T-41 Mescalero: The Military Cessna 172

Reference, History

By Walt Shiel

Publisher : Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC

ABOUT Walt Shiel

Walt Shiel
Although born in Michigan, Walt Shiel was raised across the US and around the world as an Air Force “brat.” He started school on the Pacific Island of Guam during the Korean War and finished high school in France during the Vietnam War. Shortly after graduation, Charles DeGaulle kicked More...

Description

T-41 Mescalero tells a long-overdue story. Few realize the extent of the rich military history behind the 50-year-old Cessna 172 and its military cousin the T-41. Now, for the first time anywhere, this rich history is captured in print, complete with stories and photographs from around the world.

Far more than just a listing of models and quantities sold to the 70 military operators of the ubiquitous Cessna 172, T-41 Mescalero includes training and operational tales of derring-do from military pilots around the world. How about the rocket pods tested by the Irish Air Corps? Or the target towing system evaluated by Sweden? Illustrated with 194 photos (80% in color), the result is entertaining and educational.

T-41 Mescalero includes the most complete listing ever assembled of the 867 T-41s and 158 other Cessna 172s flown by 54 countries — grouped by model, region, and country—with current status or known disposition for most of them. This book is destined to become a standard reference for historians, model makers, pilots, and others for whom the Cessna 172 still defines general aviation.
"Thoroughly 'reader friendly' T-41 Mescalero is a seminal and indispensable addition to personal, academic, and community library Military Aviation reference collections and supplemental reading lists." -Midwest Book Review

"Treating every variant and all operators, with a selection of drawings from the technical manuals, this book is the best on this subject." -Air Fan magazine

"Well researched, well written and beautifully illustrated. This book is a must for everyone who has every flown a Cessna — or wished they had!" -Walter J. Boyne, author & historian

"The authors of this obvious labor of love have provided readers with a universal guide to an extremely versatile and work-horse aircraft that richly deserves telling." -Dan Hagedorn, author of Latin American Air Wars 1912-1969

"Walt Shiel, Jan Forsgren and Mike Little have covered the story of the T-41 Mescalero, and other military 172s, in a wide-reaching and exciting way that paves new ground for the pilot, the aviation buff, and the historian." -from the Foreword by Robert F. Dorr, author of Air Combat