AERO VINTAGE BOOKS

Swamp Ghost: B-17E 41-2446 was timely in 2005 when it was released; it is poignant now in 2008. The primary feature on the DVD tells, in documentary style, the story of this unique airplane and freezes its status in 2005. The following year, in May 2006, the airplane was disassembled and hauled out of the remote swamp in Papua New Guinea, where it had laid since February 23, 1942. Looking at the context now, is the story going to end better or worse for the airplane now that it's out of the swamp but disassembled, in storage, and entangled in a minor international dispute with its fate undetermined?

In spite of what happened in the succeeding years, the story as told in the DVD is an amazing one and one worth viewing by any B-17 de-vo-teee. Directed and produced by the guy behind Pacific Ghosts, Justin Taylan, it is a professional effort that should be, or maybe has been, on the likes of the Discovery Channel. The DVD tells the story of the B-17 and its crew from December 1941 to 2005. Featured are the three surviving crewmembers out of the original crew of nine: bombardier Richard Oliver, navigator George Munroe, and engineer/top turret gunner Clarence LeMieux. They are interviewed about their first bombing mission of the war...on February 23,1942, from Townsville, Australia, to the harbor at Rabaul, and back. Their crash landing near the north coast of New Guinea was the first part of a six week odyssey to get back to their base through swamp and jungle. (Interesting to note the airplane was an early B-17E with the Sperry remote lower turret--not the Sperry ball turret--but no remote lower gunner was part of the crew...indicative of what the crews and the local air commanders thought of the turret.) Also told is Taylan's own experiences in trying to locate and examine the derelict and abandoned bomber in the early 2000s (date not given). This airplane was "rediscovered" by the RAAF in 1972, and was becoming a bit of a tourist attraction until it was removed. The DVD has much "in situ" video of Taylan and two other adventurers examining the airplane in the swamp...only eight miles but a two day soggy and treacherous journey away from the nearest settlement, unless you have a helicopter.

Also included on the DVD are special features, two of which are nose to tail examinations of the bomber from the outside and the inside...fascinating stuff and invaluable now since the airplane is no longer there. Another feature documents a 1974 visit to the airplane with photos to compare its condition three decades later.

This DVD is highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in B-17s, even more so as this airplane still survives and is bound for somewhere...but who knows where? The DVD can be obtained at the also excellent Pacific Ghosts website. Check it out for some of the other great information about this lesser-known part of B-17 heritage. What makes the internet the invaluble resource it is are websites like Pacific Ghosts...stuff you won't find anywhere else in or out of print. (Review by Scott Thompson, November 2008)

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The Bomber Reef is primarily the story of a B-25 and its crew that were shot down in the air war fought over Papua New Guinea during World War II. The DVD begins by telling the general details about how the U.S. ended up having heavily gunned B-25s flying combat against Japanese targets in New Guinea, including a great deal of actual footage and period photographs. Crewmember interviews are also included. The story then focuses down on the exploits of one B-25 crew, one that is ultimately shot down and crashes in the water off of Wongat Island. One crewman was killed in the crash, and the others were ultimately captured by the Japanese. All but one ended up being executed by the Japanese in New Guinea, with one survivor consigned to a POW camp in Japan.

The personal stories are riveting, but the last ten minutes of the doucmentary focuses on the B-25 wreckage located in 50 feet of water off Wongat Island. The underwater photography showing the current conditon of the bomber, the top turret still containing the jutting .50 caliber guns, the cockpit instruments quite visible, is stunning. All told, the DVD runs at 52 minutes and tells a gripping personal story of the war in the South Pacific.

