This latest volume of Pacific Profiles is one I've been awaiting for a while. It is on the P-40, the main US fighter during the early days of the conflict and carrying on for much of the New Guinea and SoPac campaign. Though somewhat outclassed by the nimble Japanese opposition, its heavier armament, and robust airframe was a real plus. Once most of the opposition was gone, it soldiered on in the ground attack role where it was fairly successful.

What made the P-40 so useful was first of all that it was available in numbers when it was needed. It was fairly competent as an air to air fighter, recording its fair share of victories, though, like in all WWII air arms, the overclaiming was fairly large. Finally, it was a pretty basic aircraft and didn't have much in the way of exotic systems that could cause issues in what were fairly bare bones air fields.

The book follows a standard format with each of the various units covered in greater or lesser detail, depending on how long they operated in theater. Each section shows the squadron's common markings and colors along with a number of great photos and profiles based on those photos as you can see by the example provided on the left. Each full color profile provides information on that particular aircraft. This is where much of the information is derived. No lengthy pilot stories or background history on this as it concentrates on the aircraft and units involved in the conflict. In addition to photos and profiles, you are provided an introductory section on the plane and the theater of operations as well as some nice art work, the latter spread throughout the book.

It all makes for a superb reference book for the modeler and enthusiast and well worth the price of admission. I very much like this series and look forward to each new volume. Most highly recommended.

October 2023

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