Book Review of
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX & Mk. XVI
WWII Thoroughbred
Author: Duke Hawkins
Classic Aircraft Series no. 001
HMH Publications
ISBN: 978-2-931083-14-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $32.00
HMH Publications
ISBN: 978-2-931083-14-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $32.00
The Supermarine Spitfire is arguably the most famous aircraft of WWII. Over twenty different types of the Spitfire have been developed and flew in large numbers all over the world, during and long after the war.
The Mk.IX and Mk.XVI are basically the same aircraft , except that the latter was powered with an American built Merlin 360 engine. This subtype of the famous fighter was widely used late in the war.
THE BOOK:
HMH is based in Belgium.
This book is of soft-cover, with 138 pages in 9 ½” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains 269 color photos made of the majority of the 39 aircraft of these types that are in airworthy condition today.
The cover art shows a Mk. IX Spitfire flying above the clouds. It is in a wave-pattern camouflage of green and grey. It has yellow leading edges on the wings, a white spinner and wide fuselage band. Over the band is small black code MH-401, followed by large white fuselage code B roundel ZO. There are vertical stripes of blue, white and red on the rudder.
One corner of the cover has a illustration of the author, Duke Hawkins, wearing pilot gear.
The back cover shows another Spitfire flying above mountains. It is dark and the aircraft is a black silhouette that shows no markings.
The color photos include:
The of the nose, 13 of the canopy, 36 of the cockpit interior front and rear, 2 of the drop-tanks, 4 of the wings, 31 of the landing gear and their compartments, 7 of the rudder, 2 of the drag-chute, 11 of the engine exhaust, 33 of the insides of the fuselage, 11 of the engine, 11 of weapons and 2 of the boarding-ladders.
The last page of the book shows 26 color cover arts of other books that HMH publishes:
Spitfire (this book), T-6 Harvard/Texan, Aircraft Carrier Juan Carlos I, Jaguar, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Dassault Mirage 3000, Fulcrum, Panavia Tornado, SAAB RJ32 Viggen, Hornet, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Dassault Mirage FI, Harrier II, Mig-31 Foxhound, Dassault Mirage III, Skyhawk, Phantom II, SIAI Marchetti SF-260, Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, A-400M Atlas, Sukhoi Su-35s Flanker E, Grumman ER-60 Prowler, C-160 Transall and the Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter.
This is a neat book on Spitfires. It will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of HMH Publications books and all HMH titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Mk.IX and Mk.XVI are basically the same aircraft , except that the latter was powered with an American built Merlin 360 engine. This subtype of the famous fighter was widely used late in the war.
THE BOOK:
HMH is based in Belgium.
This book is of soft-cover, with 138 pages in 9 ½” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains 269 color photos made of the majority of the 39 aircraft of these types that are in airworthy condition today.
The cover art shows a Mk. IX Spitfire flying above the clouds. It is in a wave-pattern camouflage of green and grey. It has yellow leading edges on the wings, a white spinner and wide fuselage band. Over the band is small black code MH-401, followed by large white fuselage code B roundel ZO. There are vertical stripes of blue, white and red on the rudder.
One corner of the cover has a illustration of the author, Duke Hawkins, wearing pilot gear.
The back cover shows another Spitfire flying above mountains. It is dark and the aircraft is a black silhouette that shows no markings.
The color photos include:
The of the nose, 13 of the canopy, 36 of the cockpit interior front and rear, 2 of the drop-tanks, 4 of the wings, 31 of the landing gear and their compartments, 7 of the rudder, 2 of the drag-chute, 11 of the engine exhaust, 33 of the insides of the fuselage, 11 of the engine, 11 of weapons and 2 of the boarding-ladders.
The last page of the book shows 26 color cover arts of other books that HMH publishes:
Spitfire (this book), T-6 Harvard/Texan, Aircraft Carrier Juan Carlos I, Jaguar, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Dassault Mirage 3000, Fulcrum, Panavia Tornado, SAAB RJ32 Viggen, Hornet, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Dassault Mirage FI, Harrier II, Mig-31 Foxhound, Dassault Mirage III, Skyhawk, Phantom II, SIAI Marchetti SF-260, Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, A-400M Atlas, Sukhoi Su-35s Flanker E, Grumman ER-60 Prowler, C-160 Transall and the Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter.
This is a neat book on Spitfires. It will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of HMH Publications books and all HMH titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Very highly recommended.