The Great Book Of World War II Airplanes

by Jeffrey L. Ethell, Rikyu Watanabe (Illustrator)

In the history of aviation, the Second World War represents a classic period. The twelve aircraft featured in this book were marvels of modern technology, embodying everything we would know about flying until the appearance of the turbine engine. An international team of aviation writers profile these 12 planes, covering design and production, specialized models and variants, their tactical deployment, the battles they fought in, and the famous exploits of their pilots. Aircraft artist Rikyu Watanabe renders each of these planes in glorious full-color illustrations, detailed interior cutaways, control and weapons systems schematics, and actual squadron insignia. Originally published in 12 volumes, this beautiful book makes a truly elegant addition to the library of any history buff or aviation enthusiast. 10" x 13". Color & b&w illus.

632 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 1987

About the author

Ethell, whose nickname in the air was "Fighter Writer," was the author of fifty-nine books and more than one thousand magazine articles, many dealing with World War II aviation. Born the son of a fighter pilot on March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, Ethell was prevented from joining the Air Force because he lacked 20/20 vision. He went on, however, to log more than 5000 hours of flight time in more than 215 types of military aircraft and became an honorary member of the American Fighter Aces Association, whose pilots have scored five or more combat victories. Ethell was also leader in the international "warbirds" movement, an effort to preserve aging military aircraft.

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually 12 books in 1, each covering a different aircraft: 5 American planes, 3 British, 3 German and 1 Japanese. The planes covered are the P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito, Avro Lancaster, Messerschmitt Bf 109, Focke Wulf FW 190, Junkers JU-87 Stuka and Mitsubishi Zero.

Each book covers the development and production of the individual aircraft, along with the myriad modifications/enhancements each one went through during its lifetime. There is also some of the combat history of each plane, although this varies in length and detail from book to book. Overall, the narrative for most of the books is pretty dry and filled with lots of technical details such as engine performance, structural enhancements, weapons upgrades and flight characteristics.

However, the real reason you would buy this book (or any of the individual volumes) is the artwork by Rikyu Watanabe. Simply put, the profiles, cutaway views of engines, weapons and various other structures, and the 3-D drawings are excellent and were pretty much the main reason I purchased the book in the first place. Each volume has several pull-out profiles in full color which are supposed to be suitable for framing but I don't know why you'd want to remove them from the book. Along with the centerfold-type profiles, there are dozens of other illustrations of different versions of the aircraft, various parts/systems of each, and 3-D drawings of entire aircraft and all their component parts. Not all of the illustrations are in color, many being in shades of green, grey and black.

I would have given this book five stars on the artwork alone, but the fairly dry and mediocre text of many of the individual volumes causes the loss of one star.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent artwork and gatefolds make this book a must for anyone interested in modelling World War II aircraft. This is a compendium of a number of individual books that came out as a series in the 1980's. The artwork is unreal and top quality. The book is large and unwheally but it is a great book and is a great addition for aircraft modelers and historians.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friggen awesome illustrations!

[Phill Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gigantic! This must be a collector item. So big, the binding is disintegrating under its own weight. I will never sell it -- it can go with me to the grave, where I can marvel at the illustrations and diagrams in the afterlife.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book with great technical info ( not mediocre !). the foldout art work, childish, could have done without that. The physical size and weight is abit much. Maybe the best book that I have seen on the Zero.( even though I'm not a great fan of Japanese stuff).

[Tom Oman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book with fold out pictures and Ety in depth details of a variety of planes. If you can manage to find a copy of this rare book be warned, it is huge and difficult to look at at times.