Weapons of the Eighth Air Force [Hardcover]

Frederick A Johnsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2003

Flying at 25,000 feet, loaded with 6000 pounds of bombs, bristling with thirteen .50 caliber machine guns, and with a highly trained and motivated flight crew, the B-17 Flying Fortress became the physical symbol of America's Mighty Eighth Air Force. Arrayed against the Eighth Air Force was Nazi Germany's veteran, battle tested air armada the Luftwaffa. But the B-17 didn't go to war alone. The Eighth Air Force also deployed some of the most famous aircraft: the rugged B-24 Liberator, the nimble P-38 Lightning, the P-47 Thunderbolt with its four pairs of deadly wing mounted .50 caliber machine guns, and the quick and high flying P-51 Mustang.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

• Battle Gear Series (Weapons of Delta Force 0-7603-1139-0)
• Complete descriptions of all Eighth Air Force combat aircraft: B-17, B-24, P-38, P-47, P-51, other bombers, fighters as well as transports and obscure aircraft.
• Hardcover with full color profiles depicting paint schemes and markings, along with archival black and white photos and gun camera shots.
• Hand-painted aircraft profiles by acclaimed artist Sonny Schung.
• Frederick A. Johnsen has authored six other books detailing WWII era and modern combat aircraft.

About the Author

Frederick A. Johnsen is an accomplished author and writer with six aviation based books to his credit. He holds two degrees in history and journalism and has served two separate terms as historian for the USAF. His articles on aviation have appeared in Flypast, Airpower, Wings, Airman Air Classics, American Heritage, Western Flyer, EAA Airventure Today, Aviation Journal, Koku-Fan and Aviation Week&Space Technology. He is currently the New Chief and Public Affairs liaison for the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, and often contributes articles to the worldwide media on cutting edge flight research.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press; First Edition edition (October 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760313407
• ISBN-13: 978-0760313404
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,975,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 8th Air Force Tools of War!, April 10, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Weapons of the Eighth Air Force (Hardcover)

Part of the 'Battle Gear' series, WEAPONS OF THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE is a colorfully illustrated guide to the bombers, fighters and assorted aircraft utilized by the wartime Eighth Air Force. Falling somewhere between a dry nuts-and-bolts tech manual and a Roger Freeman-ish combat history, Frederick Johnsen's book is a good intro to the 'heavy metal' flown by the Mighty Eighth.

Johnsen's book runs to 127 pages. The bulk of those pages are devoted to chapters on the B-17, B-24, P-38, P-47 and P-51 with shorter sections on the other aircraft. Within each chapter he breaks down the aircraft into the different models flown (i.e. B-24D, B-24H, B-24J, B-24L, B-24M) and discusses their general characteristics, combat history, camouflage and markings, etc. The text is concise yet very informative. Appendices include listings of major 8th AF units, significant Mighty Eighth dates and a brief comparison of opposing 8th AF and Luftwaffe aircraft.

The text is well-illustrated with 140 black and white photographs, 54 color shots and 24 color profiles by Sonny Schug. Visually the book is a treat!

Given the wealth of photographs, especially all those color snaps, and a $24.95 price tag, WEAPONS OF THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE is a keeper.