Nimrod’s Genesis: RAF Maritime Patrol Projects and Weapons since 1945

by Chris Gibson, Hikoki Publications, $49.95

 

This book is a specimen of an aviation genre upon which the Brits seem to have a stranglehold: aircraft that never were. The books are enticing because their hallmarks—quality printing, excellent photographic reproduction, integrated design, and numerous line drawings—are focused on capturing the reader’s and purchaser’s attention. They do this very well. That they are printed in China is more a statement of the cost of similar endeavors in the West than it is of the derived quality in the East.

Unlike historical fiction for things that never were, this category of aviation literature has a very valid substrate: the furtherance of the aeronautical art. Aviation blind alleys can actually lead to hardware. Hence aircraft vaporware is worthy of study and reportage.

The issue with such books is how far to push the defining boundaries. Nimrod’s Genesis may be just on the edge. Subtitled “RAF Maritime Patrol Projects and Weapons since 1945,” this is 222 pages of unbridled decadence for the minutiae loving aviation buff. Yes, it is an acquired taste, and on the surface may not appeal to yours. It certainly didn’t mine. But author Chris Gibson knows how to reel you in.

The opening chapter isn’t even about aircraft. It concisely sets the stage for subsequent chapters by painting a picture of the “enemy,” the Soviet/Russian Navy, and in particular its submarines. This he follows with a chapter on sensors, how they work, the tactics required for each, and weapons used to counter targets. All these are very well illustrated. Explanatory graphics are clear, concise, and informative. The subsequent chapters about the aircraft begin with the end of World War II and flying boat projects and continue through short- and medium-range maritime reconnaissance, long-range land planes, NATO and the so-called Trinity three-in-one project, and continue chronologically to today.

Gibson’s writing is focused, there are no distracting side trips into unrelated matters. There is a flow to his work that is easy for the reader to follow and one often leaves a chapter with the thought that “I didn’t know that,” or “That makes sense.”

My only criticism with this book—and it applies to the entire genre—is that they tease you with such interesting drawings and sketches and leave you wanting because they are too small to be of real value other than to illustrate a shape.

I would not have gambled on the subject. It is too far removed from my comfort zone. But I would have lost by not picking it up.

Nimrod’s Genesis is available from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com.

Reviewed June 2015

“Blue Goose” Command Aircraft of the USN, USMC, and USCG 1911 to 1961

by William A. Riley and Thomas E. Doll, Ginter Books, $35.95

 

Steve Ginter’s Naval Fighters series is well known to aviation fans. Discounting his parallel Air Force series, there are 100 volumes in the set to date. “Blue Goose” is the 100th. Devotees of the series are likely to be thrown off by this new edition, for unlike any of its forebears, this does not focus on a single type or model of aircraft. The subject is the nebulous “command” aircraft. The authors never define the term and therefore the structure is just as nebulous. Judging by the content, a command aircraft is anything any commander ever flew. This includes down to the squadron level. But even that definition does not coincide with the text, photos, and drawings provided. The contents are literally all over the aviation map of the U.S. sea services.

If the book is purchased based solely on the cover, the buyer may be disappointed. For while the cover screams “Blue Goose” Command Aircraft and features a very nice colorful painting of SU-2 BuNo 9095 (which in ALL details looks amazingly like the photo of O3U-3 BuNo 9300 on the bottom of page 26 including the Wasp engine’s exhaust, but not that of the Hornet that powered the SU-2) only 12 pages of the more than 125 in the book cover the era of the true blue geese.

At the heart of this publication is a narrative about aircraft colorings and markings interspersed with concise battle narratives. In this regard it serves neither topic well. There is a very nice little section on the “Halsey-Doolittle” Raid. (This never existed. In all contemporary documents—including Navy—it is the Tokyo Raid, Raid Against Japan, or the Doolittle Raid. Look it up. Revisionists changed the name to give the Navy not only a presence, but also predominance.) What does this have to do with Blue Goose or command aircraft or even naval aircraft markings? There are also action reports from Midway, Guadalcanal, and Operation Torch. Again, what is the relevance to the book? Then there is a two-page advertisement for digital aviation art. Apparently the artist provided his work gratis in exchange for the ad. This doesn’t belong in a book, at least not presented as part of the text flow. But this is not surprising in a Ginter book.

