An English import, AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT, A CENTURY OF INNOVATION surveys 200+ U.S. combat aircraft and helos. Published by Metro Books in 2005, author Jim Winchester's book is a colorful introduction to warbirds as diverse as Au-23s, F11Fs, C-17s, A-10s, P-38s, RC-12s, F-14s, TH-55s, F-89s, U-2s, A-20s, P5Ms, F-22s and B-17s. Reasonably priced at $19.98, it's worth a look-see.AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT is alphabetically arranged by manufacturer: the first being Airco; the last, Vultee. Each aircraft gets a two-page spread.A typical entry is that for the Grumman F4F Wildcat. The Wildcat's two-page spread includes an air combat scene by Iain Wyllie; a ''Photo File'' featuring 5 b&w and color pix; a ''Profile'' giving a 1/4-page historical summary, a photo and color side- and over-head views; an ''Aircraft Specs'' sidebar; a ''Combat Data'' sidebar; a ''Special Feature'' with artwork of F4Fs over Wake Island and a ''Facts and Figures'' sidebar.Some aircraft - the P-40, B-17, B-24, F-14, etc. - rate two two-page spreads. The F-4 tops out at six pages in all.Given the price tag and the wealth of illustrations, it's hard to beat AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT. If you want detailed info on these warbirds, you'll need to go elsewhere. But, for a quick but colorful warbird ''fix,'' Jim Winchester's book will do fine. Recommended.NB. If some of these illustrations look familiar, that's because they have been recycled from old Aerospace Publishing books, magazines and laminated card-sets published in the 1970s and '80s.

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