Stackpole Books (Military History Series)

Flying American Combat Aircraft of WWII.

edited by  Robin Higham

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $19.95 ISBN: 0-8117-3124-3 ISBN 13: 978-0-8117-3124-9 Website: www.stackpolebooks.com Original Date of Publication: 2004 This paperback is a part of a series devoted to various historical aspects of World War II. Some volumes deal with various "aces" and campaigns, but this one caught my eye, as, having some flight experience, I have always been interested in reading descriptions of what some of these military aircraft were really like to actually fly. This book certainly filled the bill in that regard, and I was quick to spend some of my Christmas gift card credit for this fascinating book. The editor, Dr. Robin Higham, was a pilot in the RAF during World War II, flying Dakota (C-47) transports in the CBI Theater, and later served as editor of the Air Force Historical Foundation's publication, AEROSPACE HISTORIAN. Over the years, he and his collaborator, Charles D. Bright, collected a series of firsthand accounts of what it was like to fly some of the American and British combat aircraft of the period. He constructed a questionnaire dealing the mechanics and personal flying experiences of the contributors, asking for additional information when the responses were incomplete. The result is a very interesting read, much better that the usual. None of the articles is like any other, and all contain personal experiences and humorous accounts that anyone can relate to. And the airplanes themselves are sometimes surprising. Starting with some of the older types, including the Boeing P-26A and Martin B-10B, the editors progress through the usual fighters (P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47 and P-51), the bombers (B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, B-29) but also included in this collage of aircraft are such types as the Waco CG-4A, the Douglas B-18, the North American 0-47 and Curtiss O-52, the North American AT-6 and Vultee BT-13A. I didn't realize that the CG-4 was capable of doing numerous consecutive loops, or that the BT-13A was eventually discarded in favor of the AT-6 because it was too easy to fly. There is a lot of this kind of information included, things that aren't in ordinary aviation history books. There is also definitely room for a second volume, describing some of the Army aircraft that were left out of this one. They could even do a volume on Navy aircraft. Admittedly, there are a very few typographical errors, and one photo identifies a Lockheed A-28 "Hudson" as a Lockheed Lodestar. Granted, they are similar, but they should have caught that one. And the photos are all "official" type, where a snapshot of the author in front of the airplane in question would have made the whole book a whole lot more personal . But even with a few glitches, this book is a learning experience for anyone interested in World War II aviation, and I learned a lot from it.