On the Wings of a Gull Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | June 2013 | Title | On the Wings of a Gull: Percival and Hunting Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | David W. Gearing | Publisher | Air-Britain |
| Published | 2012 | ISBN | 9780851304489 |
| Format | 384 pages, hardbound | MSRP (BP) | £42.95 (non-member price) £32.59 (member price) |
Review
With Miles, Percival remains one of the classic British manufacturers of racing and light aircraft during the 1930s and 1940s.
Now it's the subject of a cool, comprehensive compendium from Air-Britain – On the Wings of a Gull: Percival and Hunting Aircraft.
The first four chapters chart company history from Percival to Hunting to BAC. Twelve subsequent sections detail individual production designs – including the renowned Mew Gull, Proctor, Prentice, Provost and Strikemaster.
Contents then segue to a bewitching brace of chapters on experimental and concept projects. That where you'll find exceptionally engrossing entries like a Vega Gull light bomber and "Burnelli-style" freighter. Intriguing!
No proverbial stone remains unturned. And coverage concludes with three chapters and four appendices with AIR-BRITAIN's typically masterful mix of production lists, serials, construction numbers, registrations and sundry stuff.
Well-executed scale drawings and hundreds of photos – both color and B&W – add plenty of visual appeal. And a general index neatly wraps things up.
This terrific tome includes all key planes and players – except for one cinematic slip! Author Gearing dutifully documents the botched permutation of Percival Proctors into semi-scale Stukas for the 1969 epic, Battle of Britain. But he fails to note the Mew Gull's starring role as a doomed enemy fighter in Alexander Korda's 1936 production of H.G. Wells' Things To Come – one of my favorite films.
But forgive that nitpick. David Gearing's brilliant book supplants all prior Percival histories – including PUTNAM's superannuated study. I absolutely loved it.
Strongly recommended!