Books consist of two things: content and design. In this one the content consists of both text and graphics in the form of photographs and computer art. The text has already been addressed. The photographs and their reproduction, on the other hand, are—again typical of a Ginter publication—very good. I have worked with a number of these images and am impressed by the quality with which they have been reproduced. The artwork gives a reasonable impression of how many of these aircraft, only seen today in black-and-white photographs, may have looked in color.

The other component, design, relates directly to how the content is conveyed to the reader. This design leaves no doubt that the book’s message is to be gotten through the photographs. Ginter uses every bit of real estate to put something in ink. The problem is that no, the world—and books—are not flat. Every piece of information is not as valuable as every other piece of information. That is why traditional books have title pages, copyright pages, introductions, and prefaces separated from the main body of the text. And it is especially evident in relative photo sizes; some are played big, some small. The text in Ginter’s books is laid out in stream-of-consciousness fashion. Author bios seamlessly segue into copyright data, which seamlessly turns into acknowledgments, introduction, and finally text. In this, Number One Hundred is no different from the 99 that came before.

What this allows, however, is every other bit of real estate to be used for images and this it does as intended. Traditional photo books guide and direct the reader by playing large off small, details versus general. There is none of that here. Ginter knows you want to see airplanes and by God you are going to see airplanes. You want to see the detail, you will see the detail.

My two cents: this is a worthwhile purchase IF you take a quick look at the content and know what it is really about and you want to see a lot of decent, and in a number of instances very good, photographs of airplanes. You will be disappointed in the text, except for that which actually discusses the blue geese.

If you think a disgruntled purchaser wrote this, you are wrong. The publisher provided this book gratis for me to review. This is my unvarnished take.

“Blue Goose” is available from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com.

Reviewed June 2015

 

Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider: Part Two – The Navy Squadrons

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

Soviet Naval Aviation 1946–1991

Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov. 368 pp. (Hikoki Publications for SpecialtyPress, North Branch, MN, 2013) $56.95.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union an increasing number of books about the secretive society, especially its military, have been seeing publication in the West. Opening the doors to what appears to be a convoluted jumble of designations and names (compounded by NATO identifications) is greatly welcomed by aviation enthusiasts. But where does one start?

In the sub-genre of Soviet Naval Aviation—the AVMF—this book is most definitely a solid jumping off point. Where most books on Soviet aviation are rough translations of previously published Russian and former Eastern Bloc origin or by Western authors without detailed access, this is the work of long-time Russian aviation enthusiasts and a professional translator. The text shows no indication of stilted translation, what one reads is exactly what the authors meant.

In the West, naval aviation means fixed-wing-capable aircraft carriers. Certainly rotary-wing and land based patrol craft are important, but carriers are the centerpieces. For the Soviets in the early years of the Cold War, land based fixed-wing planes and ship based helicopters were the expedient to countering Western advances. Soviet naval air did not employ carriers until the early 1960s, and at that could only accommodate helicopters for antisubmarine warfare work. They acquired carriers capable of fixed-wing operations only a decade later.

This book documents that history well. Fully the first 250 pages of the 368-page work cover all operations before the introduction of carriers. The closing chapter focuses on the AVMF’s principal weapons and aircraft. Particularly impressive is the authors’ attention to details. That U.S. aircraft are identified by precise designation and bureau numbers would indicate a similar attention to detail of the Soviet aircraft. This impression adds to the book’s veracity.

The authors have provided a wealth of visual information to buttress their text. There are more than 600 large, detailed photographs, many in color, along with numerous color profile drawings. For instance, of the Beriev Be-12 Chayka (Seagull)—NATO’s Mail—there are 13 black-and-white and 11 color photos as well as four profiles.

The only disconcerting point in the book is the authors’ attempt to help with pronunciation. While it is another point demonstrating their consideration for the reader, its fails in execution. The bold type of emphasized syllables is far too pronounced. The thin monotype italics of the Russian words are not all that different from the body text, yet the emboldened syllables are. It is a shame that such a good and valuable work is marred by a simple choice of typefaces.

