Review copy courtesy of Osprey Publishing.

When Steve Collins announced that this book was available, I asked for it to review, because at one time I worked in AF Intel, and got intimately involved with aircraft identification. Especially when a Breguet Alize taxied right past my office window and parked a few hundred meters away. Made my week.

I expected this book to be a comprehensive listing of a lot of aircraft which a lucky person might encounter on a good day somewhere like Oshkosh Airventure or Farnborough International Airshow, or a military base.

I also expected some 3-view drawings and a rather truncated description of the aircraft’s origin, subtypes, and identifying features.

OK, I didn’t get what I expected. Instead I got a well-written compilation of 70 different aircraft, ranging from the Sopwith Pup (Pages 7 to 9) to the Hawker Typhoon (Pages 106 to 108) to the B-1B (pages 214 to 216). There are two color profiles, left side views only, of each aircraft type, plus a page on the aircraft’s service and an explanation of the significance of each of the subjects of the drawings. I would have loved to see more views of the aircraft, but the basic info’s there to build the model.

The selection of the aircraft types is wide ranging, although there aren’t any real “what the heck is THAT?” moments. Instead, the selection of the individual aircraft for the drawings is what makes this book an engaging and entertaining read.

Of course the P-51 is in there. The first is a RAF Mustang 1 (P-51A over here) flown by Flying Officer Hills, 414 Sq RCAF from Croydon. F/O Hills, an American got the first Mustang kill of World War 2 in this aircraft. It was also his only victory.

I LOVE this kind of stuff!! And it goes on like this for 200 pages.

All, right, another. B-57G 53-3931, 13^th Bomb Squadron, Ubon, Thailand December 1970. This aircraft was one of the first USAF Canberras deployed to SEA. It is the only B-57G to be lost in combat. The Canberra had a mid-air collision with the USAF O-2A Forward Air Controller during a night mission. You can’t make this kind of stuff up; and if you did, no one would believe you.

I scanned the three pages for the Douglas SBD Dauntless. Yep, other than earning the Medal of Honor on the first, and shooting down 3 IJN aircraft with the other, these guys hardly did anything worth mentioning. These are the aircraft I want to build. If I lack direction and motivation, and I want an idea for a project, this book is a super source. Wow, 3 kills in a Dauntless!!

Evaluation:

Highly Recommended. It isn’t what I thought it would be, it’s far better. The entertainment values of the thoroughly researched and often quirky “plane details” sections are merely super. Not all of the chosen aircraft have the really outstanding trivia content of those above, but about half of them do. I really like this book. It’s going to be inspiration for dozens of future projects. As I said, I love this kind of stuff.

Thanks to Osprey Publishing and IPMS USA for the chance to review this book.