[.ca] Jane's Historic Military Aircraft Recognition Guide (ISBN 0004721470)

Wow.:
Two of the reviewers below really missed the point of this book. It's not supposed to be a complete reference to every military aircraft ever built. It states clearly in the introduction that it's a guide to historic military aircraft that "...are airworthy, or have been classed as being airworthy..." That's why it doesn't include the FW-190, among others: because there aren't any FW-190s flying today. Get it? With that out of the way, I can say that this is a nice book. It's specifically useful for learning more about the warbirds that you are likely to see at airshows. The writing, photographs and format are *all* up to the usual Jane's standards. Recommended.

One of the best guides to historic airplanes!!!!:
For a 13 yearold I must say that this book was one of those that if you can't remember the name to it, it will be right there! It is broken into 5 sections: World War I; Inter war aircraft; World War II; Post War; and Helicopters. The index is easy to use. You should really get this!! Even has different types of the same aircraft! All in All it is a GREAT book!

JANE'S HISTORIC MILITARY AIRCRAFT:
I agree with the two-star reviewer above. However, I gave it three stars because of the convenient format. But the scope is not up to Jane's sandards. There are so many aircraft missing. Better to have a black & white photo from Jane's itself than to just forget about all the missing historical ones that were flown by hundreds of thousands... like these few: T-34, RA-5C, A-4 (photo is of a TA-4),F-8 (Main Navy fighter during first half of Vietnam), F-102,F-105,and A-7 (Vietnam)! , Banshee, Panther, Shooting Star (first operational U.S. jet), and Couger (Korea), PB4Y, Hurricane (Battle of Britain and before), U-3, all the Russian Illusian and Italian fighters of WWII, the ME-262,FW-190,Condor,Stuka and others (German,WWII), Japanese Bettys, Tonys, Raidens, and numerous others, Mig 25/29/etc., Yak-36, the Harrier (Faulklands), the rest of the Century Series fighters like the F-101 Voodoo (Vietnam), and helicopters? What about the Kaman H-2 (Vietnam), the TH-13 (Korea), H-19(Korea and Vietnam), H-34(Korea and Vietnam),H-1J Aircobra gunship (Vietnam), S-61, Apache, Blackhawk(Desert Storm), H-3(Vietnam, Desert Storm)(that our President still uses), and the H-53 (Vietnam, Granada, Panama, and Desert Storm)? There isn't even an H section in the index. And the index is a joke. There are over forty aircraft which are listed by their common designation or name, but instead of referring the reader to the simple page number, they are referred to the manufacturer in the index. Talk about user unfriendly. Then I couldn't find the F4U Corsair at first because it was listed under Vought, whereas the manufacturer was Chance-Vought. Couldn't find the F-8 under F-8, Crusader, or the manufacturer, LTV - Ling Temco Vought. The write-ups opposite each photo is where one should find out specifics like that. Of course a comprehensive guide to historic military aircraft would be about twice as thick, or in two volumes... but it would be a valuable 'bible' in keeping with the fine reputation of Jane's All The World's Aircraft/Ships/Weapons Systems etc (which only cover those used today and updated each year.) The title of this book should be changed to "Some Historical Aircraft" and the term "Recognition Guide" should be changed to "Historical Summaries, Photos, and Performance/Operational/Dimensional Specifications". # # #

It could have been better.:
I am very disappointed in this book. It could have been alot better. I own 3 of Jane's recognition guides and I must say that this one is the worst. It seems that the book was based on color pictures, which was good for appearance, but it restricted alot of the aircraft in the book. All of the aircraft in the book were aircraft that were flying today. If you are a World War II air enthusiast you will know that there is not a single flying Focke Wolf 190 around today. This was a vital historic military aircraft, yet it was not included in the book. This situation applies to many other aircraft that should have been included in the book. The book would have been much better if there were more combat historic aircraft. The book is mostly composed of trainers and laison aircraft. On a good note, with the aircraft that have been included the book does give suffient information on the aircraft. Another part that seems to be missing in the book is not including the armament of the aircraft. I would not recomend this book to anyone except those whose knowledge of historic military aircraft is a minimum.

Great Photos:
The part of this book that struck me most was its excellent photographs of all the historic aircraft it lists. This is a great guide to warbirds and other military aircraft from all around the world, providing detailed information on each.