Having lived in Hawaii for 6 years, I regret not taking the helicopter flight that provides the only way to view the B-18. Especially impressive are the photos accompanying the story of a B-17E that had crash-landed in a field of kunai grass on Papua New Guinea and the photos of a B-18 Bolo that had crashed on the side of a slope on the island of Hawaii. Veronico’s book benefits from some great photography that shows the before and after of an array of rescued aircraft. By rescuing these iconic aircraft from the scrapyard, generations to come have been able to see and appreciate flyable versions of World War II aircraft. The B-32 Dominator, which entered service toward the end of the war, was already extinct. It’s not an exaggeration to say that aircraft like the B-24 Liberator, B-17 Flying Fortress, P-36 Hawk, and P-38 Lightning were nearly extinct. My take? Without the efforts of some of the aviation enthusiasts detailed in Hidden Warbirds, many iconic World War II aircraft would have only been viewable in photographs. Hidden Warbirds: The Epic Stories of Finding, Recovering, and Rebuilding WWII’s Lost Aircraft, by Nicholas A. The absence of a narrative however, leaves it to the reader to figure out just how important or representative these various restoration stories are. Catch-22, a forgettable film adapted from an unforgettable book, was responsible for the preservation of some 16 flyable B-25 Mitchells. Veronico’s introduction does do a fine job of relaying the beginnings of the warbird movement as well as detailing the fascinating story of how several films have contributed to the restoration and rescue of World War II warbirds. The tales of aircraft rescue and rehabilitation told in Hidden Warbirds: The Epic Stories of Finding, Recovering, and Rebuilding WWII’s Lost Aircraft demonstrate that many of the World War II aicraft we see today in aviation museums around the world exist solely due to the efforts of an array of eccentric collectors and aviation enthusiasts.Īlthough Hidden Warbirds highlights the importance and the lengths that have been gone to in order to find and restore rare World War II aircraft, the book’s narrative is disjointed. The tales of aircraft rescue and rehabilitation told in Hidden Warbirds: The Epic Stories of Finding, Recovering, and Rebuilding WWII’s Lost Aircraft demonstrate that many of the World War II aicraft we see today in aviation museums around the world exist solely due to the efforts of an array of eccentric collectors and aviation enthusiasts. Veronico makes the case that those who have worked tirelessly to rehabilitate World War II warbirds have played an important role in expanding the understanding of World War II aviation history. The world of finding, restoring, and rebuilding lost World War II aircraft may seem like a niche market, and to some extent it is, but a new book by Nicholas A.
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