Walter J. BoyneRezensionen

Walter Boyne details the careers of four legendary aces, "Eddie Rickenbacker, Hub Zemke, Boots Blesse, and Robin Olds but also explains the reasons why these pilots achieved such great success as aces and leaders.
"Eddie Rickenbacker, Hub Zemke, Boots Blesse, and Robin Olds are in the pantheon of American fighter aces. Their names are familiar to many, but there has never been a book that examined their brilliant leadership ability as well as their aerial prowess." "These four men were all robust personalities, difficult to discipline, and, more often than not, thorns in the sides of their commanders. Each of these elite pilots burned to become the leading ace of his time. These qualities were not unique. However, the achievements of these men were extraordinary, even for the miniscule percentage of fighter pilots who ever became aces. Rickenbacker, Zemke, Blesse, and Olds distinguished themselves by becoming "force multipliers" - they used their leadership skills, instinctive knowledge of air warfare, and superior piloting abilities to make the other pilots in their units better warriors. These men put their units' interest ahead of every other goal and in the process made their units far more effective. Instead of using their skills merely to achieve personal glory, they trained units that produced multiple aces while achieving ace status themselves." Boyne's fascinating narrative puts you in the cockpits of fighter planes that varied vastly in technology, against enemies of ever-increasing capability in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Aces in Command takes you in a SPAD XIII with Rickenbacker over the Western Front. It puts you in a P-47 Thunderbolt with Zemke over Germany, breaking all the rules but shooting down Germans. Then you fly with Blesse in a Sabre, getting your victories deep inside North Korean lines - but never losing a wingman. Finally, it tells you of the exploits of the maverick Robin Olds in two wars, learning the trade in a P-38 Lightning during World War II and, later, using all he learned to whip a F-4 Phantom wing into shape in Vietnam." "Despite the differences among the planes and jets of each era, Boyne makes a strong case that Rickenbacker, Zemke, Blesse, and Olds could have been aces in any era. More importantly, he reveals the characteristics and common denominators that made these aces superior combat leaders."

The ships! The men! The... errors?

This is just what it sounds like: An overview of naval conflict in World War II. It covers all major navies -- Britain, United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, France -- and all oceans. It's about as comprehensive as a single medium-sized volume can be.

But I was constantly nagged by small errors and oversimplifications, such as Boyne's total condemnation of German Admiral Erich Raeder's use of his surface ships in commerce-raiding. Boyne thinks this a total waste -- yet the Graf Spee, for instance, although she was lost, knocked out many times her own tonnage. She was lost -- but she definitely paid for herself. And by keeping his raiders in existence, Raeder forced the British to keep a lot of heavy ships in commission, depriving them of the men that could man convoy escorts. For example, if the men who served on the five otherwise-useless Royal Sovereign class of battleships had been reassigned to destroyer work, the British could have manned several dozen more destroyers and probably saved many convoy ships.

Take as a specific case the hunting of the Bismarck. On p. 34, Boyne claimed that the Royal Navy sent "six battleships, four battle cruisers, two aircraft carriers" and some lesser ships to hunt the German battleship. The number of carriers is right. I believe the number of battleships is wrong but am not dead sure. But I can prove that the number of battlecruisers is wrong, because the British only had three! -- the Hood, Renown, and Repulse.

On p. 59 he describes the battle between the Bismarck and the Hood and Prince of Wales, condemning the way Admiral Holland fought the British ships. Certainly Holland's tactics proved disastrous. But he ignores the fact that Holland was supposed to intercept, and do so secretly -- and that Holland had been on course to cross the Bismarck's T when the Bismarck managed to escape surveillance and messed up the whole plan; Holland had nothing to do then except fight as best he could. It cost him his life, and the biggest ship in the Royal Navy, but there was a reason that Boyne ignores.

As for the destruction of the Hood herself, Boyne describes exactly how she was destroyed. Problem is, we really don't know. All we really know is that the was there, then she had broken in half due to an explosion, and only three men were recovered. It's clear that a magazine exploded -- but which one, and why? I've seen at least three other possible explanations; how does Boyne know with certainty?

And, at the end, Boyne says that the Rodney was Admiral Tovey's command ship (p. 67). No, Tovey was in the King George V; she and the Rodney were both there at the end, and the Rodney had heavier artillery, but Tovey's ship was much more modern and intended to be a flagship.

