If you have been around aircraft enough to gain an interest in them and so start delving into the history of them, you'll eventually realize that for a long period of time, USAF aircraft had some rather odd letter/number combinations written on the side of them.

These are what were called Buzz Numbers. You see, back when planes were slow and air traffic control was a bit more lax, it was not unheard of for military pilots to fly their aircraft low and fast. This was done because they could and often it was to impress girl friends or family. Most citizens thought little of this, but others were angered by this practice (besides, it is dangerous to fly low and fast). A result of this was that there were large numbers painted on the side and often underside of aircraft so a citizen could report the offender to the authorities. This sort of behavior was quite prevalent in Europe after WWII and that is where the practice of applying code letter/numbers started.

For some reason, when planes became extremely fast, or quite large, they still carried these buzz numbers. No one would consider the YF-12A to be a low level aircraft, yet, it had buzz numbers (curiously on the upper side of the engine where it probably wouldn't be seen from the ground).

Peter Bowers and David Menard are recognized names in aviation history and from these folks come the plethora of photographs that make up the majority of this book. The buzz number system is fully explained and examples of most of them are provided in the book. There are also sections on serial number presentation and NG/ANG presentations on aircraft. I was particularly impressed with the pages on goofs where the buzz numbers were made up or the national insignia was painted incorrectly with proportions that just look odd.

Overall, it is another one of those fascinating books that Specialty Press seems to be so good at producing. I can't think of an aviation enthusiast who wouldn't be pleased with this book and what's more, it won't take much gold of the realm to buy it. I can highly recommend this to all of you, if for no other reason than the excellent selection of photographs.

July 2006

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