Air Force Colors: Vol. 1. 1926-1942.

by Dana Bell

Air Force Colors Vol 1: 1926-42

Genres: Aircraft

Paperback

First published February 1, 1980

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
For other authors of this name, see:

Dana Bell - Science Fiction & Fantasy
Dana Marie Bell - Romance
----

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a young kid in the 60s and 70s, I never understood why my father loved the old American Aircraft of the 20s and 30s, the Jennies and P-26s with their fixed wheels and biplane frames- surely the Aircraft of his Veteran Years- the P-40s, P-38, and P-51s were so much cooler- and more powerful. Now that I see F-20s and F-35s of today- but yearn for the Supersabres, Phantoms, and Hawker Hunters of my youth- I understand his fixation. He would have loved this book more than I did- full of great B/W pictures of the pre-WWII Army Air Corps(Not yet an Air Force on its own), wonderful explanatory prose, and many great pages of Colour plates with silhouettes of classic pre-war colour schemes. My personal favourite was the mid 30s- when fuselages were all a light blue/cornflower blue colour- and the wings were all Yellow! As a University of California grad- I loved the scheme- but not as much as my father did....!

This is the period of awkward adolescence of flight itself- and the US Military Air contribution. The period starts with biplanes from WWI in use- but a number of burgeoning American Manufacturers are experimenting- and the force itself is as dedicated to aerial exploration, and communications, as the fighter/bomber/attack types it would need for war fighting. The thirties are about the transition from Biplanes to monoplanes with retractable landing gear- until the 1938-42 period is all about getting ready for WWII. Visually, its a trip from fabric/"dope" finishes, through burnished aluminum- to wild experiments in camouflage - to the olive Drab finish that largely fought WWII. Dana Bell, the author gives us good prose explanation and curates the b/w pics for maximum effect.

With few adult themes and a simple direct approach, this is a fine book for any junior reader over about 11 with an interest in aviation. For the Gamer/Modeller/military Enthusiast- the intended audience- this is really a great resource. For gaming American Colonial wars of the period, The great "Louisiana Maneuvres" (M1 medium Tanks!/Experimental Camouflages all around!), or any of the early defensive battles of WWII this is a great source. The panoply of forgotten types, amazing colour schemes, and cool development of national identification marks makes for really fascinating reading- there is even help on how to interpret B/W colours that are lighter or darker than you might think. A strong rec for the Aviation or WWII Air War shelf...

[Eric Mccann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful volume for the modeler.