Warbird Information Exchange

I was hoping that someone here could recommend a book or three on the history of the RCAF...aircraft, units, pilots, campaigns, honors, biographies, autobiographies, manufacturers, etc.

I've read about Americans who joined the RCAF prior to Pearl Harbor and then moved to the USAAF when they could, and there have been some great photos here and in Warbird Digest recently of Canadian warplanes but I honestly don't know much about CANADIANS in the RCAF!

What about a book on Canadair? Thanks for any help.

Dave G.

You can't go wrong with any books from CANAV Books. "Sixty Years" covers the first 60 years of the RCAF and "Canadair: The First 50 Years" will take care of your other question.

As you'll see from the CANAV Books website (www.canavbooks.com), there are many, many books on more specialized Canadian aviation topics, includings unit histories, markings, serials, autobiographies, battles, wars, aircraft types, etc, etc, but the two mentioned above will give you a great start.

Aviation World is a great source of books and magazines and they have strong coverage of Canadian subjects (www.aviationworld.net).

Several Canadian aviation museums have good bookshops, too, but I'm not sure which ones do mail order.

Having recommended some things to look for, here's one to watch out for: "History of the Royal Canadian Air Force" by Christopher Shores has photos ranging from good to poor and the text has more errors than truths, so don't waste any time or money on it if you find a copy. It's wretched.

I was going to say nearly the same thing, but Jeff beat me to it. CANAV has put together a superb library of Canadian Aviation titles.

Some other recommendations from CANAV -- Canada's Air Force in War and Peace -- a three volume set (with a fourth still to be produced?) on the history of Canada's military aviation history. There are also manufacturer histories for Canadair and de Havilland Canada, and volumes on individual types like the Canadair Sabre and Avro CF-100.

In Canada, inter-library loan would be a good place to take an initial look at some of these volumes. They might be harder to obtain by this means elsewhere.

Martin

Thank you, gents...that is EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Dave G.

CANAV are good books and probably carry the most titles related to Canadian aviation.

Another good book is "RCAF Squadrons and Aircraft 1924-1968" by Samuel Kostenuk and John Griffin. There's also a few good books on the Royal Canadian Navy air, one called "Banshees in the Royal Canadian Navy" and a two book set called "Hands to Flying Stations".

One book that is a must have is "Canadian Aircraft Since 1909". Lots of good info in this book.

I got several of my books cheap sold as remainders from books stores and from Ebay.

HTH

Brian...

If you can find the books written by Michel Lavigne with the help of famous aces such as Stocky Edwards and Bert Houle, they are well worth their high price.

I have Bert Houle's bio and the first two parts of Edwards' and I'd like very much to get the rest, but they are darn difficult to find...

Here is a picture with a link to Michel Lavigne. You can get any of his book by emailing him or calling the number.

Hope this helps.

Paul Houle

Merci Paul!