This DVD can be ordered from the production company, Seawest Productions, located in New South Wales, Australia. Walt Deas was instrumental in putting the production together, and he can be reached also on the Seawest Productions website located here. Ordering instructions are on the site. The correct address of Seawest Productions is, by the way, 20 Robinsville Crescent, Thirroul, New South Wales, 2115, Australia. They moved recently and there may be some confusion about their correct address. (Review by Scott Thompson, January 2008)

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The 12 O'Clock High Logbook, subtitled The Unofficial History of the Novel, Motion Picture, and TV Series is just that, a thorough review of three three facets of one of the most durable fictional accounts to come out of the air war in Europe during World War II. Authors Duffin and Matheis have produced what appears to be a labor of love, a detailed look at the story behind Twelve O'Clock High, written as a 1946 novel by Bernie Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett, produced by 20th Century Fox as a 1949 movie, and then produced by Quinn Martin as a TV series between 1964 and 1966. The authors dig into the history behind the fictional story, that of General Frank Armstrong and his brief experience with the 306th Bomb Group during the first year of the European air war. Both Lay and Bartlett were AAF veterans, Lay within the command of the Eighth Air Force, so their tale speaks the realness of men who were there. The success of the novel spurned the movie that starred Gregory Peck, which won several Academy Awards in 1950. The later TV series had a more uneven success, and the behind-the-scenes stories, including the replacement of actor Robert Lansing's Savage with Paul Burke's Gallagher, are addressed in detail. Also included are an episode-by-episode guide to the TV series. The movie in particular remains vivid today, and is used by various leadership-teaching venues as an instructional aid. The book comes in at 422 pages and is indexed. Minor criticism: the photos are small and grainy---the book may have enjoyed a better presentation with more and larger photos printed on better paper...perhaps in the pictorial history fashion. The book is a pretty complete tale, though, and adds to other pioneering sources such as the one done by James Farmer in the AAHS Journal back in the 1980s. A few questions remain: what of the longer version of the film rumored but not verified, that may have been released in Europe containing different scenes? The book is available for $29.95 (plus $3.50 shipping) right here.(Review by Scott Thompson)

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The Youngest Crew tells the autobiographical story of Paul Wagner and his experiences as an airplane commander of a B-17 with the 398th Bomb Group with the Eighth Air Force. More than a story about what was possibly the youngest crew to man a B-17 with the Eighth, the story could be an everymany story of the war. It is a deeply personal account of his wartime experiences, notable because it is well written and easy to read. Wagner enlisted in the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program in November 1942, and the first third of the book takes him through the different phases of training. He chose to continue to train for multi engine aircraft and was , by February 1944 (as a barely-20 year old 2nd Lieutenant), in B-17 transition training to become an aircraft commander. He went from there to train B-17 copilots in Florida at a gunnery school and, in September 1944, was assigned as a B-17 pilot to pull a crew together for overseas deployment. The assigned crew of nine men had an average age of nineteen. After some training together, the crew was dispatched with a new B-17 to England and the Eighth Air Force, departing in late December 1944, just as Wagner turned twenty-one. They were assigned to the 398th Bomb Group and began flying combat missions in January 1945. Though the nature of the air war had changed by that date, it was still deadly and Wagner saw a number of his squadron mates shot down, primarily by flak. He and his crew flew twenty-five missions before the war ended in May. The appealing thing about this book is that it could probably be the story of thousands of men. The B-17 is only the backdrop for the story, and from a technical point of view it does not delve deeply into the airplane itself, nor does he particularly romantasize his feelings toward it. In fact, there are a couple of glaring (to us technocrats) errors about things like serial numbers and such. More than anything, though, this points to how unimportant those details were to these guys. Their airplanes were the tools to get them back and forth from their distasteful but necessary job. Wagner's emotions and fondness are reserved for his crew, not his airplane. The deep bonds of brotherhood cannot be missed, and it is understandable how combat crews came to place such a high value on these times while at the same time hating them. The Youngest Crew is highly recommended as an excellent crew autobiography, one that lets the reader into the heart and mind of a typical American bomber pilot from World War II. The book is softbound, 227 pages, illustrated with black and white photos, and published by Lagumo at Cheyenne, Wyoming. (ISBN 1-878117-13-0) It sells for $19.95 and is available here. (Review by Scott Thompson, December 2004)

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Thirty Seconds Over Berlin is a well-written autobiography by a pilot who enjoyed a 55-year career in both military and civilian aviation. The book is subtitled “The story of a Nebraska boy’s life in aviation,” which pretty much says it all. Though his early years were in Nebraska, he began his participation in the aviation industry by helping build P-40 fighters in 1940 at the Curtiss-Wright plant located in Buffalo, New York, and then Martin B-26s at Omaha. After Pearl Harbor, he trained in the Civilian Pilot Training Corps and then proceeded through military flight training, earning his wings in August 1944. Gordon then went to Oklahoma City and trained to fly the P-38, going to Europe to fly the F-5 reconnaissance version of the P-38. He arrived in France to join the 33rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in December 1944, and remained attached to that unit through the balance of the European war. He was shot down by flak in April 1945, but managed to put his P-38 down on the Allied side of the combat line. The title of the book, a play on Ted Lawson’ well known book on the Tokyo raid, refers to an unauthorized low-level sweep over Berlin just as the Russians were capturing the city in early May 1945. The war ended shortly afterwards.

