Kagero P-51/F-6 Mustangs, SMI Library No 11

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P-51/F-6 Mustangs
Kagero SMI Library No 11

The North American P-51 Mustang has got to be one of the most famous fighters of all time, so there’s no real requirement for me to regurgitate its design milestones and operational career. That is exactly what this book does too, where the design element takes up only a couple of paragraphs. The rest of the narrative contains information about the operations the P-51 carried out along with its lesser known derivative, the F-6 reconnaissance ship when flying with the USAAF within the European Theatre of Operations. This narrative, in both English and Polish takes up only the first seventeen pages, the next sixty five pages is really all about the men who fought their war in these aircraft through period photographs of the pilots and their steeds, some including their ground crew. Each of the photographs are annotated in both languages and contains information about the men, their victories and in some, their unfortunate demise. Where there are no known photos of the men posing next to their machines there are photos of their aircraft, mostly in flight, taking off or landing. The last few pages of this section are in full colour. At the back of the book are several colour side views of eleven aircraft on five pages and back cover. The book is very well printed in portrait orientation with a soft cover and even though the photographs are over 70 years old, because of their posed nature, they are really clear, which allows the modeller to see many of the paint schemes and inscriptions really well. The book comes with a small sheet of what look like 1:32 scales masks, so that the modeller can paint the Stars and Bars, of which there are four on their models rather than use decals, The sheet also includes just the Stars, although I've yet to find where these were used.

Conclusion
This book isn’t really my normal fare, but once I started to read it and really look at the photographs I didn’t stop until I got to the end. Some of the photographs are quite powerful, some are thought provoking, they are all interesting for one reason or another. The information on the F-6 operations is probably one that hasn’t been told fully, and needs to be explored more, but at least they pilots have got a mention as, with most reconnaissance units, they get very little recognition over the fighter boys. Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of