Eric Brown is arguably a man who has flown more aircraft types than anyone else. Thanks to his involvement with the RAE during the middle of the war, he was in the perfect place to be able to fly and evaluate a plethora of aircraft types. This includes captured Luftwaffe planes during and especially at the end of the war.

This book was initially published in 1977 by Janes and McDonald Publishing, but Hikoki have taken that original book and added several other aircraft types to it as well as a bevy of superlative photographs of these planes. Included are full color profiles and some excellent sectional drawings of many of the types in the book.

In addition to flying all the 'standard' fighter types, like the Bf-109, FW-190 and Me-262, Captain Brown also flew the gigantic Bv-222 flying boat, the unique Do-335, the dangerous Me-163, and a passel of German bombers like the Ju-88 and He-177. There are some communications types like the Si-204 and the recce Ju-188 in with the mix. In total, there are thirty-three of the fifty-five different German aircraft that Captain Brown has flown in these pages.

Each entry tells a story of the aircraft he flew as well as any pilot's notes that he made on each type. There are also interviews with German pilots as well as some of the designers like Willy Messerschmitt and Kurt Tank.

It makes for a superlative read. This is a book that every aviation enthusiast should have on their book shelf.

August 2010

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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