Gordon’s post war military career saw him flying a variety of aircraft, including the B-25, C-47, AT-6, C-46, and B-47, and ended with his retirement in 1969 as a Lt. Colonel. He went on to enjoy another two decades plus in the world of corporate aviation, flying for General Dynamics and other major companies, and playing a key role in the National Business Aircraft Association, before finally retiring in 1995 after a half century of flying. Along the way he married and raised three boys, probably not an atypical path for one of the ‘greatest generation.’

This reviewer has read a number of such autobiographies, and though most are interesting few are will written. Gordon writes with a breezy style that keeps things moving along without bogging down too much in philosophies or divergent details. Some strong opinions can be discerned just below the surface but not brazenly; that also is typical of men of this generation. All in all, this book is an excellent account of someone who had the good fortune to not only enjoy a very long, diverse, and interesting career flying some incredible airplanes, but also someone who fully realizes what he had. Published by JMT Publications of Shirley, Indiana, it is softbound, 291 pages, with black and white illustrations, and priced at $16.95. It can be ordered from Gordon Publishing, P.O. Box 452, Chesterfield, MO 63006-0452 for $16.95 plus $3.00 shipping. This book can also be ordered through Amazon.com. (Review by Scott Thompson, June 2004)

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From the pen of World War II B-25 pilot Bob Shanks comes The Heavenly Body, a fictionalized story of the exploits of a group of Army Air Corps pilots from their pre-war training through to combat experiences in the South Pacific flying B-25s. The story's main character is Bob Edwards, who joins the Air Corps for flight training in the months before Pearl Harbor. After detailing the training process, the book moves on to show the characters joining a squadron flying O-52s to train observers. Later, the pilots move to A-20s and then, finally, to B-25s before being deployed to the South Pacific. Bob's airplane is The Heavenly Body, thus the title. Well told is the story of how men who depend upon each other for their lives grow unique bonds with each other as well as their airplane. Combat tour complete, Bob Edwards leaves the Body in the South Pacific and rotates home. A post-war tour of duty and then a job with an international oil company fills the next fifty years. However, Bob once again encounters his airplane, now flying as a warbird in the skies of Southern California. The circle has now closed.

The book is enjoyable to read and provides a window into the lives of World War II airmen. One suspects that the experiences of Bob Edwards mirror pretty closely to those of author Bob Shanks. At points, one also gets the feeling that things have been sanitized a bit, understandably, but there is an element of innocence that also pervades through the book, something quite missing in our cynical and 'anything goes' era.

One might also get confused a bit if the story of the Body is taken too literally as there is, indeed, a Heavenly Body that flies in the skies of Southern California. This is B-25J 44-30748 (N8195H), owned by Mike Pupich and based at Van Nuys. This is the airplane that is featured on the cover of the book and inspired its name. The Van Nuys airplane, though, never saw combat and was used in the post-war Air Force as a trainer. It later flew with Tallmantz in Catch-22. The book and web site information may prove a bit confusing about this airplane but it is, after all, a fictionalized story.

The book can be ordered at The Heavenly Body, 5803 K Sharon Rd., Charlotte, NC 28210, or online at this website. The cost of the book is $16.95 plus $4.50 shipping and handling.
(April 2003, Scott Thompson)

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During the year, Steve Pace from Tacoma, Washington, has written many books on the history of aircraft types. His books on the P-38, the Connie, Skunk Works and many other types of aircraft are well known. Some eight years ago, Steve published his first book on Mitchells, and in 2002 his second Mitchell book, B-25 Mitchell Units of the MTO, became available. One of the reasons I'm happy with this particular book is that it details much of the history of the USAAF groups equipped with the B-25 Mitchell in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The number of books on the Mitchell operations in this theatre of war is rather limited and the book fills a gap. The publications on Mitchell operations in Europe usually tell the stories of the Royal Air Force B-25s with their well known black and white D-Day invasion stripes. The US Mitchell operations in the southern part of Europe are lesser known.

