Part III: The Planes
Hellcat:
The F6F in WW II and Corsair:
The F4U in WW II and Korea
By Barrett Tillamn
Naval Institute Press
(800) 233-8674
http://www.nip.org
Barrett is a noted naval aviation
historian (and a good friend of mine). Barrett has researched
and written books on a variety of naval aircraft from the
Wildcat to the Crusader, and all of them offer the reader
a good deal of insight into the driving forces behind the
design and development of the aircraft in question. His
combat chapters focus mainly on the big-picture, although
the occasional detailed combat encounter is presented. Both
of these are good books to familiarize one with the history
of a particular aircraft type.
Osprey
Aerospace
(available at Amazon and Barnes
& Noble)
Corsair
Aces of WW II
By Mark Styling
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #8
Hellcat
Aces of WW II
By Barrett Tillman
Osprey
Aircraft of the Aces #10
Imperial
Japanese Navy Aces of WW II
By Henry Sakaida
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #22
Japanese
Army Air Force Aces of WW II
By Henry Sakaida
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #13
Brief stories on each of the aces
who flew their respective aircraft type. Lots of B&W
photos and pages of color plates depicting the markings
of the aces' aircraft, uniforms, etc. These are but a few
of the great titles in this Osprey series (there are also
books on the Wildcat, Dauntless, Avenger, Warhawk, Lightning,
etc). Each book will be a great reference for skinners.
Fork-Tailed
Devil: The P-38 Lightning
By Martin Caidin
Balantine Books
Martin Caidin does a superb job
of chronicling the history of the P-38, and his combat descriptions
are very well done. Several chapters are devoted to epic
battles fought by Lightning pilots that never received their
due since many unit's combat records were lost or destroyed
in combat. Included is Tommy McGuire's rules for combat
survival (McGuire was our 2nd highest scoring ace of all
time with 38 kills). The main focus of the book is on the
Medeterainian and Pacific theaters of operations, and two
great stories come to mind. One is a chapter on a Italian
air force pilot who was able to obtain a Lightning after
it crash-landed and was repaired by the Axis. He was able
to use this plane to shoot down unsuspecting bombers straggling
home with damage until Army intelligence devised a plan
to shoot him down. The other is of a P-38 that returned
late to its field, long after the tanks should have run
dry. After making a respectable landing, ground crews discovered
that the pilot had been dead for hours. No one could explain
how the plane got home or how it had landed so cleanly.
This is a great book whether you like P-38s or not.
