Thursday, May 21, 2015
American Military Training Aircraft
This latest book from E.R. Johnson, published by McFarland, is a comprehensive encyclopedia for aviation
enthusiasts of U.S. military trainers, including gliders and helicopters. While
perusing its 480 pages, you’re pretty much assured of coming across more than
one aircraft of which you were previously unaware. In the event that you hear
or read about a trainer with which you are unfamiliar, you’re almost certain to
find a summary description of its career—however short or even non-existent—along
with a data table, at least one photograph, and a multi-view drawing (by Lloyd S.
Jones) of the type in this book
As a handy reference, it is a suitable companion to
Johnson’s American Military Transport Aircraft Since 1925, reviewed by me here: http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2013/04/american-military-transport-aircraft.html, and United States Naval Aviation 1919-1941, http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/06/united-states-naval-aviation-1919-1941.html
Like Military Transport Aircraft and United States Naval Aviation, it is soft cover and there
are no color pictures. It does include an appendix describing the U.S. military
trainer designation systems, which changed over time. There is also a very
useful glossary and a comprehensive index, which will be invaluable in a search
for a particular type covered by the book.
Try as we authors might, it’s virtually impossible to have a
book published without error or typo, particularly one of this extraordinary
breadth. For example, I only recently realized that the T (for trainer)
designation of the Grumman TF (C-1A) Trader was based on its original
justification in large part as a trainer rather than being “anomalous” as
Johnson reports. See http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2012/06/designation-story-redux.html. Jones’ drawing labeled as the T-37A has tip tanks
that were only present on the T-37C (procured by foreign governments but not
the USAF) and the A-37A and B Dragonflies, which were not trainers, per se. Hopefully these slips are few
and far between. I believe that they do not detract from the overall usefulness
of the book. (I was particularly pleased to note that Johnson avoided a common
error by not ascribing dual controls to the Douglas A3D-2T (TA-3B).)
McFarland's website to order books is www.mcfarlandpub.com; the order line
is 800-253-2187. American Military Trainers is also available from Amazon both in hardcopy and as an
ebook (see www.mcfarlandpub.com/customers/ebooks for
other providers).
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