World War II has been over for seventy years and those who participated are now very few in numbers, soon to be gone. However, thanks to people and organizations with a lot of extra money, the machines that were used during that time are still around for enthusiasts. I am not talking about museum items, but those that are still operational. Probably the most expensive of these sorts of relics are the war birds.

These aircraft have often been scoured from the most unlikely sources. Some managed to hang around intact and have been flying since the end of the conflict. Others were dumped after their usefulness as military aircraft were done and have been gathered up for restoration. Still others were squirreled away in barns, shed and old hangars by those who bought them on the cheap after the war and did nothing with them. Then there are those which had crashed into bogs, water or other places where their remains were hidden until discovered. These planes were often so destroyed or corroded that few parts could be salvaged, yet, funds will make anything happen and some of these have been brought back into the air with little that was original save for something like the manufacturers ID tag or an instrument panel, or the engine block.

In the US, the type you see all the time at various air shows is the P-51 Mustang. Across the 'pond' this would be the Spitfire. There is something about the Spitfire that stirs the heart of British enthusiasts like no other, so it is not surprising that the greatest number of extant Spits is found in the UK.

In this latest large book from Osprey, what many of us would call a coffee table book, we are treated to a volume that is dedicated to the Spitfire. One of the authors has taken a lot of air to air photographs of these planes so you are treated to a rather large number of 'spinner in your face' in flight images of these planes. The photos are quite large, crisply done and many of them so large as to need a goodly portion of the next page. In other words, a lot of 'eye candy'.

The authors focus on a goodly number of these planes and the way that each is presented is actually quite well done. It starts with the earliest versions and works its way up, including Seafires. Each feature plane is provided with a history of the exact airframe and includes a nice selection of period photos, often of the plane in question when it was in active service. We not only get a history of the air frame, but some of these aircraft were successful in combat and we get stories of their combat from the pilots of the planes (often in after combat reports).

In addition to the featured planes, there are a ton of images of other Spitfire warbirds so that enthusiasts of this plane will not be disappointed at all. This section is followed by some quality period photos of the various types. Those of us who have been around for a while will recognize quite a few of the photos in this and other sections, but probably not as nicely printed. The final section is one on specifications and the differences between the operational types.

In all, it makes for an excellent combination history/photo book that no fan of the subject or war birds in general should be without.

May 2016

Copyright Modeling Madness.com

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review book. I very much enjoyed reading this one. For more on the complete line of Osprey books, visit www.ospreypublishing.com

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