Aircraft of the Aces: Legends World War 2

General Aviation

by Tony Holmes (Compiler), Iain Wyllie (Artist)

This volume showcases the specially commissioned cover artwork of leading aviation artist Iain Wyllie, who has produced over 30 action-packed paintings for the world’s most successful aviation series of recent years, Aircraft of the Aces. Combat reports by the aces themselves form the basis of the text, along with a brief pilot biography and technical explanation of the aircraft featured in the artwork. Contemporary photographs and a full-colour side-view profile complete each chapter, whilst the book’s appendices include a selection of 28 1/72nd scale drawings and a concise tabular listing of the high-scoring aces of World War 2. Although derived from the Aircraft of the Aces series, much of the text (over 55,000 words) that accompanies the artworks within this book has been specially sourced for Legends of World War 2, alongside a number of new profile artworks and photographs.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Aviation, Royal Air Force

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2000

Reviews

[Tom Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less dry than a lot of Osprey books. Great pilot stories and aircraft profiles.

[Josh Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aircraft of the Aces is a great book for those interested in seeing a little bit more of WW2's famous aces, and impressive artwork. Most of the artwork shows the action portrayed in the passage quite vividly which makes it very immersive. There are a few aces that I am surprised are not in this work, such as Richard Bong, Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle, and a few others. That would be my only negative comment about the book, everything else is wonderful.

[John Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book with some lovely art showcasing the variety of different subjects covered in Ospreys Aircraft of the Aces series.Particularly enjoyed the pilots from lesser known combatants (Austria-Hungary in WWI,Italy, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia in WWII) and my favourite a photo of the kill markings on USAAF Capt. Bob DeHaven's P-38 Lightning one of which takes credit for an Australian plane he shot down in error. Friendly Fire, a proud US Air Force tradition!

[Jerry Wall]

WWi through vietnam and Israeli flights