In all other cases, however, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in Soviet aviation and especially naval aviation.

This book may be ordered from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com. Shipping and handling is $6.95.

 

Reviewed October 2013

 

Wings of the Navy

by Captain Eric Brown

338 pp.

(Hikoki Publications for SpecialtyPress, North Branch, MN, 2013)

$56.95.

 

For those who appreciate Royal Navy Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown’s literary abilities in communicating the intricacies of flying various aircraft, his long out-of-print Wings of the Navy has been comprehensively updated. Since it was first published in 1980, this book has been a benchmark by which similarly themed books have been judged. And many have been found wanting. This version raises the bar.

Last published by the U.S. Naval Institute in 1987, this version published by Kikoki Publications is virtually double the size covering 30 aircraft compared to the earlier version’s 16. Rather than issuing a Wings of the Navy II, Brown chose to update the original text while adding the new aircraft chapters. For instance, the chapter dedicated to Grumman’s F4F Wildcat has been expanded by a full page over its original dozen. If you own any previous version, you will want to add this to your collection as well. It is that new an animal.

What are unchanged are Winkle’s writing and communication abilities. His insight into the foibles of the aircraft is razor sharp and descriptions will inform the neophyte and entertain the cognoscente. He delivers a solid, dependable work and his credentials are impeccable. He is the Fleet Air Arm’s most decorated pilot and has in his 31-year career flown a record 490 basic types of aircraft and made a world record 2,407 carrier landings in fixed-wing aircraft. He is the only non-American inducted into the U.S. Navy’s Test Pilot Hall of Honor. The book’s focus, as one would expect, is on British and British versions of U.S. types, but this makes it of no less value. Indeed, the insight of a foreign observer helps put U.S. aircraft in perspective.

The raison d’être for this book is its expansion. As noted, the number of aircraft covered has virtually doubled, but also included are three not insignificant chapters on design requirements for naval aircraft, the “delicate art” of deck landing, and test flying at the U.S. Naval Air Test Center. Of the additional 14 aircraft, all but three are jet-powered where all of the original were of World War II vintage or derivation. In total, the book has grown from 176 to 338 pages.

Of the 16 aircraft covered in the first editions, 10 are of solely British origin and use, the remainder are of U.S. construction that were flown by the United Kingdom. The 30 in the current edition split evenly at 15 apiece. To compare the books, below is a spot look at two chapters, one of each nation’s manufacture, with the older edition figures first.

Fairey Swordfish: 13 pages vs. 16 pages; 21 photos vs. 25 (including one in color) of which only 4 are duplicated from the original; both editions have a two-page and one-page cutaway drawings and a ¼-page 3-view drawing. The new edition includes one color profile.

Grumman Hellcat: 10 pages vs. 12 pages; 16 photos (10 U.S. versions) vs. 10 (3 U.S. versions) of which only 2 are repeated; both have the same sized and number drawings as the Swordfish, including the color profile.

The earlier editions were edited by well-known aviation author William Green and they retained the look and feel of his Famous Bombers/Fighters of the Second World War series. Indeed, his version of Wings of the Navy could easily be one of the series. While this version retains the drawings of the earlier, the choice of paper from the original’s glossy clay-coated stock to a matt finish removes any connection with Green.

That is where the caveats come in. The paper choice still allows for excellent photo reproduction, however, the images lack the sparkle of the originals. I also question some photo selections and adjustments to contrast and density to match the paper. But these are technical quibbles.

More significant is the reproduction of the two-page cutaways. All the cutaways have the hallmarks of second-generation images. Although they are slightly smaller than the originals (about 90 to 95 percent)—which should increase apparent sharpness—these do not have that appearance. Also, they lose the fine detail that was held in the originals. Further, all are printed on a light blue background, which does nothing to enhance their contrast.

These points do not in any way diminish the value of this book. If you know Eric Brown’s work, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection. And, if you’ve never heard of the good captain, this is the prime way to be introduced.

This book may be ordered from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com. Shipping and handling is $6.95.

 

Reviewed October 2013