Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War - Rene J. Francillon - Putnam
RARE!
Difficult to find volume on the ever-reliable Putnam series - packed with detailed information and hundreds of photos and diagrams. Probably the best single volume written on the subject, and still relevant even years after its first publication.
Here's the official product info:
The most significant types of aircraft operated by the Army and the Navy immediately before and during the Pacific War are described in the two main sections of this book, while a series of appendices provides information on less important Japanese military aircraft, foreign-designed aircraft operated by Japanese forces, aircraft carriers and tenders, aero-engines and aircraft armament.
Here's an Amazon.co.uk customer review (2000) - the reviewer gave the book 5 out of 5:
Francillon's work, 12 years in the writing, is the definitive tome on Japanese military aviation, and it's civil derivatives, in and immediately before the Second World War, including many types which operated in Manchuria, and later in a training role. This work has stood the test of time, and now in it's thirtieth year is still unsurpassed in detail and research. Francillon does not limit himself to merely covering the aircraft types themselves; he includes illustrated sections on aircraft engines, armaments, and even lists the Naval Aircraft Carriers! If you only buy one book on Japanese Aircraft, this is it. Most highly recommended.
570 page hardcover published 1994
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