Aero Albums, Wind Canyon Publishing, P.O. Box 1445, Niceville, Fla.
Published between 1968 and 1971, Aero Album was a quarterly magazine on aviation from the Pioneer Age to the Jet Age, edited by Paul R. Matt and Kenn C. Rust and backed by an international supporting cast of editorial assistants and contributing writers such as Peter M. Bowers, Christopher F. Shores, Jean Cuny, Yasuho Izawa, Juraj Rajninec and Julius Gaal. Featuring stories on aircraft, aces, firsthand accounts, a date-by-date recap of World War II in the air, three-view scale drawings and a wealth of unusual photographs, only 20 Aero Albums were actually published, but they set a standard that subsequent historical aviation publications–including Aviation History–still strive to match.
For those who remember it and have sought it in aviation specialty shops, book shows or auctions, the Aero Albums are no longer a cult item, having been reissued by Wind Canyon Publishing. Individual volumes can be obtained at $9.95 each, with $2.25 shipping and handling for the first and $.50 for each additional book–or one can get the complete 20-volume set for $179, plus $6 shipping and handling. The Aero Albums still hold up after more than 25 years, with a grand total of more than 1,600 photographs and stories on subjects that still hold an aviation historian’s interest.
Jon Guttman
