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Historic Naval Aircraft: The Best of "Naval History" Magazine Review

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This book covers 30 aircraft that the U.S. Navy and Marines have used nad the 31st if you include the Spruce Goose, which was funded in part by the Navy. Some of the aircraft covered like the carrier version of the P-80 Shooting Star were kind of unexpected. Of course the old standbys of World War II are included: Wildcat, Corsair, Dauntless, Avenger. Strangely missing is the Hellcat, but this is a minor thing.
Some of the unepected aircraft include the PB4Y Privateer, the Navy's version of the B-24. Another is the Martin P6M Seamaster, the jet powered flying boat that worked quite well but got cancelled to provide money for the Polaris sub project. Another is the Pitcairn OP-1, the first rotary-wing aircraft used by the Navy. It wasn't a helecopter but an Autogyro. This is the first time that I've lot of this information.
Along with the descriptions of the planes, there is quite a bit of well researched information about each plane. This might include the various versions that were put into production, comments from a pilot, some of the history of the plane or other tidbits of information.
The book is based on the column - Historic Aircraft - that appeared in the U.S. Naval Institute's magazine "Naval History" from 1997 to 2002.

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Norman Polmar's book is a behind-the-scenes look at thirty-two important U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. These entries are based on the author's "Historic Aircraft" column, appearing in Naval History. The aircraft selected, some famous and others virtually unknown, represent a mix of types: fighters, dive-bombers, patrol planes, transports, trainers, and helicopters, including the Pitcairn XOP-1 autogiro, the first rotary-wing aircraft to be operated by the Navy and Marines. They span the period from the Vought VE-7, the first type to take off from the Navy's first carrier, the USS Langley, in 1922, through the Grumman A-6 Intruder, which flew in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars before being retired from service in 1996. Prominently featured also are the classic aircraft that the Navy and Marines flew to victory in World War II. Combining technical detail with the human dramas of flight and aerial combat, Polmar makes each historic aircraft literally fly off the pages. This book is a must-have for every aviation enthusiast.

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Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs (General Aviation) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm Bandit #35 in the book! I was a Red Eagle pilot in the 4477th TES and am featured in the book. I flew 500 MIG 21 sorties in support of Project: Constant Peg. I just finished reading the book and it's factual! Must read. Col (Ret) Frank "Paco" Geisler

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Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a serious student of World War Two and a Gerald Astor fan, however repeated errors in aircraft designations...(SPD instead of SBD) caused me to hesitate to finish this work. There is nothing more annoying than having to mentally correct poor editing.
The books content is very good and worth reading. I just would like to stress that whomever edits the final draft need to be sure that it is properly done.

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Launch the Intruders: A Naval Attack Squadron in the Vietnam War, 1972 (Modern War Studies) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is obviously a serious labor of love. But it is also highly professional and thorough. You can tell that by the strength of the effort Reardon puts forth. And I know that dealing with a bunch of former naval aviators, to get their story, must have been a challenge of unusual proportion. Every effort appears to have been made to portray the exploits of this special group of warriors -- the way it really was. The integrity of the book is apparent. This was a challenging war fought by true patriots. While others balked, these men step up to the plate, serving their country's interest the best way they could. The A-6 community was one of several unheralded groups that went into harm's way without much fanfare. Carol Reardon corrects that oversight by bringing the "Sunday Punchers" of Vietnam back to life.

