Duels in the Sky: World War II Naval Aircraft in Combat

I have read and re-read this book many times. Eric Brown was a WWII British test pilot. You can get statistics and data of planes anywhere, but what is most often lacking are opinions of what is the best plane, why, theoretical combat of one plane vs another. This author has the guts and experience to state his opinion. Having flown every one of these planes, he is in a position to judge. Will you always agree? No, but it does not detract from the enjoyment of this book. This is not a book for modelers, not enough photos or line drawings. But it is an excellent review of arial combat from 1939-45 in all theaters covering all of the planes. And of course, the best is last - Brown's assessment of the ten top fighters of WWII and why. I disagreed with his final selection, but as the author admits, perhaps that is national bias. When you get to that level of greatness, it is all about which pilot is better. Thought provoking and different. Highly recommended for any aviation enthusiast.

I bought this book based on the reputation of Eric Brown and the other titles by this author that I own. I'm mostly satisfied with my purchase. It came at a discounted price and I feel I got my money's worth: The paper quality is good, it's well bound and the pictures (though none in color) are of high quality. There are a few misquotes (aircraft misidentified, etc.) that can easily be overlooked by most aviation enthusiasts. The color jacket illustration is spurious, by-the-way. It would have been possible for an FW-190 to have intercepted RN Corsairs in Norwegian waters but apparently this never happened. What's really different about "Duels in the Sky" is it's presentation of hypothetical air combat between aircraft that did not meet each other due to timing or being operated in different theatres of WWII. Mr. Brown rates the outcome of these mock battles in a most informative way. Also, the comparisons are set in the context of the actual events (air and naval campaigns) of WWII - with ununal clarity and brevity. For example, Japanese and Allied aircraft are compared during the Battle of the Phillipine Sea (Marianas Turkey Shoot) on a day-by-day basis. In just a few paragraphs you find out the numbers of aircraft engaged, the order of battle and finally, the tactical outcome. No having to consult several sources to get the complete picture! Finally, Mr. Brown's rankings of combat aircraft by type (bomber/fighter) and country of manufacture make this book especially worthy of your shelf. A final tally compares the best of the best, regardless of origin. Pick up a copy before it goes out of print..like most good titles seem to do very quickly, these days.

Eric Brown is a very experience pilot back in WW2. He has a lot of personal experience on flight testing aircrafts from both side of the war. This is not his first book, but the one with comperhensive information.This book categoried by years and campaign of both ocean. He first introduced the backgeound of each battle, then the aircraft involved. Then the comparsion of them.At the end of this book, he also grouped those aircrafts showed up in the final stage of the war and give some more details.This is a great book to know the history of the battles and aircrafts involved and also how did they fight through the war. With personal experience, readers can find more than just list of numbers but the real performance of them.Highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to read about WW2 aircombat.