The Canadair Argus

The Canadair Argus

Title: The Canadair Argus:  The Untold Story of Canada’s Cold War Maritime Hunter
Authors: Major Cary Barker and Major Bert Campbell

The Canadair Argus plied the skies of Canada’s East and West Coast during the Cold War and, outside of a few preserved airframes, is almost forgotten.  Even in books about the RCAF, it gets, at best, mentioned for a few pages in chapters on Maritime Command.  This 190-page hardcover book changes all that.  It does what it says on the cover, it tells the story of the Argus from development to retirement.  Everything is here; weapon’s trials, stories of patrols, crew and maintenance tails, etc.  I was fascinated by the Bullpup missile trials, and the references to the use of the Argus during Cuban Missile crisis.  The book is well illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos and nicely down aircraft paintings.  A must for an RCAF fan of Maritime operations.

Reviewed by Jim Bates

Lost Black Sheep: The Search for WWII Ace Chris Magee

Review by Jim Bates

When most people think about VMF-214, aka "The Black Sheep," they remember either Pappy Boyington or the fictional characters from the 1970s TV show. Few know that a member of VMF-214 was not only an ace, but his life was probably more interesting than the fiction they remember with nostalgia. His name was Chris Magee.

Robert T. Reed's book, Lost Black Sheep: The Search of WWII Ace Chris Magee, is written in two parts; the first, a biography of Mr. Magee, the second, a search for Mr. Reed's roots, and the two turn out to have significant crossover.  Chris Magee grew up in Chicago and, as a young man, tried to get to Europe to become a fighter pilot in World War II. He failed at first, but did end up training in Canada with the RCAF. After graduating with his wings from the RCAF he joined the United States Marine Corps and became the second highest scoring ace with the Black Sheep. Mr. Magee was not the typical fighter pilot as portrayed on screen. He was a deeply intellectual man, who was a voracious reader and a great writer.  Several of his letters are included in the book and they are well written, observant, and quite amusing at times. Post-war, Mr. Magee continued flying as a mercenary with Israel, later became a bank robber and then spent some time as a guest of the Federal Government. After paying his debt to society, he dropped off the face of the earth.

The second section of the book is more personal for Mr. Reed. He discovered that the man he grew up calling "Dad" was not his biological father; it was actually Mr. Magee.  Robert tracked down Mr. Magee and set out to establish a relationship. What does an ace, robber, and mercenary do in old age? Apparently, settle down to a life in a small apartment outside of Chicago to continue his intellectual quests, spending most of his time with his nose in a book. The story continues as Mr. Reed becomes acquainted with his father and reintroduces Chris to both his fellow Black Sheep and Mr. Magee's remaining estranged family members.

Lost Black Sheep is quite interesting and enjoyable. After finishing it, I longed for more insight into what made Mr. Magee tick.  Clearly he was far from the stereotypical fighter pilot and certainly no two dimensional underscripted TV character.

Blue Moon Over Cuba - Aerial Reconnaissance During the Cuban Missile Crisis by Capt. William B. Eckler USN (ret) and Kenneth V. Jack

Blue Moon Over Cuba - Aerial Reconnaissance During the Cuban Missile Crisis by Capt. William B. Eckler USN (ret) and Kenneth V. Jack

By Jim Bates

What started out as an attempt to publish the memoirs of Capt. William B. Eckler, the Commanding Officer of VFP-62 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this book evolved into much more.  It is basically a one stop summary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how photo reconnaissance was able to prevent war in the fall of 1962.  All aspects of the Crisis are discussed, including the operations of VFP-62 with their RF-8 Crusaders, ruminations on aerial photo reconnaissance and the technology involved, and the behind the scenes military and political maneuvering both in Washington and in the United Nations.  The book also make is clear that once the Crisis was over VFP-62’s work was not done, as they needed to fly missions to verify that the missiles had been removed and that additional weapons had not been imported.  The combination of all of these items makes this a fascinating book and an excellent read.  Highly recommended.

Flightline Series 1: de Havilland Sea Vixen 1 and 2

by Roy Sutherland

Subtitled as an in-depth photographic study, this book does what it says on the cover.  After an eight page short history of the Sea Vixen by Chris Bucholtz, the remaining hundred pages of this book include clear and detailed colour photographs of every inch of this unique British naval fighter.  No more than three photos are included on any one page and some technical drawings are interspersed where appropriate.  As expected, the photos are of preserved museum aircraft and the one remaining flying Sea Vixen.  Cockpit, landing gear, and airframe details are all here.  Highly recommended for anyone wanting to super-detail the new Airfix or Cyberhobby Sea Vixens. (Jim Bates)