Customer Reviews

Flying Legends

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"Flying Legends - A photographic study of the great piston combat aircraft of WWII," is an exceptional book of photographs by John M. Dibbs.

The book is written by Tony Holmes, who does a wonderful job - but the real focus is almost 250 pages of WWII aircraft that have been BRILLIANTLY photographed. It has more photographs than most books, for which I have paid TWICE this price.

As vice president of an aviation company that restores military aircraft, I tend to collect a lot of aviation books, which feature restored aircraft. This is one of the best. It is unfortunate that a photo of the book is not featured at Amazon because this book is worth the money and worth the wait.

The book is divided into 20 chapters. Some of which include: P-40, Spitfire, F4F Wildcat; P-51 Mustang; B-17, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat; Mitsubishi A6M Zero; P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning. Each chapter is remarkable.

The P-40/ Kittyhawk Mk I are my favorite planes and these are some of the BEST photographs that I have seen of these planes. (And I've seen a lot.)

This book is worthy of being, "coffee table" material because there are so many pictures, but it is also a book that will delight the most obsessed aviation fan as well. It would be an excellent gift for a pilot or aviation enthusiast.

Having long admired the photography of John Dibbs in the Flying Legends calendars, I was very pleased to find this collection of his work. This book is absolutely stunning. The photography is both beautiful and evocative. In war, the aircraft rarely maintained the pristine look captured in these photos, but that is the way, I'm sure, that the aviators remember them. Most of these photos are of refurbished warbirds being flown by enthusiasts or collectors. I have always liked it that the flyers in the cockpits of the Dibbs photos are always wearing the right gear... no postwar hardhats with visors here, this is leather helmets and goggles! It is a wonderful thing indeed that the beauty of these machines is so lovingly captured. I browse the book frequently and am always a bit sad to close the covers. This book is a wonderful tribute to men (and some women ferry pilots) who flew these aircraft in the defence of freedom. Truly a wonderful buy. I sincerely hope a second volume is in the works.

...this book has glorious mainly color photographs and interesting text too...watch out though, if you order both this and "Warbird Legends", you will have the same book twice! not that it is such a bad thing!

Flying Legends is both a photography book and an aviation book. A photography book because it includes some of the best photographs that I have seen of any subject matter (most in colour). An aviation book because its subjects are the combat aircraft of the second world war, probably the pinnacle of piston-engined aircraft development.

Flying Legends is not a data book. It does not contain three-views, technical information or performance figures for the aircraft it features. The written text is largely anecdotal and serves more to caption the photographs than to provide substantive information about the aircraft. However its photographs capture the power and grace - the aesthetic - which numbers and diagrams cannot.

A necessary correction to the synopsis is that Flying Legends does not cover only Allied aircraft, but also the (equally impressive) aircraft of the Axis powers.

If you love aircraft and beautiful photography or are looking for authentic colour schemes and markings for model (or full scale) warbirds then I strongly recommend Flying Legends.

Andrew Roos (Private pilot, gliding instructor, R/C modeller)

As a rabid hobbiyst avaition photog myself I am always interested in seeing what everyone else is doing. And this book makes my best efforts look amatuerish. His sense of composition and editing is nothing short of amazing, his ability to capture the spirit of the aircraft is stunning. Something that I thought was interesting is that most of these images where shot on film originaly.. If you are looking to see what realy skilled aviation photog can do with his camera. This is the book to buy!

This calendar has great pictures and is a nice size so you can see the months clearly as a distance.

This is the third year I've purchased this series of calendar for my son who it an avid WWII airplane fan. It was a big hit and he keeps them from year to year to enjoy the excellent pictures. I'm sure I'll be ordering the 2010 edition next year.

I bought the 2007 Flying Legends calendar and I can tell you the photographs are lovely.

Beautiful contemporary photographs balanced by just the right amount of historical photos and insightful quotes from the men who flew and fought in them. The best photographic study I have seen.

All shots were superb, specially the dual aircraft, great dynamics, brillant colors, contrast and claraty. Can't ask for better!

Bernardo