Book Review of
G.91 PAN / R / T
In Service With Italian, German and Portuguese Air Force
Aviation Collectables Co
Italian Aviation Series
ISBN: 9788831992967
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $33.00
Italian Aviation Series
ISBN: 9788831992967
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $33.00
HISTORY:
The Fiat G.91 is an Italian jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Fiat Aviazione, which later merged into Aeritalia. The G.91 has its origins in the NATO-organised NBMR-1 competition in 1953, which sought a light fighter-bomber (officially, the competition was seeking a "Lightweight Strike Fighter") to be adopted as standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations. After reviewing multiple submissions, the G.91 was picked as the winning design of the NBMR-1 competition.
The G.91 entered into operational service with the Italian Air Force in 1961, and with the West German Luftwaffe in the following year. Various other nations adopted it, such as the Portuguese Air Force, who made extensive use of the type during the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola and Mozambique. The G.91 enjoyed a long service life that extended over 35 years.
The G.91 remained in production for 19 years, during which a total of 756 aircraft were completed, including the prototypes and pre-production models. The assembly lines were finally closed in 1977. The G.91 was also used as a basis for a twin-engined development: the Fiat/Aeritalia G.91Y.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer: Fiat Aviazione / Aeritalia
First flight: 9 August 1956
Introduction to service: 1958
Retired: 1995
Status: Retired
Primary users: Italian Air Force, German Air Force, Portuguese Air Force
Produced: 1956–1977
Number built: 770
Variants: Fiat G.91Y
THE BOOK:
Aviation Collectables Co. is based in Italy.
This book is in a soft cover of 129 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The text is in Italian and English.
It is authored by a group of 6 writers. Which seems to be the way tha Aviation Collectables does all their books.
The cover art shows a G.91 sitting on a runway with a ladder against its side and the cockpit open. There is a white pilot’s helmet laying on top of its wing.
The aircraft is in a splinter pattern of dark grey and medium grey over a light grey bottom and a black nose. No markings are shown.
The back cover shows a color side-view illustration of a G.91 that is in the same camouflage as the one on the front cover. However, it has a red nose with a black tip and an all red tail. The rudder has a black shield outlined in white with a white crown at the top and a white bird on it.
It has a large white fuselage code SA-39 under its cockpit. It is posed against a large color illustration of an Italian Air Force roundel.
The book contains 155 color photos, including the covers and 142 black and white ones.
These show aircraft, pilots, engines and weapons of G.91’s used by the Italian, German and Portuguese Air Forces.
Also shown is a black and white line drawing of the pilot’s seat and dashboard of the G.91, 8 posters, photos of the inside of factories,
Color side-view profiles show fourteen G.91s in Italian Air Force markings, four in German Air Force markings and four in Portuguese Air Force markings.
Four color photos of a Portuguese Air Force G.91 show it painted like a tiger in yellow with black stripes and a shark’s mouth nose for the Tiger meet held there.
The modeler’s section of the book features a G.91 built in 1/72nd scale with one of the 21 different kits mentioned and with their color box arts shown and 6 of them shown in color photos built up next to color photos of the actual aircraft that they mused the markings of and 5 walk-around type color photos of a model being built up.
The end of the book has lists of G.91 serial numbers, Italian Air Force units, technical data. Luftwaffe units and serial numbers until December 31, 1967, Luftwaffe serial numbers since January 1, 1968. Portuguese Air Force serial numbers and units, Acknowledgements and the bibliography.
The last page of the book shows color arts of 16 other books by Aviation Collectables Co. in Italian and English text and 10 in Italian only.
The ones in Italian and English are:
F-16A, AMX, F-86K, G.222, F-33A & RF-33A, G-1301, MB-338A, AB-205, S2C-5, G-80/G-82, TORNADO, G91-Y, HU-16A, TORNADO ADV and BR-1150.
I cannot interpret the ones with Italian titles. Sorry!
