United States Naval Aviation, 1919-1941
By Matt Bittner
United States Naval Aviation, 1919-1941
Author: E.R. Johnson
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-7864-4550-9
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 352
A new book, United States Naval Aviation, 1919-1941 covers everything that deals with United States (U.S.) Naval Aviation – not just aircraft. The book is broken out into the following Parts:
- Part I: Heavier-Than-Air Development
- Part II: Lighter-Than-Air Development
- Part III: Aviation-Related Ship Development
In addition, each Part is further broken down.
Part I contains the sections:
- Attack Aircraft
- Fighter Aircraft
- Observation and Scout Aircraft
- Patrol Aircraft
- Trainer, Transport and Utility Aircraft
Part II contains:
- Rigid Airships (Dirigibles)
- Non-Rigid Airships (Blimps)
Part III contains the following:
- Aircraft Carriers
- Seaplane and Airship Tenders
- Seaplane-Equipped Warships
There are also 4 Appendices (Foreign Aircraft and Airships; Racing and Experimental Aircraft; Naval Aircraft, Airship, Ship, and Aviation Unit Designations, Nomenclature, and Abbreviations; Status of Naval Aviation, December 1941), a glossary of Naval and Aeronautical Terms, a bibliography and an index. There is also a section with color profiles of some aircraft.
It appears that most every type that ever flew for the U.S. Navy is covered, be it an experimental, foreign or even one-off design. In fact, most of the book contains nothing but types where one was built to prove something, or for companies to try and win a U.S. Navy contract. It is actually amazing the number of "just one" aircraft that flew for the U.S. Navy during the period of time covered. Staggering, actually. Another interesting aspect is the U.S. Navy would fly an aircraft – including the one-offs – until something happened to it to strike it "off charge". Just because a design didn't meet the criteria that was set for it at contract time doesn't mean the aircraft was never flown again. The Navy would either fly the aircraft until it "died", or would use it for further research.
I have one major complaint with the book. While the color section is a nice inclusion, it feels like it was added as an after-thought. Sure it lists the aircraft type that is profiled, but that's it. There is no information on the squadron being represented, where/when it flew, etc. There are no references listed for the profiles. In addition, the profiles are pretty "low-tech". I'm use to two major sources and how they treat color profiles in their publications: Osprey and The Aviation Workshop. While Osprey doesn't include information with the profile on the same page as the profile, they do include a section at the rear of the book detailing each and every aircraft profiled in their color section. The Aviation Workshop contains all information with each color profile on the same page, but go one better. They include the reference(s) used to create a profile. The profiles in this United States Naval Aviation book include none of that, just listing the aircraft type.
My last concern is with the drawings provided. While all types have a drawing associated with it, those drawings unfortunately aren't "scaled". That is, there is no scale bar associated with a drawing so one can see how it can be scaled differently for your modeling scale of choice. It would have been nice to either have all drawings to a constant scale (for example, 1/144), or each drawing have a "scale bar" drawn with the design so we know how the drawing compares to the real thing.
Don't let my grievances stop you from purchasing this book. It reminds me a lot of the older Lloyd S. Jones books from the 1970s on all US aircraft (in fact, he contributes the drawings previously mentioned). However, it goes far beyond those older books. Each type is given very good text descriptions on the "wheres/whens/hows" each design flew, etc. Plus, it includes sections not only on the aircraft themselves, but the lighter-than-air designs, along with the changes necessary to the support craft (ships, etc.) that were used with Naval Aviation.
Overall it's an excellent overview of U.S. Naval Aviation from the end of WW1 until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. By all means pick up this book if you have any interest what-so-ever in U.S. Naval Aviation during this time frame. Very highly recommended.
My thanks to McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers for supplying this book to review.