavation environments, from the marshes of England
to live 500 pound bombs. Discover the excitement of
learning about our history through aviation archaeology.
Published by Haynes Publishing.
6-3/4"x 9-1/2". Hardbound. 256 pages.
To order Final
Flights, please contact:
Zenith
Books
(800) 826-6600
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By
Ian McLachlan
- •
Memories
are interwoven with fascinating examples of aviation
archaeology
Here
are 18 true life, moving illustrated accounts, never
before published, about USAAF airmen flying in England
during WWII. Some are the result of detailed research
into aviation crash sites, others the memories of those
lucky enough to survive the war, or from letters they
wrote home to loved ones at the time. There are dramatic
stories of spiraling dog-fights and appalling tragedies
that will shock the reader, but we also hear of more
mundane but no less vital everyday missions. Some stories
are brought right up to date more than 50 years later
with emotional reunions between airmen and their East
Anglian hosts.
Published by
Haynes Publishing. 6-3/4"x 9-1/2". Hardbound. 192 pages.
To
order Fighter Stories, please
contact:
Zenith
Books
(800) 826-6600
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By
Ian McLachlan
Previously
unpublished photographs rescued from destruction at
the end of WWII provide the basis for this gripping
collection of stories about the American 8th Air
Force based in East Anglia. Although the events in this
book happened over half a century ago, they are described
with such detail and urgency that the reader is left
with a feeling curiously affected. There are graphic
accounts of combat, collisions, battles against the
elements and human error. The author, with an eye for
human interest, puts over not only what the airmen did,
but how they felt too. Readers are trapped, struggling
inside the spinning bomber. They share the agony of
watching a broken fuselage spilling aircrew into space,
those without parachutes clutching the air with terrible
futility. But there were fun times too- happy recollections,
deftly described.
Published by
Haynes Publishing. 6-3/4"x 9-1/2". Hardbound. 224 pages.
To
order Bomber Stories, please
contact:
Zenith
Books
(800) 826-6600
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By
Ian McLachlan
Here
is the first full account of USAAF Mission 311 on 22
April 1944 when American Bombers suffered their highest
ever losses to German intruders. The book- which covers
many famous USAAF, RAF, and Luftwaffer units- describes
the ferocious action over Europe when the American Fortresses
and liberators attacked Germany's largest railway marshaling
yard at Hamm, and the subsequent carnage and confusion
over England as they limped home, covertly followed
by Luftwaffer fighters. Packed with powerful human interest
stories, aviation archaeology, history and technical
data. Night of the Intruders chronicles the
mission fully from the initial planning stage to its
bloody finale, untangling the facts behind what went
so horribly wrong.
Published by
Haynes Publishing. 6-3/4"x 9-1/2". Hardbound. 232 pages.
To
order Night of the Intruders,
please contact:
Zenith
Books
(800) 826-6600
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By
R. Scott Madsen
In The
Bomber Mountain Crash, Scott Madsen reconstructs
the strange tale of a young Army Air Force B-17 bomber
crew headed for England in June, 1943. An ironic sequence
of events join the youthful airmen in tragedy high in
Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains. It is a war story, a romance,
a mystery -- a TRUE story you won't soon forget.
It would
be great if all crash sites were documented this well!
Published by
Mountain Man Publishing. 5.5"x8.25". Softbound. 105
pages.
To
order The Bomber Mountain Crash: A Wyoming
Mystery, please contact:
Scott
Madsen at
his web site.(link dead)
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Lost
Birds Member Magazine
•Discover
Aviation Archaeology
•Exclusive
Photographs
•Visit
Remote Crash Sites
•New
Discoveries
•The
latest military and civil mishaps
•Relive
Historic Tragedies
Unfortunately Lost
Birds discontinued publishing their magazine. AAIR has
a few back issues for sale. E-mail us for more information.
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Videos
Pat Macha
has a video on the history of California aircraft mishaps.
For more information:
Info
Net Publishing
P.O. box 3789
San Clemente, CA 92674
(714) 489-9292
infonetpub@aol.com
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Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research.
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