Quick and Dirty Review:
Air Enthusiast March/April 2004

I've always liked Air Enthusiast, as it usually covers a good
selection of interesting topics in a very thorough manner. The
March/April 2004 issue is no exception, and there are a number of
noteworthy articles.

*C-133: Nine page article with 17 photos. This is a very good look at
this short-lived airlifter, going into the reasons _why_ it didn't
last longer. Particularly chilling was the mention of an airliner crew
seeing a "Weenie Wagon" coming out of a cloud base in an inverted
spin. A major C-133 role was the transport of missiles - this was
avery delicate affair - the rails for carrying the Atlas ICBM had to
be placed with a 1.6mm tolerance! There are a number of interesting
illustrations, including a shot of a dissambled CH-54 (itself no mean
aircraft) being loaded into a Cargomaster. One thing I hadn't seen
before was a shot of a C-133 wind tunnel model fitted with twin
vertical tails and carrying a Saturn IB rocket stage atop its
fuselage.

*Seven-page article on the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the elegant
airliner counterpart to the B-17. There are 18 photos, several
illustrations, and two color profiles showing a TWA aircraft and
Howard Hughes' N19904.

*Part one on an article on the B-17s of the 99th Bomb Group. Seven
pages, nine photos.

*For the WWI enthusiasts, there is a two-page article dealing with the
aircraft designed by the Frederick Sage & Co. Ltd. There are seven
photos of various types, and a three-view drawing of the Sage Type 2
Scout.

*Definitely interesting is the eleven-page article on Swedish SIGINT
operations - there are six shots of Ju86s used in this shadowy work,
plus one color profile. There are four images and a profile of the
C-47s later used in this mission, as well as several images of pieces
from the wreck of C-47 79001, which was shot down by the Soviets in
1952.

*Another weighty article deals with Israeli and Iranian operations
against Iraqi nuclear facilities. There are two Iranian Phantom
photos, plus a color profile of an Iranian RF-4E. There is also a
color profile of an Israeli F-4E(S) and an RF-4E photo. There are two
Israeli F-16 photos and a pair of color profiles, plus a shot of
Israeli F-15s with Syrian kill markings.

*Towards the end of the issue, there are a couple of shots of
preserved Spanish F-86s, and a two-page article noting the phase-out
of the T-2 Buckeye. This is illustrated by five photos, mostly of a
nicely restored civilian example. The Buckeye was a real link to the
past of naval aviation, since the wing planform was derived from the
FJ Fury.

Recommended

Chris
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick and Dirty Reviews Page
http://www.dataviewbooks.com/quick.html