Steve Ginter

A Bit of Disappointment After the Latest AF Legends Books.
Taken as an accumulation of photographs with solid captioning this an excellent monograph and certainly worth the money if you’re detailing one of the two models available. And as mentioned the captioning is solid. (Except for a minor glitch on page 12. The order given on the lower row is reversed.) Overall, for some reason I disappointed by the amount of text that was available. To be fair, the text that is present while sparse is reasonably informative. But you get let down by its paucity. For example, the issue with nacelles gets a short paragraph with no discussions about attempts to rectify it. Considering Stan Piet from the Martin Museum Archives is listed as a contributor, that’s somewhat surprising.
As casual observation, it was interesting to see how fast Martin made initial progress, from contract acceptance on the 29th of December while the Battle of the Bulge was being fought to the start of mock-up inspection on April 19th little more than two weeks before VE day was impressive, even by the standards of the day.
While one can sing high praises of the monograph as a modeling reference and viewed as akin to a walkaround volume this is a solid if somewhat overpriced purchase. As a history of the aircraft? It’s a bit disappointing when stacked up against other AF Legends offerings.
Strongly Recommended for modelers, non-modelers approach with caution.… (mais)

This review is based upon using NF3 on the FH-1 as a baseline comparison. To start NF3 was published 41 years before this volume NF115 hit the streets. Since then, more models have become available and the author has refined the layout of the series. This volume right off the bat has doubled in size, and print quality.
The new volume includes unit histories, far more photographs, and better illustrations. For example? The J30 goes from a single rather dismal drawing to three photographs, a brief history and a photo of a 9.5” diameter jet engine that was its immediate ancestor. Last but not least? There’s a bunch more text on the history of the aircraft and its systems.
This book also has a quality all its own, because quite frankly its literally the only reference out there.

Recommended for modelers and those with an interested in early USN jet aviation.… (mais)

Overall, the Air Force Legends monographs have been pretty good. But, in this case? While the modeler maybe well served anyone with an interest in the development, construction, might be left feeling a little disappointed. Interestingly enough the contributors included Peter Bowers and William Larkins along with a contribution by the AAHS. Which means there may just be a paucity of information available to flesh out a monograph to the same standards as the other AF Legends monographs. There are enough interior and exterior photographs to provide details for modelers along with details of the models that have been available over the years.
The photos are of sufficient depth and detail where one can see that the aircraft’s cockpit wobble pump was placarded as “Wabble Pump”
Those interested in the development of the aircraft would probably be best served by seeking out the old Sentry magazines Wings and Airpower for the articles that were written in the early ‘70’s.
Only recommended for modelers.… (mais)

The XF7F-1 (Grumman G-45) was ordered on June 30, 1941, and was intended to be operated from the forthcoming 45,000 ton Midway class carriers. It was to be the first twin engine with tricycle undercarriage. It was heavily armed with four-20 mm guns in the wing roots and four 50 cal in the nose with strong point under the wings and fuselage to carry bombs and the Navy torpedo.
This book covers all of the many versions along with its use as a firebomber, and some aircraft that are saved in the museum.… (mais)