After a description of the start of the 9th and 12th Air Forces in 1942, Pace gives details with first hand stories and many photographs of the five Bomb Groups and the many bomber squadrons in 9th and 12th. These stories are well documented and illustrated with b/w and colour pictures. Especially, the pictures of the Harry D. George files are unique. This book is the first of four volumes planned for the Osprey Combat Aircraft Series on the Mitchell details the colour schemes of the several squadrons, both in pictures as in drawings. The quality of drawings, pictures and text is very good.

One of the things I keep surprised of is the widespread misunderstanding on the number of Mitchells built. Steve Pace indicates that more than 10,500 Mitchells were built, of which some 9,800 ordered by the Air Corps and AAF. The total number of Mitchells built is 9,889 of which 9,817 were delivered to the AAF. This number includes all deliveries to other countries. General conclusion: not to be missed in a well-documented Mitchell library!

Details on the book: 96 pages, soft cover, Osprey Combat Aircraft #32, Osprey Publishing Limited. List price is $18.95 but is also available at Amazon.com for $13.27.
(December 2002, Coert Munk)

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An incredible effort, in my humble opinion, by authors Carl-Fredrik Geust and Gennadiy Petrov. This book comes from Apali Oy, a publisher located in Tampere, Finland, and the fourth of a series of books on the Soviet air forces. This book covers in extreme detail the efforts of the Americans and British to supply the Russian government with thousands and thousands of airplanes under the auspices of Lend-Lease. In my experience, the material covered in this book has never before seen the light of day, at least in the West. Hundreds of photographs, many fuzzy or flawed but all interesting, grace the book, as well as some detailed appendices and some fine color line drawings, and example of which can be seen here. Lend-Lease to Russia has always been a bit of a puzzle, as most of the equipment (including thousands of tons of other armaments, foodstuffs, supplies, clothing, and electronic gear) disappeared into the black hole of Soviet secrecy after World War II ended. This book goes far in explaining and illustrating how the equipement was used.

The book details all of the transfers of equipment from the U.S. and Britain to Russia from the late 1930s through the end of the war, encompassing Lend-Lease but also other commercial purchases and equipment either given (i.e. a few Spitfires) or taken (interned B-29s). Delivery records are included, as are U.S. serials when known. Deployment tables show where the airplanes were used, including losses, shown by type. And types there were, including Bell P-39s and P-63s, Curtiss P-40s, Douglas A-20s and C-47s, North American B-25s, O-52s, and AT-6s, Hurricanes, and Spitfires.

The photos, which dominate the book, are laid out by type and appear to be just about every single available photograph of each type in Soviet service. There are nearly 100 of the A-20 alone, while the number of previously published Russian A-20 photos can be counted on one hand. The book itself is hardbound, printed on quality coated, semi-glossy stock, and comes in at 224 pages. The only color are the sixteen pages of exquiste artwork, done by Russian artist Valeriy I. Bulba.

The book is not readily available on this side of the Atlantic yet, but some diligent searching will locate a book. It is listed at Aeroplane Books for $50.00, or it can be ordered directly from the publisher. In any event, this book comes highly recommended. (Scott Thompson, December 2002)

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A quirky little book by a renowned aviation author...that's the best way to describe Everything But The Flak. For those unfamiliar with B-17 lore, the book tells the story of ferrying three B-17s from Tucson, Arizona, to Gatwick, England, in late September and early October 1961. The three B-17s were needed in England for use in the filming of The War Lover with actors Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner. The late author Martin Caidin flew as the copilot in the lead B-17 and his recollections of the epic journey gelled into this 1964 book. Though the book is long out of print, it is available in many library collections in a hardbound version illustrated with numerous black and white photos. It was a later paperback and copies are still available through internet and other sources.

