Synopses & Reviews
In June 1940 Billy Drake was shot down in his Hurricane over France. A German cannon shell exploded behind his head, but he survived thanks to a sheet of armor. Had he been shot down a few weeks earlier he would have been killed, because armor was considered µunnecessary'. At the start of the First World War armor had also been considered µunnecessary', its weight reduced the performance of the underpowered aircraft too much, but some pilots and squadrons made and fitted their own protection. By 1918 the view of the Air Ministry had changed and it commissioned designs for an armored µTrench Fighter' that must have a fully armored cockpit v lessons had been learned, but the price in pilots killed had been high. Between the wars performance again became the primary concern and the lessons of the First War were forgotten. So it was that the Hurricane squadrons went to France with no rear armor; and no front armor either. Soon every RAF combat aircraft was fitted with armor, saving hundreds of lives. In this carefully researched book Michael Cox takes the reader through the development of aircraft armor from 1910 to 1945, using the stories of pilots to illustrate how vital it could be. The technology and aircraft design is also examined, with little known aircraft as the µSopwith Salamander' and µFarnborough Ram' playing an important role.
About the Author
Michael Fox was born in Farnborough in Kent during WW II. His parents lived near the famous RAF base at Biggin Hill, which provoked a lifelong interest in military aviation. He was brought up in South-East London and went into industry as a trainee metallurgist. Retired as of 2001, he is working on fiction and non-fiction books and lives in Kent, England.