Few of these errors are really egregious. You have to really know your naval history (or have a trick memory like mine) to realize all the places where Boyne makes minor errors. If all you want is an overview, this book should be fine. But if you need to write a research paper or something... cite something else, OK?½

Trophy for Eagles is a good work of historical fiction. The time period is from just before Lindbergh's famous flight to the Spanish Civil War. Settings cover a wide area of the world, although most of the novel is in various American locations. The two main characters develop their rivalry early on and it carries through to the final pages. Historical figures appear enough to connect our fictitious aviators to the time period - and the changing relationship between the protagonist and Lindbergh provides for excellent character development. Technical details are incorporated but similar to a Tom Clancy novel. My only real complaint is the overuse of similes in otherwise good writing. If you enjoy history and aviation you should enjoy this book.

Good novel of the Wright Brothers and how they managed to achieve heavier than air powered flight.
I have also read a couple of histories about them earlier. The Bishop's Boys by Tom Crouch, is a good one.

softback

Beautifully illustrated, this masterfully written volume offers an unprecedented history of flight. The former director of the National Air and Space Museum has joined the Smithsonian Institution to create this extraordinary tribute to eight decades of aircraft and the people who designed, built and flew them.

Focuses primarily on the administrative and political aspects. This book may give you a new appreciation of how important those things are. Uneven presentation. Some parts not so interesting. Lots of acronyms which are not explained. Learned some new, interesting facts.

Boyne, coauthor of The Wild Blue , here explores the golden age of aviation: the years from 1927 to 1937, when flying airplanes developed from an art to a craft and building them evolved from a craft to an industry. While peopled with historical characters such as Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and Ernst Udet, the relationship between two pilots, American Frank Bandfield and expatriate German Bruno Hafner, is at the novel's heart; their rivalry is the thread on which Boyne strings his vignettes. High-risk air racing in Depression America, innovations in design and production, the creation of Hitler's Luftwaffe , the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War--all find their place in this complex, compelling narrative. A former director of the National Air and Space Museum, Boyne impressively details flight techniques and aircraft construction. He even writes convincingly of the shortcomings that keep imaginary aircraft from entering production in his fictional universe. Technical material is so well integrated into the narrative, and human relationships are so dominated by flying, that it seems only natural when lovers talk of airplanes at intimate moments.

This is a historical fiction novel set in the 20s & 30s in the interwar period leading into and including the Spanish Civil War.

If you're an aviation fan, you'll probably love it, for those of us who aren't it's okay. There's certainly a story in there yet the start is cumbersome and slow, which becomes average towards the middle and slowly builds toward good quality reading in the last 100 or so pages.

There's a few historical figures within the novel, yet they're used more for set dressing than pivotal story moments which I found took away from the picture it was trying to paint rather than adding to it.

Overall, it was decent but if you're not into aircraft & aviation there's better historical fiction books out there to sink your teeth into.½

Men and women have looked to the skies and dreamt of flight since prehistory, but it was not until 1903 that powered, sustained flight become a reality. Today, aviation technology encompasses a myriad of disciplines, from aerodynamics to weapons systems. And then there are the numberless human factors: the creative urge, political and military dominance, national pride, and the economic gambles of the enormous corporations that manufacture combat and civil aircraft. Above all else, though, is that dream of flight - a dream that has only become more urgent over the millennia. Classic Airplanes is a picture-packed, insider's tribute to nearly 60 of the greatest of the great, from the '03 Wright Flyer to the B-2 Spirit of the 21st century. It's a thrilling ride, and the view is magnificent.

Kirkus Reviews:
The big cast of characters who flew through the 1930's in Trophy For Eagles (1989), trying to prepare for the coming air war, get their chance to test their flying skills and theories when America at last enters the war. Col. Henry Caldwell--who fought like a terrier all through the Depression to get the Army's air corps ready for the next war instead of the last war--has hit a major snag just as he is making headway. The snag is Elsie Rayner, the sexpot air-industry executive whose last great affair was with Bruno Hafner, now an evil genius of Nazi air power. Caldwell is so besotted with Elsie that love clouds his judgment and he throws important business to her corporation even though the company builds lousy planes. Across the Atlantic, Hafner hopes to turn out the world's first jet fighters, and handsome Helmut Josten hopes to fly them. Josten also hopes to win the heart of Lyra, a Russian countess who lives for one purpose--to mortally wound the Nazis. She manages to do quite a bit of damage through spying and seduction that take her to Hitler's inner circle. But no one's hope is completely satisfied. Elsie cheats; Germany's industrial machinery is too heavily damaged to turn out more than a few jets; and the Truman commission is looking into corruption in the aircraft industry. When the fighting ends, however, there are still enough characters to continue the saga into the Korean episode. The war seems to go awfully fast, but that's because the concentration is on jets and politics rather than on the big scene. Apart from the usual curse of stereotypes, then, this is done well enough to entertain fans of flying.

