Antonov An-12 Cub Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

The Crowood Press from the UK publishs a wide range of historical titles that are of interest to aviation historians and modelers alike. This release deals with a well-known but seldom covered subject, the Antonov An-12 Cub. Many in the west assumed that it was a copy of the Lockheed C-130, but while there are several superficial similarities, the An-12 airlifter is a distinctly different aircraft with equal versatility.

A follow-on development of the twin-engined An-8 Camp and the four-engined An-10 Ukraine (Cat) airliner, the An-12 tactical airlifter is roughly the same size as the C-130 and about 100 mph faster as well. In service, many of the aircraft wore 'Aeroflot' colors while performing their duties, even though they retained their tail gun position (a unique feature for an airliner or even a military airlifter for that matter).

The title covers the development and operational history of the aircraft, complete with an impressive array of photographs and illustrations. The center of the book contains eight pages full of color photography that conveys the variety of color schemes that were worn by this aircraft.

The coverage of this Antonov is presented as follows:

• The Predecessors
• The Winged 'Ukraine'
• Birth of an Airlifter
• Mission Variety
• Cloning the Cub: Chinese Versions
• In Times of War and Times of Peace, or Forty Years of Service
• Cubs at Home (CIS Operators)
• ...And Abroad (Non-CIS Operators)
• Appendix I - Accident Attrition
• Appendix II - An-12 Drawings

This book is a must-have for the modeler and the historian alike! You can purchase this and any of the Crowood series from Motorbooks or from your favorite bookstore.

My sincere thanks to Motorbooks International for this review sample!