Military Model Scene

Title: American Aircraft Development World War Two Legacy
Author: Bill Norton
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN: 978-1-78155-828-7

Following on from his earlier books, author Bill Norton has turned his attention to the immediately post-war developments in aircraft design and technology. It takes the story on from 1945 through to 1953 and the Korean War. An impressive 512-page hardback book this is a great addition to the story of American military aircraft development.
The book is split over 14 chapters, and most have multiple sub-topics within them. It opens by considering the Altered Landscape of aviation following the closing stages of WW2, before perhaps my favourite chapter, on Flight Research. New engines with greater power and reliability, rockets and ramjets, supersonic speeds, swept wings, some very odd looking airframe designs and much more. Others deal with the evolution of fighters for both the USAF and the USN, with a table of characteristics and a summary of their designs for each type. The same for bombers, transport & assault aircraft, helicopters, seaplanes. Special Types is a section where we see a number of WW2 designs with some intriguing adaptations for particular tasks, plus some early drones. In Aerial Weapons we see some early missiles and of course there is a section on the Korean War and just how both the new and older designs performed when confronted with a new war.
The period following the end of WW2 was a period of huge change in aircraft design and technology. I found this an absorbing book. I have had an interest in military aircraft for some 60 years but there are things in here I've never seen or heard of before. In a short review like this of course I can't mention them all, but among the experiments with Ramjets, how about modelling a P-51D Mustang with a Ramjet on each wingtip?! The very readable text is accompanied by a host of archive images which I think will not only interest aircraft enthusiasts but give some great inspiration for modellers. Not only the odd looking P-51D but how about a B-17 with a huge turboprop on the nose of the aircraft. Highly recommended without any hesitation.
Thanks to Fonthill Media for our review copy.

Robin