Straight Down!: The North American A-36 Dive-Bomber in Action

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a Mustang Book We Haven't Seen...
Review: At last, someone takes on the task of recording the history of the A-36 and those who flew her. Peter C. Smith has assembled in this volume accounts from the designers, builders, and pilots of this little-known offshoot of the P-51 family as well as an impressive selection of photos. From the design and construction, through training stateside and deployment in the Mediterranean and China-Burma-India theaters of operation, the author's narrative links the recollections of those who made history in this machine. He also addresses the many falsehoods that have somehow become accepted as fact regarding the combat use of the A-36, and properly points out that this is the aircraft that kept the Mustang alive as an Air Corps project. Overall, Mr. Smith displays a command of the subject that puts him above many of the other writers of aviation history, and I would have rated this a five-star effort if he didn't have several mis-identified photos of P-51B Mustangs labelled as A-36 Apaches. If this sounds like nit-picking, than feel free to cross out the four stars above and replace it with a full five. I have been a die-hard A-36 fan for many a year, and this is the best book thus far on this amazing dive bomber.