Book recommendations

[kennethklee]

Hello-

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and recommendations on WWII aviation books, one general, one specific, as well as a specific question on the Bf 109K.

1. I have the Ballatine paperback edition of Donald Caldwell's "JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe". I understand a hardback edition preceded this, but I have not been able to see it personally. For those who own or have read this edition, does it offer anything over the Ballatine paperback edition, i.e., more photos or more text?

2. For the Messerschmitt Bf 109 aficionados, do you have recommendations for factually reliable books, especially replete with "great' and/or rare photos, on this venerable warplane? I have several books, including Prien and Rodeike's Messerschmitt Bf 109 F, G, and K Series: An Illustrated Study, Green's "Augsburg Eagle", and--please be gentle here --the Weal series on the pilots who flew various incarnations of the Bf 109. I'm just wondering if there were more recent Bf 109 books worth considering. I'm interested in all WWII versions of the Bf 109, but am also particularly interested in the Bf 109K, especially photos that show the retractable tailwheel and outer mainwheel doors.

3. Related to #2, can anyone point me in the proverbial right direction to find accurate accounts or descriptions of the flight qualities of the late mark Bf 109G (G-10 onwards) and Bf 109K-4? The performance parameters of these Bf 109 versions are readily available in many books, periodicals, and online sources, but I haven't seen much about what they were really like to fly from a pilot's standpoint. I have seen only one online gaming site describe the Bf 109K as "all engine" and one pilot's brief recollections flying the Bf 109K-4 at high altitude in Donald Caldwell's "Top Guns" and "JG 26 War Diary Vol 2" books. I also found the latter suspect as the version was described as carrying 20 mm guns in underwing gondolas. I thought the underwing 20mm cannon gondolas were common in the Bf 109G series, but not in the Bf 109K series. I could easily be wrong and stand humbly corrected if this is so.

I hope my post wasn't overly long and greatly appreciate any responses.

Thanks much,
Kenneth