Air Combat Legends Volume 1-Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 [Hardcover]

David Donald (Author)

Book Description

Series: Air Combat Legends | Publication Date: August 29, 2004

When the United States entered WWII it was ill prepared to meet the threat posed by Axis air forces equipped with modern fighting aircraft. That all changed as the American war machine rapidly geared up for the conflict and US aerospace companies rushed to develop and ready for service a range of state-of-the-art warplanes. Three fighters stand out as pivotal in helping turn the tide to the Allies' advantage - the legendary twin-boom Lightning, the massive Thunderbolt and enormously successful Mustang. This second volume in the Air Combat Legends series examines the development, service record, combat action, operators, missionsand weapons of these great aircraft. Superbly illustrated throughout, this is a 'must-have' volume for those who want the inside stories on the fighters that helped America win the war.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: AIRtime (August 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880588749
• ISBN-13: 978-1880588741
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Mortal Enemies, November 21, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Air Combat Legends Volume 1-Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Hardcover)

The Spit and the Messerschmitt have gone down in history because of their roles in the Battle of Britain. There will long be arguments over which was the better plane. Very similar in size, design and performance, both planes were the state of the art of aircraft design when they met in late 1940. Both planes had a single low wing, a V-12 liquid cooled engine, and look very much alike. Which was the better plane, that's a subject calling for beer around a fireplace.

This book will halp you in your discussions, on either side. 148 pages talk about the Spit. I can't say that evey possible variation was covered, but there are a lot of variations here that I never heard of including specialized recon, the Griffin engined models, and several versions of the SeaFire. Also well documented is the American use of the Spitfire. Some 272 machines were flown by the Americans.

97 pages document the Messerschmitt. As with the Spit it begins with the early development and continues through the various versions to conclude with the after war production in Czechoslovakia and Spain.

This book is certain to become a standard reference book on the two planes.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lot of pictures and mistakes., January 5, 2007

By 

E. A. Costa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Air Combat Legends Volume 1-Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Hardcover)

It is a good book. It has a lot of pictures and also too many wrong information. It's a shame. David Donald haven't made a final revision.