Fighting Firsts: Fighter Aircraft Combat Debuts from 1914-1944

by Jon Guttman

With fighter planes it can be as simple as those with the better aircraft generally win. Take a look at the fighters and their firsts, from the beginning of air combat in World War One through World War Two's dogfights and blitzkriegs. Some aircraft made their mark immediately; others initially showed less promise but then came through with flying colors. Also center stage are the pilots who worked miracles with their machines and became as famous as the planes they flew.

Genres: Military History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2000

About the author

Jon Guttman, a military historian based in Leesburg, Virginia, is research director for Historynet.com. Specializing in World War I aviation, he has authored numerous Osprey titles and served as senior editor for Aviation History and World War II magazines.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author and aviation historian Jon Guttman presents one of the most entertaining and informative books I’ve read in some time. Drawing upon a career writing about military aviation (and research reflected in his five page bibliography), he presents a survey history of fighter aircraft from biplanes to jets, B.E.-2s to Me-262s. All nations are represented with two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Russo-Finnish Winter War, among the conflicts contributing stories about what happened with each new fighter flying for the first time against an aerial enemy.

While not the definitive history of anything, this is a great addition to the study of aviation history. Each aircraft discussed, including the rarest ones, was an attempt to use materials and concepts to solve the problem of building the best aircraft for air to air combat. Of course, as reflected in the varied histories discussed by the author, the actual mileage often varied giving us legends like the Fokker DV Triplane, the Sopwith Camel, the Brewster Buffalo, the Spitfire, the P-51 Mustang, and the Bolton-Paul Defiant, among many others. Even while appearing to be comprehensive and giving each aircraft appropriate mention and discussion, Jon Guttman manages to give us a good discussion of the more complex reality of each aircraft – in only 320 pages. In the process, he manages to get beyond just name-dropping the aircraft names for the aficionado as well as the buff, he gives us the names of the men – legendary or otherwise – associated with the aircraft and the aerial engagements reviewed here.

This is going into my own library of aviation history, technical, and reference books as a keeper. I expect that everyone interested in the history of combat aviation would do the same if they haven’t already done so.