Victor F. Bingham

This is a strong Four Star volume!
A comment on a WWII aircraft forum motivated me to find more books on the British Big 3 WWII bombers. While volumes on the Lancaster are easy to find, for the Lancaster’s bridesmaids, the Halifax and Stirling the search is bit harder.
So, having found a volume by Victor Bingham, this was a no-brainer as he authored books that always stand as brilliant single volume introductory books on the subject aircraft or engines.
I was surprised to see the landing gear and hydraulics got a chapter on their own, but was pleased as, because as an American the visually complex, oversized, bridge like landing gear of these bombers (Particularly the Stirling) has always mystified me. Regrettably the chapter failed to really provide an explanation. (I assume it was to provide a favorable angle of attack for grass runways and to facilitate loading the long, shallow bomb-bay preference of the RAF.
Other chapters in no particular order include development, testing, production, operations, transport variants and postwar use.
As a former Halifax crewmember, the author openly states his affection for the airplane and defends it vigorously against the Lancaster and argues against its reputation as the second best of the two.
This is an excellent stand-alone volume on the Halifax and would also be a useful companion volume to an operational history or to a color monograph produced for the modeling market. Overall, the book shows its age as there literally nothing here for the modeler.
Modelers should ignore this book while it’s recommended for anyone interested in British WWII Bomber development, the Halifax or Halifax operations.… (meer)