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Ginter Books |
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Boeing XF8B-1, Five-In-One Fighter Naval Fighters Number Sixty-Five by Rick Koehnen |
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Reviewed By Walt Fink, #2447 |
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MSRP: $15.95 USD ISBN 0-942612-65-5 I'm a big fan of the Ginter series of books and this latest one didn't disappoint me. Author Rick Koehnen, owner of Twelve Squared Models also wrote the Ginter book on the Vought F6U Pirate (Naval Fighters Number Nine) and has a nice, direct style. His humorous note right up front, "I write this so that in 50 years when some poor historian is wondering what in hell happened to all the secret projects between the F-23 and the F-35, he might stumble upon these words" was a precursor of what was to come. I won't go into the explanation Rick provides...you'll have to buy the book to get the complete story there. The book is profusely illustrated: by my count, there are 38 illustrations and 113 photographs of the real aircraft, and 8 photos of the new Valom kit of the XF8B-1. I bought that kit a few months ago when it first came out and---finding a little difficulty in its construction---consigned it temporarily to my "some day" shelf. The section in the book dealing with the kit and having constructive comments by its builder and IPMS's own Navy aircraft expert Tommy Thomason is greatly appreciated. Maybe it'll get me started building on it again. One thing's for certain---if I don't detail my kit, it's not because I don't have great references now. Virtually every aspect of this big Boeing fighter is covered in the book, most of them in the excellent black-and-white photographs showing every detail. Since the aircraft never progressed to the production phase, the markings options for the airplane are limited, but for those who like one-off subjects or those which never quite made it, this book fills the bill nicely. There are good detail photos of the landing gear, wheel wells, cockpit, wing fold, etc., along with a complete history of the aircraft tests, including some good "there I was..." stories by those who flew it. The only fault I found with this new book was a couple of typos which is small potatoes considering the size and scope of the work. Highly recommended! Thanks to Ginter Books and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this fine piece of aviation history. |
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