Specialty Press

U.S. Air Force Aviation - A Military Photo Logbook, Volume 1

compiled by  Dennis R. Jenkins

Reviewed By  Phil Pignataro, IPMS# 17254

MSRP: $19.95 ISBN 10: 1-58007-113-9 ISBN 13: 978-1-58007-113-0 Review copy provided by Specialty Press (www.specialtypress.com) As the title suggests, this book is a "logbook" in the sense it traces, with pictures, the aircraft and activities of the U.S Air Force throughout 2006. The author has gathered official USAF photos and displayed them in chronological order to show the wide range of missions the Air Force conducted during the year. The index breaks the time into months. All photos in this 120-page book are in color and are very high quality. The primary mission aircraft in the Air Force's inventory are covered and many of the pictures show details useful to the modeler. Newer aircraft, like the CV-22, C-17, F-22, and F-35 are well represented. There are also a couple of nice shots of F-15s in their new aggressor scheme. In addition to USAF aircraft, the book has some "bonus" photos of other aircraft: Tornado GR.4, JAS 39 Gripen, Tupolev Tu-95, EA-6B Prowler, Ilyushin Il-76, and a Blue Angels F/A-18. The C-5 that crashed at Dover AFB in April 2006 also received some coverage, including its dismantling for use as a possible training device. There was, however, only one picture of the T-6 Texan II and none of the aircraft in the Presidential fleet. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos in this book and thinking how things have changed since I retired from the USAF in 1990. I know I'll use its photos as references for my own models. If you have any interest in modern Air Force aircraft and would like their photos at a reasonable price, you should look for this book. If you can't find it at your local hobby shop, you can go to www.specialtypress.com. I highly recommend it.

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