Jon Lake
Autor/a de Korean War Aces (Aircraft of the Aces)
Sèrie
Obres de Jon Lake
Boeing F-15 Eagle/Strike Eagle. 2 exemplars
Halifax Squadrons of World War 2 (Men & Legends) 2 exemplars
Obres associades
Etiquetat
Coneixement comú
- Gènere
- male
Membres
Ressenyes
Potser també t'agrada
Autors associats
Estadístiques
- Obres
- 35
- També de
- 1
- Membres
- 564
- Popularitat
- #44,322
- Valoració
- 3.4
- Ressenyes
- 4
- ISBN
- 42
- Llengües
- 4
However, during its brief existence, AIRtime managed to put together sufficient material to publish books as well. These volumes resembled their periodical siblings in quality and content, but tended to be encyclopedic in their coverage or very subject specific, as is the case with the object of this review: "Gumman F-14 Tomcat" This volume, appearing in 1998, is rather thin at 224 pages, has ten chapters. Chapters One and Two talk about the development and initial deployment of the F-14, while Chapters Three and Four speak to the technologies and systems employed in the aircraft. Chapters Five and Six discuss the F-14's operational history, while Chapters Seven and Eight highlight the aircraft's two aircrew positions--pilot and radar intercept operator (RIO). Chapter Nine takes the Tomcat's story to the press time of this book, 1997, describing several schemes to extend the aircraft's service life. Chapter Ten looks like a last minute addition to the book, providing details of the Tomcat's first bombing missions over the Balkans. Editor Jon Lake also provides a lengthy segment on the squadrons flying the aircraft, along with detailed descriptions of the variants of the aircraft either built or planned. There is also a nice section of drawings of the different F-14 versions.
A hallmark of AIRtime Publications is its relationship with aircraft operators to tell the story of subject aircraft, and "Tomcat" is no exception. All chapters feature interviews with either individuals connected with the F-14 program itself or F-14 aircrew. The editing of the text sometimes leaves something to be desired, as it appears that some chapters are segments thrown together without any attempt to transition the change in between. However, I suspect most readers will not buy it to read the text alone--the photography, artwork, and cutaway illustrations are well worth the price of admission.
Compared with Mike Guardia's work "Tomcat Fury", the AIRtime offering is clearly the superior work. Jon Lake's team of contributors, primarily British aviation writers (also including American aviation author Robert Dorr) clearly know their subject, something Guardia could not be accused of. The only drawback to the AIRtime work is its timeliness. When "Tomcat" was published in 1998, the F-14 had another eight years of operational life--years that are covered in the Guardia book. These missing years include the intensive combat flying of Operations Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom using the F-14's newly developed precision strike capability. Lake's volume touches on aspects of what became known as the "Bombcat", but the F-14's Balkan strike operations were too limited to be evaluated fairly.
Despite the timeliness drawback, "Tomcat" is a volume to be sought. If you find one online or in a used bookstore, get it!… (més)