Fightin' Air Force #13

When tensions flare at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade and an ultimatum threatens to spark an international crisis, the Sixth Fleet springs into action—Commander Phil Herrick and his Banshee Squadron are armed, fueled, and scrambling toward a combat mission that could reshape the Cold War. With diplomatic channels strained and hostile forces mobilizing, the Navy's peacetime deterrent becomes something far more immediate, as the pilots race against the clock to deliver their payload. In this tale of brinkmanship and split-second decisions, the true power of American readiness gets tested when the bluff must be called.

Captains Monk Whitcomb and Zip Rolzecki have found a way to rack up impressive kill counts—by using a slow B-25 bomber as bait to lure enemy fighters into range of their fast P-38, the "White Lightning." When their unauthorized decoy scheme is discovered and shut down, a general's clever intervention gives the two pilots a chance to prove their real value to the air war over Europe.

During England's darkest hour of aerial bombardment, the RAF puts a revolutionary new detection system to the test—one that promises to turn the tide against the Luftwaffe's night bombers by revealing invisible aircraft to waiting fighters. Two cyclists pedal tirelessly outside a ground control station, their steady rhythm powering the rotating radar aerial that sweeps the sky, while overhead a pilot guided by mysterious electronic "blips" closes in on an unseen target. This edge-of-your-seat tale shows how ingenuity and teamwork on the ground can give Britain's defenders the upper hand in the dark.

Meet the B-52, the Strategic Air Command's newest heavyweight—a flying fortress so massive it dwarfs the Wright Brothers' entire first flight and bristles with enough firepower to reshape the world. At 185 feet across and powered by eight roaring engines, this engineering marvel represents seven years of refinement and hope that it will stand as an unshakeable deterrent to global conflict. In 1958, Americans watch this incredible machine roll off the Boeing assembly line with cautious pride, praying its lethal payload never has to leave the ground.