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Each pilot and bombardier/navigator sat side by side in an all-weather jet built for low-level bombing runs, precision targeting, and night strikes. Their success-and their very lives-depended on teamwork in flying their versatile A-6 Intruders. And when the North Vietnamese mounted a major offensive in 1972, they answered the call.Carol Reardon chronicles the operations of Attack Squadron 75, the "Sunday Punchers," and their high-risk bombing runs launched off the U.S.S. Saratoga during the famous LINEBACKER campaigns. Based on unparalleled access to crew members and their families, her book blends military and social history to offer a unique look at the air war in Southeast Asia, as well as a moving testament to the close-knit world of naval aviators. Theirs was one of the toughest jobs in the military: launching off the carrier in rough seas as well as calm, flying solo and in formation, dodging dense flak and surface-to-air missiles, delivering ordnance on target, and recovering aboard safely. Celebrating the men who climbed into the cockpits as well as those who kept them flying, Reardon takes readers inside the squadron's ready room and onto the flight decks to await the call, "Launch the Intruders!" Readers share the adrenaline-pumping excitement of each mission-as well as those heart-stopping moments when a downed aircraft brought home to all, in flight and on board, that every aspect of their lives was constantly shadowed by danger and potential death.More than a mere combat narrative, Launch the Intruders interweaves human drama with familial concerns, domestic politics, and international diplomacy. Fliers share personal feelings about killing strangers from a distance while navy wives tell what it's like to feel like a stranger at home. And as the war rages on, headlines like Jane Fonda's visit to Hanoi and the Paris Peace Accords are all viewed through the lens of this heavily tasked, hard-hitting attack squadron.A rousing tale of men and machines, of stoic determination in the face of daunting odds, Reardon's tale shines a much-deserved light on group of men whose daring exploits richly deserve to be much better known.This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

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Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943 Review

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(More customer reviews)Second only to Truk in notoriety, the Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain played a pivotal role in the fighting in the Southwest Pacific in World War II. It was a well-fortified stronghold in its own right bristling with hundreds of AAA guns, scores of fighters and bombers and possessing a fine harbor. Just as importantly, it served as a conduit funneling various Japanese air, land and sea units southward to Guadalcanal and other areas. Fresh from his marvelous LARK FORCE book, noted military historian Bruce Gamble recounts the creation and evolution of Rabaul as a major Japanese base and the ever-increasing Allied air efforts to derail that developmeht.
Captured by the Japanese in early 1942, Rabaul was swiftly developed, eventually boasting of a number of airfields that could hold hundreds of IJN/IJAAF warbirds. Its Simpson Harbor was developed and was soon crowded with dozens of merchantmen and warships. Gamble skilfully interweaves the growth of Rabaul with other military developments in the SWPA in the early war years to underscore Rabaul's steadily growing importance to the Japanese war effort. For instance, aircraft from Rabaul pounded various Allied targets including Port Moresby, Guadalcanal (following its capture in August 1942) and American carrier units in the Coral Sea. Shipping from Simpson Harbor transported troops and equipment to various islands to establish and develop bases including airfields and so on.
As shown in FORTRESS RABAUL, the American response to Rabaul's growth took the form of air attacks. Initially the attacks were feeble and ineffectual. Following George Kenney's arrival to the SWPA, the Americans began a very slow but steady build-up of air units that, in time, would mount devastating attacks on Rabaul. By the close of Gamble's book, Kenney's 5th Air Force was becoming a more effective force, in part because of growing aircraft numbers but also because of effective tactics like skip-bombing. The post-April 1943 air attacks that later left Rabaul withering on the vine would seem to be the subject of Gamble's next book; here's hoping!
In summary, Gamble does an excellent job of utilizing Japanese and American records, reports and reminiscences to create an all-encompassing view of Rabaul's crucial role in the Pacific war. He easily shifts between high-level American or Japanese conferences to in-the-cockpit descriptions of bombing hops and air combats. He also practices some myth-busting and record-correcting in recounting who-did-what-when. All in all, FORTRESS RABAUL is great history...and a great read. Highly recommended.

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Hellcat Tales: A U.S. Navy Fighter Pilot in World War II Review

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(More customer reviews)It's real in that it talk's about training and that seem's to be a big part of any book about military flying. I would have like to read more about training and what signal's were used to communicate in the air as far as lining up for formation flying on a CAP. I believe novices would appreciate this info. Also, the LSO signal's that were used to bring a plane aboard the boat.
It's a good general info book on becoming a Naval Aviator during WWII.

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Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was a fascinating look at the state of Naval Aviation today. The nay-sayers who claim this book is fiction need to get their facts straight. As a former F/A-18 pilot and Navy jet instructor pilot, I personally flew with four of the students, and also know one of the other students from my time in the Navy. And, for the record, I am 95% sure that one of the male pilots' names was fictional, as I flew with someone who matches the description very well and finished training at the same time as the others. This book correctly conveys the attitudes, fears, and exhilaration of flying the Hornet, as well as the problems with the double standard in today's Navy. A must read for anyone with the slightest interest in flying for the Navy today.

