am not exactly sure when the 'boss bird' phenomena started in the USAF. Prior to Vietnam, USAF planes were generally rather colorful. While mostly unpainted metal or silver, unit markings added a lot of interest to the aircraft. During this time, commander's planes usually had what were known as 'command stripes' with the squadron commander's plane in the squadron color and wing commander's planes having the various colors used by the wing. When planes started getting camouflaged, then things started getting rather boring in terms of unit markings. Some planes kept using the commander's stripes and you see those even into the 1990s, but most of the camouflaged planes had little more than a sliver of color, possibly tail codes and possibly a unit badge. That was it.

After Vietnam, what we mostly saw was either multiple colors as on the plane shown on the cover, or the unit name on the plane or both.

Eventually this turned into a normal thing with either squadron or wing commander planes having some sort of differentiating markings either in terms of unit names or even some sort of coloration. That is what is on this CD from Aero Research. We have 151 nicely done photos that are overall images of the aircraft in question. There are some from the 60s and 50s as well just to whet your appetite. It is all arranged by unit and information on type, location and date are provided when known. Like the other products of Aero Research, this one is a disc of eye candy that will be appreciated by modelers and fans of the aircraft alike.

 You can get more information by visiting www.aeroresearchcds.com.

Thanks to Aero Research for the review CD.

April 2015

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