Before the days of night vision goggles and infrared sensors, US bombers needed a system to illuminate the target area before or during bomb release. Introduced in 1942, the M26 parachute flare was designed to do that. Designed to mount onto the same shackles used to secure bombs, this flare system was activated at release by a wire attached to the fuse on the nose. At the pre-set time, the flare would deploy a parachute and a shield that prevented the burning flare from blinding the bombardier. This model of the M26 could burn for up to three and half minutes at a brightness of 800,000 candlepower. There are a number of these empty canisters on eBay for those who collect such things.

Based in Central Europe Kagero Publishing House is the biggest publisher and exporter of English-written publications about military history, release nearly 60 titles every year. Kagero was founded in 1995, and began by delivering military titles in Polish. Their success led Kagero to start releasing books in English in 1998. Authors from Poland, Canada, USA, Australia and Great Britain, who were invited to cooperation, gave a beginning to a new range of products, which have put them on a position of one of the most recognized publishers on the market. Kagero has released more than 550 publications. Kagero is managed by Damian Majsak and his wife Joanna.

Albatros Productions Ltd. offers the World's largest range of World War One aeroplane and airship books / journals aimed at dedicated scale modelers and aero-enthusiasts. Whether you're a big fan of WWI aircraft camouflage and markings, squadron histories, technical data, rare archive photos, unique scale drawings, the very best 'Great War' aeroplane and airship monographs,or just passionate about modelling WWI aeroplanes. Ray Rimell’s (Raymond Laurence Rimell) latest replaces the “Building the Wingnut Wings” series with a new series called “WWI Scale Model Anthology Series”. Obvious with the success of the prior series and the demise on Wingnut Wings, this makes sense.

With the recent release of many Vietnam era aircraft such as the B-26K, OV-10A and the OV-2 it was inevitable that you would want a variety of armament slung underneath these aircraft, particularly the B-26K. Well, ICM is providing you with plenty of options.

Packaged in a very sturdy cardboard box with a cover, the box contains two of each of two sprues for a total of four sprues. My set was perfectly formed with no blemishes anywhere. The box also contains clear and concise instructions printed on high quality paper. They are printed on a large single sheet folded in half making up four A4 pages. An inventory is on the cover, the actual instructions on the inside two pages and finally the decal placement and painting instructions are on the back. Paint call outs are for ICM, Revell and Tamiya.

Lance Cole is the author of this and many other worthy books detailing numerous aircraft types. This book – Boeing 747 is a timely and fitting tribute to one of the all-time classic aircraft and the very first “Jumbo Jet”. As the 747 is being retired by most airlines and carriers after 50 years of faithful service, plus the fact that I personally have flown as a passenger on every model of the 747, except the 747-8, this was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

The colorful cover includes three iconic photos of the 747’s grace, power and size, followed at the bottom by a nice image of -300 in Qantas colors. The back cover highlights three models and an overview of what’s inside the book. Throughout the book, colorful photos adorn each page.

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