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Sinking the Rising Sun: Dog Fighting & Dive Bombing in World War II: A Navy Fighter Pilot's Story Review

Sinking the Rising Sun: Dog Fighting and Dive Bombing in World War II: A Navy Fighter Pilot's Story

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(More customer reviews)Autobiographies of World War II Navy fighter pilots are pretty rare. In this 2007 volume from Zenith Press, William Davis, an F6F Hellcat pilot who served in the Pacific, offers a rare, from-the-cockpit look at carrier combat in the latter stages of the war. Fans of the Hellcat and the Pacific air war will enjoy his engaging memoir.
Davis joined the Navy in early 1942. After various misadventures in Training Command, which are detailed in the book, he joined VF-19, commanded by Hugh Winters, in August 1943. In the typical hurry-up-and-wait military tradition, the eager Hellcat pilots of VF-19 weren't sent into the war zone until July 1944, embarked on USS Lexington.
In the coming months VF-19 saw much hard combat, resulting in the squadron claiming 155 air kills and almost 200 ground kills. Davis' share of the action included scoring a bomb hit on the Japanese carrier Zuikaku, being shot down off Luzon and scoring a number of kills. In the book Davis claims at least seven kills but apparently only four were officially confirmed, his name not being found on any USN Aces list. Air Group 19 returned stateside in December 1944, Davis subsequently working for Bell Aircraft in the postwar period.
SINKING THE RISING SUN is exciting and fun reading. Davis writes in an easy, engaging style, detailing the funny, exciting and boring events that made up the life of a Navy fighter pilot in the mid-war years. Recommended.

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Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea Review

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The background for this well written book comes of course from The Korean War, a 'police action' never declared a war by Congress but most people refer to it as a 'war' all the same. Built into this background is the work that James A. Michener did while spending time aboard both aircraft carriers and planes collecting datum during the war prior to his writing the book The Bridges at Toko-ri. Later from his writings came two Hollywood movies, Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko-ri. The movies and the book were well received (even to this day) both by the United States Navy and the reading and viewing public. Late in his career Michener stated that he felt the best book he had ever written was The Bridges at Toko-ri.
I purchased a copy of this new book by Mr. Sears primarily for two reasons: I hold an honorable discharge from the United States Navy during the Vietnam era and I have been a lifelong fan of James Albert Michener. I have to agree with author Michener for I too feel The Bridges at Toko-ri represent his best work. Short, concise, but with a realism that jumps both off the page and movie screen. Similar things can also be said for Mr. Sears' new book, with title SUCH MEN AS THESE, having its genesis with Michener's book, The Bridges at Toko-ri. Of all the contents of Michener's book, the words "Where did we get such men?" spoken by Admiral Tarrant have always been ingrained in my memory.
SUCH MEN AS THESE is written by an ex-Navy officer, not an aviator, but we will not hold that against him! SUCH MEN AS THESE is a very fine book on many levels due to its offering several aspects of history, in addition to describing these mostly citizen pilots, abruptly, some would say unfairly, called back to active duty to become heroic combat pilots. Imagine being home with the wife and kids, working your job or profession after serving during World War Two, now only to be removed within days from all you have worked for during the last few years, finding yourself quickly back in a combat zone trying to stay alive on a day-to-day basis.
Mr. Sears sets the entire Korean War combat area and the U.S. Navy carrier operations before the reader, giving context and depth to both the political and military parallel activities. Names such as Truman, MacArthur, Syngman Rhee, Mao, Stalin, et al., pop up continuously with resultant explanations of the politics into the conflict. The maps are not many in the book but they are adequate, while the photos are more than adequate and the notes, glossaries, and appendices are far above average.
I read many books of a military nature and cannot overstate how well this book reads, its flowing style is of the best quality and meter. Due to the nature of the subject and the manner in which the author has connected the war, the political, and the writings of James A. Michener together in one neat bundle a reader can in all good manner call this a very unique book.
I have enjoyed reading the book over several nights and recommend it to all who enjoy a solid work of history, especially of a mostly forgotten war in that far away place called Korea. For those of us who grew up during this period, reading Michener's books, and later serving in the Navy close to these areas (serving in Japan for 25 months, I was in and out of Yokosuka several times). I say again, this is one fine, interesting work of non-fiction.

