Flying Legends

As a rabid hobbiyst avaition photog myself I am always interested in seeing what everyone else is doing. And this book makes my best efforts look amatuerish. His sense of composition and editing is nothing short of amazing, his ability to capture the spirit of the aircraft is stunning. Something that I thought was interesting is that most of these images where shot on film originaly.. If you are looking to see what realy skilled aviation photog can do with his camera. This is the book to buy!

...this book has glorious mainly color photographs and interesting text too...watch out though, if you order both this and "Warbird Legends", you will have the same book twice! not that it is such a bad thing!

Having long admired the photography of John Dibbs in the Flying Legends calendars, I was very pleased to find this collection of his work. This book is absolutely stunning. The photography is both beautiful and evocative. In war, the aircraft rarely maintained the pristine look captured in these photos, but that is the way, I'm sure, that the aviators remember them. Most of these photos are of refurbished warbirds being flown by enthusiasts or collectors. I have always liked it that the flyers in the cockpits of the Dibbs photos are always wearing the right gear... no postwar hardhats with visors here, this is leather helmets and goggles! It is a wonderful thing indeed that the beauty of these machines is so lovingly captured. I browse the book frequently and am always a bit sad to close the covers. This book is a wonderful tribute to men (and some women ferry pilots) who flew these aircraft in the defence of freedom. Truly a wonderful buy. I sincerely hope a second volume is in the works.

Flying Legends is both a photography book and an aviation book. A photography book because it includes some of the best photographs that I have seen of any subject matter (most in colour). An aviation book because its subjects are the combat aircraft of the second world war, probably the pinnacle of piston-engined aircraft development. Flying Legends is not a data book. It does not contain three-views, technical information or performance figures for the aircraft it features. The written text is largely anecdotal and serves more to caption the photographs than to provide substantive information about the aircraft. However its photographs capture the power and grace - the aesthetic - which numbers and diagrams cannot. A necessary correction to the synopsis is that Flying Legends does not cover only Allied aircraft, but also the (equally impressive) aircraft of the Axis powers.If you love aircraft and beautiful photography or are looking for authentic colour schemes and markings for model (or full scale) warbirds then I strongly recommend Flying Legends.Andrew Roos (Private pilot, gliding instructor, R/C modeller)