What are you reading right now?

[ET2SN]

Originally Posted by tmccarthy

The Wrong Stuff: The Adventures and Misadventures of an 8th Air Force Aviator by Truman Smith

I saw that on Amazon and was thinking about hitting the "buy" button.
Post a review after you've read it.

You might want to check out
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...north+ken+bell

Its a very honest view from a fighter pilot. Ken Bell retired as a Brig. Gen. and it took me a while to figure out that he had the book published after he died. The same guy who flew as Maj. Merle Dethlefsen's wingman when he won the CMH and also flew as Col. Jack Broughton's wingman over Hanoi also talks about getting a "Dear John" letter from home and getting rolled in Bangkok.

This isn't your typical "There I was at 20,000 feet.." book.

[tmccarthy]

Originally Posted by ET2SN

I saw that on Amazon and was thinking about hitting the "buy" button.
Post a review after you've read it.

Yeah, when I first saw this book on Amazon I passed on it, I think the title threw me off. I'm glad now that I've read it.

I can recommend this book as a good read. The author's definition of what 'The Wrong Stuff" means is not what you would assume and interesting. This book was once required reading at the Air Force Academy. It's a unique account of a B-17 Co-pilot and his crews experiences trying to survive their 25 missions over Europe.

[tmccarthy]

The Schweinfurt Regensburg Mission: The American Raids on 17 August 1943 by Martin Middlebrook

[Subnuts]

Just got this bad boy in the mail. It's a big 640 page hardcover filled with Russian planes which never made it off the drawing board. A quick browse through revealed plenty of 500 ton flying boats, nuclear powered bombers, and hypersonic spyplanes. Reads like an encyclopedia, but looks like it'll be fun to dip into from time to time.

[Subnuts]

Amazon isn't publishing the review I wrote of the Haynes Challenger 2 MBT "Workshop Manual," so here it is.

In 2017, Haynes published a "workshop manual" for the M1 Abrams. Like many of their books on modern military vehicles, it was fairly well done but somewhat lacking in hard details. Although it still isn't quite as detailed as Haynes' WWII tank manuals, this follow-up on Britain's most powerful modern MBT is a more substantial and more well-rounded work. Lt Col Dick Taylor served in the Royal Armoured Corps and has written three other tank manuals for Haynes, and demonstrates an impressive understanding of the subject.

Although it follows the standard Haynes format, this book is definitely a bit wordier than the average "workshop manual." While there's still plenty of excellent diagrams and photographs, a substantial chunk of the text is devoted to the development of British MBTs in the second half of the Cold War, the introduction of the tank into service, and first-hand accounts from crewmembers who fought in the Iraq War. For once this doesn't feel like potted history; the level of detail in the historical sections is fairly substantial and added to my overall understanding of the tank's design. The technical sections are also fairly well done, with quite a few "how it works" bits (how to start the engine, how to engage an enemy tank, etc.), a photographic "walkthrough" of a tank's interior, and descriptions of each CR2 variant.

As the Challenger 2 is still in active service, the amount of technical detail is limited in certain places. Some elements, such as the ammunition and powerpack, are described in a fair amount of detail. Other areas, such as the armor and fire control system...no so much. Although there are numerous photos and diagrams of the turret interior, the driver's station only gets a single small unlabeled diagram. Thankfully there's very little in the way of jingoism present, and Mr. Taylor explains in evenhanded terms why Britain chose to design and build their own tank, rather than go with a foreign design such as the M1 or Leopard 2. He also avoids the trap of directly comparing it with other modern tanks on a one-on-one basis, and mentions some of the many problems encountered in the first years of service.

Although it lacks the brutal honesty of the author's Chieftain and Challenger 1 manuals, I think modern armor buffs should enjoy this book. It's a fairly substantial reference which manages to avoid reading like a Royal Army recruiting pamphlet.

[Bangoo]

Laughing Cow: The Story of U69.
Jost Metzler was was an extremly lucky guy.

[Red October1984]

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
Nathaniel Fick

Been a while since I had time to read a book. Picked this one up and have not been able to put it down.