The novelized 'social history' of the U.S. Air Force. This book follows the fictitious careers and lives of members of the United States Air Force.
From the Air Force side of aviation, The Wild Blue is a tale of high libido, high flying, and racy living. Traversing WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the story line follows the lives of several servicemen and their wives. It’s really a man’s book, filled with military and worldly ideas, where even the pregnant women are looking for sex, and the cocktail culture is shaken not stirred. ... faced challenges in finishing this book

Classic Airplanes is a picture-packed, insider's tribute to nearly 60 of the greatest of the great, from the '03 Wright Flyer to the B-2 Spirit of the 21st century.

Charts the evolutionary course of aviation history by highlighting in detail the most important inventions and pivotal developments along with their creators. — Traces the history of technological innovations in aviation, from the Wright Flyer to the stealth bomber, and highlights the achievements of individual inventors

Boyne surveys innovation from the Lilienthal glider experiments down to the present day of military, commercial and general aviation…the "artist-inventors" themselves as well as their inventions, many of whom are unknown to the public: Charles Kirkham, a seminal figure in the development of the aircraft engine, for instance, and Frank Whittle, who conceived the idea of combining a turbine with a compressor to create the jet engine. Several pages are given over to the ultralight movement, including Paul MacCready's gossamer-winged, human-powered vehicle.
An unfolding drama of success and failure, of the excitement of inventors at work, of the lure and lust for faster, lighter, and stronger airplanes, The Leading Edge is a remarkable history of the new ideas in aviation technology and the gains we have realized because of them.

Describes the facilities of the National Air and Space Museum's restoration center and looks at some of the many famous civilian and military aircraft in its collection. Before there was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, (Smithsonian NASM) there was Silver Hill. Walter Boyne was Director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution from 1983 to 1986, happens also to be a pilot and an excellent writer of all things aviation.

Although some aircraft are discussed, this is much more the story of how the Smithsonian went from national disgrace, neglecting their collection of planes & priceless memorabilia to the safe keeping of these treasures. Much of it literally rotted away exposed to the elements in Silver Hill Maryland. Once funding was provided, a small group of dedicated restoration experts begin to fix, repair & restore the birds to museum quality displays. Silver Hill was the storage place for exhibits too large to be displayed in the Washington DC Smithsonian. Once, it was open to the public, now you go to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles to see the planes. It is an absolutely amazing collection of all things of flight from the Wright Brothers to Space.

This book is dated, but still very enjoyable. All of the photos are B&W, some not so clear, and there is a short history of the planes and how they came to be in the museum's collection. Not all of the planes are covered; many that have been restored now were still in crates back in 1982. The samplings include many Biplanes, civilian craft, a few of the oddities of aviation history - in short, a cross section. Reading this book will give you an insider's look at the thousands of man hours that go into restoration, the odd ball characters who do this work, the love shared by all for these planes. That work still continues to this day, albeit in much nicer, safer digs. This book is a tribute to the collectors and restorers, a history of the NASM, well written a good, quick read. Recommended for all aviation lovers, collectors, buffs.

The Best of Wings contains behind-the-scenes stories about the most glamorous aircraft of all time, from the Hughes racer to virtual “mystery ships” like the Bell Airacuda and the remarkably successful McDonnell F-4. Each piece takes you through aviation history with little-known details on the designers, the pilots, the records, and the ultimate fate of a wide variety of aircraft.

Walter J. Boyne, Power Behind the Wheel: Creativity and the Evolution of the Automobile, Starting from the very beginning of the automobile, the novel explains the automobile’s beginnings and the people behind it and its gradual evolution gradually up to the automobiles we see in our everyday lives. The cover of the book sports a close up photo of a vibrant, glossy red colored door panel of a vintage automobile and displays the door’s sharp lines and smooth, curved edges. Easy on the eyes, the cover of the book and a quick glimpse of the beauty that is the automobile and its smaller intricate details. This book would be great for teens and young adults who are interested in the background knowledge of the automobile and individuals who enjoy a glimpse into the past and evolution of the automobile.

A very interesting story vividly told by Mr. Boyne. Alas it ends with 1998 an a brief mentioning of the JFS

An excellent work of military history that analyzes World War II through the use and misuse of war planes and the strategy of war from the air. Each major air force is described in terms of its goals--and its ability to reach or fail to attain those targets--its successes and failures, the planes themselves--often in comparison with the planes that flew against them--and the men who planned and flew and died. The author provides a critique how each Axis and Allied participant responded to the challenges they faced and explains why a course of action succeeded or failed. The writing is superbly lively and interest never flags. Sometimes one encounters extraordinary wisdom and great heroism; sometimes ineptitude and small mindedness. The author takes on controversy with enthusiasm, explaining both sides of an issue--for example, the bombing of Dresden--and then explains why he agrees or disagrees with the path taken. An entertaining and informative read, the best type of history.

