Pulp Fiction Fighters – Military Aircraft Exported to Latin America, 1930-1939
By Matt Bittner
Author: Dan Hagedorn and Carlos A. Garcia
Publisher: European Airlines
ISBN: 978-82-93450-31-3
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 216
A subject you don't see very often in the aviation press, modeling or otherwise, is aircraft that fewl in Latin America, regardless of the time frame. For this publication, European Airlines covers the between-the-wars ('tweener) period of 1930-1939. The book is broken out like this:
- Introduction
- Ways and Means: Salesmen, Entrepreneurs, Missions and 'Non-Traditional Methods'
- Close Calls: Aircraft Ordered, Demonstrated or Ordered but Canceled
- Cast of Characters
- Color Profiles
The beginning of the book explains everything about the period in a condensed form: the aircraft that were actually flying in numbers in Latin America followed by those that never quite made it. The "Cast of Characters" is very interesting, listing every known aircraft type flown for the countries laid out in the book, in alphabetical order, along with page numbers for their corresponding color profile.
The color profiles are really well done, with text supporting the aircraft. If a profile is subjective the text states so. Be aware, though, you only get one profile-side for each aircraft and nothing else. If you plan on modeling based on this book then you'll just have to assume the opposite side is colored and marked the same, and search out other references for what the top and bottom looked like.
Overall this is a nicely done book. While it would be quite the large tome if each and every profile included photographic evidence, the beginning of the book does state that the profiles are done to the best of the authors' ability given the research they have performed, and those authors have quite the extensive background on the subject.
Many thanks go to European Airlines for the opportunity to review this book. I definitely recommend it.