To be honest, I’ve never been too impressed with the Warbird Tech series of books. Of the dozen or so I’ve been able to examine in stores, many seem to have just rehashed material and photos I already have in my library. Until recently the only one I’d actually purchased was the volume on the Douglas A-26 Invader, as it had a good number of photos not seen elsewhere.
This book (from Warbird Tech’s companion Raceplane Tech series), however, proved to be a most pleasant surprise! It’s a very complete (or as complete as can be packed into 104 pages) treatment of the subject of Vought Corsair and Grumman Bearcat air racers, from the post-WWII Bendix and Thompson Trophy races right up until Reno 2000 (there were no Reno air races in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US).
The two aircraft types are treated separately, in their own individual chapters. As you would expect, there is ample coverage (photos and narrative) of the postwar racing career of the mighty 3000-hp F2G Corsairs, but I was pleased to see that the few postwar racing F4U-1 and FG-1 Corsairs were not neglected, either. In fact, the book contains the only photos I’ve been able to find of the left side of Dave Weyler’s Joe FG-1D, race #90, NX63382, which answers the question, “Which way did the letting slant on the other side?” An added bonus is a significant number of rare photos of other postwar racers--P-51s, P-38s, P-39s, even the odd P-47!
Bearcats weren’t raced in the postwar era, none of them being released to the public as surplus until the late ‘50s, but Grumman’s F8F has carved a permanent niche in the history of the Reno Air Races, which began in 1964. From that day to this, two Bearcats have been most prominent, Darryl Greenamyer’s Conquest and Lyle Shelton’s Rare Bear. Both receive the coverage you’d expect.
The ill-fated, R-4360-powered Bud Light Super Corsair--the only really serious racing Corsair of the modern era--also gets its share of attention here, but again I was pleased to see the coverage of some of the lesser-known birds. During the ‘60s and ‘70s, most of the civilian-owned Bearcats and quite a few of the warbird Corsairs took a turn at racing in one format or another--Reno, Phoenix 500, California 1000--and there are numerous pictures of these “little guy” throttle-benders, including a few I’ll bet you’ve never heard of before.
I didn’t count the photos, but most of the book’s 104 pages have more than one, so it’s safe to say that the photo count runs into the hundreds. And about the photos, I should add this: I have a pretty good air racing library, with most of the better books on the subject and a complete collection of Air Classics (which has always had good Unlimited racing coverage), and I can honestly say that there are lots and lots of pics in this book that I hadn’t seen before (maybe most of them!). The photos are not just a rehash of a bunch of common, previously published stuff. An eight-page color section includes 18 photos and four profiles. Four very complete appendices list and detail the participation of all racing Corsairs and Bearcats from postwar until 2000.
My squabbles with this book are few. There were a few airplanes I’d like to have seen more or better pictures of (such as Gene Akers’ NMF-and-blue/green F4U-4 of the late ‘60s), but you’re not going to be able to satisfy such esoteric desires in a comprehensive book of this type. Also, with the title “Round-Engine Racers,” one logically wonders where are the Sea Furies, a type becoming more prominent in racing as the value of stock Mustangs, Corsairs, and Bearcats escalates to the far side of seven figures. Coverage of the Sea Fury would have had to come at the expense of the Bearcats and Corsairs,
however, so I suppose that my complaint is more with the title of the book rather than its actual content. Still, if you buy this book with “Round-Engine Racers” in its title hoping for coverage of Sea Furies, you are going to be disappointed! (There is already a Warbird Tech book on the Sea Fury; perhaps there will be a Raceplane Tech title on the type in the future as well....hint, hint!)
All in all, however, this was one of the most satisfying and satisfactory books I’ve seen in quite a while. If you have any interest whatsoever in Bearcat and/or Corsair racers, I can recommend it to you without reservation. Its asking price seems modest indeed in relation to its value!
Model on! --Snake
Review book courtesy of
,
where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and
modeling books.