Customer Reviews

Aircraft of the Aces: Legends of the Skies (General Aviation)

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Subtitled 'Legends of the Skies,' this is one stunning book! It combines the wonderful air combat artwork done by Iain Wyllie and Mark Postlethwaite with detailed stories of the actions depicted in the artwork. Something for everyone; what a treat!

The 30-odd paintings featured in this book were drawn from the Osprey "Aircraft of the Aces" series and depict air combat scenes from 1917 to 1973. So you have a sweeping vista ranging from Sopwith Pups to Fokker D VIIs to Hawker Hurricanes, P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, Me 109s, F-86 Sabres and, lastly, McDonnell Douglas F-4s. Much background information is given for each scene along with photos and, in some cases, color profiles of the aircraft.

Buy this book. It is a great introduction to the subject with wonderful artwork, history to back it up and all at a very affordable price.

Format is 33 stories, each with a pilot bio and aircraft spec block and a few pictures of the pilot and aircraft. Beware 11 of the pilots are either flying P-40s or 109s so if you hate these planes look elsewhere. There are 4 jet stories, 2 Israeli: F-4 and Nesher, and 2 F-86 stories (USAF); 12 WW1 stories, with the remainder going to WW2 including ONLY 1 Soviet VVS story on Kozhedub's White 27 (I want more!). Overall as a used book it is great and the pilot biography and aircraft specs are laid out well. (But really how many times do we need the specs reiterated on a P-40 or 109!!!- wasted space in my estimation!) I got it cheap and I like it so recommend it on those grounds. Full page paintings of the aircraft with no crap printed on them is most excellent.