William G. Holder

A very good reference book for U.S. military cargo aircraft. Air Force (and predecessors), not Navy, Marines or Coast Guard! As the title states, it is '"C" Planes'. No R4D (Navy C-47). But it should fully cover the C-2 Greyhound, etal.

-- It is extensive in aircraft covered. It's got them all.
-- It is comprehensive in data covered. It needs something like a brief description. I.E., DC-4 version (C-54), C-87 tanker version (C-109), etc. The data is there, it just doesn't jump out at me.
-- It is very unusable!
---- No Index! There should be an index, not for the main entries, but for other entries. I.E., what is/are the DC-4 version(s)? What is the tanker version of the B-24, C-87, Liberator? What are all of the versions of the DC-3, C-47?
---- Like any good dictionary or encyclopedia, it needs identifiers on the top (or bottom, or somewhere) of each page for the entry being addressed (first, last, or whatever).

Pros (some just for me):
-- Very good, but brief, Introduction.
-- The quality of the photographs is very good to excellent.
-- A few nice cutaway drawings.
-- The C-87 photo shows where my father got the front and back covers for his album, i.e., the windows.
-- The C-109 photo. My father said he flew (radio operator) over The Hump in C-46, C-47, C-54 and C-87 aircraft. His log book also lists B-24 and C-109!

Cons:
-- There seems to be no text for any of the photos! The photo on the bottom of page 94 seems to be of the interior of a C-118, but your guess is as good as mine.
-- Not enough color pictures.
-- Not enough 3-view line drawings.
-- The black and white silhouettes need to state the scale.
-- The end of the 'old' series numbers and the start of the 'new' series numbers needs 'something'. It just simply happens in mid-page (page 127).
-- I think it was intentional to omit pictures of U.S. Navy (or Coast Guard) only aircraft. They should have been included.
-- C-1 'Trader' (page 127, 'new' series C-1) has no 'The Story', the descriptive text. Neither did the C-4, while the C-2 and C-3 did? They are all Navy or Coast Guard only aircraft.
-- Some items are way too small: The silhouette of the C-1 (page 5). The drawings of the C-142 tilt-wing (page 127).… (mehr)