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William Wolf
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U.S. Aerial Armament in World War II: The Ultimate Look, Vol. 1 - Guns, Ammunition, and Turrets Hardcover – July 24, 2009

by William Wolf (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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Following his previous “Ultimate Look” volumes on the B-29, B-32, B-18, and B-25, Wolf has written the definitive book on U.S. aerial armament in World War II. Drawing from his extensive library, microfilm archives, and technical manuals Wolf covers aerial machine guns and cannon; a discussion of the machine gun vs. cannon controversy, ammunition; gunsights; gun cameras; search radar and radar gunsights; Central Fire Control systems and remote sighting; an extensive section on the development, installation, and description of the numerous bomber turret and non-turret gun positions; fighter aircraft armament; gunnery training; bomber and fighter air-to-air and strafing gunnery tactics; fighter and bomber gunnery “aces;” and a survey of the armament installations on all World War II U.S. fighters and bombers. Each topic is introduced by a history of its development and manufacture, followed by a detailed description and pictorial of the weapon, its installation, and use.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Schiffer Military History
  4. Publication date
    July 24, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    8.8 x 1.5 x 11.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    076433235X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0764332357
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. William Wolf is a retired dentist whose passion is WWII air combat. He has over 22,000 books and three miles of microfilm on WWII in his library, and is the author of many books and numerous articles on WWII aviation history.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Schiffer Military History; 1st edition (July 24, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 076433235X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764332357
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.8 x 1.5 x 11.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
23 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Just what he wanted
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
My husband had seen these titles at Dayton Air Force museum. He was concerned he would not find them, checked on Amazon and found them. Also excellent condition. Very pleased.
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ZVON
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Coverage
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2010
Verified Purchase
This book offers superb coverage, with plenty of photos and drawings, of American aerial armament in WWII. The first of a projected three volume series on American aerial armament in WWII, it covers machine guns and cannons and everything related to them. The book has detailed coverage of the guns, ammo, turrets, gunsights, fire control, gun laying radar etc. All sections of the book are extremely well illustrated with photos and drawings often taken from WWII manuals. Its the most detailed book currently available on this subject area.
My only criticism of the book is minor, there are a few photos that are turned on there side, ex. the tail guns of a B-29. This is annoying, but I suspect it is the fault of the editors/publisher, not the author. I am looking forward to the other two volumes of the series.
8 people found this helpful
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matt8386
4.0 out of 5 stars Single Source Book for Weapons, Ammo & Turrets in WW2
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2011
Verified Purchase
I saw other reviews of this book, finding a thread of posts between author Wolf and a critic. Reading those posts lessen the credibility of the author almost to the point where I sent the book back in protest. However, it's a pretty darn good book and will stay in my library. It is what I wanted, a comprehensive, very detailed technical look at how the US Air Force armed their planes for attack and defense.

1/3 of the book addresses aircraft guns from rifle caliber to cannon. A brief history from WW1 through 1941, and then excellent detail about .30 and .50 caliber machine guns, the ammo used, characteristics specifications as well as the technical data on the weapons. A lot of the text, photos, and line drawings are straight from the technical or field manuals. Narrative tells the reader how to operate, clean, disassemble, and maintain the weapons.

Parts 4&5 (76 pages) review gunsights, fire control and then my favorite section - Bomber armament & turrets 150 pages worth of information, drawings, statistics, history, facts, data, photos...including how to operate the turrets! Fighters, heavy & medium bombers and naval planes are discussed. The B-24 and B-17 get the most attention, but the B-25, A-26, PBY Catalina and others are included as well. The last section of the book covers training, tactics, capabilities. There are some photos that are upside down. I am not an arms expert, so if there are any technical errors included, it is not something that I'd pick up on. Since I am not building a .30 or .50 caliber weapon, nor trying to maintain one, that's ok. Seeing these weapons again in such detail brought back fond memories.

Two things that would have made this book a five star book - color photos of the restored planes. It is unbelievable how much more you can see & visualize with color. There are good B&W pix of restored planes here, but check out the Squadron Signal Walk Around Series or Martin Bowman's B-24 Combat Missions to see the difference. The other observation - as the war progressed, gun turrets changed - it would have been very helpful to have a chart showing each plane with what version of gun turret was being used where and when. The info is in the text, just seeing it in a chart makes it easier to track.

Four stars - for the price, I think it should have more color photos of the turret. Having said that, this is an excellent, single source book on many different planes, turrets, weapons used in WW2. This is very much a nuts and bolts, down to each nut and bolt book. For serious, hard core aviation aficionado's, this is a real treat.
7 people found this helpful
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Ralph Coles
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book ...ten out of ten
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2010
Verified Purchase
I received this book last week ,along with his other gem,bombs,bombsights and bombing.The other book is good as well but this one is more my cup of tea.It was loaded with data,pics,sketches and diagrams.I have only skimmed through but I know i will enjoy it as it is rather detailed and very well organized into chapters.It encompasses just about every aspect about gunnery from nomenclature right through to the battle tested aircraft.In fact,even ancillary info about protective clothing is included as it affects the usage of said devices.The attention to detail is excellent and in particular,the trials and prototype weapons and aircraft is what I find most interesting.As a former armourer ,I believe this is one of the best I have ever seen on the topic of gunnery,not just aerial gunnery.
Ralph
Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

t.palmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2014
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