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Steichen at War: The Navy's Pacific Air Battles Review

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(More customer reviews)Edward Steichen virtually created the world of high fashion and advertising photography, but his military coverage of two World Wars was equally remarkable. He received the Croix de Guerre for pioneering photoreconnaissance as part of Pershing's American Expeditionary Force in 1918, and his team's shots of the American Navy's advance across the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 form the visual core of our memory of that crucial period. Tragically, however, Steichen's thousands of incisive images of military action were dissolved into the morass of the National Archives, and attempts to retrieve specific subjects of his are often as effective as trying to taste fine brandy after pouring it into a swimming pool.
Hence the value of retrospectives such as Christopher Phillips' hefty book on Steichen's coverage of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific War. Combining skillfully chosen anecdotes from Steichen's life with vivid evocation of the pioneering photographer's joy in capturing memorable images, Phillips gives us not only an unforgettable slice of Steichen's work but also enough historical background to let readers sense the excitement and drama of a nation's best young warriors fighting for freedom's sake. Lieutenant Commander Steichen's parade of images didn't begin until after the pivotal Battle of Midway in June 1942, but the ensuing carrier warfare and savage island fighting appear in unforgettable clarity. As in all great photographs, the humanity of the subjects shines through amid their triumph, or pain, or mere existence. Students of both military history and photography can spend days poring over these astonishingly revealing images.

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The Reluctant Raiders: The Story of United States Navy Bombing Squadron VB/VPB-109 in World War II (Schiffer Military History) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book provides excellent reporting on the missions and personnel for the squadron I flew with during World War II. Much of the information contained in this book was reported in my squadron book, "A Pictorial Record -Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Nine" by Lt.T.M.Steele, but Steele's document is out of print and probably only available from '109 crewmen, like myself. Unlike the Steele publication, Alan Carey's book has much of this information summarized and tabulated and, if you are looking for something or some crewman,it's easy to find. I like that. I suppose this is one of the contributions of the book.
The pictures are good and generally clear. The publisher did a good job on that because I suspect many of the pictures were copied from dark or yellowed photos offered by crewmen which would be more than 50 years old.
The book should be of most interest to the living crewmen of VB-109 and VPB-109. But probably moreso to their children and the grandchildren of the crewmen. I know that to be my case; my grandchildren seem most interested in my role during WW II and this book tells most of the story at least for the combat end of it. So, my wife and I purchased one book for each of our childen with the intent that they pass the book on to our grandchildren. Then, when their grand father is gone, they will have the story. In the meantime, they may no doubt have questions which might "open grandpa up" to reveal more of his experiences that have not or may never be published.
Good history books on our VB-109 and VPB-109 squadrons are out of print or very hard to find. Here is an opportunity to get essentially the same information by way of Alan C. Carey's book, "THE RELUCTANT RAIDERS".

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The Reluctant Raiders is perhaps the most documented and researched book on a United States Navy land-based squadron flying the PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateer. The final result of five years of research, the book traces the squadron's history from its commissioning in August 1943, to the final days of World War II, including: never before published combat and nose art photography; the squadron's tactical organization; a chronology of each combat aircrew's mission record; personnel killed in action; and an appendix containing Japanese shipping and aircraft destroyed or damaged by the squadron

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Gray Ghosts: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F4 Phantoms Review

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(More customer reviews)The entire focus of this book is the personal experiences of flight crews who flew the Phantom. I find it a refreshing break from the typical aviation book laden with boring and dry technical jargon. The personal anecdotes of how this awesome aircraft started out as a fleet defense fighter and was eventually used as almost everything else is much more interesting.

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This new study of the sea-going Phantoms includes contributions from over a hundred aircrew and maintainers who were involved in the Phantoms success from the earliest service development flying to its twilight years in the Reserve units. There are personal accounts of MiG battles from more than a dozen MiG killers, first-hand descriptions of the F-4s introduction into combat with the Marines as a CAS and reconnaissance aircraft, memories of Bear intercepts on Mediterranean cruises, narratives covering the aircrafts service into the 1980s, and much more. These voices are blended with a detailed technical and developmental description of the aircraft, supported by comprehensive appendices and over 450 photos in color and black and white.

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