Favorite Aircraft History Books?

[John Vasco]

Originally Posted by Jukka Juutinen

Many of the famous ship authors have naval architect or similar background. How many Classic, Hikoki, Osprey authors have piston engine aircraft designer background?

Jukka,

I read this post and feel I must comment on it also (in the spirit of debate, not confrontation).

As a future 'Classic' author, I can state that my background is, since 1969, Civil Servant (now retired) and semi-pro guitarist (continuing). I don't have 'piston engine aircraft designer background', but I do not feel that impairs what I do in any way(others might disagree!!!). I do not claim to be a 'rivet counter', although some of what I have written in the past, and something that will appear in the future, may have taken/take me in that direction (horror of horrors!!). As someone else has commented, reading vast tracts of technical information is, for me, a complete turn-off as a reader, and remember, we all started off as readers. I accept that there are some among the Luftwaffe reading public who delight in masses of technical data. I don't. I also bear in mind that the average pilot didn't give a toss about the technical detail of his aircraft - he was interested in it being in good shape to fly, good shape to fight, and sufficient shape to get them down again. I don't feel that an aviation technical background is a necessary prerequisite for setting a military account down in print. If that were so, probably half of what has appeared in the last decades would never have reached the book shelves. Don't get hung up, Jukka, on a technical background = a properly written book.

I would be interested to hear your further comments.

Regards,

John Vasco

[Franek Grabowski]

No comments concerning Soviet fighters on this sub forum from me!!!

[brewerjerry]

Hi
my personal choice :-

the typhoon & tempest story chris thomas

This, ( as is the previous typhoon file ), is excellent, the sheer depth of the subject covered, serials / combats / tech is great.
Cheers
Jerry

[Dick Powers]

If you put this book together with Kev Darling's Crowood book on the Typhoon, Tempers and Sea Fury, it's almost perfect.
Whereas Chris Thomas' book is (mostly) devoted to WWII operations, Darling's book is predominately development.



Now, if this were the "other" forum, I'd propose tha that the Tempest V could outshine either the P-47, the P-51 in either role.

[Jukka Juutinen]

I guess I hate to get Darling´s book. I have Mason´s Typhoon/Tempest book and I have seen Thomas´s book on the same subject. The latter was a real disappointment. As the book´s name is "Typhoon/Tempest Story", I was expecting similar treatment that A. Price gave to the Spit in the "Spitfire Story", i.e. plenty of test/eval reports. It did have plenty of pics, but printed on very poor paper. No good at all.

In fact, one of the best monographs I have is the 48 page softcover on the Finnish VL Myrsky written by Jukka Raunio. It has info on design background, performance curves, structure data, handling info, extensive info on testing etc. The author is an aircraft designer by trade and it shows very positively. All this based on solid primary research. This book is so much better than most of the books written by PhDs on the similar subjects. PhDs that may excel in formalities, but for whom a performance curve is something they abhorr in their petty mindedness.

[Jim P.]

Maybe not as technical as some would like, but I found Peter Rodeike's book on the Fw 190A series to be ground breaking just with the number of new photos alone.

[Dick Powers]

Peter Rodeike's book only covers the “fighter” versions, with no information on the F or G models. However, his title does indicate that it only considers fighters. I did find it odd that no performance figures are given; weights, dimensions, yes – performance data, no. I think that’s a curious omission. However, within its limitations, it is probably the best book on the FW 190. But, in my opinion, it is nowhere as compete as those listed on my favorites.

[FalkeEins]

..a more complete coverage of the Fw 190 is available in Jean-Yves Lorant's "Le Focke Wulf 190"..400+pages, plenty of scarce photos, chapters covering technical development, Jabos, wilde Sau etc etc..
Another stunning French language aircraft history volume, published just one month ago, is Jean-Louis Couston's "Le Brewster Buffalo"...at 320 high quality A-4 pages this must be the last word on this machine..detailed English language photo/artwork captions....more details at
http://www.avionsbateaux.com

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Jukka Juutinen

How many Classic, Hikoki, Osprey authors have piston engine aircraft designer background?

Well this Classic author has a social science background (aviation design is Arthur Bentley's field) but since the topic heading here is HISTORY books, not engineering monographs, that may not be such a handicap as Jukka implies.

I write books centring on operations (i.e. the reason engineers built all those aircraft in the first place) and the people who flew them. In my view that is no less valid an activity than treatises on technical development or indeed grand strategy, neither of which happens to be my thing.

[Dick Powers]

Nick,
I certainly agree with you that operational aspects are (or should be) the focus of any aircraft history. Although my education and initial work experience is aeronautical engineering, my eyes glaze over when reading long, rambling technical descriptions of WWII (or any) aircraft.

Any time I see paragraph starting with…
“The Schultz SKD-4U/GA was a semi-monocoque stressed-skin monoplane….” I immediately go to the next section. When discussing the technical aspects of aircraft design I am more interested in why certain features were, or were not, incorporated. Since no military aircraft was designed to be mediocre, each design team was constantly making decisions that affect the ultimate usefulness of the resulting airplane. That, to, is a human story.

And, as you imply, it is how the airplane was used, that fascinates most of us. The Martin-Baker MB-5 might have been the best piston-engined aircraft ever, but who cares.

The Ju-87 was obsolescent soon after entering service, but the fact that it continued to give valuable service until the end of the war deserves more coverage than it has been given.

Even the “tank-busting” career, I believe, hasn’t been definitively treated. Most discussions seem to be a re-hash of Rudel’s “Stuka Pilot”. A thorough discussion of tactics, weapons, doctrine and operations would be most welcome.

You book on NSG-9 is one of the best “Operational” books in my library. As with all “good books” it uncovers new ground, rather than rehashing an often told story. While fighters get the headlines, these flyers went about their duties in dangerous and demanding ops while flying obsolescent aircraft. It is a human story. And as you point out, any aircraft history ultimately must be a human story, whether the subject is design or operations.