For me, personally, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s and hungering for all things about the B-17, I was first introduced to Caidin's personal B-17 exploits in his later book Flying Forts. He told of his transatlantic flight in the final chapter of the book and referred to his earlier book about the ferry flight. I was able to order a copy of Everything But The Flak and eagerly devoured the book when I finally got my hands on it. I would later exchange letters with Caidin's personal secretary about the story. Looking at the book now, it comes across as a perfect snapshot of the Martin Caidin style.

Caidin was from the old school of aviation authors. He had written through the 1950s and produced several books in association with the Air Force and the Air Force Thunderbirds. He had written about various aspects of America's young space program and made a bit of a name for himself. He later wrote several biographies on World War II aces, books on the P-47, P-38, and B-17, among others, and a number of fictional war stories. He may be best known for Marooned, later made into a motion picture, and Cyborg which morphed into The Six Million Dollar Man on television.

Despite his books on aviation history, Caidin was more of a storyteller than an aviation historian. One can't really use his books as source material for research because the wheat and chaff are tied too closely. In the case of Everything But The Flak, there is a lot of chaff but it does make for good reading. He revels in the 'wild and woolies' image he attaches to himself and the other crewmembers of the three bombers as they, seemingly, performed continual and magnificent aeronautical feats in what had to be a perpetual alcohol-induced haze.

Some of it tends to get a bit thick in parts. He details in great length a contentious meeting with Russians and Cubans at Gander, Newfoundland, in late September 1962, shortly before the Cuban Missile crisis of the following month. To read it here, they single-handedly broke the story and dashed stories off to the New York Times and other newspapers.

After making emergency landings (numerous engine fires and other problems) at Lisbon, Portugal, the entire B-17 entourage is arrested by the secret police for gun running and Caidin relates the incident like an adventure novel. The thing about Caidin is it all might have happened just as he wrote it, or he may have written it as he remembered it to be, or it might be embellished just a bit with his style. One doesn't really know and really can't find out. In any event, the book is a legend in B-17 literature and should be read if only for the experience. Enjoy. (Scott Thompson, April 2002)

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All color, all the time.... Number Four in the Osprey Frontline Colour series is B-26 Invader Units Over Korea by veteran writer Warren Thompson. An excellent color pictorial history of the unsung B-26 during the Korean War, this book also provides a great deal of information in its detailed captions and textural history. The three bomb groups, (3rd BG, 452nd BG, and 17th BG), as well as the reconnaissance units, that flew the Invader are all covered. Many detailed photos of operational B-26s with crewmen, nose art, squadron insignia, and armament are included. Thompson is well known for his Korean War research, and he comes through again with this unique and overdue look at the Invader over Korea.

The book is softbound, 128 pages in length, with many, many crisp, large, color photos all printed on a glossy stock. It is available from a variety of sources and lists at $19.95. It is available at Amazon.com for $13.96. For more on the Invader, look for Douglas A-26 and B-26 Invader from Crowood Press beginning in June 2002.

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I tried to approach the new Hollywood blockbuster Pearl Harbor with an uncritical spirit, understanding how Hollywood theatrics usually treat aviation subjects so poorly. I was going to enjoy the movie for the movie's sake...purely as entertainment. Thus, I didn't expect much, but I was still disappointed.

Somehow the moviemakers trivialized the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which had to be hard to do. It was spectacular, for sure, but during the attack scenes I sat there thinking "I wonder how the computer guys did that?" rather than being transported emotionally to the event. The movie was more like an entirely predictable twenty cent romantic yarn with a glitzy attack sequence in the middle. The mixed reviews I'd read of the film indicated as much, so I guess it should not have been so disappointing to me. All the aviation activity aside, the film plodded along, to say the least.

Coming from the perspective of some knowledge about the actual history of the Pearl Harbor attack and subsequent Doolittle Tokyo Raid, I could only grimace at some of the plot. This also was to be expected. But some things have to be mentioned.

