I just finished reading “No Dream is Too High” by Buzz Collins. IT is interesting reading but there is a major error in it. He talks about General Jimmy Doolittle and the raid on Tokyo.
He said the raid took place on January 2, 1942. It didn’t. The raid took place on April 18, 1942.
I wish I had a dollar for every error I’ve seen in books, including “official accounts”. It usually seems to be sloppy editing.
Yep April 18th was the date.
You mean Jimmy Doolittle didn’t look like Alec Baldwin?
Of course not! Everyone knows he looked like Spencer Tracy.
[;)]
Gary
And how many noticed/remember the branch and huge hornet nest behind him in the briefing room on board the carrier.
Sounds to me the author pushed the editor to get the book out without verifying a key fact.
Wow, seems like it was only yesterday…
no matter what, we all know what jimmy dolittle did for aviation.
It is especially bad in magazines these days. I occasionally write for another modeling magazine where the owner got rid of the editor and is responsible for editing as well as publishing. But, he does not edit! He relies on the writers, for substantive facts as well as spelling and grammar. Many of the big time popular mags these days apparently seem to be following the same policy, thinking that running the file through the spelling and grammar checking software is enough 
Aha !
Now you see why I try to not get carried away . I have found the same. Even in Catalogues that are intended to generate sales .Example .One lately listed a model car . They described it in glowing terms .Then identified it as the wrong car !
So , where do we go from here ? T.B.
Hi guys !
It’s just the way of the world. As a history/political science teacher for 40 years (now retired) I was often amused by the errors I would find when reviewing sample copies of textbooks we were considering for adoption. Have you ever noticed on the History channel or something of the same how often they speak of a particular vehicle and/or action while showing film of something different or that wasn’t used in that action. And doesn’t it inflate your ego a bit when you catch them in an error ?
Hey, accuracy is important but in the end it doesn’t change the price of eggs in China.
See ya !
He must have mixed up the attack on Pearl Harbor with the Tokyo raid…
Don’t you see this as a general erosion in the knowledge of history, and as a retired history teacher, don’t you think that it’s a serious issue for a society to lose its knowledge of its past?
Like the scene in the film Midway where Charlton Heston plane was shot up and as he was making his final approach, he was flying 5-6 different planes before crashing on the flight deck.
Then he would have had both dates wrong…bad enough with the error he had on the Tokyo raid.
Wonder if thedate he gave is not close the the raid on Wake… I know Enterprise went back after it fell for a raid and felt they were getting some back since they were coming back from ferrying some Marine fighters to Wake when Pearl was hit. I think the Wake raid was a month or so after Pearl.
The Wake raid was in February 1942. It was one of several carried out across the Central and South Pacific by the three remaining fleet carriers of the USN in the Pacific in early 1942. Saratoga was torpedoed by a IJN submarine in January and would not return to duty until just after Midway in June.
Here is an example of a major error by either Hobbyboss or Squadron in their listing. The 1/72 USAF UH-1F Huey is shown to have a serial number 84-0493 from 1976. That helo didn’t exist in 1976, as the 84 stands for Fiscal Year 1984 when the money was first appropriated to buy the Huey. The other one is 83-1238 from 1979 which is also in a timewarp. Maybe they launched into “The Final Countdown”.
You mean like this?
Torpedo 8 Midway Detachment had the earliest production TBF-1s with the smaller rear fuselage side windows and single cowl mounted .50, not -1Cs, a mid war version with wing mounted .50s. And no drop tanks, nor late war 5" HVARs…
Hi , Stik !
Listen , I have found errors like this all the time on Decals. Now on Instruction Sheets it’s another ball game . Some years back I obtained what looked like a Gearing Class destroyer in 1/350 .
What it turned out to be, based on the equipment aboard was a modification to a Fletcher ( i/e the Proto for the Gearings and Sumner class .) The instructions had you building a straight out Gearing with parts that didn’t belong .
You know what , it still built into a fine looking model though . Thank Goodness , I spent three years on a Gearing , both before and after FRAM . ( That was before my enjoyable " Bird-Farm " Days ). T.B.