Aviation History - USA (2019-09)

september 2019 AH 69

Having frequently witnessed
AR501, one of the last surviving
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Shuttleworth Collection, Andrew
Critchell wanted to learn more
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tory. The most-produced version of
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Air Force Fighter Command was
transitioning from defensive oper-
ations over the United Kingdom to
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coped with the supposedly superior performance of the
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Critchell expanded his research to include the nine aircraft
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as representative of the period and its particular tactical situa-
tion. He was interested to learn how their pilots dealt with
what was considered a tactical disadvantage. His research pro-
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the period after the Battle of Britain and before the U.S. Army
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than just British or American interest because many of those
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pilots serving with the RAF—starting with AR501 itself, which
served with distinction in No. 310 Squadron, as shown on the
cover illustration.
Robert Guttman

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air has been given a welcome depth

of human experience through the

memoirs and recorded interviews of

participating aviators from practi-

cally all combatant nations. Among

the exceptions has been Japan,

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recollections to themselves or to sur-

vivors of their old units. Fortunately

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handful of dedicated colleagues who

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ice with a great number of these for-

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and Asian air campaigns. These are combined with the biog-

raphies and experiences of their opposite numbers in Fall of the

Japanese EmpireINWTTW_]X\WPQ[MIZTQMZJWWS[\PQ[\QUMNWK][-

DORNIER DO 335 PFEIL/ARROW

by J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek with Gerhard Roletschek,

Crecy Press, 2017, $79.95.

FALL OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE
Memories of the Air War 1942-45
by Ron Werneth, Elm Grove Publishing, 2018, $59.99.

A TALE OF TEN SPITFIRES
by Andrew Critchell, Pen and Sword Books Ltd., 2018, $49.95.

The Dornier Do-335 was one of the

most technologically advanced and

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craft developed in Germany during

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as “brutal yet innovative,” it was

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about the same as that of another

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fuselage, driving either a tractor or a pusher propeller.

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design remained a private venture. Apparently, the Reich Air

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cated its progress by demanding the simultaneous develop-

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but pricey volume provides the ultimate history of one of

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case of why the German aircraft industry ultimately failed.

Robert Guttman

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the battleship Ya m a t oWV)XZQT!WVTa\W[MMPQ[IQZKZIN\

carrier, IntrepidLIUIOMLJaISIUQSIbMWV)XZQT_PQTM

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to assume responsibility for nine other young men inside a

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These are but a fraction of the fascinating insights contained

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graphs provided by the men he met. Anyone with an interest in

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a variety of viewpoints in Fall of the Japanese Empire.

Jon Guttman