Model Aircraft – August 2019

(avery) #1

F-80 Shooting


Star Units of the


Korean War
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Warren Thompson
ISBN: 9781472829054
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99

B


uilt within a 180-day time
limit in 1943, the F-80
Shooting Star irst saw
service in Italy in the inal year of
World War 2, and consequently
was sent to bases in the US,
Europe and the Far East after
VJ Day. It was the latter groups
based in Japan that initially bore
the brunt of the early ighting
in Korea, engaging MiG-15s in
the world’s irst jet-versus-jet
combat. Flown principally by the
8th and 49th Fighter Bomber
Wings, the F-80 served until
the end of the war, completing
an astonishing 98,515 combat
sorties, shooting down 17 aircraft
(including three of the vastly
superior MiG-15s), dropping
over 33,000 tons of bombs,
and iring over 80,000 air-to-
ground rockets. Aside from the
ighter-bomber Shooting Stars,
the ultra-rare, but heavily used,
photo-reconnaissance RF-80A
saw extensive use in the frontline
in Korea as a replacement for
the vulnerable RF-51D. Filled
with irst-hand accounts and
rare colour photographs taken
by the veterans themselves, this
is the engrossing story of the
pioneering F-80 Shooting Star.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com

USAF F-105


Thunderchief v


VPAF MiG-17
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Peter E Davies
ISBN: 9781472830906
Format: Softback
Price: £13.99

T


he F-105D Thunderchief
was originally designed as
a low-altitude nuclear strike
aircraft, but the outbreak of the
Vietnam War led to it being used
instead as the USAF’s primary
conventional striker against the
exceptionally well-defended
targets in North Vietnam and
Laos. F-105 crews conducted
long-distance missions from
bases in Thailand, refuelling in
light several times and carrying
heavy external bombloads. The
MiG-17 was the lightweight,
highly manoeuvrable defending
ighter it encountered most
often in 1965-68 during
Operation Rolling Thunder. A
development of the MiG-15,
which shocked UN forces during
the Korean War, its emphasis
was on simplicity and ease of
maintenance in potentially
primitive conditions. Fully
illustrated with stunning artwork,
this book shows how these two
aircraft, totally diferent in design
and purpose, fought in a series of
duels that cost both sides dearly.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com

Hunters Over


Arabia
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Ray Deacon
ISBN: 9781526721501
Format: Hardback
Price: £30.00

B


ased on oicial records
held at the National
Archives and other
published sources, ‘Hunters over
Arabia’ presents an in-depth
account of the operations
performed by the Hawker
Hunter squadrons policing the
desert wastelands and high
mountain ranges of the Middle
East. Copiously illustrated with
colour and black and white
photographs, a high percentage
of operations performed by this
versatile British ground attack
and reconnaissance ighter
are described in detail. Using
a chronological format, the
narrative focuses on the period
during which the Hunter served
in the Middle East, from 1960
to 1971. Further chapters are
dedicated to the three Hunter
variants most closely associated
with the Middle East, the FGA.9,
FR.10 and T.7, together with their
respective allocation dates. A
short background to Aden, its
historical links to Britain, and RAF
airields administered by Middle
East Command complete this
factual account.
http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Wade McClusky


and the Battle


for Midway
Publisher: Osprey
Author: David Rigby
ISBN: 9781472834737
Format: Hardback
Price: £13.99

D


uring the Battle of Midway
in June 1942, US Navy
dive bomber pilot Wade
McClusky proved himself to be
one of the greatest pilots and
combat leaders in American
history, but his story has never
been told - until now. It was
Wade McClusky who remained
calm when the Japanese leet
was not where it was expected
to be. It was he who made the
counterintuitive choice to then
search to the north instead of to
the south. It was also McClusky
who took the calculated risk of
continuing to search even though
his bombers were low on fuel and
may not have enough to make it
back to the Enterprise. His ability
to remain calm under enormous
pressure played a huge role in
the US Navy winning this decisive
victory that turned the tide of
war in the Paciic. This book is
the story of exactly the right man
being in exactly the right place
at exactly the right time. Wade
McClusky was that man and this
is his story.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com

MODEL AIRCRAFT AUGUST 2019

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