Ginter Books

Naval Fighters #81: Bell XFL-1 Airabonita

by Tommy Thomason

Reviewed By Brian R. Baker, IPMS #43146

MSRP: $15.95 ISBN: 0-942612-81-7 Review copy courtesy of Ginter Books Website: www.ginterbooks.com E-Mail: nfbooks@pacebell.net This is the latest in an excellent series of paperback texts on specific aircraft types, primarily Navy and Air Force, giving a detailed account of the historical background leading up to the origins and development of the specific type, its flight testing, and the aircraft's subsequent career. In the case of the Bell XFL-1 Airabonita, this amounted to only the flight test stage, as the plane was not selected for production, and only one was built. The author, Tommy Thomason, is uniquely qualified to write this book, having graduated as an aeronautical engineer and worked almost forty years in the aerospace industry. In addition, he holds an ATP, with seaplane, helicopter, and glider ratings, and has flown more than 60 different types of aircraft. He has previously written on the subject of naval aviation. The book consists of 56 pages of text, over 110 photos, and numerous diagrams and drawings. The photos are especially good, and some are in color, rather unusual in that relatively few color photos of aircraft have been preserved from that era. A large amount of technical data is presented. The Bell XFL-1 Airabonita was essentially a naval development of Bell's P-39 "Airacobra" tricycle gear fighter of the early war period, and the author does an excellent job of tracing the design evolution of the type, showing how it differed from the P-39. The Navy had been committed to air cooled radial engines since the late '20s, and the appearance of a high performance fighter with a liquid cooled Allison engine seemed out of character, a conflict with established policy. However, the Navy continued with the light, high-performance fighter concept, considering the XFL-1 as a competitor with the Vought XF4U-1 Corsair and the Grumman XF5F-1 Skyrocket, both of which were considered radical designs for their time. In the event, the XFL-1 was not proceeded with, and remained only a prototype. This text is really more appropriate for aviation historians than modelers, although it contains much material which would be of use to serious modelers. Two resin kits and one vacuform have been issued of this aircraft, and these are described at the end of the book. In addition, a scale four-view drawing of the type in a scale slightly smaller than 1/48 is included, but this shows only the aircraft in its original configuration, and does not cover the minor modifications done during the flight test stage. True 1/48 and 1/72 scale drawings would have been helpful. In addition, the author seems to take his time getting to the actual development of the XFL-1. He starts out discussing Navy design philosophy, and then goes on to aircraft engine development prior to World War II. After that, he goes into a detailed and thorough account of the evolution of racing and fighter planes, superchargers, and the competition between air cooled and liquid engines which resulted in the American Allison engine, which, or course, powered the P-39, P-40, P-38, and even the early versions of the P-51. In fact, it is not until Page 12 that the development of the Bell Aircraft Company begins, while the actual design and construction of the XFL-1 only begins on Page 16. On the other hand, the discussion of early developments is interesting and very well developed, and the reader should be left with a clear understanding of why this plane was developed, and why it was not selected for production. I have several of the Naval Fighters series, and they are quite valuable, both for modeling reference and for historical content. This one is well worth getting, especially if you are considering chopping up a Bell P-39 kit to model this aircraft, or if you obtain one of the resin or vacuform kits available. Get this one while you can. Highly recommended. Thanks to IPMS/USA and Ginter Books for the review copy.