by Kenneth P. Werrell
This is the most thoroughly researched and documented account of the F-86 that I have ever read. It is NOT a `coffee table' book, with slick pages and many photos (there are about 20 photos total), but it reads like a text-book on the F-86.In fact, it is a normal size, hard cover book with 233 pages plus 85 pages of footnotes, etc. The author, a 1960 grad of the Air Force Academy and a professor since leaving the Air Force, cites many interviews, and includes many footnotes and an extensive bibliography. Our own Bruce Hinton is quoted often. And Mr. Werrell gives praise to SabreJet Classics as a prime source of his information. His footnotes vite various issues of SabreJet Classics, as well as Larry Davis' and Warren Thompson's excellent Sabre books.
"There is considerable material of a mixed nature in magazines. Of these I would emphasize three - SabreJet Classics, the organ of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Assn., prints interesting and useful first person accounts; ...Larry Davis published a lengthy, detailed, excellent, and extensively illustrated study of the F-86 in Wings Of Fame, vols. 10 & 11."
Although I haven't finished reading the whole book, I've found only a few minor editing errors. Overall, the mass of information is more than I've ever seen in one place. You can learn more by contacting Historic Aviation Books, plus a Google search for "Sabres Over MiG Alley" will turn up several other sites, including Amazon.com. Gents, I reccommend this book.
Lon Walter
No portion of this article may be used or reprinted without permission from the President of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association or the editor of Sabre Jet Classics magazine.