The TA-154 was one of those aircraft that had tons of potential, but for various reasons, never was able to prove itself. Developed as a night fighter, made of mostly non-strategic materials (as in wood), and designed to be fast enough to catch marauding British Mosquitos, the TA-154 was beset by problems of all sorts and while a few aircraft did make it into active units and flew missions, it is unknown (and rather doubtful) if it every succeeded in shooting down another aircraft.

There were two key factors to the TA-154. One was its use of plywood as a major construction material. This was not unheard of as many other types, including the deHavilland Mosquito, used this material for their airframe. The other was a supply of engines. Now here is where things got a bit tricky. It was anticipated that the Jumo 213 would be the engine of choice, however, as often happens, its development was delayed so initial aircraft were powered by the Jumo 211 instead. This engine was in use in several bomber and night fighter types, including the Ju-88 and the new He-219, but did not have the power that was needed. However, since the TA-154 was a smaller airframe, it did provide what one could call sprightly performance. In a flyoff between the TA-154 and He-219, the TA-154 was more maneuverable. Even against the Bf-109H, the 154 would come out ahead in mock dog-fights.

Several things plagued the 154, preventing large scale production. One was the timing. 1944 wasn't the best time to fully develop a new type. The bombing and complete destruction of the only place capable of making the special glues used to bond the plywood wasn't a good thing either. The TA-154 also needed some adjustments. The view from the cockpit was quite poor and the aircraft suffered some instability (which was later cured by a fuselage extension, very much like with the FW-190D-9. The end result were few completed airframe, probably fewer than a dozen or so, and none in wide service, relegating this interesting aircraft to a footnote in aviation history.

The author does a great job of covering the initial design and development of the aircraft as well as telling the story of all the prototypes and the few pre-production aircraft that were built. This is part of Kagero's 3D series so a majority of the book has their excellent 3D illustrations, concentrating on the two major variations of the aircraft. In addition to overall images, we get detail sections as well. The period photos in the first sections of the book are also very nicely done and provide photographs that one rarely sees of this aircraft. In all, it is a superb volume and one that anyone with an interest in this plane should have on their shelves.