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Flying Legends
Represented in this splendid volume are the images of the aircraft that help the Allied powers defeat Germany and Japan in World War II. The award-winning air-to-air photography of John Dibbs is completed by breathtaking archival images from the conflict which illustrate the spirit and humanity of these "flying legends". 267 photos, 182 in color .
243 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 1997
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July 14, 2022
World War II was a time of massive innovation and production of a fantastic array of aircraft (before the age of jet aircraft). If you aren’t into such planes, I’m not sure that the superb photos will be enough to captivate you. If you have a particular aircraft focus, there might not be enough emphasis on yours to satisfy.
Given that, I believe the Dibbs hits a sweet spot for those interested in the diversity of this period.
Here’s an example of the text that accompanies the over a dozen pages on the Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk. “Overshadowed by other more successful USAAF fighter types like the P-38, P-47 and P-51, the Curtiss P-40 was nevertheless the primary Army Air Force fighter at the time of the Japanese fleet’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Along with smaller numbers of the obsolescent Curtiss P-36 and Bell P-39 Airacobra, the P-40 was responsible for “holding the line” in the Pacific for much of 1942, vainly attempting to blunt the aerial onslaught by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces. The last in a long line of fighters to carry the appellation “Hawk,” the P-40 was born out of the marriage of an early-production P-36A fuselage with the all-new Allison V-1710-19 turbosupercharged and liquid-cooled inline engine…”
There are twenty planes presented in all their aspects of service and glory from the de Havilland Mosquito to the Messerschmitt Bf 109G. And, yes, it includes the Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. It’s hard to pick a favorite photo, but the one of the aforementioned Zero (A6M5 Model 52) coming at the camera, canted at a 45 degree angle gives me shivers of what a USA pilot had to face.
Dibbs certainly succeeds giving visual life to the many textual references in histories of WW II
Given that, I believe the Dibbs hits a sweet spot for those interested in the diversity of this period.
Here’s an example of the text that accompanies the over a dozen pages on the Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk. “Overshadowed by other more successful USAAF fighter types like the P-38, P-47 and P-51, the Curtiss P-40 was nevertheless the primary Army Air Force fighter at the time of the Japanese fleet’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Along with smaller numbers of the obsolescent Curtiss P-36 and Bell P-39 Airacobra, the P-40 was responsible for “holding the line” in the Pacific for much of 1942, vainly attempting to blunt the aerial onslaught by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces. The last in a long line of fighters to carry the appellation “Hawk,” the P-40 was born out of the marriage of an early-production P-36A fuselage with the all-new Allison V-1710-19 turbosupercharged and liquid-cooled inline engine…”
There are twenty planes presented in all their aspects of service and glory from the de Havilland Mosquito to the Messerschmitt Bf 109G. And, yes, it includes the Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. It’s hard to pick a favorite photo, but the one of the aforementioned Zero (A6M5 Model 52) coming at the camera, canted at a 45 degree angle gives me shivers of what a USA pilot had to face.
Dibbs certainly succeeds giving visual life to the many textual references in histories of WW II
Displaying 1 of 1 review