Thank You Dana Bell and Aircraft Pictorial/Classic Warship Publishing
Ned Barnett
To Steve Wiper: Kudos to you for publishing this, and to Dana Bell for pulling it together and writing it. I have been all but obsessed with the P-40-series of aircraft (especially the early long-nose versions) for as long as I can remember, and I've bought and devoured, usually more than once, every book I've ever been able to find on the P-40, the P-36 and Curtiss fighters in general.
I say that to say this. I learned more that I never dreamed was out there from this slim volume than from any other source, bar-none. It was truly illuminating - not just about the wing fillets (though Dana is probably right that nobody had ever noticed them before) but in lots of other areas as well. A superb book, one I already cherish and one I'll keep referring back to.
I seldom write to authors or publishers, but I got the book earlier today in the mail, read it cover to cover over dinner in a burger joint, and got home just in time to write you.
That ended the letter. Let me add this.
This book has a remarkable collection of photos I've never seen before (again, that's rare as I have an extensive library of books on the P-40 series of aircraft) - and the photos are both color and B&W. Each one is carefully and fully identified, making this book remarkably useful to historians and modelers.
Right now, I'm writing a multi-part novel about the air war in the Pacific during the first year of WW-II, when these early-model P-40s flew in combat, and this book will be very helpful to me in "getting it right." But more than that, this book was informative, illuminating and insightful - I learned a lot. Buy it, read it, and you will too.
BTW - the novel can be found here on Amazon - just search my name and you'll see several titles, all eBook selections from the long novel (1,9,77 pages / 669,961 words and counting - think WEB Griffin).
