This is the 1st volume of a new Key Book Historic Commercial Aircraft Series – Soviet-Era Airliners, The Final Three Decades. This book covers the history of the demise of the great soviet airliner fleet from 1991 to today. The Soviet designed and manufactured Airlines have always been fascinating with me as I watch the changes and downfall happen during this period while working in the airline industry. The chapters are fascination and give way more details that I expected in such an apparently small book.

The chapters most aspects of the decline and changes in the Soviet Airlines and its way through the historic changes happening in the Soviet world. This book does excellent work showing the main airlines world-wide using these aircraft. It goes on to explain the aircraft they used and what western aircraft were used to replace them in many cases.

All the photographs are some of the best I have seen and are great reference material.

This series has been around for many years, and they still continue to come out with new volumes, sometimes of little-covered subjects such as this one.

This is a softcover publication, with 44 pages in a nice, high-quality semi-gloss finish and a stiff outer cover. Publishing quality is first-rate, as is the content itself.

In 1940, the British Air Commission (BAC) approached U.S. aircraft manufacturers about purchasing aircraft, particularly fighters. Curtiss presented their model 81 and planned P-46 which the BAC later ordered 480 model 81s and 960 P-46s. Lockheed presented their YP-38 prototype. North American Aviation (NAA), who as of yet had little experience with fighters, drew up a proposal for a fighter that they insisted was to be at least as good as the P-46. The BAC required assurance for NAA’s claims and that each aircraft be less than $40,000 each. Eventually the BAC ordered 400 of NAA’s fighters, even before a design was presented. The company's lead structures engineer recalled that Edgar Schmued had given the subject of a single seat fighter a great deal of thought in the previous years, called the P-51. NAA’s design team and Schmued were determined that the aircraft would be cutting edge. By the end of 1940, the first prototype, called NA-73X or XP-51, was ready for flight.

Noted author and defense consultant, Steven Zaloga, is well known to armor modelers the world over. He wrote this about the Ford M8 armored car,

The M8 light armored car is a 6×6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used from 1943 by United States and British forces in Europe and the Pacific until the end of the war. The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remained in service with some countries.

Author Didier Andres’ book “U.S. Army Ford M8 and M20 Armored Cars”, is a detailed, fascinating and photographic insight into the Ford M8 and M20 armored cars in the European Theater in WWII. The book is complete with extensive photographs, technical details and specifications, and detailed illustrations, composing the following five chapters:

• Chapter 1. The Genesis of Light Armored Cars

  • 1914-18

  • 1928-34

Just as when one thinks of American bombers the iconic B-52 comes to mind, when thinking of Russian bombers, the same can be said for the Tu-95 Bear. The Allies had done much to prove the success of and need for long range strategic bombers in their defeat of the Nazis and Japan. The Russians (then Soviets) like many countries, had not developed much in the way of long-range bombers prior to and during WWII. The success of the British and American long-range bombers during the war would change that for the Russians.

With a few American B-29s making emergency landings in Russia during operations against Japan, the Soviets were given an engineering opportunity to not only study the B-29 but per Stalin’s direction to completely reverse engineer it to become the Tupelov Tu-4.