For example, the two principal characters are Air Corps pursuit pilots. Aside from all the earlier plotting, these two guys somehow showed up all over the place during the actual raid. They were asleep in a car when the raid began, and were personally strafed by fighters as they drove back to, presumably, Hickam Field. They spent quite a while being strafed and bombed on the flight line, then drove to their P-40s on another airfield, I guess. Then they spent some time in a sandbagged gun emplacement hiding behind the sandbags so the Zero pilots flying around wouldn't see them. Finally they got to their fighter and got off the ground, afterwhich they tried to shake numerous Zeros off their tails. They finally worked around and caused all their pursuers to hit each other in a massive mid-air, freeing them to go and shoot down a bunch of the attacking Japanese airplanes. Despite the massed confusion, nobody on the ground shot at them. After the raid finally ended, they went to the hospital to give blood, providing a convenient moment for the two guys and the girl (a nurse) to glare at each other for awhile. Then the guys were called down to the harbor to try and cut some guys out of a battleship. Then Jimmy Doolittle called them because he was planning a raid and they were about the only combat qualified guys in the Air Corps, so he "needed them" for his one-way mission. You get the idea.

The Doolittle Raid sequence was, for plot purposes, cinematic retribution. Again, most of the old P-40 squadron guys were now B-25 crewmen. There were scenes showing the pilots trying to haul their B-25s off 400 feet of runway. The pilots didn't run their engines up to maximum power and release brakes; rather, they started rolling and then slammed the throttles forward and kept yelling "Full power...full power." Once they were aboard the Hornet, they steamed toward Japan. The movie depicts the actual raid being conducted in a tight formation of sixteen B-25s instead of the single ship attacks of the actual raid. And, somehow, the lovely nurse is able to hear all the pilots talking to each other because the mission was being monitored from a big room at Pearl Harbor. She emotes more as she follows her "boys" along. Well, not to give the plot away, one of the "boys" doesn't make it, but they can bring him home from China in a C-47 with Doolittle and the other survivors.

Again, I didn't want to be harsh about the film because I knew it played loose with reality. There were a lot of fine aviators who worked on the film; I hope they got paid lots of dollars. I had a chance to overhear some of the actual Doolittle Raiders discuss the film (at the Fresno Reunion). Pained embarrassment would be an apt description.

As for the flying scenes themselves, they were pretty good. The computer animation was integrated into the shots so it was often hard to tell real from bytes. The P-40 and B-25 footage was often so tight perspective was lost, but there were some shots of low-level P-40 flying that had Steve Hinton written all over them. The attack scenes, computer generated, had the Japanese fighters zooming through the harbor at F-18 speed and it looked more like a video game.

For the price of admission, you could also rent Tora Tora Tora and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (both good flicks), buy some microwave popcorn, and swerve back toward reality. (Scott Thompson 6/2/01)

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Another volume in the Warbird Tech Series is Douglas A-26 Invader by Frederick A. Johnsen. The story of the A-26 is little told and there is a void of good material on this striking attack bomber. This 100-page volume fills in the void a bit, with a great deal of new material and photos that illustrates the varied history of the Invader. Because the USAF changed the designation of the Invader from A-26 to B-26 in 1947, there has been continual confusion among the general public with this airplane and the Martin B-26 Marauder. Regardless, the Douglas A-26 served the AAF and USAF in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, plus soldiered on in numerous cold and hot wars since it was first introduced in 1944. It also enjoyed a long civil utilization as a fast corporate transport in pre-Learjet days. Johnsen serves the airplane well here, following the Warbird Tech format of technical order exerpts, production photos, a selection of color plates, and text which details various aspects of the airplane and its service. As in the other Warbird Tech volumes, the width and breadth of a airplane's service history is a bit cursory due to the limited space. Nonetheless, a good addition to anyone's library. Bottom line: this airplane looks hot just sitting on the ramp.

This book is 8.5" x 11.0", 100 pages, 4 pages of color photos, with color cover and back. It is list priced at $16.95.

This book and the Dan Hagedorn/Leif Hellstrom Foreign Invaders both go a long way in telling the history of the Invader. What goes begging, however, is an in-depth look at the entire history of the Douglas A-26 from concept in 1940 to a museum hangar in 2000. That book just needs to be written someday. (Okay, I confess...this book is in progress right now for England's Crowood Press. Look for the complete story of the A-26 to be told in this new volume to be published in early 2002.(Reviewed August 2000)

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A B-17 niche book is Pride of Seattle: The Story of the First 300 B-17Fs by Steve Birdsall. A production of Squadron Signal, the book is in the Squadron format with numerous large and detailed black and white photos, accompanied by eight pages of full-color artwork profiles of aircraft. The meat of the book are the brief histories of each of the first 300 B-17Fs that rolled from the Boeing production line. Included in this number are some better known B-17s such as "Memphis Belle" and "Hell's Angels." No doubt this group of B-17Fs bore the brunt of the early European air war and it is interesting to read about these aircraft and their ultimate fates.

