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James F. Lansdale was born in
Orlando, raised in Winter Park, Florida, and
graduated from Winter Park High School. I
attended Rollins College, graduated from the
University of Hartford with a BS, did graduate
studies at Columbia University, and finally
obtained an MS from Nova University. I married my
college sweetheart and we have a son, two
daughters, and two grandsons. I have been a
college preparatory school science teacher since
1960 and the chair of the science department in
three private schools, serving successively in
Connecticut, Washington, DC, and Florida. I have
been at my present school twenty-six years and
look forward to retiring in order to spend more
time on my writing projects!
My interests in military aviation
go back to my childhood, my having built models
from sticks and paper, solid wood scale,
control-line flying models, and some plastics.
Building models led me to the study of and
interest in the history of the aces, combat
aircraft, and foreign air forces. My special
interests are the air combat of the Spanish Civil
War and the history of the Imperial Japanese Air
Forces 1937 - 1945. My specialized study and
research of the IJA/NAF dates to 1956 and I have
served as a co-researcher and consultant for
various military aviation authors, historical
aviation artists, and military aviation museums.
Currently I am working with a team on the
revision and, hopefully, the republishing of Don
THORPE's Camouflage and Markings of the Japanese
Air Forces volumes. My spare time is used for
complying material for two anecdotal and
annotated photographic histories. One writing
project is the "Chindit Air Force: The First
Air Commando Group In The Burma Campaign"
and the other is "Fighters Under The
Southern Cross: A History Of The Thirteenth
Fighter Command In The Solomons Campaign."
Maybe I'll finish them someday!
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