Overview

First envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci and first deployed in World War II, the helicopter is now a universal icon of modern warfare, a key component of combat planning around the world, and one of the military's most versatile and effective tools. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact covers the development of helicopters from a concept in Leonardo daVinci's mind to the first successful machines in the early 1900s to the latest tilt-rotor designs. Time and again, in a story of constant innovation, designers answered the concerns of military planners with more maneuverable, more capable rotorcraft. With expert analysis and specific details of every significant model ever used, Helicopters shows how these once denigrated machines became essential to a variety of missions (reconnaissance, transport, attack, support, evacuation, urban combat, quick strikes behind enemy lines, and more). In addition, the book looks at the impact of rotorcraft beyond the military, including their ever-widening role in emergency medical care, police work, traffic control, agriculture, news reporting, and more.

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9781851094684

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Reviews

Black-and-white photographs of numerous helicopter models flesh out this extensively researched, at times technical survey that nonetheless will appeal to non-specialist general readers and military aviation history scholars alike. - Wisconsin Bookwatch

"""Black-and-white photographs of numerous helicopter models flesh out this extensively researched, at times technical survey that nonetheless will appeal to non-specialist general readers and military aviation history scholars alike."" - Wisconsin Bookwatch"

Author Information

Stanley S. McGowen, PhD, is adjunct professor of military history at Columbia College, Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, TX. Dr. McGowen is a Vietnam veteran and an Army aviator with over 5,000 hours of flying helicopters.

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