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Lagarto
1st April 2006, 22:03
What would you recommend? Any suggestions at affordable prices will be particularily appreciated ;)

Tony Kambic
2nd April 2006, 05:29
Not sure whether you're looking for reference books or experiences, but one of the Directors of the Smithsonian Air & Space Musuem is Don Lopez, a WWII Pacific theatre ace and he started out in P-40s. He wrote his experiences in "Into the Teeth of the Tiger", including an interesting first kill. He later moved on to P-51s. Amazon shows the book for about 12 US dollars.

He also wrote "Fighter Pilots Heaven", about his expereinces post WWII getting to test all types of fighter planes and weapon systems.

Lagarto
2nd April 2006, 18:56
Thank you Tony, as a matter of fact, I'm looking for both reference books or experiences, but first of all experiences. The book you mentioned sounds very interesting and I already bookmarked it for my next shooping spree :)

Any other suggestions? How about "A Flying Tiger's Diary" by Charles Bond - worth buying?

shooshoobaby
5th April 2006, 02:16
God is my Copilot - Robert Scott
Tex Hill: Flying Tiger - Hill
Kitty Hawk Pilot - James Edwards
Ding Hao - Cornelius and Short
Cheers

Jim Oxley
6th April 2006, 01:15
Also
a) Shark Squadron Pilot, by Bert Horden.
b) Nicky Barr, by Peter Dornan.
c) Desert Warriors: Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941–1943, by Russell Brown.

Lagarto
7th April 2006, 22:49
Thank you!

Same rare titles mentioned here, I only wish they were all available at amazon.com. I do have "Shark Squadron Pilot" by Bert Horden and I enjoyed it very much.

shooshoobaby
10th April 2006, 20:10
Check www.abebooks.com (http://www.abebooks.com)

www.aeroplanebooks.com (http://www.aeroplanebooks.com)

Lagarto
12th April 2006, 13:50
Thank you, here's one I never heard about before and it sounds very interesting:

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/bookrev/cundy.html

Jim Oxley
13th April 2006, 01:27
Gremlins is an excellent book. Really down to earth. I'd overlooked that one. :)

Lagarto
15th April 2006, 02:07
Jim, please check your PM box

Skyraider3D
16th April 2006, 01:37
Since you're interested in experiences, I thought you might enjoy reading this... It's some miscellaneous comments on the differences in flight performance between the P-40 and P-51, as experienced by Capt. Rene Burtner of the 359th FG. He wrote this down after I asked him several related questions.


I don't recall anything very different about the noise, smell or gun recoil that was different in the P-51. The P-40 was a lot different to fly. The P-40 had quite a bit of torque and beat your left foot and ankle to death when applying power or in a dive. A P-40 could turn inside the P-51 but was much slower and did not operate very well at altitude. The landing gear did not function as fast and you couldn't use flaps to maneuver. A P-40 could perform a loop at level flight and at cruising speed but a P-51 could not. I mention the torque on a P-40. During flight training we lost some pilots while dive bombing and later I heard that the reason for the accidents was related to the torque. Unable to keep the airplane trim during a dive caused the canopy to cave in on the pilot. It was not too unusual to have a P40 overheat while on the ground. Never heard of any such problem with a 51. With the canopy closed I can't remember hearing any noise from the outside except the 50s when they fired. Visibility was wonderful in the 51D. Never had an unexpected stall or unexpected reaction from a P-51. While playing around with another pilot I saw him go into a flat spin and barely recover but I think he was not too familiar with the plane.

Flaps were employed a lot in air combat. Mostly used to make a sharp turn or to cause your adversary to misjudge your speed and fly past you. I did not use flaps during loops or any other maneuver and do not recall any other pilot using flaps. I am reminded of using flaps a few times at Goxhill. I received flight training in radial engine airplanes and in P-40s. In those planes when you joined a formation you could pull in, cut the throttle and you were in tight. First couple of flights in a 51 I would pull in, cut the throttle and sail right by. Used flaps a few times until I got the feel of the airplane. By the way, you could loop a P-40 while flying straight and level at cruising speed but it was not easy to loop a P-51 under those circumstances. Using flaps would probably make it harder if not impossible.