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General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: Halo on August 12, 2001, 09:31:00 PM

Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Halo on August 12, 2001, 09:31:00 PM
Curious what you consider the best book about WWII aircraft -- all types, all countries?  

Or, your top favorites.  Don't know if any one book is clearly dominant.  

For example, for U.S. fighters, I'm impressed with The American Fighter (Orion, 1987) by Enzo Angelucci.  I've also ordered America's Hundred Thousand after seeing its highly favorable reviews.

Also ordered Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War (Single-Engined Fighters) by Gordon and Khazanov.  

Best single compact reference I've seen is Fighting Aircraft of World War II (MBI, 1998)by Bill Gunston, although it omits support aircraft like the C-47 and Ju52.  

I have several others, from paperback single plane to huge coffee table compendiums, but these are the ones that sortie the most for me.  What are your favs?
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Wilbus on August 14, 2001, 08:48:00 AM
Warplanes of the Luftwaffe.

Brittish Warplanes.

American Warplanes.

Fighters of World War II.

Focke Wulf FW 190 In Combat by Alfred Price.

more coming in a month or so, going in to buy some as soon as I get money  :D
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Swoop on August 14, 2001, 05:29:00 PM
Wilbus,

Luftwaffe war diaries - Cajus Bekker.  ISBN 0-306-80604-5.


You'll love it.

 (http://www.swoop.com/images/logo_small.jpg)
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: air_ReCoile on August 22, 2001, 07:06:00 AM
Got that one too Swoop, very nice indeed!
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: leonid on August 22, 2001, 01:30:00 PM
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: funkedup on August 23, 2001, 12:15:00 PM
Warplanes of the Third Reich - William Green
It's out of print and has some errors, but it's got SOOOOOOOOOO much stuff.

Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War
 - Rene J. Francillon.  Really nice and compact reference on Japanese aircraft and their weapons.

I have both volumes of the Gordon/Khazanov Soviet books and they are great.

America's Hundred Thousand is the best book I have ever seen on the aircraft of any country.

I'm still looking for a similar book on US Bombers.

I'm looking for a good Spitfire book.  The ones I have been able to find are pretty wimpy and lacking in technical detail.

Also anything on Tempest/Typhoon would rock.
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: funkedup on August 23, 2001, 12:24:00 PM
PS If you have trouble finding a particular book try www.abebooks.com (http://www.abebooks.com)
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Effdub on August 24, 2001, 04:08:00 AM
www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Huge Collection of Aircraft books.

I like the "Aircraft of the Aces" series alot (good for modelling  :)
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Karnak on August 25, 2001, 05:45:00 AM
I have in my view right now:

De Haviland Mosquito by Martin Bowman
The Battle of Britain by Richard Townshend Bickers
The History of German Aviation: Kurt Tank Focke-Wulf's Designer and Test Pilot by Wolfgang Wagner
Fighters of World War II edited by David Donald
Bombers of World War II edited by David Donald
Luftwaffe Handbook 1939-1945 by Alfred Price
JANE's Fighting Aircraft of World War II
Fighting Aircraft of World War II by Bill Gunston
World War II Airplanes by David Lee
Spitfire Flying Legend by John Dibbs and Tony Holmes
Spitfire The History by Eric B. Morgan and Edward Shacklady
The Great Book of World War II Airplanes
Rapid Fire by Anthony Williams
Mosquito Bomber/Fighter-Bomber Units 1942-45 by Martin Bowman
Mosquito Fighter/Fighter-Bomber Units of World War 2 by Martin Bowman
Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-45 by Henry Sakaida
Finnish Aces of World War 2 by Kari Stenman and Kalevi Keskinen

I need references on Armor now.
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: flakbait on August 25, 2001, 06:16:00 AM
Aircraft of WW2
Stewart Wilson
ISBN# 1-875671-35-8
$20

Not the biggest, or the greatest, but it does have a single B&W photo of every aircraft in it. Along with a few paragraphs of text it gives typical specs for a given type. Not too bad actually.

-----------------------
Flakbait [Delta6]
Delta Six's Flight School (http://www.worldaccessnet.com/~delta6)
Put the P-61B in Aces High
"For yay did the sky darken, and split open and spew forth fire, and
through the smoke rode the Four Wurgers of the Apocalypse.
And on their canopies was tattooed the number of the Beast, and the
number was 190." Jedi, Verse Five, Capter Two, The Book of Dweeb
 (http://www.worldaccessnet.com/~delta6/sig/lie.gif)
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: wells on August 25, 2001, 01:06:00 PM
Funked,

You want 'Spitfire: The History' by Morgan and Shacklady.  ISBN 0-946219-48-6

Wing's of the Luftwaffe is pretty good by Eric Brown.  ISBN 1-85310-413-2

'The Great Book of World War II Airplanes' is also a good one, it's huge!  I know the title seems a bit cheesy, but it's a compilation of authors on a variety of aircraft, P-38, P-51, B-17, Hellcat, Corsair, Spitfire, Mosquito, Lancaster, bf109, fw190, Ju87, Zero.

ISBN 0-517-16024-2
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Jimdandy on August 31, 2001, 10:37:00 AM
The Complete Book of Fighters An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown

William Green, Gordon Swanborough

Smithmark Publishers, Inc. 1994

It's no longer in publication. I got on line and found a used copy. Very good book.

[ 08-31-2001: Message edited by: Jimdandy ]
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: mipoikel on September 20, 2001, 05:07:00 PM
Double Fighter Knight

web page (http://www.apali.fi/Books/DFK/www.dfk.html)

read also:

web page (http://www.sci.fi/~fta/finace01.htm)
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Durr on November 10, 2001, 12:34:00 AM
An awesome book especially for those of us in massively multiplayer WW2 type flight sims is a book by Capt Erich Brown, RN
Duels in the Sky:World War II Naval Aircraft in Combat
In this book he compares aircraft, even those which didnt historically actually fight one another such as, FW-190 vs Corsair for instance, and tells which was better at what.  Its a fascinating book and he knows what hes talking about. Capt Brown at one point held the world record for most carrier landings and I think he still does.  He also may have the record for most types of WW2 aircraft flown.  So if you are tired of hearing people in AH that have no clue what they are talking about debate P-51 vs Spitfire, or Corsair vs N1k1, and you want the straight scoop, you should check this book out.
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: hazed- on November 15, 2001, 06:29:00 PM
also try:


'Ive flown 'em all and I know which is best' written by Hauptmann Hazed KC
ISBN 0-666-666-0


 :D
Title: Best WWII Aircraft Source Book?
Post by: Mathman on November 18, 2001, 01:33:00 AM
I must agree with Funked.  America's Hundred Thousand is easily the best book I have found on World War II fighters.  Only drawback to it is that it only covers American fighters (which is far from a bad thing, IMHO).

I am always searching for good books on World War II, and whenever I find one that suits whatever I am interested in at the time, I will buy it.  That is why my collection has become a bit eclectic over the years.  I have books on the Hellcat and the Pacific war sharing a shelf with books on the Me 262 and JV 44 as well as the Viet Nam air war and World War I.  Maybe complete is a better word than eclectic, but I don't think my colletion is anywhere near as comprehensive as it could be.  I know it is nowhere near what I would like it to be.   :)

-math