Jason Nicholas Moore

A workmanlike description of Soviet World War II bombers. Author Jason Moore is clearly a Russophile, always using the official Soviet term “Great Patriotic War” instead of “World War II” or “Second World War” (except on the cover, probably at his editor’s insistence. He seems to have access to lots of Russian military records; the book includes numerous details about relatively obscure things, such as paint schemes and engine performance.

Although the Soviets were perfectly capable of building a four-engine strategic bomber – in fact, they had the very first one, the TB-3 – they concluded that they were better off with tactical aircraft. The TB-3 was obsolete when the war started (it had fixed landing gear, and the open cockpit must have made the crew pretty uncomfortable during the Russian winter) and was quickly withdrawn to service as a transport and night bomber. The replacement Pe-8 was a competent aircraft – the equivalent of a B-17 or Lancaster – but the Soviets didn’t make very many of them and mostly used them for tactical missions (although there were a few strategic raids on Berlin, Bucharest, and Konigsberg).

The star performer in the Red Air Force (like the USAAF and unlike the Luftwaffe or RAF, the Red Air Force was part of the Red Army, not an independent service) was the Il-2 Shturmovik. I had previously thought “Shturmovik” – and Moore is insistent it’s Shturmovik, not “Stormovik” – was a type nickname, like “Mustang” or “Spitfire”. However, it turns out to be a class name for any ground attack aircraft – but the Il-2 was so ubiquitous in the ground attack role that the name became attached. The aircraft had armor incorporated directly into the structure, rather than “add-on” or “appliqué”, as used in most other armored aircraft, and earned the name “Concrete Bomber” from the Germans due to its relative resistance to antiaircraft fire. (“Relative” resistance; an Il-2 wasn’t invulnerable to either ground fire or air attack, and later models added a second seat for a rear gunner).

Other aircraft covered are the biplanes used by the “Night Witches”, various twin-engine medium bombers, and the Li-2, a license-built DC-3 pressed into service as a bomber (it’s noted the crews liked the Li-2, because it was roomy and had a toilet. It’s also noted that North Korea still has a few Li-2s, although they might be derelicts).

Good illustrations, including a color plate section intended for military modelers. No end- or footnotes. The bibliography includes both books and web sites.… (plus d'informations)

Excellent single volume coverage from the LaGG3 to the post war LA-11

This volume strikes a nice balance of data, history, and illustrations. The bibliography shows a fair number of foreign language sources and the author provides online resources as well.
As mentioned in an Amazon review, there is an interview with a pilot. And there is a brief description of the post WWII Lavochkin developments and the OKB itself. As with his other two works,there is a chapter describing the availability of Lavochkin models in different scales with their various attributes and faults.
The color plates and photographs are excellent, the combat and technical coverage is fairly comprehensive for the size of the book. (6"x 9" and 240 pages.)
The overall breadth and quality of the coverage makes for an excellent single volume book on the LaGG3 through the post war LA-11.
Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

Nice general history worthy of consideration

This book is as the author describes a decent balance for modelers and "historians". The color plates and general history of the aircraft are a real treat. However, as a "history" with a bent towards the "technical" kinda' reader, I was really let down by the lack of technical descriptions in the type of detail that I prefer.
Even with the with weakness this book has terms of my reading preferences I will buy the two other volumes Mr. Moore has authored while I continue to purchase additional books on the IL-2.
(Mr. Moore does conveniently provide a list of additional IL-2 titles.)
If you have a general interest the IL-2 or need some color schemes, this book is a worthy purchase.

The best possible thing I can say about this book is that I have now purchased every book published by Mr. Moore… (plus d'informations)