Australian Steve Birdsall is well known in B-17 book circles, having written a number of histories about the early combat airplanes in service. The first book I saw by Steve was back in the mid-1960s entitled "B-17 Flying Fortress" and was part of the series put together by Len Morgan. A 1968 title was "Hell's Angels" put out by Grenadier, probably the first 'nose art' book and actually better than most of the succeeding attempts. He's written a number of other books about various other aircraft but he seems to have specialized in the B-17. In any event, "Pride of Seattle" is up to the standard and provides that extra bit of detail on particular B-17Fs that comes in handy when looking at a photograph or pondering the fate of a particular airplane.

This book is 8.5" x 11.0", 64 pages, 8 pages of color art, with color cover and back. It is list priced at $9.95 and available right from the publisher or any number of other sources. (April 2000)

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This 175 page book are the recollections of Ralph A. Peterson about his experiences as a bomber pilot during World War II. Fly A Big Tin Bird starts with Peterson being selected as an aviation cadet and moves through the flight training and his assignment to a gunnery school flying B-17s. He is later assigned to a combat crew and, once in England, assigned to the 379th Bomb Group based at Kimbolton in East Anglia. He and his crew flew thirty-two missions beginning on February 3, 1945 and ending on April 19, 1945, as the European war drew to a close. The book is well written, engaging, and tells the first-hand story of what it was like to fly the B-17 in combat. The book is a self-published effort but this in no way detracts from the results. It is available for $19.95 ($17.95 for veterans) including shipping and handling from TIN BIRD, P.O. Box 31, Athens, MI 49011. (October 1999)

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One of the most dramatic aerial scenes used in the film (and reused in other later films) was the B-17 belly landing done by Paul Mantz. (There is a whole legend behind Mantz's solo B-17 flight and crash landing.) Mantz also provided his B-25H, NX1203, for a cameraship for some of the aerial scenes. There are several published accounts of how the film was made. James H. Farmer has assembled the most complete story to date in his book, Celluloid Wings. Whether or not you care about the history of the film, it remains an aviation classic and should be in anyone's B-17 library. This black and white video is available from Amazon.com for $12.99. The offered version is listed as 132 minutes so it may include some scenes cut from the U.S. release but included in overseas versions. (August 1999)

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A good example of a meticulously researched volume that is both readable and a reference source is Foreign Invaders: The Douglas Invader in Foreign Military and U S Clandestine Service by Dan Hagedorn and Leif Hellstrom (Midland Publishing Ltd.). The Douglas A-26 Invader is an unsung type, arriving late in World War II but serving later in both the Korea and Vietnam conflicts. Becoming the very definition of hot attack bomber, the Invader enjoyed nearly forty years of combat with military forces around the world. "Foreign Invaders" looks past the regular USAAF use of the type and delves into the A-26 in service in the smaller air forces of Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, as well as covert use by the USAF and CIA in Southeast Asia. All foreign use is covered, including lend-lease and U.S. military assistance programs. Much of the information and photos uncovered by Hagedorn and Hellstrom must have been extremely difficult to come by, so it is to their credit that it is presented in an authoritative yet readable fashion. Of particular interest is the Bay of Pigs fiasco, for which the A-26 played a major role, and the conversion of Invaders to the B-26K configuration for use in Vietnam by the USAF beginning in 1964. Also, the documentation of some covert A-26 gun running by Aero Associates out of Tucson, Arizona, (to Portugal) in 1965 is presented. Much legend and misinformation has surrounded the activity of this small group and it seems to be set straight here for the first time. The book is printed on high-quality paper with good photo reproduction. Type size is small to fit all the information in; even at 200 pages it is still packed full of material. It's the kind of book any serious aviation historian would have liked to have written. Available from Amazon.com for $34.95. (May 1999)

