Surplus WWII U.S. Aircraft [Paperback]

William T. Larkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

It takes awhile for the enormity of the surplus at hand at the end of World War II to be truly grasped. The United States disposed of millions of dollars worth of surplus military equipment and this book gives the reader the total overall picture of the distribution of World War II U.S. aircraft. It shows the continued use of some of these planes for civilian non-military purposes as well as the scrapping and salvaging of others. Many sites involved in this massive distribution are documented in this book. Readers who are interested in what survived and what may still be flying as well as how many were reduced to ingots will find, in addition to the extensive photo coverage, an emphasis on prices, totals available for sale and licensed, etc., information that has not been documented in one book before.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Book reviewer Job Conger says the author, a well known aviation historian, is noted for his books and articles that are concisely written, (without) fluff or fabrication, and are eminently factual. Larkin s fine book gives an unprecedented, lasting portrait of those brief few years. I predict it will inspire future aviation historians to build on this effort. I enjoyed Surplus WW II U.S. Aircraft from cover to cover and bet you will too. - Job Conger --Job Conger

About the Author

William T. Larkins Aviation Photographer and Historian The author has been photographing aircraft for more than 70 years, having started in 1934. He was the founder of the American Aviation Historical Society and editor of its journal for the first three years. He is the author of several books and numerous magazine articles. An indication of his early interest in aviation history is shown by his membership numbers - No. 1 in AAHS; 17 in the Antique Airplane Association, 201 in Air Britain; 22 in the National Ryan Club; 28 in the North American Trainers Association. Larkins was born in Bakersfield, California in 1922 and later moved to the San Francisco Bay area. He graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1943, and then graduated from the AAF Photograph School at Lowry Field. He spent three years in aircraft recognition training including serving in HQ AAF. After the war he served three years in the Intelligence section of the AAF Reserve and three years in photography in the California Air National Guard. He is married and has two married daughters and two grandchildren. He retired after 31 years as an administrative assistant at the University of California, Berkeley, and continues to photograph aircraft and research material for future articles and books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: BAC Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965573060
• ISBN-13: 978-0965573061
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My interest in writing grew out of a combination of photography and history and progressed from magazine articles to books. 2009 is my 75th year of photographing aircraft and my hope is to document some of this for future generations to appreciate. Reading "Dime Novels" in the early 1930s about flying led me to model building, photography, a pilot's license and three years in the AAF in World War II followed by another three in the California Air National Guard. I have had a lifelong interest in Navy aircraft and in 2006 I was honored with the Admiral Radford Award for excellence in naval aviation history and literature. "Alameda Naval Air Station" is now in print and future books will cover the postwar Nonsked aircraft, and Seaplanes of California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aviation Swords into Ploughshares!, November 12, 2009

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surplus WWII U.S. Aircraft (Paperback)

Having created the largest air armada in history, the United States fairly quickly and mercilessly disposed of most of its warbirds in the immediate postwar period. Thousands upon thousands of aircraft were torn apart or blown up and melted down. Some were simply dumped off aircraft carriers while others will put in storage or sold for a pittance. That massive effort would have gone undocumented had it not been for Bill Larkins, an ex-USAAF photographer, who had the foresight and get-up-and-go to record the gutting of American airpower. SURPLUS WWII U.S. AIRCRAFT, published in 2005 by BAC Publishers, is his word-and-picture account of that undertaking.

Larkins does a workmanlike job of describing how the U. S. government went about disposing of 200,000 surplus warbirds through the War Assets Administration and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Almost all fighters and bombers were reduced to scrap. Cargo planes and trainers were sold off under various programs. In the most interesting section of the book, he describes and illustrates various storage sites like Kingman, AZ, Ontario, CA, Walnut Ridge, AR and NAS Clinton, OK that temporarily housed thousands of surplus aircraft. The program pretty much ended by 1949.

The text is comprehensive and dispassionate. As I paged through the hundreds of photos he took though, I kept wondering how Larkins FELT while he was taking all those shots. In describing his momentous photo shoot at Kingman, he mentioned he had grown fatigued by day's end. Yet, did he feel nothing as he snapped classic warbirds like "The Dragon and His Tail," "5 Grand" or "Bit 'O Lace" knowing that they were destined for the smelter? Given the situation, I was hoping he might wax poetic but no such luck.

In any case, SURPLUS WWII U.S. AIRCRAFT will likely be THE definitive chronicle of the subject. It features hundreds of pix of P-51s, B-17s, B-32s, AT-6s, P-47s, P-40s, B-24s, PBYs, PBMs, P-38s, O-52s, A-26s, BT-13s, J2Fs, C-47s and TBMs along with truly rare birds like the XB-24N, B-19A, RP-63A, P-70B, XA-32, RA-24B and F-15A. It's a photographic treasure trove. It makes for a fascinating and poignant read. Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Larkins' book is THE story, August 4, 2008

By 

Douglas E. Slowiak "Vortex Photo-Graphics" (Mesa, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surplus WWII U.S. Aircraft (Paperback)

Bill Larkins is one of the true aviation historians of the second half of the last century. Being in the right place at the right time...and being able to afford post-war monetary and travel challenges, he's put between two covers the whole story of surplus military aircraft and their disposition. There won't be anything to top this effort any time soon. There simply wasn't any one who had the physical drive and photo expertise in those years to take on this task. A bit of nostalgia will strike the reader when eyeing these pages because "so much of what has gone before, is now gone."