Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone ever heard of it? My Father in law has had this book forever. Folded up in the cover was a preflight sheet from one of his planes that he had flown in. Capt. Gentile had written the plane up for oil on the glass, it looks like.





the inside of the book, in great shape. Do you think there would be copywright issues if I scanned the whole thing?

A rare book. hang on to that one!

whoa !......

that's a true gem..... keep it safe !



Martin..... (the envious)

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

Holy Crap! That's a rare book even without 2 signatures.
How much do ya want for it?

Dave

Great stuff, and real treasures! I've got quite a few unpublished Gentile photos myself, but I'm saving them for the book I'll probably never write - but at least for the cover art and other illustration needs I do have an artist on 24-hour standby who'll work for free!

As a former museum conservator, I highly recommend you check out these sites for proper storage materials:

Light Impressions:
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/s ... neShopping

Gaylord:
http://www.gaylord.com/archival_supplies.htm

Both sites have information as to the proper materials to use for paper, photo, etc.

That book was largely written by Ira Wolfert, a well-known journalist who spent several weeks rooming with Gentile at Debden during the "height" of Don's fame. The book was published in several versions, including the small hardback you (and I ) have. I also have a larger softcover, which has a slightly different set of photos, but the text is the same. A children's version was also published. I've seen it, but don't own a copy.

Don's sister Edith (seen in another post of yours recently) is still alive, and I'm proud to say that she has one of my "One-Man Air Force" prints prominently displayed on her wall. I had the opportunity to show her my photo album from my Debden trip ... including how Shangri-La's parking spot looks today. A pic of us together is on this page of my site:
http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/id27.html

If you're interested in Gentile, you may find this article interesting:
http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/id40.html

Wade

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Website: http://www.wademeyersart.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Wade.Meyers.Studios

Thanks for the tips, Wade, and the articles. I will show them to my FIL this weekend.

B

I too have an autographed copy.

I found it at a used book store in Dayton where I paid $100 for it in 1993.

Back then I was assigned to AFMC HQ and went to the USAFM archieves where Dave Menard allowed me to examine the Gentile records.
There I compared the signatures and they matched.

The book is so rare the NMUSAF doesn't seem to have one.

Anybody have a guess to the value?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

collector's value somewhere in the low 4-digit $ region.....


Martin

_________________
Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss