It is not often that a CD-ROM makes it to Modeling Madness, yet this edition arrived via the mails the other day. It is the first of many volumes that will be published by the San Diego Aerospace Museum covering a variety of aircraft types. This is the initial volume and is on World War II American fighters.

Before going into the CD-ROM itself, here are some of the technical specs on the CD. There are nearly 64 Megabytes of information on the disc. It requires 32 Megabytes of RAM though no processor minimum is specified. It is a dual OS disc operating on both Macs with an 8.0 OS or better and PCs with Windows 95 or better. Screen size minimum is 640 x 480. In use, it would be best to set your screen size to no larger than 800 x 600. I started viewing this using my standard 1024 x 768 screen and the images were just too small. Readjusting the screen to 800 x 600 improved things a great deal.

This particular volume includes sections on the P-38, P-39/P-63, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-61, F4F, F6F and F4U. In addition, there is an XP section with the XP-54, XP-55, and XP-56.

With each aircraft type there are a number of images (the box states over 425 and I believe it). There is also a good history of each type as well as a specifications section, a comparison section (comparing it with other aircraft of a similar type), as well as a bibliography section and some links to areas that give more information. The historical notes are particularly well done and provide not only differences between subtypes, but also a good war history (where appropriate). The method used to navigate the CD was excellent and I had absolutely no trouble finding my way around. Perhaps a search engine would be helpful when looking for specific aircraft types rather than paging through all the photos.

Well, now that all that is over with, what did I think of it. Not knowing what to expect, I was impressed with much of it. Now I must confess to you that I have been interested in and reading about aircraft since I was about 10 years old. 40 years later, I'm still interested in and reading about aircraft. That means that I have seen and read a LOT! As a result, many of the images I saw were old friends. There were also a goodly number that I had not seen before and those were a nice surprise.

From my understanding after reading the introduction, the museum is digitizing its photo collection and used many of those photos in this CD. The photos presented in the CD are raw and untouched so if there are creases and marks on the print that was scanned there are creases and marks on the image. None of that took away from the impact of the image and in my opinion, added to the interest. 

The other side of using these images is that there are, in my opinion, too many manufacturers photos. More images from aircraft in theater would have been appreciated. I would also have liked to have had the images larger than what was produced. There is lots of space left on the CD for larger images. Something to think about for future editions.

I found that some sections were better than others. For instance, the P-40 section was superb. Lots of in action type photos showing a wide range of aircraft as well as some of the prototypes and interesting aircraft. The P-47 section, by comparison, was mostly manufacturers images and left me feeling that there could have been more in it. The P-39/P-63 section was quite similar. A very good P-39 part with only two images of the P-63. Again, the same with the XP section with good XP-54 and XP-55 coverage and just a few images of the XP-56.

In the letter I received along with the CD, it was mentioned that this would be an excellent resource for the veteran, model maker and aviation buff alike. From the modeler standpoint, what would really be super helpful would be the addition of clear detail photos or drawings, perhaps taken from the maintenance manuals showing cockpit, wheel wells, engine and other parts of the aircraft. (Modelers are often wondering about stuff as the shape of the rudder pedals or what the gun sight looks like) In addition, more images of unit-operated aircraft vice manufacturers images would be a great deal of help when it comes to modeling aircraft. To add on to the suggestions, it would be great to have the CD broken down even further by subtype with pictures showing the differences between each one. I know the info is out there, but it is scattered in lots of different books and magazines. We modelers are rather fussy types and want lots of seemingly obscure information! It is what makes the 'Walk-around' books such hot sellers.

As the CD stands at the moment it makes a very good primer on the types shown. If you want something of a general nature as an introduction to the types, this is exactly what you want and I highly recommend it as such. The premise of this set is excellent . It very much deserves to succeed in a big way, and with some minor tweaking can become a superior resource.

Review copy courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum. This CD can be ordered direct via the website.

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