This book was much better than I thought it was going to be going into it ...

A generic account of air power in World War II by a noted writer on aviation history. It mostly narrates what happened without much analysis. Boyne does remark that the prewar bombing theorists got the effects of bombers and fighters almost exactly backward. Instead of "the bomber always getting through," it was actually fighters that determined the course of the air war. Boyne remarks that wherever friendly fighters went, bombers could go, but, to a large extent, where fighters did not go, bombers could not go, either.

This book does contain one intriguing suggestion. In one paragraph Boyne speculates about what would have happened if the Germans had developed the Me-262 as a fighter, as originally projected, and rushed it into production by the middle of 1943 to counter the Allied bombing offensive. This would have made the introduction of the P-51 moot, since the Me-262 greatly outperformed all Allied propeller-driven fighters, including the P-51. He suggests that if Me-262s enabled the Germans to gain air superiority over the Continent, that might have made the cross-Channel invasion impossible, since air power could have threatened the invasion fleet as well as the troops and supplies in the beachhead. If the cross-Channel invasion were prevented or significantly delayed, the result would have been to allow the Soviet army to drive all the way across Germany and maybe even to the English Channel, with incalculable political consequences for postwar Europe. This speculation interacts interestingly with Larry Bidinian's point that the Allied bombing of German cities infuriated Hitler to the point that he wanted to punish the British people, which led him to force the developers of the Me-262 to delay it to add bombing capability instead of keeping it as a pure fighter. As in so many other ways, in the second half of the war Hitler was in many ways Germany's worst enemy...

The best aviation history articles published in the USA magazines Wings and Airpower. The following 27 articles are in this best of collection -

(1) The treasure of McCook Field - America's First Aero-Engineering and Testing Center, Part I - In: Airpower July 1975

(2) The treasure of McCook Field - America's First Aero-Engineering and Testing Center, Part II - In: Airpower August 1975

(3) The great Owl - Building and Flying the First of America's Super-bombers - In: Airpower November 1973

(4) P for Pursuit - The Army's Biplane Kawks, Part I - In: Airpower March 1976

(5) P for Pursuit - The Army's Biplane Kawks, Part II - In: Airpower April 1976

(6) Huff-Daland - A little-known aviation pioneer, Part I - In: Wings December 1977

(7) Huff-Daland - A little-known aviation pioneer, Part II - In: Wings January 1978

(8) The Flying Hallmarks - The Hall aluminium classics - In: Wings June 1975

(9) The Tunison Scout - A Rare Bird - In: Wings August 1978

(10) Emsco Aircraft Corporation - An aviation pioneer lost in the pages of time, Part I - In: Wings June 1973

(11) Emsco Aircraft Corporation - An aviation pioneer lost in the pages of time, Part II - In: Wings July 1973

(12) Boeing B-9 Death Angel - In: Airpower November 1971

(13) Martin B-10 0 The bird that took the Air Corps out of the stone age - In: Airpower May 1972

(14) Speed Merchant - The ultimate racer, Howard Hughes' H-1 - In: Airpower September 1977

(15) Sky tiger - Bell's Airacuda - Bomber destroyer without a mission - In: Airpower September 1971

(16) Cry havoc - The Douglas A-20, Part I - In: Wings June 1976

(17) Cry havoc - The A-20 goes to war, Part I - In: Wings July 1976

(18) Air Jeep - the Curtiss AT-9 - In: Wings February 1974

(19) McDonnell's First Fighter - The XP-67 Moonbat - In: Wings December 1973

(20) The Custer Channel Wing show - In: Airpower May 1977

(21) GM's Flying Frankenstein - The Fisher XP-75 Eagle - In: Wings February 1973

(22) Return of the Swallow - The Messerschmitt Me 262 - In: Wings April 1980

(23) Attack! The XB-51, Martin's Phantom Strike Ship - In: Airpower July 1978

(24) Bomber 47 - How Boeing's B-47 brought America into the jet age - In: Wings August 1981

(25) The fable of able mable - the Martin AM-1 - In: Airpower July 1974

(26) Boeing B-52 Emperor of airpower - In: Airpower March 1982

(27) The fabulous Phantom - McDonnell F-4 Phantom II - In: Wings December 1985

Traces the development of airplanes from the Wright flyers to the present.

An overview of the gems at Silver Hill. More interesting is the story of the place and it's people and the changes it went from the beginning to achieve the status it has today (or at the time of writing). Which is also a story on the evolution of the institution.

Written in the late 90s, an excellent overview of the world of restoration, flying, display and preservation of ancient aviation. The photos are excellent, mostly on colour, and it is a edited book, several articles from several very knowledgeable authors. If your interest in this subject I do recommend you grab a copy.