This is a neat book on the G.91. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on doing a model of the aircraft in the markings of either one of the 3 air forces featured.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Aviation Collectables Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Fiat G.91 is an Italian jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Fiat Aviazione, which later merged into Aeritalia. The G.91 has its origins in the NATO-organised NBMR-1 competition in 1953, which sought a light fighter-bomber (officially, the competition was seeking a "Lightweight Strike Fighter") to be adopted as standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations. After reviewing multiple submissions, the G.91 was picked as the winning design of the NBMR-1 competition.
The G.91 entered into operational service with the Italian Air Force in 1961, and with the West German Luftwaffe in the following year. Various other nations adopted it, such as the Portuguese Air Force, who made extensive use of the type during the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola and Mozambique. The G.91 enjoyed a long service life that extended over 35 years.
The G.91 remained in production for 19 years, during which a total of 756 aircraft were completed, including the prototypes and pre-production models. The assembly lines were finally closed in 1977. The G.91 was also used as a basis for a twin-engined development: the Fiat/Aeritalia G.91Y.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer: Fiat Aviazione / Aeritalia
First flight: 9 August 1956
Introduction to service: 1958
Retired: 1995
Status: Retired
Primary users: Italian Air Force, German Air Force, Portuguese Air Force
Produced: 1956–1977
Number built: 770
Variants: Fiat G.91Y
THE BOOK:
Aviation Collectables Co. is based in Italy.
This book is in a soft cover of 129 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The text is in Italian and English.
It is authored by a group of 6 writers. Which seems to be the way tha Aviation Collectables does all their books.
The cover art shows a G.91 sitting on a runway with a ladder against its side and the cockpit open. There is a white pilot’s helmet laying on top of its wing.
The aircraft is in a splinter pattern of dark grey and medium grey over a light grey bottom and a black nose. No markings are shown.
The back cover shows a color side-view illustration of a G.91 that is in the same camouflage as the one on the front cover. However, it has a red nose with a black tip and an all red tail. The rudder has a black shield outlined in white with a white crown at the top and a white bird on it.
It has a large white fuselage code SA-39 under its cockpit. It is posed against a large color illustration of an Italian Air Force roundel.
The book contains 155 color photos, including the covers and 142 black and white ones.
These show aircraft, pilots, engines and weapons of G.91’s used by the Italian, German and Portuguese Air Forces.
Also shown is a black and white line drawing of the pilot’s seat and dashboard of the G.91, 8 posters, photos of the inside of factories,
Color side-view profiles show fourteen G.91s in Italian Air Force markings, four in German Air Force markings and four in Portuguese Air Force markings.
Four color photos of a Portuguese Air Force G.91 show it painted like a tiger in yellow with black stripes and a shark’s mouth nose for the Tiger meet held there.
The modeler’s section of the book features a G.91 built in 1/72nd scale with one of the 21 different kits mentioned and with their color box arts shown and 6 of them shown in color photos built up next to color photos of the actual aircraft that they mused the markings of and 5 walk-around type color photos of a model being built up.
The end of the book has lists of G.91 serial numbers, Italian Air Force units, technical data. Luftwaffe units and serial numbers until December 31, 1967, Luftwaffe serial numbers since January 1, 1968. Portuguese Air Force serial numbers and units, Acknowledgements and the bibliography.
The last page of the book shows color arts of 16 other books by Aviation Collectables Co. in Italian and English text and 10 in Italian only.
The ones in Italian and English are:
F-16A, AMX, F-86K, G.222, F-33A & RF-33A, G-1301, MB-338A, AB-205, S2C-5, G-80/G-82, TORNADO, G91-Y, HU-16A, TORNADO ADV and BR-1150.
I cannot interpret the ones with Italian titles. Sorry!
This is a neat book on the G.91. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on doing a model of the aircraft in the markings of either one of the 3 air forces featured.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Aviation Collectables Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly Recommended.