Customer Reviews

Warbirds Alive: The World's Top 25 Flyable Historic Military Aircraft

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In various museums you can see a wide collection of old airplanes. The Smithsonian, Wright-Patterson, and Pima museums in the US, the RAF Museum in Herndon and others have great collections of planes. But these are not flyable.

Here is a detailed photographic record of 25 flying aircraft along with the story of where they were found, how they were restored, etc. The photographs are professional in quality and the printing is beautiful.

Surprising to me was the number of very rare aircraft that have been restored. P-51D's you'd expect; but a Goodyear F2G-1 Super Corsair, a P-40C returned from Russia (where it crashed in 1944).

One of those books you don't want to put down.

Many people who see a restored warbird have little idea of the efforts required to make it presentable (let alone flyable). As a volunteer at one of the facilities that is home to a few of the featured aircraft I feel that the book provides an accurate glimpse into the process of recovery, restoration, and operation of some of the most recognizable warbirds. In addition, the reader is introduced to some of the dominant personalities and organizations involved with the warbird community. Most, but not all, of the 25 featured aircraft chapters include photos of the recovery and restoration process. I would have liked more illustrations of the restoration process in some of the chapters. A summary table for each aircraft describing the specifications and performance would have been a nice addition, as well. The introductory chapter has photos and descriptions of many miscellaneous warbirds in various states of repair, but some of the captions appear incomplete or misleading. For example, a plane described as "an oddly colored P-38..." could have been more accurately described as the red color scheme replicating "Yippee", the 5000th P-38 that rolled off the assembly line. Overall though, the book is a worthwhile addition to a personal library.