A new book in my library.

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A Nice Modelers Reference and Introduction to the Naval T-33.

Pretty standard fare for an early Naval Fighters monograph. Fourteen pages are devoted to development and even those pages are predominantly taken up by photographs. There is some coverage of the changes needed to make the T2V carrier compatible, if you're looking for some meat on the development of the aircraft for the Navy, you'll just have to make do with a few bones. The rest of the volume are some technical details lifted from various NavAir manuals followed by unit histories.

With a production run of 150 aircraft this is not a mainstream USN aircraft and this volume will only be of limited interest to the most die-hard fan of naval aircraft. (Consider the youngest pilots that flew them are around 80 years old.) One interesting aspect of this volume is even with later photo's taken as late as 11/69 there is not a single "modern" aircraft in the photo'. Plenty of S-2's, A-1's, F8's, etc., but nothing like a C-130 or F-4 in the background of any photograph.

Assuming another model of the Seastar is produced this book remains an excellent modelers reference. Recommended for anyone with an interest in obscure USN Aircraft, US Navy VT Squadrons, Unit and base hacks and as mentioned earlier for modelers.
 

Badly In Need Of An Updated Revision.

Published in 1987 this volume neatly slices the complete USN service life of the T-2 Buckeye in half. It's missing everything from 1987 up through retirement from the VT Squadrons as part of the NFO training pipeline in 2008 until it's final retirement from the USN from the Naval Test pilots School in 2015. (A chapter on civilian warbird Buckeyes would be interesting as well.

About 1/3 of the monograph is dedicated to technical development of the aircraft along with the typical Ginter treatment of technical details that will be of interest to modelers or the technically minded. Regrettably with this volume, close ups of the landing gear, wheel wells and speed brake areas are noticeably absent. With the newer kits available in 1/48 scale this is now a serious omission.

A couple of nice surprises were coverage of the tactical use of the aircraft, the supercritical wing contract and the inclusion of stall and spin characteristics on the VF-126 unit page.

Not recommended for modelers and only moderately recommended for anyone interested in the T-2, or USN VT Squadrons of the era.
 
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This was a bit of a disappointment as it was more of a history of the personalities, finances and social aspects of the company than any real history of the company and its technical accomplishments. Had Amazon been publishing the reviews from its overseas branches at the time that I bought the book, I probably would not have bought it. Recommended for anyone who has strong ties to Rotol, British Messier or Dowty prior to 1990. Anyone looking for a technical history should look elsewhere. Not recommended.
 
A MiG-15 to Freedom: Memoir of the Wartime North Korean Defector Who First Delivered the Secret Fighter Jet to the Americans in 1953 by Kum-Sok No

Bought more for the narrative of his early life under Japanese occupation and the first few years under Kim Il-sung, the book is interesting more for his early pre-defection life and post defection activities than any actual descriptions of his in-service life and flying the MiG in combat.

The aspects of immediate post-defection life for Mr. No are covered in a honest and forth right manner including some of his disappointments, questions about the professionalism of one his interrogators and his overall adjustment to being cut loose on his own.

There is a minimal amount of coverage of his combat flights with the MiG as he describes the destruction of the North Korean Air Force including the executions of failed leaders. His narrative is consistent with what the authors described in:
Fury from the North: North Korean Air Force in the Korean War, 1950-1953 by Douglas C. Dildy and
Red Wings over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union, and the Air War in Korea by Xiaoming Zhang

Recommended as a narrative of the air war over North Korea, Highly recommended as human interest story.
 
This is an older CanAV volume that is now essentially pushing 40 years old and a very typical effort by Mr. Millberry. Great in-depth coverage with excellent photographic coverage of the aircraft. I was very pleased with the technical descriptions and the amount of space devoted to development.
This is a great volume for anyone with an interest in post-war commercial aviation, the DC-4, Canadian aviation etc. Given when it was written and the access to the various personalities, this volume will probably remain the essential work on the DC-4M. (Outside of this and similar specialized aviation interest websites, I can't imagine there is a lot of interest in the airplane.)
Highly recommended.


(MY next book is the one by Floyd on the Avro Canada C102.)
 
Just finished reading this informative book. The author is a friend of mine and has been involved in running air shows for many years, including the London International Air Show back in the 70s and into the 90s.
He self published this book, the first of 4 volumes.




Tom previously wrote

Amazon product ASIN 1462676502
View: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1462676502/

Cheers

Jeff
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
It is slightly odd, but then, there were some outstanding feats by Blenheim crews, both bomber and fighter versions, including the awards of VCs
It was a Blenheim that carried out the very first RAF operation during WW2, a recce to Wilhemshaven - just one hour and three minutes after war had been declared on September 3rd, 1939, and Blenheims which carried out the first attack on Germany the following day.
Slightly disappointed with this particular volume, as it was ordered from a dealer on Amazon, under the normal Osprey title - the copy I received is the abridged version, 69 pages instead of 106, published by Osprey in conjunction with Del Prado, as part of a promotional package. It's still worth having though, and covers what I was looking for.
 
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