William A. Medcalf

A number in the "Classic" series of luxury reference books originally published by Ian Allan, and now continued by Crecy Publishing, the real guts of this work is what this machine says about the German war effort of World War II, in that the author finds not so much a "wonder" weapon as a perfectly state-of-the-art airplane that it's fortunate for the Luftwaffe that it was capable of considerable "stretch," in that programmed replacements such as the Ju 288 failed to appear. To put it another way power plant development was a weak link for Germany in both world wars; never mind the Third Reich's own toxic mix of internal empire building and bureaucratic warfare.

Of particular interest to me are the machines that Medcalf chooses to compare the Ju 88 to. In the early part of the plane's career this means aircraft such as its Luftwaffe predecessors like the Do 17 & He 111, the Blenheim, the PZL P.37 Los, the Tupolev SB, etc. Late war this means De Havilland Mosquito, the Douglas Invader, the Yokosuka Ginga, the German jets, and the P-61 Black Widow. Not chosen were the best French machines of 1940 (apart from a nod to the Bloch MB.170 series) or the B-25 Mitchell & B-26 Marauder; it would be interesting to know the rationale.

Be that as it may if you come across a reasonably priced copy don't hesitate and click the "buy" button.… (meer)

Even though Amazon.com has this for pre-order, with a date of October 4, 2013, I have just received my copy (September 24, 2013).
I have not read the book, nor have I delved into it in great detail. This review and rating is based upon a moderate level of review.
"Junkers Ju 88: Volume Two: At War - Day and Night: Operational and Service History", is in process (from the back of page 327).
My initial data indicated only that it was published by Ian Allan. I was hoping that it was part of the Classic Publications series. It is. It's Volume 23!

Chapter One is an in depth history of German air power.
Chapter Two is 'Hugo Junkers and JFM' (Junkers Flugzeug und Motoren Werke).
Chapter Seven is 'Comparisons with Contemporaries', such as: Do 17, He 111, S.M.79, Tupolev SB-2 bis, Blenheim, PZL 37B Los, Ki-21, Havoc/Boston and Bloch MB 175.
Chapter Nine is 'Ju 288', which 'was a completely different aircraft design from the Ju 88'.
Chapter Thirteen is 'Late war comparison with newer designs', such as 'Bombers' (Mosquito, Tu-2, Me 262, A-26, Yokosuka P1Y1), 'Night Fighters' (Nakajima J1N1, P-61, Pe-3, Ar 234) and 'Reconnaissance' (Ki-46).
Chapter Fourteen is 'Flying and fighting the Ju 88, Ju 188, and Ju 388'.

It is packed with quality photographs, line drawings, color profiles (some are not 'bright' enough), manufacturer's diagrams, etal.

On page 71, there is a color profile of a Ju 88 in Soviet markings. It was delivered to them in 1940. But the significant thing is that in the top corner of the page above the tail, is a profile of the front fuselage WITHOUT THE ENGINE! I wish I would see more of this treatment for multi-engine aircraft! And I can: pages 116, 121, 136 (Ju 288 nose), 202 (Ju 188), 244 (Ju 388).

Pros:
Among others, it has the Gotha G.IV, Staaken R.VI, Fokker D.VII, Tupolev TB-3, Junkers G 38 / Japanese Ki-20 and Mitsubishi Ki-1.
It has extensive data on transport aircraft designs, aviation engines, radios, electronics, etc.
Pages 45 and 46 - dinghy data.
Pages 58 and 59 - engine crane.
Page 81 - 'tank locations and capacities for fuel, lubricating oil and hydraulic fluid'.
Defensive armament: Pages 94 A-Stand (pilot), Page 95 B-Stand (upper rear), Page 96 C-Stand (lower rear) and Page 96 (canopy sides).
Page 102 - 2nd 20MM with usual 3 7.9mm and 1 20mm.
Page 104 - internal arrangement for Ju 88 C-6 with two lower 20mm and the usual 3 7.9mm and 1 20mm (includes spare 20mm magazines).
Page 130 - a pod with 3 MG 81Z's.
Page 131 - 4 RZ 65 rocket-launcher tubes.
Page 262 - a reverse lend-lease Mosquito PR in US markings (in color!).
Page 263 - a beautiful photograph of a Kettenkrad (not mentioned in the caption?).

Cons:
The book is typical for the series, in that there are many pages reproduced from German sources with no translation and little or no comments. (But, I would rather have them than not have them.)
The Index will be in Volume Two. DANG! I'll probably have to wait until 2016! No easy way to find out if the Ju 488 is addressed - it must be, since it is in the technical data, just before the Appendices.
In my opinion, the following do not fit with the quality of this book:
-- The references to the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 'Sparviero', should specify S.79. See the 'Bibliography', 'Books' (page 327, near the bottom of the left column), for "Ali d'Italia 009-SIAI S.79 (Part 1) and (Part 2)".
-- The general reference to the Tupolev SB-2 bis, should specify SB only.

Without any captions or English text, this book is worth the MSRP.… (meer)