USN Aircraft 1922-1962 Vol.3 Book Review
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | May 2015 | Title | USN Aircraft 1922-1962 Vol.3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Phil Listemann | Publisher | Philedition |
| Published | 2015 | ISBN | 978-2918590-54-5 |
| Format | 72 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $25.00 |
Review
Here is a series from Phil Listemann that is part three of what promises to be a number of titles dedicated to decyphering the aircraft designation system used by the United States Navy until 1963. Actually the USAF (USAAC/USAAF), US Army, and even US Coast Guard (sometimes) had their own aircraft designation systems which meant that a Boeing Flying Fortress would be a B-17 in USAAF service but a PB-1 in USN and USCG service, and the reconnaissance version was an F-9. When you look at the vast number of aircraft that entered service and the prototypes that never got that far across all of the services, you're confronted with alphabet soup. That is why then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara required all of the services to standardize their aircraft and missile designations in 1963.
In this title, the author picks up from volume two with:
- XAJ-1 Savage
- AJ-1 Savage
- AJ-2 Savage
- AJ-2P Savage
- AJ-3 Savage
- XA2J-1 Super Savage
- XA2J-2 Super Savage
- YA3J-1 Vigilante
- A3J-1 Vigilante
- A3J-2 Vigilante
- A3J-3 Vigilante
- AM-1 Mauler
- AM-1Q Mauler
- AM-2 Mauler
- XAU-1 Corsair
- AU-1 Corsair
- A2U-1 Cutlass
- BD-1 Havoc
- BD-2 Havoc
- XBG-1
- BG-1
- XB2G-1
- BM-1
- XBM-1
- BM-2
- XBN-1
- XBT-1
- BT-1
- XBT-2
- XB2T-1
- XBY-1
- XB2Y-1
As with other titles from this author, each subject comes with a concise summary of details including:
- Breakout of each designator
- Number of aircraft ordered
- Number of aircraft accepted
- Delivery dates
- Last stricken date
- BuNos
- Brief aircraft summary
These titles provide a great quick-reference on a given topic though in the case of this multi-volume USN series, I'd prefer to see all of this information under one cover instead of spread out across what will be a moderate number of titles. The hardcopy price is $25 USD from Amazon though you can also purchase this series in electronic form at 9 Euros per title, but either way, breaking this out into so many volumes at a mere 70-80 pages per title would be better served in one or two much larger volumes.
Recommended with reservations.
Check out this and other titles offered by this author on his RAF-in-Combat website.
My sincere thanks to Phil H. Listemann for the review sample.