Philip Birtles is a name well-known in the British preservation movement, being a leading light with the DeHavilland Aviation Museum, and the author of numerous books about British military aviation. This new book from Fonthill Media draws heavily from Birtles’ photo collection to bring together a photographic survey of RAF combat jets, from 1945 to the present. Starting with the Gloster Meteor and DeHavilland Vampire, the book charts all types right up to the RAF’s new F-35B, all the photos being reproduced in full color. Each type is also subject to a short historical summary of the type’s development and RAF service.

Aside from some well-known photos from the RAF and from the likes of Charles Brown, many of the photos are previously unpublished, and are gleaned from the collections of Birtles as well as Adrian Balch, another well-known chronicler of aviation. As such, there are some unusual and interesting views to enjoy, and some good inspiration for modelers.

What is a shame is that the quality of processing and reproduction is quite poor, in too many cases. I found that some photos are tilted, some are poorly cropped, with some others not cropped at all, and many are too dark to properly make out the details. Additional editing on most of the photos would have greatly helped. In these days of Photoshop, there’s no need for the heavy ‘artistic’ over-processing that is seen in some photo books, but sympathetic editing goes a long way.

That gripe aside, this is an interesting collection of previously unseen photos that will please the RAF enthusiast, and I do recommend it. My thanks to Casemate for the review sample.