A Known Quantity
Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider: Part Two – The Navy Squadrons
mail order Lyrica by Steve Ginter, Ginter Books, $55.95
The 99th iteration of Steve Ginter’s Naval Fighters series is the second part of three focused on the Douglas AD/AD-1 Skyraider. This covers operational U.S. Navy squadrons. The first volume, no. 98, spanned everything from development to test aircraft to variants, R&D units, CAG units, hacks, Marine active duty squadrons and much more. Volume three, as yet unannounced, will cover Navy and Marine Corps reserve units as well as Air Force and foreign operators of the type.
Those familiar with Ginter’s publications will be right at home. If you like his other offerings, this will not disappoint. For those new to the genre, Ginter’s mantra is airplanes, airplanes, airplanes, and make the photos large, sharp, and crispy. Text is at a premium. Think Sgt. Joe Friday of the LAPD and “just the facts, ma’am” and that’s what he delivers.
The squadrons are presented in numerical order and include designation changes if applicable. The text is a staccato of squadron established (date), operated (insert aircraft here) until (date) when they received (insert new aircraft here), etc. This is followed by a narrative, at times expansive, of the squadron’s history. This is not a criticism. It is what the author intended to provide and it is homogenous across all 273 pages of the book. In some instances he adds charts, which further expand a squadron’s operations highlighting not only the diversity of variants on hand at any given moment, but also how fluid the squadron equipping was at times. These are interesting additions. My only quibble here is I’d like to see the information sourced. I’m certain he didn’t create these out of thin air, but it would be helpful (and increase the information’s value) if sources were cited.
I have no comments on the photographs except to say they are many and in virtually all cases up to Ginter’s high standards. If you like Spads, this book is a value just for the photographs.
By far, my favorite portion of the book was the all-too-short five-page narrative about VA-195 and its attacks on what became fictionalized as “The Bridges of Toko-Ri” and the torpedo attack against the Hwachon Dam in March and April 1951, respectively. The photographs are a modeler’s and artist’s God send.
There is little to fault here as the author is a known quantity, you accept his simple premises, and like aircraft.
Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider: Part Two is available from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com.
Reviewed June 2015
