This book is long overdue.  Although much has been written on the subject, some by the author, until now there has not been a definitive work on the on the disposition, read destruction, of  American military aviation following the end of World War II. This book solves the problem.

Bill Larkins is one of the surviving giants of American aviation history.  A long time aircraft photographer, one of the early “616” photographers along with Gordon S. Williams, Peter M.  Bowers, Howard Levy, and others, he is the ideal author to write an account of this tragic event in U.S. aviation history.  He began photographing airplanes in the early thirties, and had the opportunity to experience the expansion of American military aviation prior to World War II.  After graduating from the University of San Francisco in 1943, he spent three years in the Army Air Forces in aircraft recognition training, and was later active in the AAF Reserve and the California Air National Guard.

This gave him the unprecedented opportunity to photograph aircraft before, during, and after the war, and the result has been one of the country’s premier aircraft photo collections. In addition, he is recognized as the founder of the American Aviation Historical Society.

At the end of the war, Larkins was already looking towards photographing the many airplanes declared surplus by the armed forces, and the high point in his career, as he describes it, was a visit to the AAF storage facility at Kingman, Arizona, in 1947, where he was able to photograph as many of the stored bombers, fighters, and other types as his available film would permit. Many of these striking photographs, including aerial views from a rented Piper J-3 Cub,  are reproduced in the book.

Fifty years later, he revisited the site at Kingman, where, of course, there is no evidence of any stored military aircraft, although there are some stored airliners there today.

The book begins by discussing the government’s problem of disposing of surplus property in generals, and airplanes in particular.  The idea was to dispose of surplus equipment without destroying the postwar aviation industry as had occurred at the end of World War I with the release of large numbers of war-surplus Jennies at bargain basement prices, setting civilian aircraft production back at least five years.

In fact, not too many surplus aircraft had real commercial potential, except for the airline type transports, C-46’s, C-47’s, C-54’s and C-69’s, and some of the light observation types and impressed aircraft.  Trainers such as the Stearman PT/N2S series and the Navy N3N’s were desired mostly by crop dusters, while the ex military pilot who wanted to fly and purchased a PT-17, PT-19, or BT-13 soon found out that even though the airplane was cheap to buy, it certainly wasn’t cheap to operate. Other types, such as UC-78’s, were bought in limited numbers as light twin-engine transports, but many wartime aircraft were kept in the inventory until the fifties and early sixties, when they were finally disposed of, usually for specialized uses.

Larkins describes the numerous storage facilities set up by the War Assets Administration, the agency saddled with the responsibility of selling the aircraft. There was a lot of mismanagement, but most of the combat types were sold to contractors who reduced them to aluminum ingots after removing useful items such as engines, propellers, instruments, radios, and other items.  This became a production-line operation, and the majority of the aircraft were gone within two years, reappearing as aluminum trailers and other aluminum products.

Some of the storage sites included Kingman, AZ; Walnut Ridge, AR; Clinton, OK; Ontario and Chino, CA.  Other smaller sites offered trainers, light transports, and a few combat types. Unfortunately, not too many collectors and enthusiasts visited these sometimes remote sites, or could get access if they did show up, so photos of these aircraft are quite scarce.

Larkins has amassed a unique collection of photos, all credited to the original photographers when possible, and these include each of the major types and subtypes that were sold both to people who wanted to fly them, and those who destroyed them. Where else could you find photos of an AT-18, TDR-1, AT-10, XA-32, YPT-15, XN3N-1, SNV-2, and acres of B-17’s and B-24’s all in the same book.  In fact, the photos are the most impressive part of the book, worth the purchase price for them alone.

The author goes on to describe the sale process, the scrapping, certification, and operation of some of these aircraft. In the 14 appendices, he lists locations, inventories at particular times, price lists, impressed aircraft disposal, and even the sale of surplus CAA aircraft, a topic I didn’t expect to see covered.  Typical government advertisements are also published, not only for aircraft but for such components as engines, tires, and instruments.

RECOMMENDATION

For anyone interested in World War II aviation history, this book it definitely a “must have.” It completes the last chapter in the subject, and Larkins, with his usual eloquence, treats the subject with reverence.  If you don’t buy this book, you are missing out on one of the great books on American aviation history.  After all, he was there, and he took a lot of pictures.

December 2005

To order a copy, send $29.95 plus $3.00 S&H to Bledsoe’s Aviation Art, P.O. Box 1956, Upland, CA, 91785. The website is www.bledsoeavart.com , and the phone is (909) 986-1103.

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