SPITFIRE HERITAGE GIN AND
SUPERMARINE VODKA
Beverages
Producer: Spit re Heritage Distillers
Price: £40 per bottleSpit re Heritage Distillers has
launched a partnership with the
Royal Air Forces Association for
the RAF’s centenary celebrations
by marketing specially liveried
limited-edition bottles of gin and
vodka. These will feature at high-
pro le RAF centenary events,
together with the association from now until
the autumn. Numbered bottles will also be
available to order to commemorate particular
RAF squadrons.
Spit re Heritage’s agship brand is a small
batch, single estate 1930s-style botanical
gin. It pays tribute to the women of the Air
Transport Auxiliary (ATA) who ferried wartime
aircraft from factories to units. The
distillers chose to work with world
champion gin maker and master
distiller John Walters to create a
spirit that, like the Spit re, was
designed to be the best.
Botanicals are avours derived
from plants and added to a base
spirit, in this case vodka, to create
gin. The vodka itself is said to be
an exceptional product and has been aptly
named Supermarine Vodka.
The distiller will gift £3.50 of the pro ts on
each bottle to the RAF Association, a charity
which helps all generations of RAF personnel
and their families.
Available from http://www.spit reheritagegin.comSHADY LADY – 1,500 HOURS FLYING
THE U-2 SPY PLANE
Book
Written by: Lt Col Rick Bishop
Price: £18.95A very interesting read by
a man whose writing ability
almost equals his exceptional
ying skills. He certainly
needed them to handle
what he calls “the most difficult aircraft
known to man”, with “no back-seater to help
with navigation, communication, defensive
measures, activating cameras and sensors,
trouble-shooting or emergency procedures.”
He describes how as the U-2 climbs to
its maximum altitude, stall speed and the
onset of Mach buffet, the so-called coffin
corner, creeps closer together until there is a
window of 5kts or less! As its ceiling remains
classi ed, the author can only state that it was
above 70,000ft. The dynamics of high-altitude ying are brilliantly described, especially that,
uniquely, the throttle setting had to be reduced
at regular intervals in the climb.
Emergency checklists, 52 of them, had to
be committed to memory, as instant responses
were vital to survival. There are some nail-
biting incidents in the text, including a landing
at Mildenhall with minimal fuel in bad weather;
ying deliberately into a radioactive cloud to
gather data from a Chinese bomb test; and
emergency descents, to name just a few.
The lengthy process of being accepted
to y the U-2 is discussed in detail, the initial
solo ights and the challenges of landing the
skittish aeroplane. I loved the insights into the
U-2 in this excellent book and the text is often
very funny too. It is illustrated with 74 colour
and 37 black and white photographs.
Published by Crécy Publishing Limited: ISBN
9781910809099; available from http://www.crecy.co.ukMALTA 1940-42 – THE AXIS’ AIR BATTLE
FOR MEDITERRANEAN SUPREMACY
Book
Written by: Ryan K Noppen
Price: £13.99A product of extensive
research from Italian and
German sources, this 96-pager
is an entirely new analysis of
the Malta air war. The small
then British-held island with
its naval base was a thorn in
the side of the Axis powers. The introduction
explains its strategic importance with the Royal
Navy paying little attention to its defence in
the 1930s. Just 60 miles (97km) from Italian
air bases in Sicily, the island was extremely
vulnerable.
A section entitled ‘Attackers’ Capabilities
1940’ describes the shortcomings of Italian
military aircraft, mainly outclassed biplane
ghters and underpowered bombers carrying
relatively small loads.
‘Defenders’ Capabilities 1940’ details
the reliance on meagre anti-aircraft
batteries supported by a handful of Gloster
Sea Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes.
‘Campaign Objectives’ discusses Italian plans
for invasion or neutralisation and then ‘The
1940 Campaign’ describes Italy’s rst strikes,
which owing to an insistence on high-altitude
bombing, were very inaccurate.
