Francis K. Mason (1928–2010)

I have long been a fan of Putnam Aeronautical Books since I bought my first title (on U.S. Naval Aircraft) back in the 1980's, although it has been a while since I have gone cover-to-cover on a volume. I thought now would be a good time to renew my aacquaintance.

Mason's work is the latest (and probably last) in a line of three similarly titled works. The first, published in 1967, and the second, published in 1975, were authored by Peter Lewis. How much this third volume repeats what appeared in the two older printings is unknown; Mason does not acknowledge Lewis's work at all. This volume contains 416 pages starting with a Table of Contents, an Introduction, a short Acknowledgements section, eight numbered chapters or parts (Mason does not label them with anything but titles), one Appendix describing the Capital Ship Bomb, a Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms, and finally, an Index. The Chapters each begin with a brief introduction of their own and describe specific eras in Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force history. So Chapter 1, Bomber Origins, speaks to the very brief pre-World War I consideration of the aircraft as a bombing platform and the early part of the First World War, while Chapter 3, Trenchard's Peacetime Bombers, covers bomber development during the lengthy reign of Air Marshall Hugh Trenchard after the First World War as he sought to preserve the RAF as ann independent service in the face of deep Treasury cutbacks in defense spending.

Each chapter contains subchapters pertaining to the development and service of a particular aircraft. These entries contain the aircraft's narrative along with a notes section listing aircraft type, manufacturers, power plants, structure, dimensions, weights, performance, armament, production (including aircraft RFC/RAF serial numbers), and summary of service provided. Mason periodically offers in these chapters a listing of the deployment of British Bomber Squadrons with their designation, bomber type with which equipped, and duty station.

Up front in his introduction Mason explains his idea of what constitutes the term "bomber" among so many British aircraft. Admittedly the lines become blurred at several points. For example, among First World War aircraft the Avro 504 and Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter are included in this book, even though these types can be seen as trainers and two-seat fighters. Similarly the wonderful multipurpose de Havilland Mosquito is represented in this book, but only in the few Marks purpose-built as bombers--the many fighter and fighter/bomber versions of the "Wooden Wonder" appear in Mason's companion title on the British Fighter.

This is a well-written account, although from an academic perspective Maso provides no sources for his information outside of acknowledging assistance from the British Public Records Office (now The National Archives) at Kew and the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon. The author's frustration at not finding key documents at these two institutions is evident in his acknowledgments. However, any researcher attempting to follow in Mason's footsteps will be similarly hobbled by Mason's lack of sources and are forced to blaze a trail of their own. Mason does bare his emotions towards the final pages of this work, displaying dismay as did many of his late 20th century contemporaries at the wasted time, effort, and resources devoted to ill-fated projects such as the BAC TSR.2, doomed by an incompetent Air Staff and fickle politicians and Treasury. These failures mark the precipitous decline in the fortunes of the British aircraft industry since the end of the Second World War.… (mer)

Although it's reputation was never that of the Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane matched the best aircraft of Britian's enemies just at the moment of her greatest crisis. It was on the Hurricane that the greatest burden of responsibility rested to withstand the onslaughts by Germany, Italy and Japan and to buy time for survival while the arsenels of the West could forge the weapons of vistory. "The Hawker Hurricane" is fully illustrated with over 200 photographs, maps, diagrams and includes comprehensive appendices of Hurricane test flights, production and service.
…covering the development, operational history and postwar history of the aircraft, followed by four appendices covering some technical details, including a comprehensive listing of Hurricane production with rudimentary details of each aircraft. The book is well illustrated with properly captioned black and white photographs. There are also two small colour sections – the first contains seven excellent colour photographs, five of which are Charles Brown images supplied by the RAF Museum. The second colour section contains a small amount of colour profile artwork, and whilst the colour details are vague the detail about stencils is impressive. In fact, details of Hurricane camouflage are hazy throughout – not surprising as this is an area usually covered by specialist publications. The development and operational history details on which the book does focus are excellent, and I found myself surprised on a number of occasions. The evidence of phony ‘presentation’ aircraft at Hawkers Langley facility was a bit of a shock. The text itself is reassuringly analytical in style, unlike the apologetic propaganda style adopted in some Hurricane histories. An excellent book, and sure to be of interest to Hurricane enthusiasts.… (mer)

Shows and describes the capabilities of fighters, bombers, reconnaissance craft, and jets used by Nazi Germany during the war

Profusely illustrated in b&w and colour with photographs, cutaways, profiles and diagrams. At the outbreak of World War II, "Germany had the finest (air power) in the world, deployed in optimum formations and available in vast quantities. The German aviation industry surpassed the world in ingenuity and in production technique. The products were classic: Stuka dive-bombers, Messerschmitt fighters, Junkers and Dornier bombers. There were excellent seaplanes, giant trans-ports, observation aircraft and trainers. They were to develop rocket power and jets, and at the time of their defeat they were on the brink of revolutionizing aircraft design. Indeed, many of the post-war jets of America and Russia owed their origins to German wartime designs. This volume surveys the vast armada of German warplanes of World War II and illustrates the major types in brilliant color drawings and photographs, with many technical descriptions and diagrams.… (mer)