FlyPast
Britain's Top-Selling Aviation Monthly
August 2002 Issue, p.92
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Pacific Ghosts CD-ROM
SIX DECADES after the raid on Pearl Harbour, it is hard to believe that the remains of many relatively intact aircraft are still scattered around the vast expanses of Pacific jungle and swamps. Pacific Ghosts is a new CD-ROM that is the result of over two years of travel and research into the depth of these jungles to find and record many of these fascinating wrecks of both American and Japanese aircraft, and provide detailed histories of them including combat histories.

The aircraft themselves have remained secret for many years because of their isolated locations and often dangerous travel conditions necessary to visit them - and they are often impossible to find at all, without intimate local knowledge. To locate the collection of relics included on this CD-ROM two teams were employed to scour the Pacific. At the end of their travels, 33 of the most interesting aircraft were selected for this volume of the Pacific Ghost series. Aircraft types documented include the Aichi D3A Val, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Douglas A-20 Havoc, Douglas SBD Dauntless, Grumman F4F Wildcat Kawasaki Ki-48 Lily, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero', Nakajima J1N Irving, Kakajima Ki-43 Oscar and Ki-49 Helen and North American B-25 Mitch.

The collaborative efforts of series creators Justin R. Taylan and historian Michael J. Claringbould have created a pioneering product that is fascinating to view. Unique in content, the CD-ROM comprehensively documents the wrecks with digital video, photographs, previously unpublished World War II pictures, narration and historical notes.

Over eighty minutes of narration is included and the video clips take you around and inside the aircraft. You can also select a slide show which scrolls through all of the 200-plus pictures or just the group of your choice (Japanese wrecks, US wrecks and historical World War Two photos). During the slide show, if one picture particularly interests you then by clicking on it you can get both written information and a narration on the wreck in question. All this is back up with maps of the various locations.

Pacific Ghosts has done all the hard work necessary to take you on a virtual tour of these amazing relics of World War Two, whose stories had looked destined to remain buried in the jungles and swamps of the Pacific. The CD-ROM will run on PCs with Windows 95/98/2000 and also Mac OS systems, and is available from Pacific Ghosts for $26.50 (around 18.00) Don't bother with jungle books and the snakes, just switch on your computer and let this CD-ROM instantly take you to these living 'Pacific Ghosts'. www.pacificghosts.com