With France subdued in June 1940,
the Luftwaffe turned its attention to the
Mediterranean and Malta to accomplish what
the Italians seemed unable to do. ‘Attackers’
Capabilities 1941-42’ lays out the German air
force’s formidable Orders of Battle and those
of the RAF, by now much reinforced. In ‘The
1941-42 Campaigns’ the ongoing battles for
air supremacy are covered until the offensivestalled, for reasons fully analysed in the closing
section.
This well-written account neatly
encapsulates every aspect of the aerial
assault, including a list of air elds on Sicily and
their based units. It is illustrated with 47 black
and white and eight colour photographs, along
with six maps and diagrams and three colour
plates. There is also a bibliography.
Published by Osprey Publishing: ISBN
9781472820600: available from http://www.
ospreypublishing.comTIGER CHECK
Book
Written by: Steven A Fino
Price: £59This is a masterly analysis of
ghter combat in the Korean
and Vietnam wars and beyond.
It shows how close-in dog- ghting in the
Korean con ict differed little from that in the
two world wars. One of the few technical aids
was a radar-guided gunsight which proved the
critical advantage which allowed F-86 Sabres
to score so highly against MiG-15s.
In the Vietnam War, Phantoms initially
had no guns and relied on air-to-air missiles
that frequently missed their target for a
variety of reasons. Studies during Phantom
development showed that a single pilot
would not be able to cope with evermore
complex radar. The answer was a second
crewman who had to operate the intricate
re control procedures to obtain the best
radar performance. How this was achieved is
covered in great detail. Indeed, the amount
of information presented throughout the book
on ghter tactics, theory of gunnery, missiles,
radar, trials with Aggressor F-5E simulating
potential Warsaw Pact adversaries, and a
whole lot more, is impressive.
The author, with ten years’ experience
as an F-15 pilot, explains that the excellent
electronics of the aircraft enabled the return to
the original concept of a single pilot ‘stick and
throttle’ ghter. A head-up display projected
all necessary target and weapons data onto
the windscreen so that visual acquisition and
tracking of enemy aircraft could be performed
without looking down at cockpit displays.
Verdict: an outstanding book showing
how pilots grappled with new technologies
that promised to simplify their jobs while
increasing their lethality in the air but, the
author says, also threatened to rob them of the
quintessential ghter pilot experience.
Illustrated with 26 black and white
photographs and 45 diagrams.
Published by John Hopkins University Press:
ISBN 9781421423272; distributed in UK by
http://www.wiley.comYANK BOMBER BOYS IN NORFOLK –
A PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF THE
USAAF IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Book
Written by: Peter W Bodle FRAeS
Price: £25.00Compiled from the photographic collections
of individual troops and station photographic
sections, this unusual book gives a view of
US Army Air Force operations in Norfolk. The
primary aviation fare is the Consolidated B-24
Liberator, but a scattering of other types,
US and RAF, appears, including a Bristol
Beau ghter, captioned on page 218 as a
“British medium bomber”. It is regrettable that some photographs
appear to have suffered in quality from being reproduced beyond
their scanned dimensions, rather than from being more than seven
decades old.
The captions are generally weak, but sufficient to identify
locations and the units depicted, although most readers will simply
be absorbed in the photographs. There are scenes of domesticity
and regular air eld life, as well as more harrowing images of crashed
and, in some cases, burning bombers. Those fortunate enough to
live in or around Norfolk will enjoy the possibility of spotting a familiar
air eld, pub or other location. This is a book to be dipped into at
leisure, rather than read cover to cover.
Published by Fonthill Media; ISBN9781781553565, available from
http://www.fonthillmedia.comA CENTURY OF AIR WARFARE WITH NINE (IX)
SQUADRON RAF – STILL GOING STRONG
Book
Written by: Gordon Thorburn
Price: £25.00Given IX Squadron’s century of service – it formed
as a Royal Flying Corps unit in December 1914 –
author Gordon Thorburn begins his history with a
look at the origins of bombing and airborne radio.
