Japanese Aircraft Equipment, 1940-1945.Mikesh, Robert C. Japanese Aircraft Equipment, 1940-1945. Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 4880 Lower Valley Rd, Atglen, PA 19310. 2004. 198 pp. Ill. $69.95. There are two men who have become the seminal seminal /sem·i·nal/ (sem´i-n'l) pertaining to semen or to a seed. sem·i·nal adj. Of, relating to, containing, or conveying semen or seed. authorities on WW II Japanese aviation, Richard M. Bueschel (also an author in this prolific publisher's catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. ) and the author of this book. Robert Mikesh has considerable hands-on experience as a 9,000-hour U.S. Air Force pilot, with combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, and was the Senior Curator for the National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. (NASM NASM National Air and Space (Warfare) Model NASM National Air and Space Museum NASM Netwide Assembler (80x86 assembler) NASM National Academy of Sports Medicine NASM National Association of Schools of Music ). With these impressive credentials, anything Mikesh writes is worth a look. This large-format, expensive book is no exception. The book offers an incredibly specific, yet wide-ranging, focus on instrumentation, gun sights and bomb sights, and cockpit colors and interior designs that will bring a satisfied smile to readers. Modelers will be ecstatic at the photographic details and text descriptions of these vital areas. Many of the pictures are in color and there are several great views of various aircraft I have never seen. Imperial Army and Navy fighters and bombers come under Mikesh's microscope. He also offers a fine narrative of the formation and work by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit-Southwest Pacific Area and its leader Frank T. McCoy--the same man responsible for creating the Allied codename system for Japanese aircraft, e.g., Zeke, Betty, Rufe. Through his assignments in the Far East while serving with the USAF, and later his position with NASM, Robert Mikesh was able to delve into the little-known, shadowy communities of Japanese design and production. His contacts and experiences have helped him create a seminal work A seminal work is a work from which other works grow. The term usually refers to an intellectual or artistic achievement whose ideas and techniques have been adopted or responded to in later works by other people, either in the same field or in the general culture. which, while not for the general reader, will certainly be of more than passing interest for those more knowledgeable consumers craving craving Psychology A strong desire to consume a particular substance–eg of abuse, or food; craving is a major factor in relapse and/or continued use after withdrawal from a substance of abuse and is both imprecisely defined and difficult to measure. nuts-and-bolts details. |
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