New library additions

Haven’t done one of these in a while. Figured I’d do another as people seemed to enjoy my previous entries.

First off, Air Classics, Volume 39, Number 7. Don’t pick this mag up regularly, this was actually my first time, but couldn’t resist the SR-71 color feature. Some great shots in there.

These next four came from the OUTSTANDING gift shop at the USAF Museum.

1-Wings Of Fame Volume 4. Didn’t subscribe to this one, but I have gotten a few select back issues (F-106, F-102, SR-71, A-5, Lightning). This one had a feature on the TSR.2. VERY well written, informative, and while it does go into the political downfall of the aircraft, the technical details aren’t compromised one bit. Of course, it was written by Bill Gunston 😀

2-Eurofighter 2000 (Aerofax). I am a big fan of the Aerofax books, as they are informative and usually exceptionally illustrated. This one is no exception. The only drawback is that it was published in 1997, but there is still plenty of useful info, particularly that covering the initial studies and the EAP program.

3-Aerofax Extra 3-Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. Another title dogged by its publishing date, this case 1991! Still, lots of great pictures and close-ups for the modeler, and I almost laughed when I saw the image of the Su-34 “carrier trainer” approaching the then-Tbilisi. Not up to date by a long-shot, but still well worth the $9 I paid for it.

4-Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. One of the more recent books on the Deuce, this time from Schiffer Publishing in 1999. This one really impressed me. VERY well illustrated, lengthy at 198 pages (this is a good thing when the book is written and illustrated this well), and has a host of new info that I wasn’t aware of before. My favorite part was the detailed history of the AIM-4 program, one of the main reasons I shelled out the $30 for the book. Features a gallery of unit and related patches at the end, the obligatory production and disposition tables, and a lot of stuff covering the drone programs as well as foreign service. Even has a picture of a young Dubya in his F-102 cockpit preflighting before a mission 😀

The rest of these are more random pickups I have acquired over the past month or so.

Herodotus-The Histories. Okay, okay, so I’m a history buff. Great read if you can follow it due to the sometimes unwieldy sentence structure!

Osprey Campaign Series #7-Alexander 334-323BC and Essential Histories #26-The Wars Of Alexander The Great. The defining example of “less is mroe” ‘Nuff said 😀 Seriously, these are excellent volumes. I’ll be picking up more of these in the future.

Tupolev Bombers (Airtime). This one has stuff originally published in WAPJ and IAPR, but is still an interesting addition thanks to the new artwork inside (and I think the Tu-16 stuff is completely new). Not necessarily a must have, but a good book anyway.

Jane’s Warship Recognition Guide. The new one has a new format and is in color, and has been updated thoroughly. Great little reference tool even if the new color format made them more expensive. One thing I do miss are the profile drawings, though.

Last but DEFINITELY not least, X-15: The NASA Mission Reports. If you are a space buff and haven’t seen any of these, you have no idea what you’re missing. The book has the pilot’s manual (two versions), pilot rescue manual, pilot biographies, developmental history, the original North American proposal, and the biannual reports to Congress on the X-15 program. And, of course, a complete flight log, as well as some advertising from the time period featuring the X-15. All of this in a single 408-page volume. That alone is worth the price of only $21.95. But that’s not even the best part! There is also a CD included, full of GREAT stuff (man they gotta do one of these for the XB-70). On the CD you get a mess of images and still photos, a VR model of the aircraft, an interview with Bill Dana (pilot), and literally hours of other video footage including the XLR-99 engine explosion, the speed record flight (!), various other flights including Armstrong’s last before he became an Astronaut, TV spots, and loads of documentation including flight plans. These book/CD combos are outstanding, and are available for various Apollo, Gemini, and other spacecraft. Great stuff, you’ll be up all night trust me!

That’s all for now. As always, questions are certainly welcome, and I’ll answer them the best I can.