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One of the "Warbird Tech" (Volume 7) series put out by Specialty Press is B-17 Flying Fortress by Frederick A. Johnsen. The "Warbird Tech" series tries a different slant on the subject airplanes, with detailed looks at parts of the airplanes with technical order excerpts reprinted on items of interest. Frederick Johnsen has done a number of books in the series and has done a nice job on the B-17 volume. There are 100 pages crammed with detailed photos of sub-assemblies, gun blisters, cockpit views, drawings of nose glass installation, as well as operational and combat views. There's a bit of an emphasis on the early, pre-war B-17s which is nice. The pre-war production airplanes had a nicer finish, particularly the interior, than the later, get 'em built B-17F and B-17Gs. There are four color pages with some not-seen-before photos. Aimed at the modeler and those with a more techincal bend, this would be fine addition to any B-17 library. List price of $16.95 and available widely, it's also available from Amazon.com for $13.56. (April 1999)

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If you own or fly a B-17, even in your fertile imagination, you should have B-17G Flying Fortress: Technical Orders on CD-ROM. Robert Fields has obtained a number of manuals and technical orders for both the B-17F and the B-17G, has had them scanned into a usable format, and packed them onto CDs. The B-17F CD came first and was first available in 1997. Late in 1998 the B-17G CD was completed, and additional aircraft types are currently in preparation. The B-17G CD contains, among other things, a complete copy of the Flight Operating Instructions (pilot's manual), the B-17G Erection and Maintenance Manual, the Pilot Training Manual, and Wright R-1820-97 manuals. Aside from the interesting browsing opportunities available, this new CD will prove worthwhile to B-17 operators around the world as making rare manuals available for use. What's even better is that they are in a usable format and those pages needed for a particular task can be printed with good reproduction quality from the CD as required. An example of the disc's utility: this reviewer had someone ask for specific B-17G fuel consumption figures for theoretical flight planning. Scanning into the Flight Operating Instructions' Appendix II provided the answer: 2300 rpm and 38" manifold pressure at 25,000 feet will give you 253 mph (true) and 423 gallons per hour fuel burn. Yet another tidbit for that aviation cocktail party! By the way, just to get you going, the B-17G CD opens with the sounds of a Wright R-1820 being coaxed to life...not a bad way to start a session. The discs are self-contained with Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be loaded on a PC or MAC if not already available. My old 4X CD drive handled the CD graphics with little delay, and faster CDs should show crisp performance. Each disk is available for $30.00, or get the pair for $50.00. Highly recommended. Jump to the Old Manuals website for ordering information. (February 1999)

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Anyone familiar with the history of the B-17 and, in particular, the Eighth Air Force, knows the name of Roger Freeman. Author of the renowned series beginning with "The Mighty Eighth", Freeman and co-author David Osborne assembled a new volume entitled The B-17 Flying Fortress Story: Design-Production-History. Published in mid-1998 by Arms and Armour Press of London, England (and distributed in the U.S. by Sterling Publishing, New York), this new book fills a gap in the literature about the Flying Fortress. The first quarter of the book covers the type in general, from initial design through production and modifications. Included here are excerpts from technical orders and operating manuals. Also included are a selection of somewhat rare photos and a special section on the Wright R-1820 engine. Of greater significance to the student of the B-17, however, are the last three quarters of the book. This section provides individual aircraft histories for each of the 12,700-odd B-17s produced by the consortium of Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed between 1935 and 1945. This massive undertaking was apparently performed by Osborne reviewing each of the individual military record cards available and tying that information to other available sources. Thus, having the military serial of a particular B-17 (say, for example, from a photograph) enables a reader to see where that aircraft came from and its eventual disposition. The information is, by necessity, brief but usually contains specifics on an aircraft if it was lost in action. There are a few noted errors, surprisingly, for those B-17s which survived to enjoy civil service as that information is available elsewhere in detailed form. Other editing errors (i.e. the book refers to the 'Reclamation Finance Centre' (RFC) vs. the actual 'Reconstruction Finance Corporation' but such minor things can be overlooked in such a gigantic effort. A substantial investment at $45.00 (list), but well worth the cost for a fine reference source. Check it out at Amazon.com where it's available for $31.50. (December 1998)

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