{"title":"Robert S Hopkins Iii","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"boeing-b-47-stratojet-book-mike-habermehl-9781910809082","title":"The Boeing B-47 Stratojet","description":"The B-47 was the aircraft upon which Strategic Air Command (SAC) based its capability pending the development and delivery of the B-52. First proposed during the Second World War as a high-speed piston-powered reconnaissance platform, the B-47 evolved into what would become the first swept-wing, medium jet bomber and SAC's most numerous operational aircraft. Given its pioneering role as a jet bomber and the ongoing evolution of SAC's mission and US national security, the B-47 had more than its share of teething problems. Initial Boeing flight tests mixed triumph with tragedy, and demonstrated that an entirely new way of flying a large aircraft was required. Poor reliability in the bombing-navigation and fire-control systems undermined the effectiveness of early B-47Bs but were eventually overcome as the aircraft evolved to fill many different roles. Used as reconnaissance, weather, testbed and radio relay platforms, one variant, the EB-47E BLUE CRADLE, also demonstrated its versatility as an electronic warfare jammer whilst the RB-47H, ERB-47H, and EB-47E(TT) undertook electronic intelligence and gathered telemetry associated with the Soviet ICBM program. Authors Mike Habermehl and former SAC pilot Robert S Hopkins III have combined years of research and experience to provide the ultimate history of the Stratojet.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49737878602001,"sku":"NGR9781910809082","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49768564097297,"sku":"GOR010189112","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51511992549649,"sku":"CIN191080908XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53575515373841,"sku":"GOR011613946","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/191080908X.jpg?v=1751250543"},{"product_id":"aerofax-boeing-kc-135-stratotanker-book-robert-s-hopkins-9781857800692","title":"Aerofax: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Dix Loesch and Tex Johnston took the KC-135A up for its maiden flight on the 31st August 1956, few would have imagined that it would still be in active front-line service some 60 years later. What began as a jet-powered replacement for the lumbering KC-97 tanker soon evolved into America's first military heavy jet transport, an airborne command post capable of surviving and then commanding America's nuclear war plan and a testbed that enabled scientists to study the Earth and send men to the Moon. Other variants include reconnaissance and intelligence gathering airframes operated by Great Britain and the United States and of course the tanker versions of the KC-135, which remain in service with Chile, France, Singapore, Turkey, and the United States. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe KC-135's success is based on its simplicity, a tanker with few frills. Designed to fly only 10,000 hours before retirement, after 60 years, high-time KC-135s have accrued 36,000 hours while RC-135s have passed 56,000 hours. Scheduled to fly for another 20 years before retiring in 2040, the KC-135 and its many variants are testimony to the efficiency of the basic airframe which was adapted for use as a transport, testbed, airborne command post, and reconnaissance platform. Indeed, the KC-135 has proved to be more than a tanker. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on newly declassified materials, Hopkins presents the history of the tankers, transports, testbeds, airborne command posts and reconnaissance platforms. Combat operations in the Middle East, changes to crew composition and the glass cockpit, acquisition by Chile and Singapore, and ongoing efforts to preserve the aircraft for another two decades are also described to produce the most comprehensive account yet of this versatile and long-lived aircraft, making it a must have for any serious military student, aviation enthusiast, historian or modeler.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50297923764497,"sku":"CIN1857800699VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50951617511697,"sku":"GOR005223737","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51481510019345,"sku":"CIN1857800699G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1857800699.gif?v=1750767898"},{"product_id":"the-boeing-kc-135-stratotanker-more-than-a-tanker-book-robert-s-hopkins-iii-9781910809013","title":"The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More Than a Tanker","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Dix Loesch and Tex Johnston took the KC-135A up for its maiden flight on the 31st August 1956, few would have imagined that it would still be in active front-line service some 60 years later. What began as a jet-powered replacement for the lumbering KC-97 tanker soon evolved into America's first military heavy jet transport, an airborne command post capable of surviving and then commanding America's nuclear war plan and a testbed that enabled scientists to study the Earth and send men to the Moon. Other variants include reconnaissance and intelligence gathering airframes operated by Great Britain and the United States and of course the tanker versions of the KC-135, which remain in service with Chile, France, Singapore, Turkey, and the United States. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe KC-135's success is based on its simplicity, a tanker with few frills. Designed to fly only 10,000 hours before retirement, after 60 years, high-time KC-135s have accrued 36,000 hours while RC-135s have passed 56,000 hours. Scheduled to fly for another 20 years before retiring in 2040, the KC-135 and its many variants are testimony to the efficiency of the basic airframe which was adapted for use as a transport, testbed, airborne command post, and reconnaissance platform. Indeed, the KC-135 has proved to be more than a tanker. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on newly declassified materials, Hopkins presents the history of the tankers, transports, testbeds, airborne command posts and reconnaissance platforms. Combat operations in the Middle East, changes to crew composition and the glass cockpit, acquisition by Chile and Singapore, and ongoing efforts to preserve the aircraft for another two decades are also described to produce the most comprehensive account yet of this versatile and long-lived aircraft, making it a must have for any serious military student, aviation enthusiast, historian or modeler.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50681785123089,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50681785155857,"sku":"CIN1910809012G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51714371649809,"sku":"CIN1910809012VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52153749012753,"sku":"GOR009247505","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53575515406609,"sku":"GOR012463432","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1910809012.jpg?v=1751028200"},{"product_id":"strategic-air-command-in-the-uk-book-robert-s-hopkins-iii-9781902109565","title":"Strategic Air Command in the UK","description":"Throughout its 46-year history, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was inextricably linked to the United Kingdom. Early SAC bombers such as B-29s and B-36s deployed routinely to England in order to reach their targets in the Soviet Union and SAC B-47s became regular fixtures at British bases. SAC tankers ranging from the KB-29 and KC-10 to the ubiquitous KC-135 provided refueling support not only to SAC bombers but fighters and transports from dozens of NATO and European nations, including the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. \u003cp\u003eMost famously the reconnaissance fleet of RB-50s, RB-47s, RC-135s, U-2s, and SR-71s brought a sense of intrigue to SAC operations from the United Kingdom. All in all, SAC was a dominating presence in the story of British Cold War airpower. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis history of that involvement begins with an introductory essay placing the SAC presence in England in historical context. 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