Military Model Scene

Title: F-8 Crusader
Author: Peter E. Davies
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4728-5754-5

Number 7 in the Dogfight series from Osprey, Vietnam 1963-73. An 80-page soft-cover book in the usual style for the series.
Spread across 6 chapters, plus a brief summary or Aftermath, this is the service story of the American F8 Crusader in service with the US Navy during the Vietnam War. From the early days of the Crusader entering services, this fast jet, one of the first to have an afterburner and speeds in excess of Mach 1, was a relatively new fleet fighter. There was the reconnaissance version as well but it was primarily a fighter, armed with 4x Sidewinder missiles and 4x 20mm guns. Interesting to read about the different performance of the Sidewinder variants, while the cannon suffered from faults thanks to high speed manoeuvres. They served on some famous carriers that took part in the Vietnam war, such as the Essex class ships, the Oriskany, Ticonderoga, Hancock, Bonne Homme Richard and Shangri-La. The book describes their combat record, their pros and cons in fighting the opposing MiG 17s and 21s, and the tactics they developed to fight them in combat. There are plenty of archive photos throughout the book, some fine artwork as we'd expect, and including some 'Ribbon' diagrams, showing the flow of their tactics. They operated in different mission types, such as the larger multi-aircraft Alpha Strikes, or as BARCAP, patrols to intercept any Vietnamese aircraft attempting to fly out to attack the carriers offshore.
The final section, or Aftermath, summarises the successes of the F8 in combat in Vietnam and their influence on the future US development of dedicated fighters, rather than the multi-role platform such as the Phantom. It might surprise some that, as the book tells us, the Crusader boasted the best exchange ratio (kills divided by losses) at 6:1 of any US fighter involved in the Vietnam War.
Thanks to Osprey Books for the review copy.

Robin