The unit was a pioneer in both elds.
The excellent narrative describes the
squadron’s early and inter-war history in
considerable detail, before the author embarks into an unusual
presentation of its World War Two campaign. A run through of aircraft
types and operations might be expected – IX Squadron Lancasters
may or may not have been responsible for causing Tirpitz to capsize
in an attack own alongside 617 Sqn, for example (opinions on which
unit dropped the vital Tallboy depend on which squadron personnel
one is talking to) – but instead the story is presented through the eyes
of different aircrew and groundcrew. The result is as engaging as it is
informative.
Through the Cold War, IX Squadron operated the Avro Lincoln and
English Electric Canberra, before returning to Avro with the Vulcan. The
latter gave way to the Panavia Tornado as the unit once again took on
a pioneering role, introducing the swing-wing strike aircraft into RAF
service. There are hair-raising accounts from crews involved in the
Tornado’s rst combat operations over Iraq in 1991 and coverage of
subsequent action over the Balkans, Afghanistan and Libya.
All of the many photographs are reproduced in black and white,
which is a pity given the many colour images of IX Squadron’s
operations from more recent times. Readers will notice that the Bristol
Scout shown on page 18 is a Bristol Fighter and might puzzle at Litening
being described as a radar defence pod rather than a targeting pod, but
given the extent of the book’s coverage, these are minor criticisms.
Published by Pen & Sword Aviation; ISBN1783036346, available
from http://www.pen-and-sword.co.ukFROM SPITFIRE TO METEOR
Book
Written by: Albert Horton
Price: £9.75 plus postage
Given the quality of reproduction of its black
and white photographs and inconsistent
typography, the self-published origins of this
book are immediately apparent, but neither
detracts from the excellence of its content,
which essentially comprises the memoirs of
Royal Air Force ghter pilot Albert Horton.
Horton graduated onto the Supermarine Spit re in June 1949,
after training on the de Havilland Tiger Moth and North American
Harvard. Moving on from the Merlin-engined Mk 16, he accumulated
the majority of his Spit re hours on the PR.Mk 19 and FR.Mk 18,
both of them Griffon engined. Photographic reconnaissance became
his speciality and Horton was posted to the Middle East with 208
Squadron.
His was a fascinating time, for the RAF was transitioning to jets
and he made the change from piston power to the Gloster Meteor
FR.Mk 9, gleefully noting that he ew faster in a Spit re than he was
permitted to in the Meteor. Horton gives engaging recollections of
ying in the relative freedom of the immediate post-war world and the
excitement of service life.
This is a book written by someone who was there, and his
passion for ying and the Spit re in particular, shines through.
Although it repeats a couple of photographs and would bene t from
tighter editing in places, this modest book is recommended as an
engaging, illuminating and entertaining read.
Published by Robert Davies; ISBN9781291969085, available from
http://www.lulu.comOSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES
- SPITFIRE ACES OF NORTHWEST
EUROPE 1944-45
Book
Written by: Andrew Thomas
Price: £13.99
This new title from Osprey is number 122 in its
acclaimed Aircraft of the Aces series and the
fact that it is written by RAF authority Andrew Thomas, with cover
artwork by Mark Postlethwaite and colour pro les by Chris Thomas,
all under the careful editorial guidance of Tony Holmes, will add up to
recommendation enough for many readers.
For those not familiar with Aircraft of the Aces, this would be an
excellent rst volume. Dealing with the Supermarine Spit re in its
last year of service over Northwest Europe, it abounds with artwork,
photographs and rst-hand accounts set into Andrew Thomas’s
authoritatively researched narrative. The beautifully rendered pro les - 36 altogether – illustrate Mks VB, VII, IX and XVI, and are complete
with extensive captions. An appendix detailing individual pilot scores,
a bibliography and comprehensive index round off another superb
package from Osprey.
Published by Osprey Publishing Ltd; ISBN9781782003380,
available from http://www.ospreypublishing.com
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