Aviation History - USA (2019-09)

SEPTEMBER 2019 AH 67

Readers might rightly ask what
more can possibly be written
about the Battle of Midway that
hasn’t already been published.
Military historian David Rigby
answers the question with his new
and important twofold study. On
the one hand it is a long overdue
biography of U.S. Navy pilot C.
Wade McClusky, and on the other
it’s a retelling of the monumental
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perspective of this pivotal yet often
minimized participant.
Early in the book Rigby asserts that McClusky’s counterin
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Midway rather than the south was key to winning the battle,
something other histories have done. But then the author
explains how McClusky came to make that critical decision,
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direction on the morning of June 4, 1942.
The author passionately defends McClusky against detrac
tors who have argued inaccurately that he lacked time in dive
bombers, that he failed to grasp relevant tactics and that he
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sighted. Readers learn the intricate details surrounding this
indispensable leader, and in the process gain a further under
standing of the victory at Midway through an exhaustively
researched history of the battle.
Quoting a blogger/historian, the author convincingly por
trays McClusky as “exactly the right man being in exactly the
right place at exactly the right time.” His biography provides a
fresh perspective on one of history’s most famous battles.
Philip Handleman

wade MCCLUSKY AND

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
by David Rigby, Osprey Publishing, 2019, $35.

Coinciding with the 50th anni

versary of Topgun’s founding, this

book takes advantage of help from

naval aviation history expert Barrett

Tillman [author of “Topgun Turns

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nitely the work of retired U.S. Navy

Captain Pedersen, however, and he

can be proud of what he has written.

Pedersen devotes early chapters

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the uncontrolled atmosphere of “Fight’s on! Check six!” He

soon perceived a need for a dedicated advanced course in air

combat maneuvering (ACM) during the midwar period of the

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MiGs to U.S. aircraft lost was very disappointing. Pedersen and

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and initial classes at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School used

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commands at Naval Air Station Miramar north of San Diego,

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The crux of Pedersen’s account is well worth reading. Of

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what the school eventually came to mean, if in typically over

stated Hollywood style. The sequel is now scheduled to appear

in 2020—albeit with the rumored plot already the subject of

cynical criticism—and Topgun is now banished to NAS Fallon

in the wilds of western Nevada.

Even so, this very personal, highly readable account

describes how one man’s desire to provide advanced training

to naval airmen became a fortunate reality 50 years ago.

Peter Mersky

TOPGUN

An American Story

by Dan Pedersen, Hachette Books, 2019, $28.

Of the many books on
this legendary engine, few
have gone into such depths
or detail. Author Gordon
Wilson relates the fateful
meeting of Henry Royce, a
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ble origin (orphaned at nine),
and Charles Stewart Rolls,
son of Lord Llangattock,
and shows that Rolls was not
just a wealthy dilettante but
in fact held an engineering
degree from Cambridge
University. The partnership

led to the successful Eagle

engine of World War I. By

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all British aero engines.

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Royce racing engines in the

interwar years, including the

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Trophy–winning “R” that

set a world air speed record

of 407 mph. Shortly before

his death from overwork,

Royce ordered the design of

a V12 engine “larger than

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than the R.” Royce had orig

inally intended the resulting

Merlin to be inverted (as was,

for example, the German

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give the pilot a better sight

line, but airframe manufac

turers vetoed the idea.

Racing pilot Steve Hinton’s

foreword describes how

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developing more than 2,500

hp by 1945, was boosted to

over 3,400 hp to push his

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to 531 mph, the fastest for

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Wilson exhaustively lists

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Merlins built, and the aircraft

they powered—especially the

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saved Britain from invasion,

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without which America’s

daylight bombing campaign

would have failed—making

a strong case that the book’s

subtitle is no hyperbole.

Nicholas O’Dell

THE MERLIN
The Engine That Won
the Second World War
by Gordon A.A. Wilson, Amber ley
Publishing, 2018, $31.95.